Barcelona and Pyrenees? or Basque country? 10-12 nights. spring 2018

Barcelona sort of overwhelms the other towns and cities of NE Spain in terms of sights. Get hold of a guidebook and see what you think you might be interested in. Three days sounds extremely short to me, even aside from whatever time you'd want to spend on soccer-related activities There are also lots of really good side-trips to be made from Barcelona.

I haven't been to the Spanish Pyrenees and am unsure what conditions will be like in the spring. What month do you plan to make the trip? Late March and early June would probably be quite different.

The Basque Country is lovely, but there is a reason it is so green, and a spring trip would probably bring you in frequent contact with that reason. It was pretty rainy for me in June 2016. The Basque Country weather is a pleasant change for folks traveling to Spain in mid-summer, but in the spring, I don't know.

Lodgings in San Sebastian can be rather pricey, but I don't know how much of an issue it will be off-season. I doubt that the city is extremely popular in the spring. The other two main tourist cities in the Basque Country are Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz, but I don't think either one is close enough for day-trips to San Sebastian. I visited 3 attractive small towns west of SS (Zarautz, Getaria and Zumaia), but they are all former fishing villages turned into beachy vacation towns, and I suspect they would be dead in the spring. Hondarribia to the east is a bit larger and should be livelier, but I really think you should stay in SS if that's the reason you're going to the area. Personally, I preferred Bilbao.

Thank you for your reply. Our plan is probably to visit in early May. I realize that Barcelona offers unending interesting sights and activities but we will have to pick and choose. I have a pile of books, maps etc that I am pouring over. I enjoy the planning which is why I am starting so early. Your input gives me more to explore.

Harold just posted a trip,report covering the French and Spanish Basque Country within the last few days. His experiences could be helpful to,you.

Harold here, with my trip report (warning - it's very long): https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/basque-country-trip-report-bayonne-san-sebastian-vitoria-gasteiz-and-bilbao-may-2017

San Sebastian is not chi-chi - thank goodness. It's lovely and relaxing, with few "turnstile attractions"; whether that's a plus or a minus depends on what you want. And I disagree with acraven - it's less than 90 minutes by bus from San Sebastian to either Vitoria or to Bilbao, with frequent departures, so day trips to either of these places from San Sebastian work fine. Both Vitoria and Bilbao have more museums and the like than San Sebastian. San Sebastian is more about the beaches, the views from Monte Igueldo (which has a funicular) or Monte Urgull (which you have to climb, so I didn't get up there), walking the old town, and walking the newer downtown (lacking the spectacular flourishes of the Eixample in Barcelona, but still very nice). If you're looking for smaller towns near San Sebastian than Vitoria or Bilbao, you could go to Hondarribia, Getaria, Zarautz, Lekeitio, and more, either as day trips or as places to stay instead of San Sebastian. Some of these will definitely be easier with a car.

All of that said, take seriously acaven's points about the weather and the season. I was there in May and had great weather most of the time, but locals made it clear that I got lucky. It really does rain there much of the year, so early May is still high risk for this. And "the season" starts June 1; before that, some things are on shorter hours or closed. San Sebastian, Bilbao, and Vitoria, as larger places, don't close, but beach towns will.

I agree that you should also look at places in Catalunya, closer to Barcelona. Girona is a small city that makes for a very worthwhile day, and there are lots of other places that sound nice that I didn't personally get to (Montserrat, Sitges, Figueres, Tarragona). If you search for posts by Enric, who lives in Barcelona, he's posted lots of links on places to see in Catalunya.

Thanks for the praise Harold :)

Linda, it's indeed a difficult decision -albeit I know what I'd choose, but again, I'm biased.

As mentioned earlier, it's important to notice there's life beyond Barcelona (and Girona and the other major cities in Catalonia) and one can indeed find a trove of little gems spread across the whole region - and this coming from a born and bred Barcelonian in love with his town, LOL!

Furthermore, thanks to our geography and orography, Catalonia offers a wide variety of landscapes (and climates!) packed within a territory about the size of Maryland, which means distances are (relatively) short and one can go from picturesque coastal towns to magnificent natural parks and mountain ranges (+10,000 ft!) within very few hours. As per history don't get me started... these lands were already inhabited several thousand years ago so you'll find everything, from Roman circus and amphitheatres to medieval castles and fortresses.

Have a peek at these TI brochures to help you to decant your thoughts...

• Welcome to Catalonia
• What is Catalonia
• Catalonia Experience
• Map of roads in Catalonia
• Routes in Catalonia
• Routes and getaways

and for a few videos, as the saying goes... an image is worth a thousand words, right?

Enjoy!