Requesting advice for a car trip across northern Spain

When is your trip?

Vigo is a pleasant enough Galician city, but I preferred Pontevedra, A Coruna and Santiago by a considerable margin. The old town in Vigo felt much smaller and the city's industrial character was more obvious. I'd skip it given the many other interesting places along your path.

Other cities (all with pretty historic districts) I stayed in this summer included: Oviedo (some very old churches), Leon (incredible glass in the cathedral and especially lively restaurant/bar districts), Burgos (another very nice cathedral and lively old town, plus two interesting monasteries), Bilbao and San Sebastian-Donostia. For me Santander fell in the "pleasant but unexceptional" category, having a large beach like San Sebastian but being somewhat less lively. I felt sort of the same way about Pamplona; nice enough old town, bull-fighting-related sights but no beach.

Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital of the interior Basque province of Alava. It has a sizable medieval district and a few art museums; definitely worth an overnight, though I managed to see quite a bit on a day-trip. Not too far away is the hill town of LaGuardia, near the Rioja grape fields. Very picturesque and highly recommended.

I thought the Basque and Cantabrian countryside was the most dramatic in northern Spain aside from the purely mountainous areas (Picos de Europa and Pyreneees). All side-trips revealed pretty scenery.

Among my favorite side-trips: The coastal towns of Hondarribia (E of San Sebastian), Zarautz-Getaria-Zumaia (W of S. S.), Bermeo (NE of Bilbao), Santillana del Mar (W of Santander), Cambados (NW of Pontevedra) and Combarro (just W of Pontevedra. Places with art deco/art nouveau architecture include Comillas (W. of Santander) and Gijon (large city on the coast N. of Oviedo). But there are many other interesting towns as well. Your highway map will probably mark picturesque roads (often green) and interesting towns.

If you're traveling next summer or very soon, my highest recommendation would be the Picos de Europa area in southern Cantabria. Difficult to manage via public transportation, but with a car you could really appreciate it. Potes is a very atmospheric ancient stone town with lots of adventure-tourism possibilities. Any guidebook to Spain will provide tips on this area. I'm not sure what the conditions would be like off-season.

I haven't stayed in paradors but have walked through the public areas of several, including the lovely one in Santiago de Compostela. All were beautiful. It would be a lovely way to travel. I'd focus on the ones in rehabbed historic buildings. Most are located near the historic district, but a few may be isolated. Be sure you check into that if it matters to you.

ACRAVEN,

Thank you SO much for your detailed reply. This will be a 2017 summer trip; just starting to get organized. Your suggestions are VERY helpful!!

Harold & Marly

One of the highlights of my auto trip in Spain was driving through the Picos de Europa to the parador de Fuente De. Some of the Paradors, such as the one in Santiago de Compostela are VERY expensive so plan and budget accordingly.

Without a time frame it's difficult to recommend where to stop and for how long, but I would consider options listed along this routing.

Toulouse
Lourdes
Bayonne
San Sebastián
(Pamplona & Vitoria-Gasteiz)
Bilbao
Santander/Santillana del Mar
Picos de Europa
Oviedo
A Coruna (Costa da Morte)
Santiago de Compostela
Vigo (Rias Baixas)
Leon
Burgos
Laguardia (Rioja)
Zaragoza
Barcelona
Costa Brava
Carcassonne
Toulouse