My husband and I are traveling from Barcelona to Vigo, trying to keep things somewhat flexible. Our main focal points are shaping up to be Barcelona, Basque, and Galicia, hoping to explore a bit of Cantabria and Asturias along the way. Despite appearances, we are not strictly traveling along the coast and would welcome inland suggestions. We will be in the San Sebastian area just in time for the film festival, so accommodations are booking up quickly. I'm exploring B&B's, I hope to have one booked by the end of the day. I would love advice on towns to sleep in. We enjoy rural hotels but anything interesting or unusual and not too expensive is just right. I just booked a room in a Bilbao B&B called Iturrienea Ostatua, right in the old town that looks to be absolutely perfect. So far our itinerary looks like this: Day 1: layover in Paris (8am-8pm), flying into Barcelona Day 2-4: Barcelona and surrounding Day 5: flying into Bilbao early morning, sleep in Bilbao Day 6-8: San Sebastian and surrounding Day 9: AM train to Santander, picking up rental car, sleep in ? Day 10: Santillana del Mar, Potes, sleep in Oviedo? Day 11: morning drive towards Galicia, sleep in ? Day 12: Galicia: tbd Day 13: Galicia: Santiago de Compostela, Cambados sleep in ? Day 14: drive down to Northern Portugal (or not?) Day 15: flying out of Vigo I'm still editing this itinerary. Here's a list of places I originally wanted to see. Can anyone suggest which towns I should skip and which are truly special? After Santander, I think we'll have our fill of beachy destinations and we truly want to see some authentic un-touristy countryside towns. Santillana del Mar Lagrono Fisterra Potes Oviedo Vitoria-Gasteiz Ribadesella Llanes Solares Why can't Americans just have month long vacations?
Posted by
Atlanta
3250 posts
One of our favorite cities in northern Spain was Santiago de Compostela. We stayed in a great hotel called Hotel Residencia Costa Vella. I'd consider planning at least 2 nights in Santiago if you can. We drove Porto, Portugal to Santiago de Compostela to Santillana del Mar stop over in Bilbo then San Sebastian and Madrid. We were in Santillana del Mar off-season. I'm not sure if that was the reason, but we didn't enjoy our night there. It seemed a bit touristy to us. If you have time, driving to northern Portugal is a good plan. We spent 2 nights a Porto and enjoyed it! I wouldn't rush the other part of your trip in northern Spain though.
Posted by
Ottawa
1446 posts
I too have stayed at the Costa Velle in Santiago and can highly recommend it as well. Maybe if you decide to head a bit inland, you can rejoin in parallel some of the Camino Frances route, ie in Leon...
Posted by
Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada
629 posts
If you are picking up a rental car in Santander, why not pick it up in Bilbao and use it for driving to San Sebastian and then back to Santander? This is a great area for driving and exploring.
Posted by
Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain
8 posts
I live in Bilbao and will be glad to help you plan your time in the city. Please, do not hesitate to contact me.