Hello, my wife and I are planning to fly into Barcelona at the end of June next year. We love food, culture, nature (hiking) and meeting people.
Here is our planned itinerary using train and bus:
Barcelona 6 nights
San Sebastián 4 nights
Bilbao 4 nights
Haro 2 nights
Zaragoza 2 nights
Barcelona 1 night
Fly home.
Thoughts or ideas?
Thanks
Jeff
Two excellent hikes: from SS to Pasaia (easy to find path along the coast, bus for return) and from Zumaia to Deba on the coastal St. James Way path (really exceptional rock formations), accessible with train.
Three days would have felt like a lot to me in Bilbao, but if you have plans, ignore that.
Yes, three days in Bilbao allows a day for a side-trip. Unless you want to do a lot of pintxo-hopping or are hoping for beach weather, I'd say 3 days in San Sebastian allows for two side-trips.
Zaragoza can be beastly hot in the summer, so be sure your lodgings are air-conditioned and conveniently located.
Thank you both for your responses. Maybe I should consider only 3 days in SS and 3 in Bilbao. Also maybe I should eliminate my Zaragoza stay based on the heat.
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
The itinerary is sound. why don't you do an open jaw flight plan. Start off your trip in Basque Country, San Sebastian. Fly into Madrid and take a connection flight to San Sebastian.
From there you can arrange the itinerary like this:
San Sebastián - 4 Nights
Bilbao - 4 Nights
Zaragoza - 2 Nights
Barcelona - 8 Nights ( With day trips to Girona, Montserrat, and Sitges for 3 days out of those 8 days)
You will fly out from Barcelona without doing any back tracking
Just depends on what you had on your list of to dos. I'd probably want a full day in SS for just kicking around--we found the amusement park fairly entertaining. If you were interested, the Pasaia hike would not be a full day, but you could have a long lunch there. The other hike would probably cover a full day with transport. The beach is actually pretty nice in SS (and I am a beach snob).
I do hope to give Bilbao a second chance at some point--being somewhere on a Sunday can really de deflating sometimes. I don't know the public transport options for exploring that area. What we really loved were all the little towns along the coast, so if you are concerned about heat in Zaragoza, staying in a coastal spot might offer some relief. I still kick myself for skipping Getaria. I definitely plan to return with a car to explore the inland area around Bilbao.
The flight idea is good except we will be using a companion fare with WestJet and I have to fly in and out of Barcelona
Please do not eliminate Zaragoza just because of the potential of being a little hot. You will only be there 2 nights so there is also a good chance the weather will be fine in June, I was there for a week last August and did not have any problems.
It would be a shame to just bypass it, as it makes for a convenient stop between Barcelona and the Basque County and is packed with many interesting cultural sites. Remember this is a dry heat not humid, think southern California.
Hi Jeff,
If you decide to keep La Rioja in your itinerary, I would substitute Logroño for Haro if you don't have a car.
Except for the wineries in Haro, not a lot of food and culture. What's more, the wineries there are all big ones that you can usually get in the states.
In Logroño, there is more culture. There is even a Michelangelo in the cathedral. As for food, calles San Juan and Laurel are worth comparing to the tapas in Donostia and Bilbao. And they are cheaper and have a less touristy vibe. In Logroño there are two wineries you can visit walking, the classic Bodegas Franco Espanolas and the new Ijalba.
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One of your days you could go to visit Laguardia, just 14km from Logroño. Of course there are wineries to visit, I like this one, Bodegas Palacios. There is a nice hike out of the town to visit the dolmens.
Jeff - Carlos makes a very good point. He is from Spain so he knows the area. Keep Zaragoza on the itinerary. Since you can't do an open jaw flight plan, keep the original itinerary, drop Haro and add Valencia.
Barcelona 6 nights (Day trip to Montserrat and to 1 other either Girona or Sitges)
San Sebastián 4 nights
Bilbao 4 nights
Zaragoza 2 nights
Valencia 2 nights
Barcelona 1 night
Fly home.
I am so appreciative of the advice from everyone. Thanks so much.
Based on recommendations,
I am now considering the following places
Barcelona 5 nights
San Sebastián 3 nights
Gueteria 3 nights
Bilbao 2 nights
Logrono 2 nights
Zaragoza 2 nights
Valencia 2 nights
Barcelona 1 night
hey hey jfender
since you’re planning to visit northern Spain, why not check out across border to french basque region, my best friend from there.
small villages, ranch and farmlands, fruit trees that make local ciders and liqueurs. Biarritz well known surfer capital of Europe
Bayonne famous for chocolate and ham, stop at les halles market for local products and to roam the marketplace.
sat jean de luz and st Jean pied de port to walk around
travelswithmaribel.wordpress.com a blog about the area and villages, red peppers black cherries
Rhune train
bascovivo.com
touradour.com
if you plan on renting a car at all, get an IDP (translation of drivers license) at AAA/CAA lots of people places and things to think about. just some other ideas to ponder and enjoy your trip to have fun.
aloha
Glad you decided keep Zaragoza :) (and thanks RJean for the shoutout)
Now a little insider tip, in between Zaragoza and Valencia, make sure to stop at the cliffside medieval town of Albarracín (about halfway). It was the capital of its own Moorish city-state and was named (by popular vote) in 2018 the most prettiest village in Spain by our Spanish national newspaper El Pais.
If you can't find public transport to Albarracín, then Teruel (also halfway), with its Mudéjar architecture, also makes for a nice place to make a pit stop, with more transport options.
PS: renting a car when you leave Barcelona and returning it when to come back at the end, would probably be your most efficient transportation option, taking to account your current itinerary.
As of May this year it was not possible to do a day-trip to Albarracin. The bus from Teruel (the only public transportation) leaves in the afternoon (different time on Saturday, no service on Sunday), and the return bus leaves Albarracin in the morning. Teruel has many picturesque Moorish towers and sees very few foreign tourists.
These are all good places, but I think we've long-since reached the tipping point in terms of overloading this itinerary.
Hey, we're doing almost the same trip in May, 2020. Mind if I piggyback and ask a few questions?
We've got 7 days to get from Barcelona to Bilbao, from which we depart to Paris. We got a good deal on a one-way car rental, which frees us from looping back to Barc. (Not to mention open-jaw Barc in, Paris out, but that's another story.)
Two primary questions:
- Is Pamplona worth a night, or is it better to just drive on through to San Sebastian from Barcelona, with maybe a stop for lunch?
I know these questions might seem obvious to people who know. I'm a CA native, and I sort of imagine it would be like someone asking me if they should stay in Carmel or SLO. Both are fine, but if you had to choose one, I think most people would suggest Carmel/Monterey.
TIA for tips, advice and/or suggestions.
@snerfling,
unless there is something you really want to see in Pamplona, go straight on to San Sebastian.
About visiting Elciego, to use a California example, if you were going from San Francisco to Laguna Beach, would you detour to Malibu to see the Getty Villa Museum? Depends on how much interest one has.
That said, you might want to send that Pamplona night in Laguardia. If you still want to see the Marques de Riscal, it is just a few kilometers from Laguardia.
Hi Jeff, you haven't got that many days yet... do you know there's much more to discover in Catalonia besides its capital city Barcelona?
Just to tease you I'll add some links....
@dlindstrom
Thanx for the insight. OK, it looks like we've firmed up our plans a bit, but the question still remains regarding Pamplona:
D1/2 Barcelona
D3 Zaragoza
D4 Elciego (Gehry)
D5/6 San Sebastian
D7 Bilboa
The drive from Elciego to SS looks about equidistant going though either Vitoria or Pamplona. However, again without firsthand knowledge I have no idea which way is preferable ie nicer, prettier, less truck traffic, etc.
Secondly, the issue comes up again regarding Pamplona itself. To once again use CA as an example, is Pamp a hot sad joke like routing through Sacramento? Or is it a bit more unique along the lines say of Pismo beach or San Luis Obispo? That is, certainly not A list, but ok if you happen to be cruising by?
To use the Calif example again, what if someone asked me if they should take US 101 or I-5 between LA & SF? It's a no brainer if you have an extra 1-2 hours - take the 101. However, if you're really pressed for time and don't mind driving through some of the most boring & depressing* parts of CA, then blow up the 5.
@snerfling, hi instead of Pamplona, consider staying at the nearby medieval walled town of Olite, complete with a maze like old center, paradores, and a large medieval castle, once the seat of the Kings of Navarre!
Hi @Carlos, thanx for the quick reply. The way our itinerary stands right now, we're going to be spending a night @ the Gehry hotel in Elciego, then driving to San Sebastian where we'll be staying two nights before continuing on to Bilbao.
My question regarding Pamplona was whether it was worthwhile to drive in that direction to SS for a quick lunch stop? Or, would it be preferable to head the other way via Vitoria-Gasteiz?
Upon further research, I saw a few suggestions similar to yours: either go to Olite, or stay around Laguardia. Since we'll already be there, it seems like the thing to do is spend our (precious) lunch hour(s) somewhere around Elciego, and then drive up to SS via Vitoria.
The drive distances are very similar: 192km via Pamplona vs 148km via Vitoria. (40km or 25 miles is negligible.) What's really at issue is it seems a better choice to have one last meal around Laguardia, and take a shorter, more leisurely route to SS.
If Pamplona was an A list draw, then yeah it might be worth it to take the time to find a parking place, stroll around and get lunch. But if it's just a typical tourist venue, then I'd rather relax in the beautiful countryside.
At the risk of boring people with constant Calif examples, a reply above mentioned Malibu. Now, if someone asked me should they drive by Malibu or Hollywood on the way from San Diego to San Francisco, can you guess what my reply would be? LOL
OK, for those not familiar, Hollywood has to be one of the world's most depressing, disappointing wastes of time possible. Yet, tourists still flock there, aimlessly milling around among the homeless, filth and weirdos. OTOH, Malibu is one of the most beautiful stretches of Calif coastline; perhaps surpassed only by Big Sur.
But you couldn't possibly know this coming as an outsider. Only an (experienced) local would be able to guide you in the right direction.
