8 days in Basque Country

If it were me I'd budget at least 4 nights in San Sebastian, and at least 2 in Bilbao. I'd also like to spend a night or 2 in between in a smaller fishing village (ie. Lekeitio, which is my personal favorite).

You could start in San Sebastian, then Lekeitio and finish in Bilbao (due to the early flight).

Depending on the car rental prices you may want to hold off renting the car until day 2 or 3 of San Sebastian when you're ready to do daytrips. This way you could save on the car rental for a couple of days and also the parking. There's an airport bus in Bilbao that will take you directly into San Sebastian in 1:15 hours. The bus is timed with the airline arrivals. You may also check the cost of picking up the car at the train station in San Sebastian vs the airport (just outside of Hondarribia). We saved nearly $100 USD picking up a car at the airport. We took advantage of this by also doing our daytrip to Hondarribia on the same day. You could also look at doing all the daytrips from San Sebastian or on the way to Bilbao so you could get rid of the car when you arrived Bilbao. Unless there were daytrips you were interested in that were closer to Bilbao - it all depends on your interests.

The Bilbao airport is great - it's small but very efficient. Your luggage will arrive on a special luggage carousel (since it needs to go through customs) at the end of the other carousel's. The first time I was temporarily panicked as my luggage didn't come with the other passengers (from a Paris flight). The woman working at the airport quickly pointed me to the other carousel (in a glass enclosed area) for the baggage going through customs. Still it literally took about 10 minutes from landing to have my luggage. Check in was similar - it took 10 minutes for me to check luggage and go through security!

You are in for such a treat visiting the Basque Country! I return every September to this part of Spain, each year saying it will be the last and I'll venture to another area the next year. But here I am already planning my Basque adventure for this September

Maribel's guides are excellent for this area - her recommendations are right on the mark.

maribelsguides.com

If you are thinking of going to high end restaurants in San Sebastian, many such places close on Sunday, Monday, and Saturday.

The Guggenheim Museum, which is usually closed on Monday, is open on Monday in July and August.

Don't miss a weekly farmers market in Ordizia or Tolosa. They are easily accesible by train from Donostia-San Sebastián.
http://www.gipuzkoa.net/turismodocs/merk10/index_en.html#

Regional trains schedules:
http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/cercanias/sansebastian/index.html

You should note that both Bilbao and San Sebastián/Donostia celebrate their week long summer festival Aste Nagusia/Semana Grande/Big Week in August. Music, performances, sports, bulls, processions, spectacular fireworks, food and drink day and night for a week.

San Sebastián, August 11-18:
http://tourism.euskadi.net/x65-12375/en/contenidos/evento/0000027241_m1_rec_turismo/en_27241/27241.html
http://www.semanagrande.com/

Bilbao, August 18-26: http://events.frommers.com/sisp/index.htm?fx=event&event_id=70330

Would be great fun, but I think you should avoid going from the end of the festival in San Sebastián just in time to catch the opening in Bilbao...

Two-three days though can be huge fun, and could give you an unforgettable experience of the Basque festive, food, drink and party spirit and culture.

Thanks!
I had found the dates for the Bilbao festival (which we will be missing by one day) but am excited we'll be in town for the beginning of the San Sebastian one.

CathyM, thanks for your advice. I like the idea of going to San Sebastian first and put off getting a car for a while. For the middle two nights I've been looking at casas rurales on toprural.com--has anyone had experience with this site? What are the pros and cons of staying in Lekitio versus staying in a casa rural somewhere a bit more remote? (Not sure if that's a fair question, but curious to hear people's opinions/preferences...)

ttt

Revulgo: Just curious if there are any notable hotels in or near one of the 2 market towns that might make a good overnight on the evening before the weekly market.

Is either Tolosa or Ordizia laden with character?

(Pardon the interruption, please, MichMich)

The transportation is so convenient (plus using a car for day trips as suggested above), I would stay in SS as long as possible and then Bilbao for only your last night, as Bilbao just could not compare to SS to me.
I loved staying in smaller towns in between. I only stopped in Lekeitio for lunch. I stayed in sleepy Deba for hiking opportunities (but I could have stayed in SS and accomplished what I wanted to--the food paled in comparison). I also stayed in tiny Elantxobe, but again that could be a day trip.
You could drive along the entire coast from SS to the area north of Bilbao. Alternatively, you could do day trips along the coast and then move south to wine country and go to Bilbao from there. Touch decisions, but you will enjoy it greatly.

For rural accomodation at excellent prices, I recommend www.nekatur.net, just for the BAsque Country. And for info on the Basque Country from a local, you may want to check my blog, www.blogseitb.us/basquetourism

The pros and cons are staying in a town with several great places to eat and walk around or staying in a house in the country with not much to do. I like Cathy's itinerary the best.

@ ekscrunchy
My suggestion is: do take a train in a Saturday morning from Donostia-San Sebastián to Tolosa Centro (26 minutes). Explore the "Tinglado" (weekly market), buy an Idiazábal cheese --the 'ahumado' (smoked) variety is my fave one--, and some 'tejas' (cookies), then, have 'alubias' (black beans) or a 'chuletón' (T-bone steak) for lunch at Restaurante Frontón. Finally, return to San Sebastián in the afternoon. This half-day trip provides a brief insight into inland Basque Country.
http://www.restaurantefronton.com/index_en.php

Regional trains schedules
http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/cercanias/sansebastian/index.html

Thanks for all the information! Thinking about rearranging the order of our trip as follows:
Arrive Wednesday 8/8 to Bilbao. Spend Wednesday and Thursday nights and Friday morning in Bilbao.
Friday 8/10 drive to Lekeitio, spend Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night at Hotel Zubieta.
Monday drive to San Sebastian. Spend Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights in SS. Leave SS VERY EARLY to make a 6:50 AM flight out of Bilbao airport.

We felt like we've heard only AMAZING things about SS and a mix of reviews about Bilbao, so we'd rather end our trip in SS. Would it be crazy to drive from SS to Bilbao so early Friday morning (basically the middle of the night)?

Thanks for your opinions.

San Sebastián to the Bilbao airport is an easy one hour drive on the highway, no problem.