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 Driving through 3 countries in a rental car, Spain to Andorra to Southern France |
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| kitkatgo |
 Apr 17 2008, 06:13 PM
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Navigator
Group: Local Expert
Posts: 1367
Joined: 21-August 06
From: Southern California
Member No.: 13816
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Wow, a full-on itenerary!  Thanks! I am looking forward to checking out the places listed (we have not been to Spain, Andorra, or Southern France--just Paris & Lyon). So we are really looking forward to seeing as much as we can. BTW, we will be taking our two children with us. We have considered travelling by train, but I don't think that would give us enough flexibility. As time goes on, I will have a better idea of how long we will have to travel after the conference, and I'm sure I will have some questions. Thanks for your reply! QUOTE(mmbcross @ Apr 17 2008, 02:32 PM) 
Renting a car in Spain and returning it in France will entail a large drop-off fee. Also the airline ticket will be higher with an open jaw ticket. Here's a suggestion for circle trip Barcelona to Barcelona.
Day 1 _Drive along the Costa Brava through Girona to France. Continue through Perpignan to Carcasonne.
Day 2 - In Carcasonne
Day 3 - Drive to Pau and Lourdes past Toulouse (No need to visit this industrial city)
Day 4 - Drive to Bayonne and Biarritz
Day 5 - In Biarritz
Day 6 - Drive back into Spain and stay in San Sebastian
Day 7 - Day trip to Bilbao for the Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Gehry.
Day 8 - Drive to Pamplona. Running of the Bulls is 6-14 July this year.
Day 9 - Drive to Andorra
Day 10 - In Andorra
Day 11 - Return to Barcelona via the monastery of Monserrat.
Hope the appeals to you. If you need more details just let me know
Cheers
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| mlb662 |
May 7 2008, 06:38 PM
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Newbie
Group: Members
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QUOTE(kitkatgo @ Apr 17 2008, 02:05 PM)
Hi,
We are planning a trip to Barcelona this coming November. We want to take 2 wks total to visit Barcelona (for a conference), then rent a car to travel through Andorra and up to Southern France.
Anyone done anything similar? We aren't sure how easy or difficult it would be to get a rental car in Spain and finish off in France--we just haven't done anything like that before, in fact, we haven't rented a car in Europe before.
Also, what would be the best (biggest) airport in Southern France to fly back to Los Angeles from? The other option would be to take a different route back to Barcelona and fly home from there--but that really shortens the time we could spend in any one place.
Looking for any and all ideas/info.
Thanks in advance,
We did pretty much the trip you describe a few years ago. Love the itinerary described below. We stayed on the Costa Brava on our way to France. There are a lot of beautiful places worth seeing (and some overdeveloped tacky ones!), so that is an option. Note that there are two ways to get to France, one on the superhighway and the other through the mountains. We went through the mountains. The views were beautiful but it's a little nerve-wracking, so I would skip that. We didn't go into Andorra because of the lines of traffic waiting to go through. I think the Spanish and French go there to stock up on duty-free. Carcasonne is just so much fun, and the entire area (Languedoc-Rousillon) is full of fascinating hill towns, good food and wine and lots of history. Outside of Toulouse is the Airbus Factory and there are tours, if that would appeal to you. I am sure the rest of the itinerary is wonderful, but the only other place I have been is Bilbao and the Guggenheim, and I concur that it is well worth a trip. Oh, and Montserrat was wonderful too. Very spiritual. |
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| inasia2008 |
May 7 2008, 07:07 PM
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Unregistered
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Wow, sounds like a great trip! I have been to the South of France a couple of times, its gorgeous! I have been to Monaco, Nice, St Tropez and Borme le Mimosa! And we found a lovely little village right on top of a hillside called St Paul d'Vance! You will find them all on maps etc. the drive around the coastline to all the difference places is awesome!
We actually did drive from UK to South of France in our own car, but the biggest airport you will find is probably Nice!
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| inasia2008 |
May 7 2008, 10:26 PM
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Unregistered
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Ha ha, no more to do with the gorgeous purple flower, the mimosa, that grows all over the village!
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| mmbcross |
May 8 2008, 05:11 PM
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Tripper
Group: Local Expert
Posts: 2002
Joined: 4-June 06
Member No.: 2195
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If I were you, I'd set everything up before you go, especially with children. It isn't hard, just time consuming. Some people find it's as much fun arranging the trip as doing it, and when everything falls in place, you feel you have accomplished something.
That being said, you have to be very disciplined if you pre-arrange everything. You have to know pretty much where you are going so you see everything you want to. I'm a bit of an expert at this. I've done Southern Spain, Provence, Italy, Greece, the UK, all with a rental car, all in 10 days, all very inexpensive indeed, and seen sights most people never even knew existed.
Yes, it will be low season, so if you do want to wing it, there shouldn't be any problems with accommodation.
By the way, friends of mine have just phoned me attempting to get from Lourdes to Barcelona. In spite of the hefty drop-off fee, the rental was US$ 600.00 for a 4-door VW Passat for three days; for four people it was not much more than the train.
At this time of year, Languedoc is the place to go. It's very wet on the west coast (Basque Country) at this time, and depending on weather conditions, it may not be skiing time yet in the Pyrenees. The Med will be cold, but it should be sunny and clear. It gets dryer inland.
Your original idea to leave from Barcelona and return from Nice would have been good, but there is still plenty to see on a RT from Barcelona, and your car rental will be much more economic.
As you can see, I get a kick out of this, so if you want me to help more, just let me know.
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| mmbcross |
May 8 2008, 10:05 PM
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Tripper
Group: Local Expert
Posts: 2002
Joined: 4-June 06
Member No.: 2195
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Give me a couple of days to make some suggestions for an itinerary. Meanwhile, if on Day 1 you drive Barcelona-Carcassonne, you will arrive late, so you must have accommodation waiting for you. Get your hands on a good guide book. Just sit on the floor in Barnes and Noble or Borders if you don't yet have a favourite. This will give you an idea of the places you must see. To get an idea of the place, access the Travelpod blogs. Here's the Carcassonne one. http://www.travelpod.com/blogs/0/France/Carcassonne.htmlDon't get carried away. You could spend hours on each one. Go through them quickly to get an idea if you will like the place or not. If so..... I then go to Trip Advisor first, just to give a list of hotels. I request it by average price, lowest first. I then check until I see one with a reasonably high popularity index. Hotels can manipulate these, so if you see one you fancy, read the reviews. By reading between the lines you can get a pretty good idea of the place, and if it is what you are looking for or not. I always try to find centrally located properties that have some parking available. Some hotels won't be rated, but if you see something you like, just cut and paste the name, Google it, and it will surely come up in another site similar to Trip Advisor. I found this small B & B, which was reasonably priced, and was No. 4 in popularity. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1...Roussillon.htmlThe reviews are great, but I feel they may not accept children. How old are your kids? If you like this, look for their own website. I use "Dogpile" as my search engine. It gives me Google and a host of other SEs. http://www.lechappeebelle.co.uk/Note that it's a UK site, which is a bit unusual. Nevertheless there is no harm sending a message to request price and availability. Advise you have children and give their ages. A quick and comprehensive answer gives you a gut feeling that the place is legitimate. Au Royal Hotel had no reviews, but the price was unbeatable. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1...Roussillon.htmlSure enough in Dogpile I get the hotel's own website, and it doesn't look bad at all. http://monsite.wanadoo.fr/royal_hotel/Hopefully you know a little French! If you want a safe bet, then go for a chain hotel. Ibis hotels are economic, quite comfortable and reliable. Make sure you get a good location. http://www.ibishotel.com/ibis/fichehotel/g...che_hotel.shtmlAnother excellent website that covers a gazillion French hotels is: http://www.hotels-france-reservations.com/...tels-france.phpthough it doesn't have guest reviews and Venere, that does have reviews http://en.venere.com/france/?ref=407767Once you have selected your accommodation, check rates. Generally the rates offered directly by the hotel will be reasonable. The larger and more expensive the hotel, the more likely you will find lower rates through a booking agency such as Expedia. This is the advantage of Trip Advisor, as it gives you rates from several booking sites. You can then compare them with the actual hotel rate from their own website. Phew. That's given you something to get your teeth into. I hope it wasn't superfluous advice.
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But it is definitely an area I want to visit in the future.
