ekscrunchy

I am re-visiting the idea of traveling to Spain in October and spending about two weeks there. As I noted on an earlier thread, one plan has us flying into MAD and heading up to Lerma by rental car.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ro-burgos-.cfm

After Lerma, and Burgos, we might drive to Bilbao and spend a few days before driving to Axpe to lunch at Asador Extebarri. Interested in hearing from those who have been there whether or not you stayed in Axpe overnight, or headed on after lunch. Thoughts on that?

I'd like to include the Saturday market in Tolosa so was thinking of heading to that area after Axpe,perhaps spending a night or two in a hotel nearby. (This looks lovely; would it be too difficult to stay here and make an easrly visit to the Tolosa market from there; how is the parking situation on market day? Possible to take taxi?)

http://www.iriartejauregia.com/



Then? Spend a night or two in Getaria or visit from SS, which would be the last stop on the tour?

Finally, spend about 4 nights in SS, devoted to wandering and eating. I'd include one multi-starred restaurant but which one? Akelarre?


Hotel in SS?

Any chance of a sane plan that would allow a stay in Lisbon on this trip? ( Fly from NY to Lisbon and then on to MAD? No interesting train options??)

I'd welcome any and all thoughts and opinions on all aspects of such a trip….thinking of October but want to hear comments on weather at that time.

I should mention that I have been to Spain many times and to the Basque area two or three times but have not seen much outside SS and, to a lesser extent, Bilbao.

Mil gracias and regards to all!

thursdaysd

There's a night train between Lisbon and Madrid. It was a bit bumpy on the Portuguese side of the border when I took it, but that was back in 2004. Looks like the train has been upgraded too.

See: http://www.seat61.com/Portugal.htm and look for the Lusitania Express.

When are you looking to be in SS? I'm planning to be in the Basque country - France and Spain - in October. Probably SS the second week.

yestravel

A couple years back we did a NSpain trip in May and stayed at Iriarte Jauregia Hotel http://www.iriartejauregia.com/. It was a very nice hotel and was relatively new at the time. Excellent staff. I liked being in the green hills instead of on the coast for a few days. There was a small conference ending on our first night and we wanted to eat there and they set us up in this lovely room with just the table for us. It was very easy to do day trips from the hotel's location. We were in Tolosa several times. There was a well reviewed bakery there, “Gorrotxategi,” that I sought out. I don't recall having trouble parking for the market day. Its a downhill drive from the hotel to Tolosa and maybe less than 10 minutes. We also did a daytrip to Getaria from there. In SS we used points and stayed at the Maria Cristina which was lovely.
I loved Bilbao! Unfortunately we had rain during our couple days there & it was very chilly, but still enjoyed it. We had a suite room at the HOTEL MIRÓ which looked out onto the museum -- nice to have that view.

Robert2533

Check to see if Mendi Goikoa (www.mendigoikoa.com/es/) has a room available. You can take a walk after eating at Extebarri, and relax that evening in the "Valley of Silence".

We normally do Tolosa on market day from Donostia, but Iriarte Jauregia is a beautiful gastronomic retreat.

The problem you're going to have in Tolosa is deciding where to have lunch; Casa Julián (www.casajuliandetolosa.com), Asador Casa Nicolas (www.asadorcasanicolas.com) or Restaurante Fronton de Tolosa (www.restaurantefronton.com).

Don't forget about having lechazo at Casa Brigante in Lerma. It would make a nice start to you're gastronomic adventure.

jelopez33

Hi Ekscrunchy! Not exactly that you asked for hotels in Bilbao, but one year ago we were at the Carlton, in Plaza Moyua....location as good as you can ask for.
And the price was really convenient. May be you can take a look . Enjoy your trip, and let me tell you that I really like Bilbao even more than S.S.

You don't even made your trip and I am waiting for your report. And taking good notes of a previous report as we are planning to attend next Fallas in Valencia.

kimhe

In San Sebastian, you might consider staying in one of the new attic suites in fabulous Hotel Londres right on the La Concha beach promenade. https://www.hlondres.com/en/accommodation/attic

Akelarre is fantastic for lunch, spectacular views and of course out of this world food. Had a memory for life lunch here little over a year ago for about 100€ pp. I will especially remember the Akelarre version of the fabulous San Sebastián fish and shellfish soup (which usually is excellent also in "normal" restaurants up here, highly recommended!), and the Hake and Kokotxa is perhaps the best thing I've ever eaten. This page gives you an idea: http://driftingepicure.com/2013/03/28/akelarre-review/

And I always dine in "normal restaurant" Urola when in San Sebastian, the kind of place locals take new visitors to show what the local food culture is all about. Same waitress last year as when I first visited in 1987: http://www.casaurolajatetxea.es/es/portada/
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...e_Country.html

But my #1 recommendation would be Arzak, consitently among the ten best restaurants in the world for the past 25 years. Elena Arzak was voted best female chef in the world a couple of years ago: http://www.arzak.info/index.html

And not much beats fish and seafood in Getaria. This video gives you an idea (from 7:40): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqdjeGqnVKc

And excellent intro to the food culture in San Sebastian/Donostia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwmBAvqa_0U

ekscrunchy

Thanks to all for the helpful responses. Great to learn that JeLopez liked Bilbao as much as SS. I've only been to Bilbao on a brief visit and had a feeling that there was much to explore there..the Hotel Carlton looks perfect.

I will get a guidebook from the library and try to map out a plan, with a promise to return here for guidance.

kimhe

Bilbao is fabulous and very different from sister city San Sebastian. Much more energy in Bilbao than in Belle Epoque San Sebastian.
Bilbao: http://www.euskoguide.com/places-bas...ilbao-tourism/
Donostia/San Sebastian: http://www.euskoguide.com/places-bas...stian-tourism/

Egbert

In San Sebastian a real hidden gem is Ibai. Only serves lunch. I can't wait to get there. Please keep it a secret.

kimhe

He-he, yes, wondered about going to Ibai this October.

kimhe

And now decided, yes. Thanks for the encouragment, Egbert ;-)

ekscrunchy

Point taken. Thank you.

ekscrunchy

Right now I am debating whether I would be better off flying into Madrid and renting car and driving the morning of arrival to: Sepulveda? Would not want to drive too far after overnight flight, so Sepulveda might be a good idea....could arrive in time for lechazo lunch, then take walk and go to sleep early. Or are there other better options. Just want attractive hotel and great food the first day/night. Open to any options in or near Sepulveda or on general route north from airport.

Next day, drive to Lerma?

Would it be a mistake to miss Logrono?

OR: Fly to San Sebastian. Spend a few nights there and then rent car to drive to Tolosa and then to Axpe, Bilbao. And then on to Lerma, etc. Spend the last night near Barajas and then arrive at airport to drop car and fly home.

welltraveledbrit

Perhaps premature but I'm already looking forward to the trip report!

jelopez33

Ekscrunchy:

On the trip that includes our visit to Bilbao, Bilbao was the last city we visited.
We had a car and did Bilbao -- Barajas Airport with a stop in Burgos to visit the Cathedral and have a great Lunch....i will search my notes for the name of the restaurant. The Cathedral is worth the stop.

On the same trip we were at Barcelona, Zaragoza, Logroño and Pamplona. We were eight persons and we all think Logroño was the less relevant city .

Enjoy your planning!

ekscrunchy

Thank you, JE!

Good to know about Logrono. (sorry no accent mark).

First night in Sepulveda, then on to Lerma. Lerma Parador is very close to Casa Brigante, for lechazo, according to the map. And there is a Wednesday market in Lerma, so will might to arrive in Lerma on a Tuesday night. (I have to look around to see any reports or accounts of that market). There also appears to be a Friday market in Burgos.

Has anyone (Robert?) visited either of these markets, in Lerma or in Burgos?
Or should I just concentrate on the one in Tolosa, as I will not have a kitchen on this trip so will be limited to buying foods I can cart home with me...

Sad to say that I rather overbought the Pimientos de Piquillo on a previous trip and actually had to toss a few cans of those as they were no longer in tip-top condition. (I never base on date, but take a look and sometimes, a taste, before making decision to throw away). When I think of all the foods I used to bring home..before all the restrictions and all.....


http://www.mercadillosemanal.com/

ekscrunchy

Looks like there is another option for first meal after landing in MAD:

Mannix:
http://restaurantemannix.com/menu-restaurante-mannix/



Adding this thread to read later..filled with valuable comments from Maribel including advice on picking up rental car in Madrid city.


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...k-in-april.cfm

Piccolina

EK - although it's been 4 years since I was in SS and Bilbao, I often think back to this very special corner of Spain.

I did both Bilbao and Hondarriba (sp?) as a day trip. The beach in Hondarriba was spectacular - one of the widest beach I've ever seen.

My suggestion is to space out your michelin * experiences! We did lunch (from 1-6:30pm!) at Mugaritz and then we went to Arzak the following night. We were simply too stuffed to fully enjoy our dinner at Arzak which was a bit anticlimatic as it was a meal I've waited for 3 years! On the other hand, I must say that my dining experience at Mugaritz is one of the best ones I've ever had. The Mugaritz courtyard was simply divine (we had apertifs and teas after lunch in the courtyard). Suggest you to book the restuarant now - back in 2011, I booked about 4 months in advance and had to compromise on the date because some dates were already booked out. So lesson learnt is that one CAN have too many michelin * meals

As for hotel, we stayed at the Hotel Astoria which was about a 10 min walk from the old quarter which was a pleasant walk even in June. Conveniently, this hotel is across from the bus station for the bus to Bilbao and the airport. MOst importantly, the hotel was pretty new and seemed newly renovated (at least in 2011).

Happy planning!!

Robert2533

Market day in Lerma means that the plaza will be packed with vendors from all over the region. It's a typical village market, nothing unusual.

We haven't been in Burgos for market day, but market day in Tolosa is nice and busy, but none compare with market day in Saint-Jean-de-Luz.

The best piquillo peppers come from Navarra and the Rioja, but the only ones we bring back are the ones stuffed with bacalao. Makes for an easy snack.

If you want to bring back something interesting, then pick up a few tins of Bonito del Norte, either the Ortiz label or one from Bermeo. The ventresca is to die for.

Robert2533

Also, don't forget to pick up some great olive oils that abound in Spain. We acutally brought back a 5 liter container of excellent Navarran olive oil once and ended up giving half of it away to a chef friend there was so much.