Basque countries, Portugal and Spain
Jun 29th, 2013, 01:39 PM
#1
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Basque countries, Portugal and Spain
Seeking input:
My Wife and I are planning a two to three week October trip...hoping to fly into Lisbon and out of Barcelona. I am contemplating renting a car and driving through Northern Portugal, Northwestern Spain, the Basque countries, Pyrennes and on to Barcelona. We are both 60+ , love to hike and bike. Wife wants to run the half marathon in Bilbao 10/19/13. I want to take terabytes of photos.
We would love to stay at a couple of pousadas and paradores, bed and breakfasts would be preferable to huge hotels, we need wifi but not 5 stars. We are also considering renting an apartment in Barcelona for 5-7 days as a base for exploring the area.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
My Wife and I are planning a two to three week October trip...hoping to fly into Lisbon and out of Barcelona. I am contemplating renting a car and driving through Northern Portugal, Northwestern Spain, the Basque countries, Pyrennes and on to Barcelona. We are both 60+ , love to hike and bike. Wife wants to run the half marathon in Bilbao 10/19/13. I want to take terabytes of photos.
We would love to stay at a couple of pousadas and paradores, bed and breakfasts would be preferable to huge hotels, we need wifi but not 5 stars. We are also considering renting an apartment in Barcelona for 5-7 days as a base for exploring the area.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Jun 29th, 2013, 02:41 PM
#2
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Not sure what your question is, but October is the one of the rainiest months in northern Spain (which is already very rainy!) and you can get truly dicey weather in the latter half of October in the Pyrenees. So I don't think of it is optimal for hiking and biking.
Much of what you propose would not be speedy driving, so even if you have 3 weeks, if you are spending at least 5 of them in Barcelona and probably a minimum of 2 or 3 in Bilbao, you are not leaving yourself a lot of time to see Northern Portugal, northwestern Spain, the Basque region and anything of the Pyrenees. If you only have 2 weeks, I don't see how any of this is possible.
Are you interested in seeing Lisbon and Porto? Because what you might do if you have 3 weeks in October is spend some time in Lisbon and go to Porto by train, and then use public transportation to get Vigo in Spain, where you could rent a car and do a road trip to Bilbao. Get rid of the the car in Bilbao, do the marathon, and fly to Barcelona.
If you only have 2 weeks, looks to me like either Portugal or northern Spain will have to wait.
Much of what you propose would not be speedy driving, so even if you have 3 weeks, if you are spending at least 5 of them in Barcelona and probably a minimum of 2 or 3 in Bilbao, you are not leaving yourself a lot of time to see Northern Portugal, northwestern Spain, the Basque region and anything of the Pyrenees. If you only have 2 weeks, I don't see how any of this is possible.
Are you interested in seeing Lisbon and Porto? Because what you might do if you have 3 weeks in October is spend some time in Lisbon and go to Porto by train, and then use public transportation to get Vigo in Spain, where you could rent a car and do a road trip to Bilbao. Get rid of the the car in Bilbao, do the marathon, and fly to Barcelona.
If you only have 2 weeks, looks to me like either Portugal or northern Spain will have to wait.
Jun 29th, 2013, 02:45 PM
#3
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Renting car in Portugal & return it in Span can be very costly. I suggest 2 separate rentals. Vigo is probably the first big town where Spanish car can be picked up. There is regular bus service run by http://www.autna.com/ Leaves from McDonalds on Ave Aliados and takes less than 2 hrs to reach Vigo.
Also if interested check videos in http://www.youtube.com/user/Olonnais Covers all Spanish provinces.
Also if interested check videos in http://www.youtube.com/user/Olonnais Covers all Spanish provinces.
Jun 29th, 2013, 02:47 PM
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Ok I will kick this one off in just 3 words.
Drop off fees.
One way rentals between two different counties are for some horrendously expensive. Have you looked in to them yet?
If you do the full route 3 weeks would be best as it will allow you to sit and take in some sights.
Spain "does not do" B&Bs for small accommodation you had best look for Casa Rurals in the countryside and smaller hotels in any city.
The choices in routes are a thousand fold. I would suggest you have a look at the map and pick out some areas and let us know your plans. We can then comment on them.
Drop off fees.
One way rentals between two different counties are for some horrendously expensive. Have you looked in to them yet?
If you do the full route 3 weeks would be best as it will allow you to sit and take in some sights.
Spain "does not do" B&Bs for small accommodation you had best look for Casa Rurals in the countryside and smaller hotels in any city.
The choices in routes are a thousand fold. I would suggest you have a look at the map and pick out some areas and let us know your plans. We can then comment on them.
Jun 30th, 2013, 08:38 AM
#6
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ok, I can see that I am trying to bite off quite a bit. It will definitely have to be a 3 week trip or a less ambitious one.
I will rework the itinerary and repost
thanks for all the input
I will rework the itinerary and repost
thanks for all the input
Jun 30th, 2013, 09:02 AM
#7
We did this itinerary but took six weeks, staying a week in severral places en route. It was one of our best trips. To avoid the drip off fee with the car, we rented it in Lisbon, dropped it off when we got to Porto. At the end of our time in Porto, we hired a taxi to take us across to Spain to the closest car rental location.
We stayed in several pousadas and paradors., Evora, Obidosin PT, Baiona, Leon, Begur in ES.
We especially loved the Basque regions of both Spain and France. We drove on the French side of the Pyrenees across to the Mediterranean, Collioure, France, Costa Brava(Begur..Parador) and south to Barcelona to an apartment.www.Hispanos7Suizas.com is an apart hotel near La Sagada Familia , a fully equiped ,modern apt with front desk service too.
We used www.maribelsguides.com to plan our time in Spain, especially Basque regions.
We stayed in several pousadas and paradors., Evora, Obidosin PT, Baiona, Leon, Begur in ES.
We especially loved the Basque regions of both Spain and France. We drove on the French side of the Pyrenees across to the Mediterranean, Collioure, France, Costa Brava(Begur..Parador) and south to Barcelona to an apartment.www.Hispanos7Suizas.com is an apart hotel near La Sagada Familia , a fully equiped ,modern apt with front desk service too.
We used www.maribelsguides.com to plan our time in Spain, especially Basque regions.
