Northern Spain - Trip Planning

Old Jun 5th, 2012, 03:40 PM
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Northern Spain - Trip Planning

Please help! I am visiting my daughter in Spain in June. We will be flying from Madrid to San Sebastian on Tuesday, June 26, and plan to spend 3 nights there (we haven't been able to get the hotel we want yet). After San Sebastian, we want to see more of northern Spain, and we need some recommendations. ( We will need to be back in San Sebastian on Monday, July 2, to fly back to Madrid.) We were thinking Asturias and/or Galicia. We don't know about transportation -- are there trains or do we need to rent a car. (I've been to the AAA but they didn't know about this region).
Any help with trip planning and hotels, etc., would be very much appreciated. (We don't want to try to do too much. We would rather see a few places and enjoy ourselves than rush and see too many.)
Thanks!
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Old Jun 5th, 2012, 03:52 PM
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Am I counting correctly or do you only have 3 nights open (after San Sebastian) and 6 in total for this part of your trip? If you're spending June 26-28 in San Sebastian and have to fly back to Madrid on July 2nd that's only 3 open nights.

If so with this limited amount of time I'd keep it easy and focus on the Basque Country. You could spend the entire time easily in San Sebastian and use as a base to do various daytrips.
Or several other combinations:
*4 nights San Sebastian, 2 nights smaller village (ie. Getaria, Hondarribia, Lekeitio)
*3 nights San Sebastian, 1-2 nights smaller village, 1-2 nights Bilbao
*3-4 nights San Sebastian, 2-3 nights Bilbao
You could also consider overnights in Pamplona or Vitoria. Or if you're interested in wine spend 4 nights in San Sebastian and head to La Rioja for a couple of nights.
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Old Jun 5th, 2012, 04:27 PM
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It appears you have about 2.5 days? 3 nights starting June 26 in San Sebastian makes June 29 the traveling day assuming about .5 days available. You have full days on June 30/July 1 and traveling day back to SS on July 2.

If you look at a map, San Sebastian and Asturias/Galicia are quite far apart. San Sebastian to Oviedo, for example, might be 5-6hrs by car, 8+hrs by train, so June 29 would be fully consumed by transit if done by ground. Galicia is even further away. If flying back on July 2 is early in the morning, you need to be back in SS night of July 1 with making July 1 another long travel day. So you have June 30 to enjoy Asturias/Galicia. Do you really want to do this?

If you have to go to Asturias/Galicia, why backtrack to San Sebastian? You could just as well return direct to Madrid and eliminate one long backtracking day. Even less hectic would be to stay in the Basque country. Return to Madrid from Bilbao by train or by plane.
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Old Jun 5th, 2012, 06:19 PM
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Thank you CathyM and Greg for your suggestions.
I will see if we can arrange our return flight to leave from Bilbao.
Any suggestions for hotels in San Sebastian? I have checked TripAdvisor and maribelsguides.com, but have not been able to secure anything yet.
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Old Jun 5th, 2012, 07:15 PM
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What is your budget for hotels in San Sebastian?
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Old Jun 5th, 2012, 07:21 PM
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Our budget for hotels would be between $100 - $160 per night.
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Old Jun 5th, 2012, 10:40 PM
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What dollars? Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, US...the list is quite long.
After your 3 days in SS you have just 3 more days in Spain. I would just stay in and around SS. Getting to Galicia, from SS, is around 5 to 6 hours. That will not allow much for sightseeing.
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Old Jun 6th, 2012, 02:10 AM
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I love San Sebastian but think it's a tough hotel town. We have stayed three times at the Parma, www.hotelparma.com Most people, myself included, would expect more for the money (150€, double) but the location is very good and they have parking, extra 15€. Rooms on the ground level are about 8 steps below street level and have transom windows only, they may be less but I wouldn't want one! Very, very clean and helpful staff, AC.

At the other end of the price spectrum is the Pension Urkia, www.pensionurkia.com, 40€, very clean, great location, small fridge also small room, no AC and do not book a room without a balcony/French window, my friend's room overlooked an air shaft, 12" x 12" window onto the shaft.

We have tried to book the Londres in the past, it's always been full.

There's a great current thread
about renting a flat in San Seb for a week, using it as a base to explore the Basque Region by public
transport. If I had 6 days, I think that would be a great plan. Thread is: Trip Report, two sisters and friends visit San Sebastian and Bilbao
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Old Jun 6th, 2012, 05:11 AM
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Hi CTS,

In 2011, I stayed at the Hotel Arrizul in the Gros section of San Sebastian. The location was great and an easy walk to the old town, just over the river. The hotel was very basic and no frills, but clean and the staff was very helpful.

http://www.arrizulhotel.com/index2.html

Last month for a repeat visit, we rented an apartment through Enjoy Rentals - tons of space and a great location for about the same price as a hotel, if not less

http://www.enjoyrentals.com/en/apart...-san-sebastian

Here's a link to my report if you're interested, which Cathie very kindly mentioned

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...and-bilbao.cfm

We did day trips from San Se via public transport (easy and inexpensive) because I hate driving, but honestly it didn't seem like a challenging area in which to drive. I can't speak to parking in San Sebastian in June, however.
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Old Jun 6th, 2012, 12:30 PM
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I appreciate all your comments. I was talking about American dollars (I am from California). I will look into those hotels and the apartment.
This has all helped so much because we needed to narrow down what we will be doing (since we haven't been to that region of Spain before).
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Old Jun 6th, 2012, 04:27 PM
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Last year we stayed at Sercotel Codina and loved it. We are hoping to stay there again in September if our trip works out. Approx. $140. A few blocks from the beach but there is a bus right in front of the hotel to take you to old town, about 1 mile. We liked the walk along the beach. There is a grocery store a block away and a fridge in the room. If you stay there ask for a room with a view of the beach.
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Old Jun 6th, 2012, 11:38 PM
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Micheline,

Thanks for suggesting another hotel to the list, we need a change.
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Old Jun 7th, 2012, 12:44 PM
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Thanks, Micheline and everyone else. I will be contacting the hotels this week.
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