My wife and are are former bicycle racers that love to tailor our vacations around the three grand Tours. This year, Tour de France. The race starts this year in Barcelona. They call it the Gran Depart. We've been to Barcelona before and loved it. We don't need much advice on that part of the trip. We leave Barcelona the morning of July 6th. But where do we go go. One fixed date is July 7 & 8 (departing the morning of the 9th) in Luz Saint Sauveur. We will be riding bikes to the end of a mountain stage of the tour. Flying out of Barcelona July 14. That part of the adventure is pretty well set, but nothing else is. Basque country, but where? One idea in train to Girona from Barcelona on the 6th, back to Barcelona the next day the 7th fly to San Sebastian July 7th. Rent a car to Luz Saint Sauveur. Stay the night in Luz July 7, watch the race July the 8th. drive back to San Sebastian the 9th. Good so far--Now what? The Girona part of the trip could be cancelled in favor of something better (or easier, although we really want to see Girona). We want to see San Sebastian and Bilbao, but we are not fond of the lodging prices there. We prefer trains and buses over renting a car. Any ideas for smaller towns along the way we could stay at as base camp and day trip into the cities. Any "can't miss" spots we should hit? We would prefer to do this with public transportation for the transfers but we could either return the car to San Sebastian or keep it. Flight out to Barcelona is arrives mid afternoon. It looks like an early morning flight out of Bilbao arrives in Barcelona early enough to give us 3 hours to make our international flight transfer to JFK. Can we make that? Any thoughts? too much and not enough time? Should we cancel the Girona idea and fly immediately to San Sebastian giving us an extra day in the
Basque country? Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated. Thanks.
Posted by
OP
7 posts
Also, anything "must do or see" in Bilbao and San Sebastian we should definitely see or leave off? We have done food tours before in Barcelona and loved it. Try to find one maybe in the tapa area?
Posted by
Colorado Mountains, USA
8713 posts
It seems that 20 years ago, lots of pro bike racers lived and trained in/near Girona, for the challenging roads nearby, and it was a big bike center. I’m not sure who’s living there now, when not racing, or what Peloton vibe exists. I know that many are basing in Nice, France.
At the west end of Basque country is Bilbao, from where Le Tour departed in 2023. It’s a worthwhile visit, and we stayed there for 3 nights back in 2015. Neat modern art museum, in an imaginative building.
If it’s pouring rain in San Sebastián (Donostia in Basque Euskara language), there’s a good aquarium in town, where we spent one rainy day. South of Donostia, we had the best lunch of our lives at 23-Michelin-starred Restaurant Martin Betesategui. The chef is Basque, and it was expensive but complete worth it. Lunch is cheaper than dinner ;-)