Originally Posted by
mad_rich
Give us an idea of what you're interested in. History? Mountains? Drinking wine? Sitting in cafes? Do you want to do a road trip (one-way hire is expensive, one-way hire to another country and you'll need to sell a kidney) or zip about Europe on low-cost airlines?
If you're into walking, a trip to the Pyrenees is a must. You could also do some wine tasting around Bordeaux. I've never been too impressed with the Côte d'Azur - full of posers in my experience, but YMMV.
Don't write off Spain. Bilbao, Madrid & Barcelona are fantastic cities, if you're into city-breaks. You've also got Europe's ever-expanding Eastern borders to explore - nowhere's more that a couple of hours flight away (though there's not a huge choice of direct flights).
Be aware that most of France is on holiday for most of August. This means that (a) nothing's open, and (b) everyone's at the beach and (c) they're all trying to get there down the same roads as you (along with the British, Dutch and Germans driving down to the south coast).
Argh, forgot about Holiday -- is France on holiday still true in early September? I don't think we'll be on the road until after September 2 (wedding is multi-day).
I would say that we are casual tourists: we're not history buffs, don't enjoy the average tour, are wine lovers but not wine connoisseurs. On the other hand, anything related to these that is done spectacularly would appeal to us. One thing we really enjoy is food. We favor local casual dining over Michelin ratings.
Perhaps some more specific background is in order: Our initial thoughts involved a bike tour of the Loire Valley's wine country, but we found $3k for a week to be pricey enough to think twice about. Our next idea was to travel to Morocco, spending five days in Marrakech and a couple days in Casablanca. We've received some advice that this isn't enough time to explore Morocco, and have lingering concerns about safety there.
I would be absolutely remiss if I didn't close by thanking you for your help. The Pyrenees suggestion is a great one, and we'll be considering it. Any more advice?