Europe by Busabout...?

I certainly wouldn't stay in Bordeaux any longer. In fact, one day and one night would be plenty for me. It's an ok sort of place but it won't be the highlight of your trip. Bear in mind that although Bordeaux is synonimous with wine production, the vineyards (or chateaux) are way outside the city and most of the ones who encourage visits require advance appointments. They also expect you to buy.

Tours would get my vote for a longer stay.

There are some long days on the road during the early stages. Nice to Barcelona is a full day - maybe 8/9 dreary hours in a bus. I'd need a comfortable bus for that one. Same for Barcelona - Madrid. Madrid to San Sebastian will take about 6 hours in the bus.

Cheers for the advice...yeah, the long journeys will be a bit of a problem but breaking them up with stays in Avignon and Valencia will mean less time in other cities...and I'm sure I'll be able to cope - I managed alright on a 13hour flight...I'll just strike up conversation with someone...

You say that you'd like to "stop at as many French towns as I can". There are only three on your list, one of which is Paris (a city) which you say doesn't really tempt you anyway since you're going again later. That leaves Bordeaux and Tours, one of which (Bordeaux) isn't terribly exciting. It all seems a bit skewed to me.

It strikes me, after a little rumination, that you could do a lovely journey through France between 22 August and 10 September, especially as you obviously speak some French. For example, you could mix up towns and cities like this example: Nice - Marseille/Aix-en-Provence - Avignon - Arles - Lyon - Dijon - Auxerre - Paris. Of course you'd have to do that freelance rather than as part of a tour and that may not tempt you.

You could even start your journey by taking the Train des Pignes from Nice to Digne - a delightful journey through the mountains. http://www.beyond.fr/travel/railpignes.html There's a bus service from Dignes to Aix-en-Provence.

P.S. I forgot to add that you could easily visit those Spanish destinations later from France while you're studying there.

Well I was thinking about just travelling in France...but as I'm on my own I thought it'd be far easier meeting people on Busabout as everyone there are young backpackers...and really I was referring to the French towns on the Busabout drop-off list really - which isn't a lot...

I keep on changing my mind really as to what I want to do...my mate was planning on coming first, but I doubt they will be...so then I was looking into travelling through France with possibly including some work doing les vendanges...and then I seen the Contiki tours...and now I'm thinking about going on the Busabout thing...

Yeah, I s'pose there's another time to do a more extent journey through Europe (preferably when I have more time)...I just need to decide on what I want to do...But thanks for your help anyway and I'll do some research on the whole French idea...

Look into the 12 - 25 youth card on SNCF if you're eligible. I think it's valid for a year and, if so, would suit both this trip and your academic year in France.

Hi, i was on the same busabout loop last summer. Are you going to give avignon a miss? I would recommend at least 2 nights there, since you are already paying the loop. You can give valencia a miss though, cos there wasn't much to do there, unless you are there for the american cup. Bordeaux deserve 2 nights if you are interested in going on some wine tour that is organized by the tourist office. I went on a half day tour, and paid 25 euro, which is highly worth it. There are lots of chateaux to visit in tours, u might want to decide on it. You might want to take into consideration the time that you will arrive at each place though, as some of the ride are really long, 7 to 8 hours. Meaning you wont have much time for sight see left.

I did my trip on a combi of busabout and eurail, and I would say eurail is definitely much more comfortable and faster compare to bus. Only advantage is that the bus brings you to the hostel door step.

If you are going to stay in hostels along the way, you can meet the "young backpackers" there and don't need to travel by bus. Just an idea, since you keep changing your mind ;-)

You won't meet any French with whom to practice the language on the bus.
It looks like you have 9 travel days out of your 21 days. Does that make sense to you?
Your letting the bus dictate your potential stops.

Get a rail pass and spend your 21 days in France meeting French people. Don't go anywhere that you don't plan to spend at least 4 nights/3 full days, unless it is just an overnight stop on the way from A to B. Every time you move you lose a day.

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