Northern Spain in April/May

Hi Eleni,

In Northern Spain, You can visit the towns of Santander, Oviedo, Santiago De Compostela, and Pamplona along your trip. If you like to sample wines, then make a stopover at the Rioja wine region. The main wine regions are Rio Baja, Rio Alta and Rio Alavesa.

Here would be some of my top picks for cities and day trips (East to West). I have bold places to spend some nights and later radiate out to explore the region. Day trips are un-bold:

-San Sebastián (2 nights) - an International culinary capital, feels very Belle Époque... maybe a bit too posh for my taste. Of course the main attraction are those famous Pintxos bars that line every street.

-Drive along the Basque Coast - with its emerald waters, hidden coves, quaint seaside villages, and stunning cliffs the drive from San Sebastián to Bilbao is very picturesque. A highlight for me was San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, which is a 10th century Hermitage set atop a craggy islet, they actually filmed some scenes from Game of Thrones here.

-Bilbao (2 nights) - Bilbao is the more grounded brother to San Sebastián. With its contrasting old and new architecture and nice riverside area, I actually like Bilbao better than San Sebastián. The main draw is the Guggenheim, one of the leading contemporary art museums in the world.

-Santillana del Mar (1 night optional) - Well preserved medieval town in the Cantabrian region. Known for its medieval towers, Renaissance villas and the Romanesque Santa Juliana Collegiate Church. One can spend the night here too.

-Altamira caves - UNESCO world heritage site located near Santillana del Mar with numerous Paleolithic cave paintings. The real caves are closed to the public but there is a pretty good replica cave and museum there too.

-Potes - (2 nights) an atmospheric medieval town located high up in the Cantabrian Mountains. Makes for a great place to explore the Picos de Europa National Park in depth.

-Picos de Europa - Mountain range between Cantabria and Asturias offers some of Europe's most spectacular and breath taking mountain scenery, definitely worth a visit.

-Oviedo (2 nights) - The capital of Asturias. Known for its Gothic medieval old town, apparently Woody Allen's favorite city in Spain.

-Covadonga - known as the "cradle of Spain", a pilgrimage site dedicated to the Battle of Covadonga of 718 AD, which set off the Reconquista. There is also a Holy Cave, where lies Kings Pelagius and Alfonso I, the first kings of Asturias. From here, one can also do a nice hike to the Lakes of Covadonga, which takes about 3:30 hr each way, but are well worth it!

Drive south to León

Hopefully these give you a few ideas :)

Also, be aware that April and May are the most rainy of all the year in Northern Spain, with an average of 34 days of rain between the two months. I would just be prepared, as they say in Norway, "there is no bad weather just bad clothing"! 😜

I really do not recommend Santander. It has lovely beaches, but April/May won't be beach season (even mid-summer isn't reliably beach season). Most of the old buildings were wiped out in a 1940s fire, so it doesn't have the historic architecture you'll find in many other places. I stayed in Santander because it's a transportation hub for that region. You have a car, so you don't need to do that.