Bilbao, San Sebastian and Madrid

We travelled the Basque Country by car but I believe bus is a viable option. Suggest you spend two nights in Hondaribbia, two in Donastia-San Sebastian, then make a stop at Chillida Leku en route to two nights in Bilbao. Enjoy!

Hi Megan, Welcome to the forum. You can travel from Bordeaux to Hendaye on a high-speed train you can pre-book at www.SNCF-connect.com.
From Hendaye, you could take the boat to the fairytale town of HONDARIBBIA which is just across the river from Hendaye. You would need to taxi 2.5 miles from the Hendaye train station to the Port of Hendaye where the small ferry boats dock. Rick Steves is a fan of Hondaribbia and with good reason. I liked the fact it had 2 or 3 castles!
Alternatively, you can continue to Donostia/San Sebastian from Hendaye’s train station by walking to the local commuter train called “Euskotren.” The Euskotren trains leave from right next door and travel to San Sebastián’s “Amara” train station. ( The main Renfe train station is called “Donostia/San Sebastian,” with “Donostia” being the Basque name for the city.). The two train stations are just a few blocks from one another.
If you stay in Hondaribbia before going to Donostia/San Sebastián— the bus is the most efficient way to reach Donostia /San Sebastian and takes about 25-35 minutes.
And the bus is also the fastest way to get from Donstia/San Sebastián to Bilbao, taking 1:15. The trains take twice as long, or 2.5 hours.
Consider visiting OLITE while you’re in the Spanish Basque Country. It was where the King along with the Royal Court of the Kingdom of Navarre were based and today its enormous, iconic castle from 1100 is a Parador ( historic government hotel). You can stay at overnight in the castle for very reasonable prices.
You can also tour the oldest parts of the ancient castle which make up the museum. OLITE is a 90-minute drive from Donostia/San Sebastian. You also can reach it by an ALSA bus from Donostia /San Sebastian.
Because the Basque Country is mostly rural and lacks the transportation infrastructure which much of the rest of Spain has, most travelers in Basque Country use rental cars for daytripping to the more remote towns and attractions around the region.
To reach Madrid, either take a 4.5-hour train or fly from Bilbao. Bilbao offers the most options of reaching Madrid in the least amount of time.
Have a great trip!

www.TheTrainline.com
www.Skyscanner.com
www.Renfe.com
www.Alsa.com

We opted to fly from Bilbao to Madrid at the end of our Basque Country tour. It wasn’t very expensive and was much faster. With just a few days I’d focus on St Jean de Luz, Hondarribia, and San Sebastián and skip Bilbao.

Blockquote
Because the Basque Country is mostly rural and lacks the transportation infrastructure which much of the rest of Spain has > Blockquote

Wow, that´s a surprising sentence. The Basque Country has one of the best transportation infrastructure in Spain, buses take you anywhere with lots of frequencies. Trains are less used by us, as the terrain is mountainous (as in all northern Spain), so the bus system is really efficient, modern and very cheap. In any case, plenty of trains available, it´s only that for the mountainous areas they ride on narrow gauge due to the valleys and mountains, so are slower. From Donostia-San Sebastian to Bilbao (a city that should really be on your trip) bus is the best option. For some reason, as I´ve pointed out several times on these forums, US visitors tend to promote the train over the bus, which may not always be the best option (bus is the most widely used public transportation system in Spain between cities/towns).

2 nights in Donostia-San Sebastian and 2 nights in Bilbao would be a good idea. Hondarribia is very close to D-SS, it can be visited from this city.

Mike, What I’m referring to is there is only one high-speed train each morning from Madrid to Vitoria-Gasteiz. It’s an Alvia train that travels on to Donostia/San Sebastian in 5.5 hours. And there’s just one morning high-speed train from Donostia/San Sebastian to Zaragoza and onward to Barcelona.

The tracks are there— Renfe just doesn’t have many high-speed trains servicing the routes. Were there more trains in service, the Basque Country would be able to receive more travelers. There are few ( if any) express trains on the Euskotren train routes along the coast. This is why the buses are preferable to the trains because the availability of express trains that skip some stops just is not there. I understand the mountainous terrain plays a role in it taking more time to get from one town to another. But where there are high-speed rail links— there just are not very many trains on those tracks running to major cities in the country such as Madrid and Zaragoza/Barcelona.

Thanks for your comment, Kenko. In fact, there´s zero high-speed trains running in the Basque Country (Alvia is medium speed or something of the kind!), the first one is expected to be in operation by 2029...well, actually, it was expected for 2013, but the environments constraints in this area (plus other issues) have been delaying the high-speed train net to be in service. So it´s always standard trains, departing either from Bilbao, Donostia-San Sebastian or the capital, Vitoria-Gasteiz. Bus is an excellent alternative, in any case, for most of the routes.

Euskotren is a commuter train, that´s why it does not make sense to have an express train, less in a narrow gauge route (there are several Euskotren routes all over the Basque Country...but again, it´s a commuter train). This is a very mountainous area and northern Spain is served by FEVE (Ferrocarriles de Vía Estrecha- Narrow Gauge Trains) in the rest of the northern regions.

Thanks again.

Mikel (with an "l" :))

Mikel, Thanks for that info about the narrow gauge tracks and the expansion of high-speed trains in 2029.
Maybe it’s a good thing there’s a dearth of high-speed trains to Basque Country as it may be one of the many things that make it so appealing in the first place and a great place to visit.
Happy New Year!
-Ken

The slow train between Bilbao and San Sebastian takes quite a scenic route. It's worth traveling that way in one direction if you have time to do so.

Thank you all very much for the replies!
The Bordeaux to Hendaye is showing on Trainline, so that's great.
I am having trouble with the Hendaye to San Sebastian though on Trainline and keep getting error messages on Euskotren site. I assume there are many local trains each day, and I assume they leave from the same station?

It´s a commuter train, you do not make reservations on this type of trains, just get on it after getting your ticket at the station machines. Plenty daily departures.