My wife and I are considering renting a car for six days to explore the northern part of Spain before starting our RS tour (late October).
Our agenda includes the Guggenheim in Bilbao, wine tasting in the Rioja, a visit to Santiago de Compostela, Pamplona, San Sebastian.
Any suggestions for accommodation, food, tour guides, things to do would be appreciated.
Hi Danilo,
where do you arrive in Spain? Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao? And where does the RS tour start?
A loop of Bilbao, Rioja, Pamplona, San Sebastian, in six days is doable, but Santiago would be very hard to fit in.
That’s a large area to cover with only six days. One could easily spend a couple months in that area and with your very limited time, you’ll barely have time to see the towns/cities you’re staying in.
In Santiago we’ve stayed at the Parador and Hotel Rua Villar.
In La Rioja we’ve stayed at the Paradors in Santo Domingo de la Calzada and Olite.
In Pamplona we stayed at the Pamplona Cathedral Hotel.
I recommend each of the hotels.
Hi dlindstrom,
Nothing is confirmed other than we arrive at CDG Oct 21. Our plan is to travel to Bilbao by plane, pick the car up there. After returning the car in Bilbao, would catch a flight to BCN for the start of our RS tour Oct 28. But at this point nothing is booked other than our flight to Paris and the RS tour starting in Barcelona. In a word, we are flexible.
Hi jaimeelsabio
Thank you for the hotel suggestions. Sounds like getting to Santiago may be stretching it.
Based on your two fixed points, a possible itinerary could be:
Arrive, and tgv to Bayonne, Saint Jean de Luz or Henday. (night of the 21st)
Take the Topo train to San Sebastian (night of the 22nd)
Pick up your car there and on to Bilbao for two night (23rd and 24th)
Drive to La Rioja (25th and 26th)
Drive to Zaragoza for the day (night of the 27th) You can leave the car there and take the high speed train to Barcelona.
This omits Pamplona, but if you really want to go it is 1 hour from Logroño, but I think that you will find many people are pleasantly surprised by Zaragoza and underwhelmed by Pamplona.
In September, 2019 we did a self-drive tour of the Basque country and had a wonderful time. Some of the highlights for us, aside from the Guggenheim, were:
Rioja - Bodegas Baigorri, for tour and fabulous lunch with wine tasting
San Sebastion - El Peine de Viento; Gerald’s Bar; Legazpi Doce Rooms & Suites; and nearby, Chillida Leku
Hondaribbia - Bar Gran Sol, for the absolute best pinxtos and txakoli; restaurant Arraunlari Berri Jatetxea
Zaragoza - Palacio de la Aljaferia
I have no idea if there will be any rooms available this late as we booked a year ahead, but in Santiago de Compostela try to stay in the Parador de Santiago de Compostela( built by Queen Isabela and King Ferdinand) on the main plaza. It is an incredible place to stay. You will be able to watch the pilgrims and others as they enter the plaza to complete their journeys.
