My husband and I would like to take the northern coastal route with the FEVE train with a possible stay overnight in Comillas or Llanes en route to Santiago. I am having difficulties accessing specific information on the FEVE train which is now part of the Renfe system. We are also considering renting a car in San Sebastian to cover this part of our trip to simplify, but our preference is to go by train. Any ideas, thoughts, recommendations are appreciated. Thank you.
Posted by
270 posts
Hi. I can't help with the train stuff, but we rented a car in that area a couple of years ago, traveling from Vigo, Santiago de Compostela, Santander to Bilbao. Renting the car was easy (we went through Kayak and found a cheap, small car for the two of us), driving was easy, the roads were exceptionally nice. Just for information, we always buy the full insurance protection after hearing horror stories about how things can go wrong. Things that were surprising were the tolls (best to pay with a credit card - it's faster), expensive parking at the hotels (sometimes 20 euros a day), and standard transmission (had to relearn!). So, renting the car ended up being a pretty big expense, but it's really convenient. We took many side trips to places that would be inaccessible or difficult/time consuming to get to by bus/train. Have a great trip!
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
If you drove in France last year (previous post), then you'll find the driving no harder along the Spanish north coast. I enjoyed driving there, but was delayed by one big traffic jam approaching San Sebastian. Benefits could include scenic driving into the mountains or (for foodies) to one of the expensive, highly regarded restaurants in rural areas near San Sebastian (otherwise accessible by taxi).
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thank you all for your time and help with our decision. Although we wanted to do this trip entirely by train, it is very nice to have the freedom from the timetables and to travel anywhere in this area. We have decided to rent a car and thanks for letting us know that it is the best decision.