AlwaysOnTheRoad

We are planning a trip to Northern Spain for June/July 2009. Since we like hiking we have allocated quite a few days to different areas of the Pyrenees and Picos de Europa. None of us speak Spanish so we are hoping we are not going to have too much difficulty in what may be areas less frequented.

We have tried to construct an itinerary that does not attempt, at least too much, to rush from place to place with one night stays. We did have a bit of difficulty deciding where to stay along the Costa Brava. Cadaques is where we have chosen for now but we are open to suggestions.

18 Jun - Barcelona - Hotel: Montecarlo
19 Jun - Barcelona - Hotel: Montecarlo
20 Jun - Cadaques - Hotel: Playa Sol
21 Jun - Cadaques - Hotel: Playa Sol
22 Jun - Ribes de Freser - Hotel: Hotel Resguard dels Vents
23 Jun - Ribes de Freser - Hotel: Hotel Resguard dels Vents
24 Jun - Santa Engracia - Hotel: Casa Giulia
25 Jun - Santa Engracia - Hotel: Casa Giulia
26 Jun - Torla - Hotel: Hotel Abetos
27 Jun - Torla - Hotel: Hotel Abetos
28 Jun - San Sebastian - Hotel: Villa Soro
29 Jun - San Sebastian - Hotel: Villa Soro
30 Jun - Santillana del Mar - Hotel: Hotel Casa del Marques
01 Jul - Fuente De - Hotel: Parador Fuente De
02 Jul - Villamayor - Hotel: Palacio de Cutre
03 Jul - Vilela - Hotel: Casa Donano
04 Jul - Santiago de Compostelo - Hotel: Altair
05 Jul - Santiago de Compostelo - Hotel: Altair

We also thought that we should spend a day exploring outside of San Sebastian but don't have any firm ideas as to what we would do in the area.

Any ideas on this trip would be appreciated.

zeppole

Calella da Palaufrugell or Begur might fit into your overall itinerary better than Cadaques. I would only go as far as Cadaques, putting in the extra miles, if Dali was very important to you.

I've not gone to most of the places you are going, but when I drove around the area of Ribes de Freser, the driving was slow and demanding, due to the very high and very beautiful mountain roads. It's possible you are not alotting enough travel time/drive time. Presumably you want to get out of the car and hike and walk, and actually look at the scenery, which you cannot do while driving in that area. It's just too demanding to take your eyes off the road.

I quite enjoy driving trips, where I often only stay one night in each hotel. But I always want to spend lots and lots of nights in San Sebastian.

walksntalks

Fuente De is interesting. We stayed there five days last summer and did some hiking.
You can take a cable car up to El Cable. There is a restaurant with fantastic views and it is the starting point for a popular walk to Horcados Rojos.
You will find a route description and photos from here:
http://www.topwalks.net/en/picos_eur...ados_rojos.htm
But I agree with zeppole. You might like to see fewer places to have little bit more time in each place. For example, if you are keen on hiking, there a three nice routes starting from Fuente De. (see above mentioned website).
We have been in Torla aswell. It is close to Valley of Ordesa, which is famous for its Faja routes. We did the three routes in Ordesa, that you can find from the Topwalks website. Those were pehaps our favourite routes in Pyrenees.
And Torla was charming.
We had no problems with the walking routes. The descriptions are very accurate and the maps are useful too. The website is offering GPS waypoints aswell...

kimhe

A couple of suggestions for spending a day exploring the surroundings of San Sebastian (The city itself is well worth exploring, to say the least. See Marshlands.blogstream.com):

Walk along the coast over Monte Ulía (just behind your hotel) and have lunch in the pictoresque little village of Pasajes San Juan/Donibane (approx 2 hours walk, with a one-minute boat-trip over from Pasajes San Pedro to Pasajes San Juan/Donibane at the end, leaves every 5. min or so). Several excellent seafood restaurants on the waterfront, some of them with great value lunch menus (lunch from about 1.30 pm). You could take the bus back to San Sebastián. http://www.euroresidentes.com/eurore...s/san-juan.htm

Take the bus to some of the small inland towns, e.g. Hernani or Tolosa, where you would perhaps feel the Basque culture more strongly than in the coastal resorts. The mountains around Tolosa - Aralar, Lekunberri etc. - is the cradle of skiing in Spain (beginning of the 20th century) and the Ski Club Tolosano was the first of its kind.

Go to see a local pelota/jai alai match, one of the oldest and fastest ball games in the world. It's easy to understand and the atmosphere and excitement is great. Often accompanied by barbeques and music.

As you probably know, your hotel is a ten minute walk away from one of the best restaurants in both Spain and the world, Arzak (ranked on the top ten list by the prestigious S. Pellegrino since 2006, three Michelin stars since 1989: http://www.theworlds50best.com/modul...sts?group_id=2).
The place has been around for ages, owned by the same family. Juan María Arzak was one of the protagonist of the Basque, and eventually Spanish, gastronomic revolution in the 1980's. At Arzak, tradition fuses with inventiveness in a relatively laid-back environment where quality and seriousness trumps gourmet snobbery. With the tasting menu/menú degustación you would almost for certain have one of the best dining experiences of your life for about €120 (wine etc. excluded). You should order now if you are just staying for two days. http://www.arzak.info/ing/home.asp

johnthedorf

I'm a Slow Traveler so take that into consideration. While your trip is fantastic my feeling is that in only 18 days you are going to be driving, packing and unpacking you aren't going to have much time to absorb the Green Country no less hiking. I had only a month and could have eliminated the Costa Brava and Barcelona (been there three times but prefer the North more). The only city I would return to is Donastia/San Sebastian. Santander is the only city I've been to West of S.S. so I can't comment further. The small fishing villages along the N. Coast attracted me more both for food and scenery. I'll look forward to your trip report. Psst...Be sure to slurp the Txokoli with your seafood!

ribeirasacra

I feel that you are travelling too much. For instance I have spent 2 weeks in BCN and feel I only scratched the surface.
Everyday you change location you loose at least half a day (maybe more) transferring between one location and another.
I personally would choose between the Coasta to the north of BCN and Basque country.
If you venture westwards then maybe end up in Asturias. Galicia is too far for this vacation. That last statement pains me as I live here and I know it has something to offer you.
If you like walking there are some great walks in the Picos.
If you decide on the latter option then I am more than happy to some idea rather than promote my own web site.

walksntalks

ribeirasacra,
You seem to know Galicia. We were told in Cantabria, that Galicia is very, very special. I believe so, because most often the Spanish are proud of their own area and do not care much about the rest of the country.
Could you please name a few areas/nature parks in Galicia, where there is a lot of nice day walks? We plan to visit Galicia in April or latest next summer.

AlwaysOnTheRoad

Thank you all for the feedback.

Based on the comments I am going to add at least one more day at Fuente De to take better advantage of the area. I will probably do the same at Torla since the Valley of Ordesa sounds very appealing.

A few questions.

1. What would be a good source(s) for walks in the Picos?

2. I am told that a nice walk is to take the train up to Vall de Nuria and then walk back down. I have not found a good source for walks at the top or much about what it is like to walk down.

3. I am still trying to decide between only going as far as Begur or whether to continue up to Cadaques. Any thoughts?

Thank you all again. The feedback is really great.

ribeirasacra

On the Turgalicia website you can download a PDF which is basically a brochure which gives details of some walks. http://www.turgalicia.es
There are a lot of walking areas. The best for me are O Coural, As Ancares, and where I live the Ribeira Sacrá. There some areas of the coast which are good too. Like Fragas do Eume, Costa da Vela or Costa Ártabra to name but a few.

Then there are the Caminos to Santiago which cross Galicia.
All of northern Spain is special and each area offers something different.

NEDSIRELAND

I think your itinerary is too 'front loaded!' You spend the first 10/11 days between Barcelona & San Sebastian. You skip Bilbao (Vizcaya), Limpias, Laredo & Santander (Cantabria, or 'Green Spain) and suddenly reappear in Santillana del mar.
Like ribeirasacra writes: "Galicia is too far for this vacation." You apparently make a 'dash' from the rio Deva across the Principality of Asturias to Galicia and to spend two nights in Santiago de Compostela.

Aduchamp1

Think of Sapin as several countries. In Galicia for example they speak Gallego which is a combination of Spanish and Portuguese. It is lush with rolling hills with the beauty of the Rias Altas and the Rias Baixas.. There is a great Celtic influence where they play the bag pipes The Celtic migration went through Galicia.

There are antiquities such as the Roman walls of Lugo and the ruins of ancient towns. And then there is the catehdral in Santiago de Compostela with its six foot incense burner which swings across the cathedral during special occasions.

The sea has also shaped the culture where many were fishermen or sailors. And due to the poverty before the 1980's worked or went to live in foreigh countries.

Politically it is conservative, which may be changing with the younger Spaniards becomming better educated.

It is vastly different than other parts of Spain.

walksntalks

Thanks Ribeirasacra,
I will check the site and we will study the area.
Here in Cantabria and Asturias the Caminos to Santiago are boring to me. It's the thing for many, I understand, by why does it have to follow the roads (national). Perhaps it would be too demanding, if it was following the wonderful day walks on the mountains.
Obviously I prefer the day walks, and that is why I am offering the above mentioned Topwalks website to others. According to me experiences it is very trustful, detailled and vast with thousends and thousends of photos etc.
I cannot wait until they will cover Galicia too!
It will be interesting to compare Orujo and Percebes from Cantabria and Cider from Asturias with the ones in Galicia... And then Albariños!
And I hope I can manage with Castellano in Galicia

andonius

Don't worry about the language. In Spain everybody speaks Spanish and , in some areas, a second language.
In Lugo, as Ribeirasacra says, don't miss the walls. They're the only complete Roman walls in Europe and you can walk on top of them surrounding all the city and returning to the same point you started. It's an amazing and very unusual walk.

walksntalks

Hi Andonius,
Thanks for the tip.
But I must disagree with the language information. While we visited Catalonia with my friends from Cantabria, the catalans refused to understand Castellano in a tourist information centre. And none of us understood Catalan.
So, we had to communicate in English!
Also, I have met young people from Valencia, who really cannot speak proper Castellano. In a business meeting our lawyer had to translate Valenciano to Castellano. And this time they were trying hard to speak Castellano.
Have you ever been to Alcornocales or Grazalema Nature Parks? I cannot understand a word over there... It's the accent, pollo becomes pozo

ribeirasacra

Here in Galicia everyone will speak to you in Castelaño. However we had one guest, I think form Madrid, who said one tourist guide on the coast insisted that he spoke Gallego. But and I repeat But that is the only instance I have heard of a local insisting on speaking Galician.
You should be fine; I will say that some tourist information has only been printed in Galician. That was a political reason but hopefully now things can go back to attracting Spanish speakers too.
The walls around the walls of Lugo is nice but I doubt if it is something for your website. It is hardly in the country.
The Camino de Invierno does not use so many main roads.

walksntalks

AlwaysOnTheRoad,
1. What would be a good source(s) for walks in the Picos?

You have the routes here: http://www.topwalks.net/en/picos_de_europa.htm

walksntalks

AlwaysOnTheRoad,
In Fuente De check also the route to Vega de Liordes. I liked it more than the very popular route to Horcados Rojos.
From the above mentioned website you will find 3 routes starting from Fuente De (Picos de Europa) and 3 faja routes in Valley of Ordesa (Pyrenees).
On the Topwalks website there are driving instructions, very detailled description, maps, GPS waypoints...

Revulgo

You will enjoy San Sebastian for sure. Here is a photo gallery:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...ery-Spain.html