Basque tour - 11 days after plan

Posted by txfbullard on 08/06/26 09:53 PM

Hi fellow travellers,
My wife and I have a RS Basque tour ending Sept 24th.
Our flight is out of Paris Oct 5th.
Rough plan is to take about half that time in northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela, fly from there to Paris and have about 4 nights there.
Pico de Europa, Santillana del Mar, ...
Wife has never been to Paris so the multi city flight is in to Biarritz and out of Paris (still refundable though).
An alternative would be to get to a couple of the major cities such as Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo.
Or just travel through France-maybe Loire Valley - to Paris.

So many ideas and so little time.

Any and all ideas would be most welcome,
Tim

Posted by bguy36

Minnesota

08/07/26 01:42 PM

29 posts

Too many options!

Continuing through Northern Spain makes a lot of sense. Fisterra and Muxia are quaint little towns on the Galician coast with a lot of history that might be worth a visit after Northern Spain and Santiago de Compostela. Pilgrims would continue from Santiago de Compostela to Fisterra (considered the end of the earth) to pick up a seashell to prove that they had completed the journey, hence the shell as the symbol of the Camino.

Madrid/Cordoba/Sevilla is an easy arc via train.
Madrid and Barcelona would give you a good overview of major Spanish cities.

Lots of potential paths back to Paris via France (particularly with public transportation, potentially requiring a flight).
Loire Valley
Brittany (Dinan, St. Malo, Rennes, etc.)
Montpellier/Lyon/Paris

Portugal is an option (Porto being fairly close to Santiago de Compostela)

Posted by txfbullard OP

08/07/26 03:54 PM

8 posts

Thank you for your reply.

How long should I plan to take going from Bilbao (tour over there) to Santiago de Compostela?

Any recommendations on fantastic towns/places to stay mid range budget ?

Posted by geovagriffith

08/07/26 04:38 PM

10383 posts

Also, visiting Carrasonne and the Bordeaux region of SW France ia another great idea.
Santiago de Compostela and Galacia are great as well.

Posted by jaimeelsabio

Mid-Atlantic area

08/07/26 05:00 PM

8802 posts

One could easily take a week or more going from Bilbao to Santiago if driving. Two to three nights in each Burgos, León, and Lugo, then another three nights in Santiago, assuming you haven’t been to any of those cities/town.

En route you could stop at Astorga, Ponferrada, Castrojeriz, or any number of other towns. It all depends on how much time you have.

Posted by shoeflyer

Chicago

08/08/26 12:35 PM

1467 posts

If you end up near Santillana del Mar, consider a side trip to the El Castillo and Las Monedas
caves near Puente Visago. You can tour with a guide and come right up to cave art made
by prehistoric dwellers 15,000 years ago. Unlike Altamira which has been closed to the
public, you tour the actual caves.

There are other cave systems as you head west as well.