best of France & Spain in 2 weeks

Do you really even have two weeks? Are you counting travel days (and the day after arriving on a loooong flight from the US west coast)?

If all you have is 2 weeks (or less), I'd probably stick to France or Spain but not both. Yes, you could lop off a few days and fly to one city in the other country, but the problem with that is you will only be getting a very small taste of it - 3 days in (for example) Madrid or Paris would leave you hungry for more.

That said, if you really want to try to do both, I'd make your trip France + Barcelona, since Barcelona is geographically close to France, and is out of the way of the rest of Spain (and thus adding Barcelona to a Spain trip is always a challenge). You could do 4 days or so in Paris, then head south by train, stropping to visit the Loire chateaux for a day or two (rent a car there to maximize your time and flexibility), then continue south by train and end up in Barcelona, flying home from there.

Hope that helps - good luck.

Much more so than France, Spain is really a collection of nearly autonomous regions with different history, culture, and even language. This makes it hard to get "a bit" of Spain in a quick visit.

You could arguably get "a bit" of France just by visiting Paris (though there is so much more to see, and May is a wonderful time to get a taste of the countryside and village France).

France is a centralized state and Paris is both its administrative and cultural capitol. But if you visit Barcelona, you are only getting "a bit" of Catalona; Madrid, of Castile, etc.

Three weeks always better than two, and especially for such ambitious goals. But be realistic, set priorities, and don't add so many destinations that you lack time to do any of them justice.

A great time for a trip like this--have fun!

Thank you both for your replies. I'm going to see if we can manage a little more time, and stick to almost if not all France (the Barcelona idea is terrific, if we can make it down there) - we'll simply have to come back to experience Spain!

Heather, with two weeks, you could have a taste of both countries. Many people on this website, with the best intentions, always say "add more days." Well, if that is not possible, and you want to see both countries, you can do it. Start in Paris and spend a week there, doing day trips out to Versailles, Rouen, etc. Then spend the second week in Madrid, doing day trips to Toledo, or even Seville.

Yes, it is true, you will not get an in depth look at either country, but you will be able to experience two vibrant cities and some amazing day trips.

With a few more days, you could easily do Paris (plus some day trips), Provence, and end in Barcelona. I'm going to go out on a limb here- I am not a huge fan of Barcelona though. It has it's charms, but my own opinion is that there are better places to spend your time. There, I said it! ha!

Or, do Paris, Provence, and then hop on a Ryanair flight from Marseille and spend a few days in Madrid. With even three days, you would be able to see the major sights in that city, and get at least a taste of Spanish (or at least Castile's) culture.

All that said, personally, I love France, so would say spend the whole two weeks there! Do Paris and Provence, and maybe two days or so in another region, such as Normandy.

I think this comes down to personal travel style and simply how much time you have. We would not contemplate those 2 countries - or indeed possibly any 2 countries - in 2 weeks but (and it is a big but) we now live in Europe and can travel at a leisurely pace. Plenty of people go to way more countries in that space of time.

I would suggest you go for one or the other - and as others have pointed out, France is not as diverse as Spain so you may enjoy your time there more and get to know it better.