Next Fall we are planning a trip to these areas. We have travelled to france many times and are going to Paris, driving to Burgundy, Provence and the Var, then heading west to the Aveyron , west and down to Spain, and the Pyrenees and over to the west side and up the west back to Paris... about 6 weeks. Question... We have never been to Spain before, and this trip does not include big cities... just villages , etc. I have heard people do the mountains from west to east not east to west. Any ideas as to routes to take either way. We want to go to Collieure, Figueres, and all of the mountains.We are going to photograph. Any routes or lovely places would be appreciated. We are quite familiar with France, but not the southwest or the border region of Spain.We also want to go over by Bilbao.
Posted by
Chicago
2876 posts
We've done this drive west to east, but a reversal of our route would be this (you'll need a map to follow along): Figueres west to Ripoli Ripoli north to Puigcerda Puigcerda north to Foix Foix west to St. Girons
St. Girons north to the A-64 A-64 west to Biarritz and down to the Spanish border A-8 west to Bilbao Between Puigcerda and Foix you can alternatively go via Andorra if you want. You'll see how to do this on the map. Along the A-64 you can stop at Lourdes if you want. This route will take you through the Pyrenees and you will have no shortage of beautiful photo ops and picturesque stopping places. If you have the time I highly recommend continuing west past Bilbao all the way to historic Santiago de Compostela, our favorite town in northern Spain. We've been going to Europe for years and this was one of our favorite trips.
Posted by
Dallas
1022 posts
Aveyron I assume includes Millau Viaduc which is truly spectacular. On the way from Provence, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and Aigues-Mortes in the Camargue and Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert are noteworthy. Not sure of your route, but heading South, Pezenas has an attractive, historic old town that would make a good stopoff. Collioure is very beautiful. The Cathar castle ruins to the West are amazing, Chateau Peyrepertuse in particular. We would've hiked up to see it if not for a bad knee that day. In Spain, the harbor at San Sebastian is very picturesque.