Trying to plan a trip for about two weeks. We have been to many places in Spain but not the San Sabastian/Basque area. Thinking 3 or 4 days for that area, including Bilabao. Would like to then go somewhere in southern France, or maybe Portugal (never been). Have been to Paris, and Normandy. Would like a coastal place that we can do a some days trips from? Any itinerary suggestions would help, thanks.
Posted by
Washington DC
27190 posts
Transportation links between the Basque Country and Portugal are rather slow, though I suppose there might be a flight from Bilbao to Lisbon.
What time of year do you plan to travel?
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Planningv to go mid to late May, 2017
Posted by
Washington DC
27190 posts
Weather should be pretty decent then, but some rain is likely. Just don't expect it to be really warm; I didn't see many people in the water in mid-June this year, and the surfers were wearing wetsuits. There's a reason why the Basque Country is so gloriously green.
The fastest public transportation between San Sebastian and Bilbao is the bus. The much slower Euskotren goes through very nice countryside and delivers you to a station near Bilbao's old town (the Guggenheim's located elsewhere). Also worth visiting (but you probably won't have time with only 3 or 4 days) are Hondarribia, which is right at the French border; the three small coastal towns of Zarautz, Getaria and Zumaia just west of San Sebastian; Lekeitio, a bit farther west; and Bermeo, best visited from Bilbao.
There are interesting possibilities inland as well, especially Vitoria-Gasteiz and Laguardia (wine country), both with atmospheric historic areas perched on hills. I think Laguardia's a bit too far away to visit on a day-trip unless you have a car, but it could probably be done on a weekday if you got an early start.
There's a never-ending string of interesting cities stretching all the way to Galicia, should you decide to spend all your time in northern Spain.
For exploring trains connections to France (don't even think about Portugal by train), it's probably best to use the Deutsche Bahn website. It doesn't have the Euskotren schedule, however.