I'll be in Bordeaux for business and have the opportunity for a long day trip. I was interested in Basque country, but wasn't sure if I should visit the French area of the Spanish area. I think they're both about 2 hours by train from Bordeaux.
Does anybody have any preferences?
We are finishing a bike trip in Bordeaux and then heading to the Spanish Basque area. What I discovered is that it is easy to get to St. Jean de Luz via train from Bordeaux but getting to Bilbao (our destination) is more challenging necessitating a night in St. Jean de Luz. The next day we are taking a bus to Bilbao on the advice of others, as the train is a local one and stops frequently. And if I read the schedules correctly, the train requires a transfer along the way. Based on my research you might be better off to stay in France. I'm not sure if it is easier to get to San Sebastien - but getting from Bordeaux to Bilbao did not seem straightforward to me. I'd be interested to hear what others say as I'd prefer to go directly to Bilbao.
San Sebastián is our favorite! Beautiful bay, beaches, promenade with amazing food. We enjoyed the Basque area on a Rick Steves tour. So someone else would have to help you with travel info as we didn't plan it!
Border-crossing ground transportation is often not terribly frequent, and it may require transfers. Every transfer tends to cost time, which you end up spending inside the bus or train station. However, Rome2Rio.com indicates that there are multiple bus companies making the run from Bordeaux to San Sebastian and/or Bilbao, in addition to trains. Without digging down into the actual schedules, the Spanish Basque country looks do-able to me from Bordeaux.
I haven't seen the French Basque Country yet, but Rick covers it along with the territory on the Spanish side of the border, so you can check out his suggestions. I believe he had positive things to say about St. Jean-de-Luz, and I think someone posted here not too many months ago that St. Jean-de-Luz was a favorite of his/her tour group.
In Spain I enjoyed both Bilbao and San Sebastian. I made side-trips via bus and FEVE train to Hondarribia (very attractive, nearly on the French border), Zarautz-Getaria-Zumaia, and Bermeo--the latter from Bilbao, the others from San Sebastian. The Spanish Basque countryside is very nice, too.
I have stayed in both St Jean De Luz and San Sebastian and the food scene in San Sebastian is as good as it gets with wonderful beaches and rural towns to visit in the hills.From St Jean de Luz you can visit Bayonne and St Jean Pied de Port,Espelette and La Rhune,obviously you won't be able to do the hill towns, I would stick with one of the two bigger towns,my choice San Sebastian.
Mike
There's been a few changes, and we're now able to spend a few nights in San Sebastian or Bilbao.
What's the best way to get there from Bordeaux? Train? Bus?
The cross-border train schedule seems to be day-of-week-sensitive. Probably the bus schedule is, too. What day would you be making the trip?
From the little checking I've just done, I suspect the French Basque Country is your best bet. Getting to Spain looks more difficult than Rome2Rio indicated.
This may help: To the Spanish, Bordeaux is "Burdeos".
Do you have 2 nights only ?
Could you fly out of Bilbao ?
Day #1 Travel to San Sebastián (1nt)
TGV 8531
Dep 10:51 BORDEAUX ST JEAN (France)
Arr 13:25 IRUN (Spain)
TRN18014
Dep 13:50 IRUN (Spain)
Arr 14:07 SAN SEBASTIAN/DONOSTIA (Spain)
Day #2 Travel by bus to Bilbao (1nt)
Day #3 Depart from Bilbao
I'm not familiar with the TGV/TRN.
What services are those?
The TGV is the super-fast train (read "super-expensive if booked at the last minute"). I'm guessing TRN is an ordinary train.
