We will end Rick Steves Basque Tour next May in Bilbao and are trying to plan how to return to the States from there. Round trip tickets appear cheaper than one way right now. We will be flying into Paris for 5 days prior to tour and then taking the TGV to Arcachon France for two days then Bayonne where tour starts.
How easy/difficult would it be to return to Paris from Bilbao? There appears to be no easy train travel from Bilbao due to amount of time spent on trains. Train to Paris is 16 hrs. There is a 7 hour train ride from Bilbao to Barcelona where it is possible to take TGV back to Paris. Could spend a little time in barcelona. Or we could take 5 hr train from Bilbao to Madrid and return from there .Anyone have some thoughts about options to do this? Or other options? Thank you!
Posted by
Lake District, England
5758 posts
Or there is the Eusko Tren along the coast to San Sebastian, with frequent connection there to Irun/Hendaye on the French border- a 3 hour or so journey overall.
Then a TGV from Hendaye to Paris- a slightly under 5 hour ride.
Posted by
SE Pennsylvania
2377 posts
I chose to take the train from Bilbao to Madrid and spend a few days there before flying home. Different costs/time versus getting back to Paris, but suited me.
Posted by
Minneapolis
1216 posts
Hi Sue. You say - Round trip tickets appear cheaper than one way right now. - Just a reminder - when checking flights, use the 'Multi City' option instead of one way. Usually cost for multi city itineraries is similar to round trip. Have a great trip!
Posted by
Hudson Valley
2267 posts
Have you looked at 'open-jaw', or 'multi-city' tickets? That's a ticket where you'd fly into Paris but out of another city (Bilbao, Biarritz, Madrid, Barcelona, etc...). I use Google Flights as my primary search tool, and the option is in the same place as the one-way/round-trip selection.
Pricing on open-jaw is usually competitive with round-trip options.
If you fly out of Madrid you'd want to (maybe have to) take the train the day before.
(When using google flights, remember to always link out to an airline itself, not a 3rd party seller.)
Posted by
Spokane, WA
470 posts
I'm doing this tour in May also, spending a few days in London before it. Not sure where you are in the US, but I'm flying Bilbao to Amsterdam to Seattle coming home. Booked it as Multi city with Delta, $864 for economy a bit more for main cabin.
Posted by
Sweden
6396 posts
It's a very easy train trip from Bilbao to Paris. It's not 16 hours, where did you find that option? The local train Euskotren takes you from Bilbao to Hendaye via San Sebastian/Donostia and from Hendaye there are TGVs to Paris. There are also coaches from Bilbao to San Sebastian that are a bit faster than the train.
Posted by
Colorado Mountains, USA
7361 posts
Are you pressed for time, after your tour ends? If you can spare another day or two, why not break up the return to Paris, and spend a night or two in Barcelona? When ready, catch the TGF to Paris and your flight home.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8145 posts
You can fly very inexpensively on Vueling Airlines into many European gateway airports. That would be your quickest and easiest way back to North America. I'm talking Amsterdam, Barcelona, Paris deGaulle abd Zurich.
KLM can get you into Amsterdam. Lufthansa can get you into Frankfurt.
We no longer take trains over a couple of hours when we can fly it in an hour or so.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
Thank you so much for all these ideas! It’s very appreciated and been most helpful.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
There are two coaches departing bilbao to hendaye: flixbus and blablabus. Blabla bus would get us there several hours prior to TGV to Paris if running on time. Flixbus would only arrive an hour prior. Worried about how bus schedule delay could impact arrival on time to get TGV to Paris. Reviews on buses are variable so wondering if anyone has experience using them. What is recommended to get TGV on time in Hendaye. Do we need to arrive day before and stay over? Thanks