My general itinerary thread died, so I have one specific question: where should we overnight on our journey from Bilbao to Llanes and why?
I am considering several options. This is a Thursday night so I've considered Santillana del Mar (for chance to go in Altamira cave via lottery on Friday morning and general atmosphere - worried it's too touristy/crowded), and San Vicente. Santander doesn't appeal as much as we're spending 3 nights in San Sebastian so we're getting the lively food/bar scene there and one night in Bilbao. But I don't think we want anything too sleepy, as we're staying in a rural hotel outside Llanes for 2 nights after.
I'm willing to consider inland places but we love the sea. San Sebastian is kind of pricey so we're on a bit of a budget for this stay. We'll have a rental car. See my previous post for more info about this trip. Everything is nailed down except this one stay! (which is in 3 1/2 weeks, oops).