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Itinerary Feedback Requested - Basque region (France and Spain)

Posted by (Portland, OR, USA) on

I'm in very preliminary planning for a trip for my husband and I to explore the Basque region (both Spain and France) and we'd also like to tack on some time in Rioja (I'm a wine lover) and Asturias (he's a cider lover). I've posted this in the Spain forum and am cross-posting here for feedback on the France portion. As context: my husband and I prefer a slightly slower travel style (no one night stands), we' re foodies, I love to swim and snorkel if possible, and we both love the outdoors - walking or hiking. We're looking at traveling in September.

Itinerary:

  1. Flying into Paris, stay 3 nights (only because I completely love Paris and I got a good deal on a business class flight with points)
  2. Train to Bayonne, stay 4 nights, Rick raves about St Jean de Luz but accommodations are less in Bayonne and it looks like it has good restaurants and services. Plan is to pick up a car here that we could use to explore the villages. I am thinking we could day trip to St Jean de Luz as well. Anyone have feedback on using Bayonne as a home base for the area vs. another town?
  3. Train or drive to San Sebastian/Donostia, stay 3 nights. I know that many car rental agencies don't like you renting in one country and dropping in the other, and it can be very expensive to do so. So I'm thinking that it might be better to drop the car in Bayonne and take the train to Donostia. We would then pick up another car here to explore the region for the rest of the trip. Anyone have experience picking up a car in France and dropping it in Spain?
  4. Drive to Laguardia, stay 3 nights.
  5. Drive to Gijon (Asturias), stay 4 nights.
  6. Drive to Bilbao, stay 2 nights. Plan is to drop the car and fly home from here, which is Portland, Oregon.

Feedback?

Posted by
7842 posts

I think its best to take a bus Bayonne to San Sebastian. It's under an hour. We had a car because we were traveling in France and Spain for a month. We parked the car in San Sebastian and never used it. For your situation. I wouldn't pick up a car until you are done with San Sebastian. We stayed in the old town area of San Sebastian and loved it. The Basque museums in San Sebastian and Bayonne are fantastic. A great town you likely could access via bus from San Sebastian is Hondaribbia. There's a castle, small town square, also, a pretty beach.

We did like Bilbao. Huge old town that also has a good pinxtos scene. They also had a Basque museum which is supposedly free. However, it was closed to renovation when we were there. We also enjoyed walking the river area near the Guggenheim.

I think you'll like Bayonne more than St Jean de Luz to stay. We only spent a couple hours in St. Jean de Luz, but we are not beach people. Do go to the Basque church of St. John the Baptist where there was a royal wedding (Louis the 14 and Maria Teresa of Spain)

Posted by
138 posts

Thank you so much Jules for advice. I was thinking we would need a car in Bayonne to get out to the villages there for example Espelette. Is that not the case?

Also do the buses from Bayonne to San Sebastian have room for suitcases? Or are they more like city buses? My husband and I will each have 1 suitcase and my experience has been that locals get really annoyed when we bring them on a bus.

Posted by
7842 posts

I've used Flix bus, and I think they're quite good. Very nice, comfortable. You put the luggage "under the bus" in a compartment before you board. The only thing I've ever heard, is that you should get off the bus or watch from the bus at stops to make sure your luggage stays safe. BUT, I've never heard of anyone getting their luggage stolen.

Yes, I missed the part when you say you want a car to day trip in Bayonne. Yes, if you want to go to the little villages you need a car. Perhaps rent a car for a day, and look into bus/train to go to St. Jean de Luz?? Price out two separate rentals vs. one longer rental. I suspect if you want to rent the entire time, you will pay a lot, or you will have to circle back to France.

In San Sebastian, we parked in a newer part of town in a ramp where parking was cheaper than walked to the old town where we were staying. It wasn't ideal, but fine.

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