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Itinerary suggestions for 11 days in Spain or Spain/Portugal

Hello,
We had planned to fly from Madrid to Bilbao with the following itinerary in early April:
3 nights Bilbao, then renting a car to travel to:
1 night Lekeitio
1 night Getario
3 nights San Sabastian with day trips to various places outside it
3 nights stay with a friend in Santiago de Compestela
Return to Madrid and fly back to the U.S.

However, the following issues have presented themselves, necessitating some rethinking

The Bilbao flight has been delayed for 5 hours, not leaving until nearly midnight.

Our friends may be unavailable!!

So we want to rethink our itinerary. We have already been to Madrid and headed south to Toledo, Cordoba, Seville, Granada, and Barcelona.

We definitely want to visit the Basque Country, and are thinking that three nights in SS might not be the best idea given the other posts I have seen. We are completely flexible except for starting and returning to Madrid, and are wondering about the following:
1. Can we do 11 days in the Basque Country and Navarre and if so, where and what would be the recommended itinerary.
2. Should we consider Portugal for part of the trip and if so, how to schedule it?
3. Should we consider Malaga as part of the trip and if so, how to schedule it?

Posted by
4971 posts

You can easily fill 10-11 days (assuming last night in Madrid) in the Basque region. Malaga and Portugal are pretty far. I’d do a more exhaustive tour of the north instead. But I like small villages.
I loved San Sebastián, but I don’t think opinions matter much—read up on what there is to see. You can probably play it by ear in early April. Check it out and move on if it’s not your cup of tea.

Posted by
23 posts

What would you recommend ss an itinerary? Should we rent a car in Madrid and stop along the way? Or stay one night in Madrid and fly to Bilbao the next Morning. Do you recommend staying in BilbO and San Sabastian for 3 nights each? or basing ourselves in one place? There or somewhere else?

Posted by
481 posts

Agree with Val...just add the SdC days to your Basque visit. You will have no problem finding enchanting ways to fill your days. BTW I have been monitoring RT flights from Reno to Bilbao in April $1200 on Delta, no need to overnite in Madrid. Have a look at Olite, Laguardia, Estella, Victoria Gasteiz, lots of choices.