End of September/October visit to Basque Spain, Basque France, Bordeaux and Dordogne

I can only speak to one part of your trip -- Basque France. We spent a week in Saint Jean Pied du Port a few years ago, and saw a lot of the area. Out of the 3 towns in that area that you mention, I think SJPdP would be my choice. The local wine is Irouleguy, which is a very small appellation -- only 9 producers (at least as of 2013). 3 of them can be visited on foot from the center of SJPdP. A little bit further away, but not too far, is the Jurancon wine region, which makes fascinating, only white, wines.
The link below is from my blog for part of that trip. The posts before and after it also cover that area.
http://mainelywinenews.blogspot.com/2013/03/more-from-pays-basque.html

We stayed in Hondarribia, Spain on the Spanish -French border and also explored the Pais Vasco( Spanish Basque refion) and the French Pays Basque from there. We enjoyed St-Jean de Luz and consider the Basque villages in the foothills of the Pyrenees among the most beautiful of the French villages we have visited; we had been in most regions of France previously. Ascain, Sarè, Espellette ( famous for it’s peppers and paprika) and Ainhoa. We will stay in one of these villages on our next trip to the area. The Basque farm house architecture, the villages’pelota courts in the town centers and the food are all wonderdul. Buy the disrinctive striped fabrics and linens. And buy espadrilles there too. Look at www.maribelsguides.com for helpful information in a printable pdf format on both the Spanish and French Basque regions.

Logistics for getting to and from the Basque country are indeed a bit complicated. I was struck by the fact that when Louis XIV of France and Marie Therese of Spain married, it was in St. Jean de Luz precisely because it was almost equidistant between Paris and Madrid. Alas, it's also pretty far from each of them.

Yes, train connections from Bilbao to Madrid are going to be better than to Paris. You can also fly out of Bilbao with a connection. Or, you can go from Bilbao to Madrid or Barcelona by train or bus, then fly out of Madrid. It all depends on what flights you find to and from your home airport, as well as whether you want to see Madrid or Barcelona on this trip.

Note that buses are the mainstay of travel in Spain; the trains are not as fast or frequent as in many other European countries, and the high speed trains (while fine) are skeletal. The buses are much nicer than you might expect from having taken them in the US; you often get an assigned seat, and one I took even had setback screens like on a plane, along with Wi-Fi, USB charging ports and electrical outlets at the seat! Of course, you may want to rent a car in Spain (separate from the France one, to save the cross-border drop charge).

Between Bilbao and San Sebastian, there is a local train (the Euskotren), which is supposed to be very scenic but takes much longer (2.5 hours) than the bus (1.5 hours). This train is not run by Renfe, which is why you're being routed from Bilbao through Barcelona to Paris. But you can take a bus from Bilbao all the way to Bayonne, and then a train to Paris, if you wish.

As for where to visit in Spanish Basque country, look at Getaria (with the Balanciaga Museum) and Hondarribia (lovely town with both an upper town and a lower one near the water).

Bilbao is a larger city, and you may not like it. It has some great museums, but if these don't draw you, you should focus your time elsewhere.

I found enough English to get around in both French and Spanish Basque country - except on menus, which were almost always in the local language only.

I wrote a detailed trip report of my Basque country visit in May 2017. Note that it wasn't my favorite place, and the goals of my trip were quite different from yours. However, your goals should work much better - I was seeking urban attractions, which are largely lacking (except in Bilbao), and not seeking small towns, linen and food and chocolate shops, beaches, and pretty places to walk, which are abundant. Here's my report - it may help you with some logistics: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/basque-country-trip-report-bayonne-san-sebastian-vitoria-gasteiz-and-bilbao-may-2017

There is bus service from Bayonne and Biarritz to San Sebastian and Bilbao. Scenic ride. Train service is more awkward since the track gauges are different in the two countries, necessitating a change on the outskirts of Biarritz to the small local train mentioned above. Bilbao has the biggest regional airport.

https://www.busbud.com/en/bus-biarritz-bilbao/r/ezwzke-eztyj7

https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Bilbao-Airport-BIO/Biarritz

Jules,

Some thoughts that you might consider. Check out taking a TGV directly from CDG to Bordeaux. When thinking about a car, check out leasing one. Whether leasing or renting, you could drive in France and then to San Sebastian and Bilbao Spain. As long as you return to France to drop the car off, the cost would still be reasonable. Drop off could possibly be done in Bayonne and then you could take a train back to Paris. Last summer, we did something similar, though our drop off was Montpelier. It surprised me that the process of leasing seemed almost identical to renting.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Loire and the Dordogne, two summers ago. Last summer we visited Tours, Chinon, Bordeaux, San Sebastion, Bilbao, Barcelona, Girona and Figures. San Sebastion was probably our favorite, with Barcelona a close second.

Have fun,
Ed

Southam, thanks for the bus information! That is the missing link I was seeking!

I'll be watching this thread for more information - we are also interested in driving in France and taking public transportation in Spain, exploring smaller towns, and enjoying eating at bistros and sampling tapas/pinxtos.

Thanks!
Laurie

Finally getting back to planning this trip. Thanks for the awesome suggestions.
Question--I am hearing that it is expensive to rent a car in France and then cross the border into Spain. Does this just apply if we are returning the car in Spain? If we rented in Bordeaux or some other area in southern France to explore Pays Basque and Dordogne and just a bit of time in the Bordeaux region and then choose to see some of the smaller towns across the border in Spain, would the rental car company need to know? We've rented a few times in France and found it fairly trouble free. Anything we'd need to know about driving in Spain?

You may find this useful.
http://barnesfamily.com/Euskara_Phrasebook.pdf
I made it in preparation for our trip this Fall.

Yes, it's expensive to rent a car in one country and return it in another. But it usually doesn't cost extra to rent in one place in a country and return it to a different place in the same country (or, if there is a charge, it's minimal, instead of the several hundred euros people have reported for renting across countries).

You will probably be asked which countries you intend to take the car to. These days, it shouldn't be a problem to take a car from France to Spain and back, but check when you arrange the rental to be sure. There can be problems taking certain cars rented in the former Western Europe into the former Eastern Europe, but that doesn't apply in this case.