Recommendations for 2 week trip Barcelona and northern Spain

Two weeks really isn’t very much if you plan to see Barcelona, the Basque region and Galicia, and presumably places in between. Two summers ago, we chose to focus on Galicia (for its unique culture and comparatively cool climate). We also went to Leon, Salamanca and flew in and out of Madrid. We had 16 nights. We did not have time to go east of Leon. You’ll have to choose your own priorities, but in my opinion, covering Barcelona, Basque region and Galicia will be too much.

I have no experience flying anywhere in Spain but Madrid, so I don’t have any advice as to where to fly. I would not decide where to fly until you are sure you can cover the ground from Barcelona to Galicia in 2 weeks.

We rented a car, which was very useful to get to more rural places, esp in Galicia. I see no reason to worry about motorways. In our admittedly limited experience, the motorways were very easy driving. For the most part, traffic was light (other than when we were near Madrid). Signs were well marked and easy to understand. The motorways were really the nicest we have seen in Europe. Overall, driving in Spain was not at all difficult.

Thank you, so if I were to forego Barcelona where would you recommend stopping in the Basque country and Galicia including perhaps a day or two on the beach in different places for my daughters? Could you give me an idea of how long to stop in each place. Can one only get to the picos de Europa by Car? How long a drive is it from Madrid to the North? And once your on the North Coast are there no motorways? thank you!

There are trains from Barcelona to San Sebastian. as well as flights. We spent a month doing what you hope to accomplish. Motorways are highways like American interstate highways. Not difficult.
You could visit Santiago de Compostela, Leon, Picos de Europa, Bilbao, San Sebastián. We had a rental car so I am not knowledgeable about other options. I know there are buses from Bilbao airport to San Sebastian.
We did use high speed trains in Spain on another trip, excellent experience.
You are wise to stay in the north during summer heat.

Is it best to fly into Madrid and then head North or fly into Bilboa if I will be on the north coast of Spain

Hello, I feel the north is best experienced with a car, which allows you to make stops and not be limited by lacking public transportation, it can be quite difficult to get around the Picos de Europa national park without a car. With 2 weeks, one can do a nice road-trip starting in San Sebastian and snaking along westwards to Santiago de Compostela, exploring the regions of the Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia along the way.

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 and stops enroute are un-bold:

Fly in to San Sebastián

-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) - 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 National Park- 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!

-Playa de las Catedrales - one of the most unique beaches in Europe, lined with "cathedral-like" rock formations carved the the sea and wind. Make sure to time with the low tides.

-A Coruña (2 nights) - posh provincial capital of Galicia, the medieval old town sits on a peninsula that juts out into the sea, with the usual collection of streets, squares and medieval churches.

-Torre de Hércules- the only ancient Roman lighthouse still standing in the world, still in operation 2 millennia on, located in A Coruña.

-Santiago de Compostela (3 nights) - no explanation necessary 😉

Fly out of Santiago de Compostela

Hopefully these give you a few ideas :)

Why not fly straight into Bilbao? You can catch a bus to San Sebastián (Donostia) or drive in just over an hour. I believe the local train takes much longer.

Thank you for the suggested itinerary. Are the roads along the north, if I were to wind my way from San Sebastian A or B roads or highways?

Thank you Carlos, would that itinerary include any beach?
Would trying to include reaching La Rioja be too ambitious?

Also is it best to reserve places to stay now or can one find places as one goes in case we want to spend longer in one place or another without it becoming to pricey?

@judithnzur - The best beach would probably be at San Sebastian, it is a sandy seashell shaped beach that is lined by a nice Belle Époque Promenade. If that is a priority, I would then remove 1 night from Santiago de Compostela and add to San Sebastian. You could day trip from San Sebastian or Bilbao to the Rioja wine region with a car, the medieval town of Laguardia would be a nice stop on the way.

Keep in mind that the weather along the northern coast of Spain is often cool and cloudy, with possible rain. You cannot safely assume that any particular day will be swimming weather, so try to keep that part of your planning flexible.

Since you are coming from the UK, I don’t see why you would need to fly to Madrid. We flew to Madrid so that we could go non-stop. You ought to have a number of options. Try kayak.com to help you see available airlines to cities where you think you might start.

As far as reservations go, I always make my reservations in advance. I like to have a plan. That said, when I was young, I never made reservations. There are fewer triples available Than doubles, so if all 3 of you want to stay in the same room, you might want to reserve. Some places are more likely to fill up.

I can't imagine not going to Barcelona in your itinerary, esp. with daughters at their ages. It's a fun, young city and it's one of the places we'd love to get back to some time. I might suggest that you take a quick flight from Barcelona into San Sebastian or Bilbao, as it will more likely be faster than any train or bus. We were just in San Sebastian in May (having flown into Madrid from the US) and after looking into cars, buses, and trains, a one-hour flight on Iberia made the most sense for us. You might also like San Sebastian, though since it's a beach town, we were told it's pretty crowded in July/August.

Hi Judith, Have you had a chance to look at a guidebook or two? There are beaches all along the north coast, so when you ask for a beach experience, well, they are readily available and it depends on what type you have in mind. The beaches in San Sebastian will be large and have many more people and have larger waves, and then there are smaller beaches with fewer waves but perhaps coves. There is Playa de las Catedrales with rock arches you can wander amongst at low tide in Galicia. And so on. Two weeks is not a lot of time. You could focus on Barcelona and environs, and the Basque region and include Bilbao, for two weeks, or eliminate Barcelona and start in San Sebastian and work your way west toward Santiago de Comostela. Depends what you're most interested in this visit. I think perusing a few guidebooks would help sway you in a certain direction and then you could start narrowing plans

Thank you Jessica!
I was just browsing on Amazon wondering which guide books to buy? To concentrate on Northern Spain or a generic Spain book? Do can you recommend any particular guide books??

Another question: Where to stay on this trip. I am a single mother with two grown up daughters so where can I find the most economical but still nice places to stay in different places in Northern Spain ?

Not trying to flatter the host here, but I've tried every guidebook from Fodor to Frommers and Lonely Planet to Rough Guides. I like Rick Steves' guides best. They aren't slanted for the very rich or the very active--just normal people like me. The information seems to be accurate (phone numbers, directions, addresses). And I suspect that if you stay or eat at a place that RS recommended, you will be satisfied. Because of this Forum, any place that seriously drops the ball will instantly be spurned by lots of future travelers.

One suggestion: Always check the publication date and don't buy anything more than a year old.

If I rent a car for 2 weeks visiting to towns etc in Northern Spain is parking a problem/expensive and hard to find?

In the north, decently priced parking is usually available in the big cities and towns more so than other parts of Spain. Also most medium-large hotels will have their own subterranean parking garage. However, I should mention that those parking garages are quite compact and tight, and they were originally built for smaller cars.

Judith, I am going to northern spain just before you with my two teens and a tween. We are going for 3 weeks. I have found information of different types from different books for this trip. Generally I get the Rick Steves' books and peruse others (that I borrow from the library). But this time I looked at RS, Rough Guide (to Spain, but then just read the Northern Spain parts), Lonely Planet, and DK, which has wonderful pictures to inspire but doesnt offer new information. We are driving, flying in and out of BCN (but again, we have 3 weeks). We are treating our trip more like a backpacking trip, as thats how we prefer to travel, so we will not have a few bases, but move more often from place to place. The way I chose those places was by reading a lot first and narrowing down locales by interests. I spent a lot, and I mean a LOT of time researching almost every village/area to pick where we would stay. I tend not to pick what is most recommended, so I make a point of really doing my research (not that what is generally recommended is bad, but that we have particular taste). So I am leery of telling you where to go. I think Carlos has a good description of options

Hello again,
Now the geographical area we will visit will change a bit and is firming up and I would very much appreciate some tips. We will fly into Bilboa and out of Barcelona as my daughters decided they wanted beach time on the Costa Brava. They are also interested in hiking a bit in the picos de Europa and the Pyrenees (is it too ambitious to do both?) So we are down for 4 days there at the end. So starting in Bilboa I would like to visit areas of Cantabria and then head East to . I am interested in seeing some museums (rather than churches) and Getaria, Santillana del Mar. I have a hard time judging what we can cover in basically 9 days and would appreciate input/suggested itinerary. I think I will hire a car though am wondering what the roads are like going through the picos de Europa and the Pyrenees.

Well, one version looks something like
Bilbao 3 nights - one day for trips to Getaria/other places
Santillana del Mar (or nearby) - 2 nights
Potes - 1-2 night (hike Fuente De)
Olite or Huesca or Zargoza or ? (2-3?) - day trips to Sos del Rey Catolico, Alquezar, Castille Loare ....

Thank you!
Jessica do you or anyone know what it is like to drive through the Pyrenees? I am a bit of nervous driver though I have driven in Mexico. I wondered if there a cliff hanging roads through the mountains? yikes?