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15 Nights in Spain Itinerary

Posted by (Seattle) on

My husband and I will be going to Spain in mid September and are kicking around a couple of itineraries. We will be flying from the states in and out of Paris so are somewhat flexible where we fly in and out of Spain. This is not our first trip to Europe, but it is to Spain. We have driven in Europe.

  1. Arrive in Barcelona for 5 nights (assuming the first day will be lost due to travel), pick up a car and then on to
    Costa Brava/Girona for 4 nights,
    San Sebastian/Bilbao/Basque region for 3 or 4 nights, then on to
    Madrid (drop off car) for 2 or 3 nights,
    Fly back to Paris where will be leaving from a couple days later.

  2. Reverse the order and fly into Madrid and back out of Barcelona, basically same amount of days in each spot.

  3. Go from San Sebastian up to Bordeaux for the 2-3 nights we would have been in Madrid, drop car, and then on to Paris.

I would like to go to Madrid, my husband doesn't care either way. We both agree we want to go to Barcelona and San Sebastian areas and leave southern Spain and Portugal for another trip.

Any other ideas are welcome.

Posted by
28083 posts

There are some really wonderful day-trips to be made from Madrid, which you wouldn't have time for on this trip, so how about leaving Madrid for the next trip? Before you allot the time to Bordeaux, however, be sure you've taken adequate account of the travel time you'll need within Spain. Your itinerary suggests that you don't like to just blast through a bunch of places, and I feel like you might be glad to have a little more time in the Basque Country, especially.

The Basque Country is more than just the Guggenheim and San Sebastian. Bilbao's historic district seemed (to me) larger than San Sebastian's, so it's more than just the city where the Guggenheim is located. The countryside is lovely, there are a lot of cute little coastal towns, the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz is worth perhaps a day for its large medieval historic district, and you'll be driving very near, if not through, the La Rioja wine country. The hill town of Laguardia is very picturesque and would be a fun place to spend the night.

Posted by
5 posts

Thanks for the info @acraven. I'll take this all into consideration!

Posted by
7175 posts

From Madrid, of course, you have easy day trips to many interesting places, all less than 90mins away - Toledo, Segovia, El Escorial, Avila. So your time there can expand depending on the appeal of these places.

Barcelona trains direct from Paris will get you to Girona in approx 6 hours. This is probably a time saving over flying to BCN and picking up a rental for the drive.

I wouldn't want a car the whole time.

Start in Barcelona/ Girona (6 nights total)
Train to Madrid (4 nights)
Train to San Sebastián. Pick up rental for Pamplona, Rioja, Bilbao (5 nights total)
Fly from Bilbao to Paris

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