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Toulouse through Bordeaux to San Sebastián and Bilbao

My trip planning is slowly coming together, and apologies to Laura and acraven for not getting back to their helpful advice before that post closed! We are trying to travel by train or bus and not deal with a car. Planning to travel in late June, and wondering about how much time to spend in San Sebastian and Bilbao before flying home from Bilbao... we will have about a week in Spain after a week in France.

Any suggestions about sights to see along the way will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Laurie

Posted by
3281 posts

Bordeaux? Seems like you’re going out of your way. You might consider traveling to Bayonne for 2 nights and then base in Bilbao with a day trip or two to San Sebastián. Bayonne is an interesting city and has the nice Musée Basque introducing you to the Basque culture.

Posted by
28085 posts

I haven't gotten to Bordeaux or Bayonne; they're on my list for a trip to western France in 2019 or 2020. I see that connecting Toulouse to San Sebastian by train is not an easy task, requiring you to pass through either Narbonne and Zaragoza or Bordeaux. Not a problem if you have time to see those cities. Otherwise, ALSA, Ouibus and Flixbus all have much faster service. You may already have discovered this, or perhaps it was discussed in your earlier thread.

Just before you reach SS (no matter what path you take) you'll pass through or near Hondarribia, which is definitely worth a visit. I don't know that there's a place to store luggage, however, so it probably makes more sense to visit it on a day-trip from San Sebastian.

As for San Sebastian and Bilbao: For me, there's more to see in Bilbao and I found the intense level of tourism in the smaller SS historic district somewhat off-putting, but there are more coastal side-trips from San Sebastian. You can get to the very interesting interior capital of Vitoria-Gasteiz from either Bilbao or San Sebastian.

In addition to consulting your guide book, I suggest looking at Trip Advisor's Things To Do lists for the two cities to see what specific attractions (museums, etc.) interest you. Add time for just wandering around (about half a day in SS, more if you want to walk all the way around the large beach; closer to a full day for Bilbao due to the larger historic district and the river-side walk). Then consider how many day-trips you'd want to make from each place.

If you have extra time, the Euskotren between Bilbao and SS takes a pretty route and affords an opportunity to see a rural part of the Basque Country. The trip takes about 2 hr. 45 min., and there seem to be departures every hour. I've linked to the current schedule; there may be some tweaks in June. The train has a sort of subway-car feel, with plastic seats.

Posted by
11294 posts

Here's my Basque country (France and Spain) trip report from last spring. It's long, and the area wasn't my favorite, but you may get some ideas of what you want to see (or avoid), and how long to allow: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/basque-country-trip-report-bayonne-san-sebastian-vitoria-gasteiz-and-bilbao-may-2017

Acraven is right about the buses; in that region, they are often faster and more frequent than trains, and they're quite nice, so there's no need to fear them. Use her trick to find them: start with Rome2Rio https://www.rome2rio.com/. See which bus companies serve your route, but then go direct to the bus company websites (you may need Google Translate) to get accurate information about schedules and fares.

Posted by
483 posts

Thank you everyone! This will be our first trip to Spain, so all of the details you've shared (highlights and just okay details) are all helpful!

I'm now thinking we might bypass Bordeaux and spend some more time in France along the Bayonne area. So much to research! I was interested to see that there is a RS tour of the Basque region - but it is longer than we can plan for our itinerary this summer.

Any pinxtos suggestions? The latest thing I read was that it can be challenging to order, or even find a spot in the busy pinxtos bars. Hearing about hidden finds like the place Harold mentioned in his helpful trip report - that is exactly the kid of info I like to read! :-)

Also, I am glad to hear about the ease of using the bus system, and possibilities of day trips out of San Sebastian. That sounds like a feasible plan for us.

Thanks again , and feel free to add in any more hints if you can!
Laurie