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San Sebastián->Bilbao->Madrid?

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We will be travelling to Spain next year. Flying in and out of Madrid. Same day to Menorca then eventually on to Basque Country.

We will fly out of Menorca but I’m trying to sort out where to fly into. Very exited to do multiple pinxtos crawls in San Sebastián. We would like to see the Guggenheim, but unsure if we want/need to spend more time in Bilbao.

Should we day trip to Bilbao and back from San Sebastián? Should we spend a night in Bilbao? Is one or the other more accessible to Madrid by Train?

Thank you for your time! Love you Ricky!!

Posted by
8033 posts

I would not daytrip to Bilbao, you're looking at ~2 hours each way, and the area is easily worth a couple nights with the Guggenheim, Pinxtos bars, old town, even the maritime museum I found worthwhile.

Bilbao also probably makes the most sense to fly into, but no direct flights, likely a change in Barcelona or Madrid.

For both, train connections are lengthy, high speed rail has not quite gotten to that part of Spain. I suppose Bilbao has better rail connections (4-5 hours, direct) from/to Madrid; from San Sebastian, easiest to transit through Zaragoza, and 5-6 hours.

Overall though, if your itinerary is 2-3 nights in the region and you want to hit both cities, then re-plan, you either need more nights (5 minimum?) or spend your time in Madrid and area.

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