Northern Spain from Madrid - wine tours? Car rentals?

We were in Northern Spain last September and one of the highlights of our trip was the Rioja wine festival in Logrono. We rented a car just over the border from France and drove to Bilbao, staying several days and then drove to Logrono for the wine festival. Logrono has several streets that are lined with pintxos bars and during the festival the streets are thronged with people celebrating the wine harvest. Visiting wineries is not as easy as in North America, requiring advanced reservations. We think we got a better wine experience in Logrono with no worries about drinking and driving. After we left Logrono we drove to Salamanca staying several days, which we also enjoyed. It's a university town full of history and very walkable. We dropped the rental car when we got to Salamanca and took the train to Madrid. It was our second trip to Madrid and we are glad we went back.

Northern Spain is completely different and I recommend you read The Basque History of the World by Mark Kurlansky before you go. It really helped us to appreciate the Basque culture. Originally our primary reason for going to Bilbao was the Guggenheim Museum and this book really changed our perspective. Don't miss the Guggenheim. We really love food and Bilbao didn't disappoint. The other thing I would recommend is Bilbao Greeters. Locals provide free tours of the city - we've taken several in different cities and really found them to be a terrific way to learn more about what it's like to live in a city. Driving in Spain is a breeze - the highways are wonderful. You just need to decide if you want to take the toll roads or the slower routes. So, a long winded way to say, yes Northern Spain is wonderful and if you can, make sure you are in Logrono for the wine festival.

Another vote for the suggestion regarding Mark Kurlansky's book, invaluable to your understanding of the Basque/Vasco region. Yes, you will be able to enjoy the beaches.
Rent a car for sure, much easier to explore the areas you mention. Check AutoEurope.

Most of the stretch of northern Spain from the Basque Country to Santiago de Compostela is much, much cooler and wetter than what we think of when we say "Spain". There were few people in the water on most of the beaches I saw in June 2016. The countryside is a glorious green for a reason. It all depends on your luck, because any given day could be totally overcast, rainy and windy. Your odds of at least being able to sun yourselves on the beach sometime during your trip are good if you retain some flexibility in your schedule so you can seize a good opportunity when it crops up. You can go to wunderground.com, enter the names of the various coastal places you decide to visit one at a time, and choose Historial then Monthly for as many recent Septembers as you care to look at. Scroll down for an hour-by-hour temperature graph. That may give you an idea of where your best chances may occur.

There are spots in Galicia that tend to be much warmer and sunnier than other areas you will travel through. Inland Santiago de C is notorious for lack of sunshine, whereas A Coruna can get quite hot.

Both the Basque Country and Galicia have a lot of picturesque coastal villages (former fishing villages, now mostly given over to tourism, but generally not grotesquely so).

The hill town of Laguardia, between Vitoria-Gasteiz (highly recommended) and Logrono is very picturesque. It has quite a number of wine bars.

Be sure you see some of the inland cities as well as the coast. Burgos and Leon are the liveliest ones I encountered. Both have fabulous cathedrals.

1. Arrive Madrid
2. Train (approx 5 hrs) to Santiago de Compostela (2N)
3. Santiago de Compostela
4. Pick up car. Drive to Oviedo (2N)
5. Oviedo
6. Drive to Picos de Europa (2N)
7. Picos de Europa
8. Drive to Santillana del Mar (1N)
9. Drive to Rioja (2N)
10. Rioja wine country
11. Drive to Pamplona (1N)
12. Drive to San Sebastián (2N) Return cat.
13. San Sebastián
14. Bus to Bilbao (1N)
15. Depart from Bilbao

These are all amazing suggestions:) This definitely gives me "must see's" to structure around - Logroño is definitely now on the list, as is Cambados while near Santiago and I will def try to avoid San Sebastián during the film festival. Interesting - my flight is into/out of Madrid but Djp_syd now I'm going to look into changing the return out of Bilbao or at least flying back to save time. (Btw you're recommended itinerary was so helpful.) Thank you all!

Don't miss San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. Stunning!

If you go to Picos de Europa I highly recommend staying in Llanes at Rural de Hierba
http://www.arpadehierba.com/en/main/
This is a lovely b&b with the most wonderful hosts you could ever hope to meet. We spent 3 nights there a year ago and wish we could've had another night or so. If you like to hike the popular trail along the Cares Gorge....I must warn you though that's it's 7 1/2 miles each way. If you don't hike this area has some gorgeous beaches that would keep you busy along with cider houses that are so much fun to experience.

Enjoy! Spain is unique and beautiful.

Hi PR, you don't say when in Sept. you will be traveling. The San Mateos in Logroño start on Saturday 16th and will end on the 24th. My advice would be to avoid the 16th and 17th, and those are the most rowdy days. Lots of drinking. The 21st is the Day of San Mateo, and there are a few more solemn type acts that day (including the grape stomping and offering to the Virgin of Valvanera) There are fireworks most nights and they are quite spectacular.

The government of La Rioja runs an activity called Wine and the Five Sense. The first half of September is dedicated to Hearing, and there will be different events, including concerts in some wineries. The nice thing is that for most of the activities they provide a bus, so you don't have to worry about drinking and driving.
Also from the 18th to the 23rd there will be Bullfights, and there will be "Semifinal del Concurso Nacional de Recortadores" who are Bull Leapers.

About the beach, it depends on the weather, it can be hit or miss. More than once I have gone to the beach near Bilbao during San Mateos, and had excellent weather. Other years, it has rained during the whole fiesta.