Northern Spain without a car in July

I can’t comment on public transportation getting to where you want to go, but if you need to go past Lugo consider stopping for a night. It has a Roman wall encircling the town that is nice to walk along and is a UNESCO heritage site. It isn’t a town most tourists visit.

Thank you for the suggestion. Lugo seems to be on the bus route between Santiago and Oviedo. located almost halfway.

You can definitely carry out your plan. I traveled through northern Spain by train and bus in 2016, but in the opposite direction. I didn't usually book my transportation ahead of time, and I got burned on one occasion, when I planned to connect in Bilbao and found my second bus already sold out by the time I arrived in the city.

I found the scenery in Galicia very nice and liked all the cities and towns I visited. I guess my favorites, after Santiago de Compostela, were A Coruna and hilly Betanzos. I felt like I was the only tourist in Betanzos.

Oviedo has some very old churches but seems not a very lively town. You may not need a lot of time there beyond what you budget for specific sightseeing activities. I took a day trip to coastal Gijon, which has little old architecture (but some attractive late-19th/early-20th century buildings). I gather Gijon is where the Oviedo folks go for excitement.

I wasn't really fond of Santander. It's another city with a beautiful beach, but it lost most of its old architecture in a huge fire in the 1940s. It may turn out to be the best base for side trips, though. I used it for that purpose myself. One thing I did was take a one-day bus tour to the Picos de Europa. That tour didn't start till early July--and even then ran only once a week--which I guess gives you a clue about weather in the park in the late spring. I found the old stone town of Potes really charming, but not without tourists.

Many people staying in Santander probably head to the Altamira Caves ; I didn't go there and don't know how practical that would be without a car. I did manage to get to Comillas, to see the town's modernista architecture.

Santillana del Mar is full of tourist shops, but you may be early enough to avoid swarms of customers. I recall earlier posts mentioning Llanes and/or Ribadesella, which are west of Santillana.

I found Bilbao more to my taste than San Sebastian. The small historic center of SS is very touristy, seeming to be nothing but pintxo bars. Nonetheless, SS is pretty, and the beach looks fabulous (but likely too cold to swim without a wetsuit). You should definitely see both cities. As of 2016 city transit in Bilbao required a smart card on which funds were loaded; perhaps now you can just tap with a credit card. If not, hold on to the Bilbao transit card, because you might still be able to use it in Vitoria-Gasteiz, the interior capital, if you go there.

I liked Vitoria-Gasteiz, which had very few tourists on the occasion of my visit. There's a large, hilltop medieval district with outdoor escalators available to do most of the climbing. Elsewhere in the city there's at least one small art museum. The cathedral was undergoing major reconstruction at the time of my visit, but I was able to take an escorted tour through much of the building. The work may have been completed by now.

Hondarribia, which is between San Sebastian and the French border, is also worth a visit, as are the small towns of Zumaia, Getaria and Zarautz between SS and Bilbao. All are accessible by public transportation. You'll find posts mentioning all of the above on the forum.

The Basque Country, like Galicia, has a lot of good scenery. The bus is the fast way to travel between Bilbao and San Sebastian, but the much longer rail route is scenic.

Great comments, as always, by acraven. Just a few side notes:

Oviedo has some very old churches but seems not a very lively town: you probably were not in the good area for excitement and fun, Oviedo is the capital of Asturias and offers a very lively atmosphere, similar to Gijón. And amazing romanesque churches at walking distance (San Miguel de Lillo and Santa María del Naranco, two can´t-misses).

I wasn't really fond of Santander. Agreed
Many people staying in Santander probably head to the Altamira Caves; , you cannot visit these caves, closed to the public, but there are lots of other visitable caves in the region.

Santillana del Mar is full of tourist shops, another beautiful town spoilt by tourism.

I found Bilbao more to my taste than San Sebastian, as a Bilbao local, agree.

As of 2016 city transit in Bilbao required a smart card on which funds were loaded; still there, called BARIK, very practical to move around in all public transport in and around Bilbao.

I liked Vitoria-Gasteiz, which had very few tourists on the occasion of my visit. An off the beaten path visit, well worth it.

Hondarribia, which is between San Sebastian and the French border, is also worth a visit, as are the small towns of Zumaia, Getaria and Zarautz between SS and Bilbao. All are accessible by public transportation. Agreed.

The Basque Country, like Galicia, has a lot of good scenery. The bus is the fast way to travel between Bilbao and San Sebastian, but the much longer rail route is scenic. Agreed, thanks acraven!

Thank you for all the information.
I may now use Oviedo, Bilbao and/or San Sebastián as bases and bypass Santander.

Would you recommend staying in Bilbao as a base with day trips to San Sebastián and the villages of Hondarribia, Zumaia, Getaria, Zarautz as well as Vitoria-Gasteiz. Or would it be better to split the stay between Bilbao and San Sebastian. I will probably have at least 6-8 nights in the region.

Can I visit the the seaside villages using the narrow gauge train? Photography keeps me busy till late in the day. I am not sure how late the train operates?

Thank you, once again, for all your help.

I just want to speak up for San Sebastián. I spent 7 months traveling in Europe, mostly in 2018, and San Sebastián remains one of my favorite cities. I was not there in summer, however, so my experience might be quite different from others. What I regret about that visit was that I missed the bus for my day trip to see the flysch at the Geopark between SS and Bilbao. I missed the bus because the bus stop was not at the station like I thought. A car would have been better for that area, of course.
I guess I don't understand the complaint about the old town being full of pintxo bars. Our pintxo crawl ended on the steps of the basilica drinking a glass of red wine and watching two little kids learning to ride their new skateboards. This is one of my happiest and most vivid memories, maybe of my whole life.
We were there in October.

All the Basque Country towns are full of pintxo bars. The issue is that those in Donostia-San Sebastián are now practically focused only on tourists and the locals avoid them, going instead to other parts of the city. The concept of a "pintxo" as just something to go with your drink while socializing is no longer found in the old town of Donostia-San Sebastián, where bar owners offer plates to be filled up with pintxos. Something very odd for us.

As a tourist, I am hesitant to avoid tourist sights. I hope to find a nice balance between true local flavor and sights catering to me as tourist. Perhaps by splitting my time between Bilbao and San Sebastián, I can get a more balanced view. Would 3-4 nights in each city be long enough?

More than enough. Donostia-San Sebastian (200,000h) can easily be visited in less than two days, and then side trips to Getaria, Hondarribia, Pasai Donibane...And Bilbao is bigger (350,000h), but also very walkable and you can visit in two or three days, with side trips to Bermeo, Mundaka, Gernika, Plentzia...

I do think it's worthwhile to split your time between Bilbao and San Sebastian, especially since you want to go to Hondarribia.

Thank you everyone for your guidance. I have decided on Casco Viejo as a base in Bilbao for 4 nights. For San Sebastian, I am trying to chose between Gros, the old town and city center. Any suggestions?

San Sebastian is very walkable, so I would choose more on the accommodation itself than the specific location. That said, I did like the Gros area (stayed in old town), but my trip was several years ago.

Not that important. Both Bilbao and Donostia-San Sebastián are extremely walkable cities and distances are kind of irrelevant. In fact, lots of restrictions to vehicle traffic in both.

Thank you once again. one more question. For day trips, do you recommend buses or the narrow gauge train?

You will likely end up using both, so again I'd play it by ear. I'd probably take the train to Zumaia to see the geologic formations. Great walk!

It depends on where you are going and from where. Bus may be a better option normally, but not always. In any case, public transportation is excellent. What are your routes?

My current schedule is as follows. I will be based 4 days in Bilbao and 4 days in San Sebastián. I would like to add some day tips to smaller photogenic towns nearby like Hondarribia, Getaria, Lekeitio and Bermeo. I would visit no more than one town per day. Information about the local trains seemed contradictory - some loved it and some hated it. A local perspective would be very useful.

From Bilbao: bus or train to Bermeo, I would also stop in Mundaka and Gernika on that route (visit the Assembly Hall, one of the oldest Parliament in the world, one of the reasons why John Adams came to Bilbao in 1780). Bus is the only option to Lekeitio. I'd also visit Getxo and Plentzia, 9 and 15 miles from Bilbao on the same route, use the excellent subway/ metro system. Buy a BARIK card for all public transportation in this province, Bizkaia.

Hondarribia and Getaria, bus only. Public transportation has many frequencies, so you can visit more than one town per day. MUGI card is the best option to travel in this province, Gipuzkoa.

Thank you so much for your help. Much appreciated.

I have made reservations in the following two places.
Pensión Boutique Caravan Cinema - Bilbao
Pensión Aia - San Sebastián
Any input would be greatly appreciated.