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Visiting Northern Spain in August: 10 Days, which 3 places to use as bases?

Posted by on

Hi Everyone!

My partner and I will be visiting Northern Spain in August for the first time and would love some itinerary advice! Although we only have 10 days, we'd still like to have a more "slow-paced" experience (as in not changing hotels every day!). We're deciding between 2-3 bases, and not entirely sure which places we should focus on. Currently, our options are: Start in Oviedo, [another location], then end in San Sebastian.

We'd like these places to be walkable, but also central so we can do day trips to villages nearby. For the middle destination, I'm considering: Liérganes, Potes, Santander, Cudillero, Gaztelugatxe, and Bermeo. Things we enjoy are beaches, swimming, casual hikes, good food, architecture, and cultural events.

We're considering renting a car, but have never driven in a foreign country...

Many thanks~

Posted by
28082 posts

Santander had a massive fire in the 1940s, and little really historic architecture survives. The beaches look beautiful, but I think Spain has a lot of more-interesting cities (visually, at least).

I found Potes an adorable old stone town, but it does get a lot of tourist traffic. If you planned to be outside the town for most of the day, exploring, you might not run into a lot of other visitors.

As a public-transportation-user who takes long walks in urban rather than rural areas, my preference for a multi-night stay is a place larger than Potes that has a fair number of actual sights to see. Therefore, I have to mention Bilbao. Much less touristy than San Sebastian, with a larger historic district that hasn't been turned into nothing but pintxo bars, and with some nice late-19th and early-20th century architecture to go along with the Guggenheim and the Museum of Fine Arts.

Posted by
743 posts

Oviedo or Gijón,

Excursions to Potes, Santillana del Mar, Liérganes and Santander on your way to Bilbao,

Bilbao.

Excursions to Bermeo, Plentzia, Gaztelugatxe (this is not a town but a hermitage), Gernika and the Assembly Hall.

Donostia-San Sebastian.

On your way from Bilbao, stop at Lekeitio, Ea, Elantxobe and then Getaria. Or just Getaria and Orio. Then Hondarribia to the east.

Posted by
4180 posts

I'd consider Oviedo, then Funte De/Potes area, and finish in Bilbao.

I'd definitely rent a car for this trip, if you want to do daytrips to villages nearby. Driving in Spain is much like driving in the USA.

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