Madrid to Basque Area

We had a house in Orio so we took a drive that was basically a loop on N121-A and N121-B that included Bera, the Beritzko Jaurerriko Nature Park, Elizondo (good place for lunch) and the Witch's Cave in Zugarramurdi (Cuevas de las Brujas). We completed the loop by cutting back into France to Sare and then back to Bera and home. Something we all still laugh about was that we had a GPS with a chip for Spain and the second we crossed into France, it went blank with the little arrow floating in a field of gray until we got back into Spain. It was a great day up in the Pyrenees and a nice break from cities. It makes sense if you have a car, an extra day and you're in the San Sebastian area. A map of the area is helpful! Enjoy Spain.

Keith

You can easily fill two weeks' time in north-central and northwestern Spain without dipping into Portugal, but Porto would be tempting. The countryside in nothern Spain is mostly very pretty, so you won't necessarily want to take the fastest route between cities. That may affect how much ground you cover.

I'm using public transportation, so you'd be more mobile than I have been. I enjoyed all of the following, in addition to the three cities you mentioned:

• Hondarribia/Fuenterrabia as a day-trip from San Sebastian. Practically on the French border. Has both a colorful fishermen's quarter (restaurant central) and an older district on a hill. Highly recommended.

• Fishing villages/beach towns in Basque country visited from Bilbao (Bermeo) and especially three hit in sequence from San Sebastian (Zarautz, Getaria and Zumaia). I think the last was my favorite. Leteiko gets good write-ups, but I didn't have time for it.

• Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of the inland part of Basque country, which has a large historic district on a hill. Very attractive. Some museums, too.

• Laguardia, a stunning hilltown in the same Basque province as V-G, but closer to Logrono. Aside from the the look of the place, this is La Rioja wine country.

• Today I took a bus from Santiago de Compostela through part of the Galician Rias Baixas, passing through Noia and Esteiro and walking too briefly along the waterfront in Muros. It's pretty country, but that particular ria is not going to make anyone forget the Bay of Kotor, not to mention the Norwegian fjords. My initial impression--because I really didn't give those towns enough attention-- is that the coastal towns I saw in the Basque Country were more interesting. There's much more to see in Galicia, though; I've only just arrived.

• Neither in Basque Country nor in Galicia, but sort of in between:

  • Picos de Europa, a small mountainous area in Catabria/Asturias/Castilla y Leon. There are roads through gorges, a beautiful old stone town (Potes), a funicular at Fuente De that swoops you up to a high perch from which you can walk down if you have 4 or 5 hours, and a couple of alpine lakes above Covadonga. There's at least one gorge walk that sounded way too challenging for me, but there may be others. I didn't get to the Covadonga-area lakes because the buses don't start running till late July. Lovely, lovely area. Top recommendation from me. Take advantage of having a car. Potes would be a nice place to spend the night. Probably busier on weekends in September tHan mid-week. There are adventure outfitters in the area, too.
    • Burgos, with a very attractive city center and lovely cathedral. Lively; two interesting monasteries of which my favorite was the Cartuja de Miraflores. I'm biased in favor of Burgos because I found two restaurants offering grilled vegetable plates, and I am on a semi-fruitless quest to find cooked veggies in Spain.
    • Leon, whose cathedral has nearly 20,000 square feet of stunning stained glass. Largish old quarter including a lively bar/restaurant district, the Barrio Humedo.
    • Oviedo, with another impressive cathedral plus three 9th century churches/buildings. Nice old quarter of conside able size. For just walking aeound I slightly preferred Burgos and Leon, but Oviedo is worth seeing, too.
    • Gijon, coastal city with a smallish old quarter near the port but a surprisingly large downtown of handsome buildings which I'm guessing are mostly 19th and early 20th century. Some art nouveau, though not like the off-the-wall stuff in Barcelona.
      
    • Santillana del Mar, a very picturesque old town not too far from the nice-but-skippable Santander. Santillana is one of those cities lost in time, plus the prehistoric cave of Altamira is nearby. Only thr reproduction cave is open, and timed tickets are required. Closed on Monday, which meant that I missed it.

Thank you @Keith for the info and @acraven for such a detailed suggested itinerary! How was the weather? Any 'must-not-miss' dining recommendations? @Keith, I noted your suggestion. Thanks again!