Barcelona to Basque Country or Pyrénées in Spain and France

How are you planning to travel? Trains? Rental car? Fly from BCN to Bilbao and then rent a car or travel by train or bus in the Basque Country?

We will do either train or rental car

Personally I would choose the Basque Country over the Pyrenees. You’ll get more helpful information on this site if you say how many days you have for your trip. With enough time you could drive a loop from Barcelona to Bilbao to San Sebastián then on to Bayonne and through Andorra ( not worth a lot of time but it’s in the mountains) on your way back to Barcelona. You might have time for a night in Carcassonne. Depends on how much time you have for the trip.

I can’t speak to trains, but there are few roads going through and across the mountains. To me, this is a case where you should decide where to go first, then decide if trains would even work to get you where you want to go in a timely manner. Don’t forget about busses. With a rental car, expect that there may be some backtracking and mountain roads will twist and turn, but you’ll be able to reach your destination in a timely fashion.

If staying with the Basque area bus or train should work just fine. The actual Basque area isn’t that large. There are a lot of small towns, villages and sites worth visiting throughout the Basque and surrounding areas, so depending on what you want to visit a rental car may be advantageous.

Both the Basque region and Pyrenees are worth visiting. Skipping the main cities I’d have no trouble filling three weeks or more. I always get a rental car due to the off the beaten path locations I tend to visit.

We did the Basque country last summer on a Gate 1 Tour and it is some distance from Barcelona. You need 3 days just for San Sebastian and Bilbao. Lots of travel time.

The Basque country is great, but not sure about your time. Check mapquest for the travel time.

Our self-drive trip to Barcelona-Basque Country-Barcelona was our first visit to Spain in September, 2019, and we were enthralled! Our itinerary was fast paced but suited us and our companions, all in our 70s. Of course more time is always better…

This is what we did:
Arrived Barcelona, drove directly to Zaragoza
To Laguardia, then on to Vitoria-Gastiez
To Bilbao
To San Sebastian via coastal towns and Chillida Leku
San Sebastian
To Hondaribbia
To Sare, Ainhoa, Espellette, back to Hondaribbia
To Bayonne via St. Jean de Luz
To Carcassone (bad choice, do not reccommend)
To Barcelona via Figueres (Dali Theatre Museum)
Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona

We have been back to Spain several times since. The Basque Country is special and we would happily return. Have a great trip!

Where did you spend the night after leaving Barcelona? Is there any place you wish you had spent more time or any additional places you wish you had stopped? What hotels did you stay in on your trip?

@mml has a good itinerary, but I would make two suggestion.

One take the AVE to Zaragoza and pick up the car there. Save some driving.

Two, I agree about Carcassonne. Instead of going all the way across France, stop at Pau, it is a nice visit and the Palace is great. Then you can go south, to Jaca, with is also nice and on to Zaragoza to drop the car off. Use the day in Carcassonne for Zaragoza. A quick search of the forum will show that many people like Zaragoza and it is still rather unknown. Then AVE back to Barcelona.
By Jaca you can visit San Juan de la Peña and the castle of Loarre.

Great suggestions! My husband actually has family roots in Pau and would love to go there. How many days would this drive take? It’s hard to tell for sure.

If you had the time and wanted to stay in a couple places that are not cities, SOS Del Rey Católico and Olite are nice. We used them as bases for visiting numerous sites and villages in the area. We also used Santo Domingo de la Calzada as a base, but it’s getting away from where you want to go.

There is never enough time in Spain! We could have spent more time all along the way but especially Hondaribbia (best food ever at Bar Gran Sol) and Laguardia (returned there Sept. 2024 and want to go back again). We had pleasant stops in Guernica and St. Jean de Luz. Both probably warranted more time as did Zaragoza. We spent our first night there and only had time to see the Aljaferia and the Cathedral.

Hotels where we stayed:
Zaragoza - Hotel Pilar Plaza
Vitoria-Gastiez - NH Canciller Ayala Vitoria
Bilbao - Barcelo Bilbao Nervion
San Sebastian- Legazpi Rooms and Suites
Hondaribbia - Hotel Jauregi
Bayonne - OKKO Hotels Bayonne Centre
Barcelona - Hotel Praktik Rambla

We had no complaints anywhere but most enjoyed Legazpi and Praktik Rambla.

Would it be practical at all to base ourselves in San Sebastián and Bayonne and see the other spots from those bases? Just hate moving hotels so much. Also, was parking an issue for you in any of the places along the way? Thanks for your help!

Yes, if you are averse to moving, San Sebastian would work as a base. Hondaribbia has a totally different feel than San Sebastian. We wanted to experience both and are glad we did. Also, Hondaribbia is a more doable starting point for a day trip to the French Basque towns. Parking was not an issue anywhere. In Zaragoza there was an underground parking garage within easy walking distance to the hotel. In San Sebastian our accommodation directed us to a nearby garage. Otherwise, I don’t recall where we parked but we had no problem anywhere. However, we did not drive in Barcelona. There we dropped the car at the airport and took the train into the city.

How many days would this drive take?

This is up to you. I don't like to drive fast, especially when I'm driving on vacation, prefer to enjoy the drive. That said:
For a general idea, plan just under two hours Zaragaza to Logroño/Laguardia and a bit more to Haro.
Logroño to Bilbao is just over an hour.
Bilbao to San Sebastian can't say.

San Sebastian to Pau is two hours, if you take the highway.
Pau to Jaca is can be an hour and a half, more if you get behind a lot of trucks.
Jaca to Zaragoza another two hours.

How many days that takes is up to you. You could do the whole thing in a circle is a day if you really wanted too

Bilbao to Donostia-San Sebastian is roughly over an hour drive, but I would divert to the coast to Gernika-Mundaka-Bermeo-San Juan de Gaztelugatxe-Plentzia and then Bilbao (if coming from D-SS, if not, just the opposite). Hondarribia (not Hondaribbia) makes a great visit from Donostia-San Sebastian, it´s also a great place to stay but with less life than D-SS.

@MikelBasqueGuide - Oops…Apologies for misspelling Hondarribia.