Catalonia possible itinerary

hi - what a well planned itinerary ! Personally i think it sounds good. I love collioure, it is small and touristy, but nice. I would decide on the go if you want to have a stop or not for lunch - you can see it in 2 hours, and your travel time might allow it.

Please note in summer, especially on weekend days, it can take quite a while to get into cadaques - the last 30 km are on a small winding road and can take 1 hour. I see you spend quite some time there - I think it is charming, but could not stay for several days as it is very touristy. But that´s personal - there are a lot of people who love it.

One evening in Carcasonne is indeed more than enough, like you planned. It is also very touristy.

I had never heard of Ariege but looked it up and it looks great - thanks for the tip :-)

As you pointed out, Andorra has mixed comments - the city itself is pretty awful, but there are indeed good hikes and the setting is beautiful. Though when there for a few days, consider a day trip to the not so far Aigüestortes national park in Catalunya. I think it is even more beautiful with its lakes.

I see you only have 2 full days in Barcelona. I would say 3 is the real minimum - if you like modern (or at least relatively modern) architecture, there are so many things to see and you can that way also spend some time on the beach at the end of your trip. It would require you to knock a day or 2 off from Cadaques though.

Thanks much. Part of the reason for the weeklong stay in Cadaques is that we plan to stay in a vacation rental there, and they commonly charge for a full week. It would be great to find one that doesn't require the standard changeover days, though.

The current draft itinerary already has four nights in Barcelona (the nights at the ends of Days 20, 21, 22, and 23), so three full days plus any time left available on travel-days 19 and 24. I'm assuming the beach options around Cadaques are better than those in Barcelona, so it wouldn't make sense to shorten Cadaques to leave time for Barcelona's beach. But maybe I have that wrong?

Ok makes sense ! Yes, you are right, in summer most places only rent out per week, so I am guess you ll have to stick to that. The beach in cadaques is nothing noteworthy but yes, around the villages there are good ones. Not long sandy beaches (you d have to go around L'escala and surroundings a bit in the south for that) but they tend to be coves and bays.

Barcelona beaches are not bad either, but you´d have to take the metro to the north of the city for the less crowded and nicer ones - mar bella, nova mar bella. Most locals though take a short train ride to the south (Casteldefells) or any place up north (Sant pol del mar,.......) for more quiet and especially proper beaches.

Since I misread the number of full days you spend in Barcelona, I think there is not much to amend to this itinerary!

Thanks again. After our recent trip to Greece, we're in agreement in preferring a private, or at least uncrowded, rocky cove to a crowded sandy beach. Hoping to be able to find some of the former within short-hiking distance of a valid parking spot in the vicinity of Cadaques. I may even bring my inflatable kayak and tow the family to one.

Just to point out that in Jun-Aug anywhere in Costa Brava -including Cadaqués of course- is anything but uncrowded.

As you're including a scenic visit to "the Pyrenees" and noting that's a vast mountain range, I would suggest -if you have the time to drive so far west, to visit Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park. It's still within Catalonia, in the far northwestern corner.

Hi Tilted
Normally I see you on the Meeting Pot but I just popped in here.

One place we really liked in the Pyrenees was Gosol. It is a large village with plenty of good hikes available - some tough mountainous ones or more gentle walks. Picasso lived and worked here for a bit but they make almost nothing of it - no coaches of snap-happy tourists. There are a couple of hotels - one as you enter and one right in the centre. We recommend the one in the centre though of course things can change in the 12 years since we were there.

We lived for some years in the Hérault so we travelled quite a bit round that area. Collioure is attractive but gets a lot of tourists. I am not a big fan of Carcasonne. It looks great from the autoroute but it has been over restored and once you get inside the walls there are a lot our tourist shops and no normal citizens seem to live there.

As you can tell I don't like places with too many tourists. In a couple of weeks we are going to Girona which I think sounds pretty good.

I don't check into TT often so if you want more info see me on Meeting Pot.

Hey, thanks to you both! I have my eye on a particular lodging near Soldeu, Andorra, but if we don't get that, we may truncate Andorra and stay in/near Aiguestortes or Gosol instead. BazFaz, I suppose I should post this back at the Pot soon -- but it may evolve a bit first, as we have an upcoming long drive and I'm planning to talk through some questions then.

Hi Tilted
My experience of Andorra was driving right through it. The main city was so awful I wouldn't even stop for coffee. There are good places in the mountains, I'm sure, but we never explored for them. Crossing back into France the Douanes had a good inspection of the car because they couldn't believe we hadn't stocked up on cheap booze and cigarettes.

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