mudlush

Driving E to W in Sept/Oct.. We have 17 days in country and want to dedicate 4 full days to Barcelona & probably 3-4 to San Sebastian/Bilbao. Help please with the most pleasant rte. (that won't wear us out on constant mtn. passes) w/ lovely towns and great food. Also suggested High end stopping places w/ 2 nights per stop ideal.

nessundorma

When I plotted my route, everyone suggested to me that I go through France and not Spain, and I took their advice. I preferred to visit the high mountains of the Pyrenees while in the vicinty, but you can plot a course more or less through Tolouse, through the foothills and valley, that will be quite easy and where you can find lots of good French food. The only town I have heard negative things about is Toulouse, but the towns surrounding Toulouse are said to be quite nice. Likewise Pau.

Robert2533

With 17 days, you should have plenty of time to enjoy both sides of the Pyrenees, but first you should consider 3 nights in Barcelona and 4 to 5 in the País Vasco.

If you follow the road from Barcelona to Vielha in the Vall d'Aran you'll pass through some very beautiful country. The roads should still be clear of snow in late
September. There are two Paradors in Vall d'Aran. The one in Vielha offers a sweeping view of the valley.

Leaving Vielha, you cross over into France heading in the direction of Tarbes. Picking up the D929, you head back south into Spain on the D173. If you would like to spend a few days at an outstanding Resort Spa in the Pyrenees, then you head east on the N260 at Ainsa, taking the A136 at Biescas, heading north, back toward France for a few kilometers. The Panticosa Resort Spa (http://www.panticosa.com/) is well worth the short drive.

After a 2 or 3 nights at Panticosa, you can head for Jaca and then onto Pamplona for a two nights to explore the area (Olite, Estella, Puente la Reina, etc.) before heading back over the Pyrenees on the N135 to St Jean-Pied-de-Port where you'll find one on the best restaurants in the region, Les Pyrenèes. After lunch you can head for the coast, spending 2 or 3 nights in Biarritz before heading for San Sebastian-Donostia and then to Bilbao.

Following this route, you only cross the Pyrenees three times before driving back into Spain in the País Vasco.

Michael

Make a detour to Taüll for the Romanesque frescoe in its two churches (the original are in Barcelona, but the churches are worth a visit.

Stop by San Juan de la Peña.

These are our photos from our trip which went from Bilbao to Barcelona:
http://tinyurl.com/obzzm
http://tinyurl.com/otqc2

mudlush

Michael: Thanks for the photos. Can you tell me what rte you drove and what you liked/disliked about it? Also any exceptional lodging along way? We want to stay in Spain. Paradors? Inns?

Maribel

Hi mudlush,
We recently did part of that route, from Huesca to Bilbao, which we know fairly well.

I agree with Michael that you must make a detour to the Boí valley, to the slate and stone villages of Barrera, Taüll, Eril-La Vall, and since it's so close, continue on to the stunning Swiss Alpine looking Val d'Aran for more of the same. A perfect spot for late Sept./early Oct.

We also enjoyed our stop at San Juan de la Peña, whose columns in the cloister have the most gorgeous and well preserved carvings on the capitals that I've seen outside of the Colegiata in Satillana.

Exceptional lodging:

1) in the Val d'Aran,
the Rafael La Pleta Hotel & Spa (www.lapleta.com)

or the Parador Gaspar de Portolá in Artíes
(www.parador.es)

Obligatory meals at Casa Irene in Artíes
and Casa Perú in Bagergue.

2) Robert's suggestion of the supremely relaxing, luxurious new Panticosa Resort, member of Leading Hotels of the World, in the spectacular Tena Valley of Aragón (planning to return next July!)
Must have a meal at their Restaurante del Lago (supervised by 2 Michelin star chef, Pedro Subijana, of Akelarre in San Sebastián).

Runner-up in the Tena Valley:
El Privilegio de Tena in tiny Tramacastilla de Tena
(www.elprivilegio.com)

3) Parador at Sos del Rey Católico
(www.parador.es-click on the photo album)
We send friends here regularly. It has extremely comfortable rooms and lovely dining with beautiful views from terrace. Very relaxing, and close to San Juan de la Peña, the reservoir and Monastery of Leyre (amazing crypt), the gorges of Lumbier and Araybún, picturesque village of Ujué. fascinating topography of Los Mallos area of Aragón and spectacular, impregnable Castle of Loarre (a wow!).

Once you cross over to Navarra, great food
guaranteed just about anywhere, but on the road from Pamplona to San Sebastián, a lunch at Epleta in Lekumberri is a must (just ask fishee or read her post)!

Michael

mudlush, My suggestions and photos represent two different trips. Unfortunately I no longer have the map of Spain we used, so I could not give the exact roads we used. But the photos are pretty much in chronological order, so that with a map you could follow our itinerary farily closely.

BobSwanson

Hello everyone

This appears to be very similar to my trip arriving in Barcelona Sept. 12, spending a few days in Costa Bravo, taking a liesurely trip towards San Sebastion and then returning. My wife and I had previous good experiences with Hostals during our trip to Galicia 3 years ago. Anyone have any thoughts or experiences with hostals on the routes previously told? We should have a 2 week auto rental.
Regards, BS

Maribel

Bob,
For something nicer and just as inexpensive as hostals along the route, look at the "casas rurales", or rural, family run B&Bs, like a French chambre d'hote. You'll find a plethora of them on this great site: www.toprural.com
(with English page).

Just select the province at the top, then under "type of accomodation", check "rural hostal or inn" or "rural hotel" and look at the pictures, notes from the owners, guest reviews, maps, etc.

For your Costa Brava portion, look under the Girona province.

For your Pryenees trip to S.S., look under Lleida, Huesca, Navarra provinces.

This is a truly great resource for budget travel in Spain.

BobSwanson

Maribel.
Thanks again. Any thoughts on similar places in Barcelona? Evidently Nikki found a hotel for $ 100.00E in August and I tried the same hotel for $ 187.00E in September. I thought September was pass the High Season.
BS

Nikki

Bob, I stayed at the Hotel H10 Catalunya Plaza for 118 euros in August. Checking in September, it appears that weekday rates for a double are around 125 euros but weekend rates are higher, around 178 euros when available.

Ainhoa

I used to do this run several times a year when we had a holiday home in Catalunya and came by ferry from UK to Bilbao. There are some good suggestions here, but don´t ignore the first from nessundorma. I like the route via France better than the one via Spain. You could stop off on the Costa Brava on your way north (could I suggest the hotel Sa Punta in Platje de Pals, a 4* hotel with a superb restaurant). You shouldn´t miss the lovely old town of Mirepoix and at the Basque end there are some some delightful pretty villages, like Sare, Ainhoa (!) Ascain, but I would stay the night in St Jean Pied-de-Port, where you would have the option of driving over into Pamplona and then on to Bilbao/San Sebastian, or driving down to the coast and crossing into Spain using the motorway. The difference between the Spanish side and the French side is quite great.

BobSwanson

Ainhoa

Which side is great? spain or france?
BS

mudlush

So now I need advice from all of you wise ones as to whether you think I will have any problems just going by the seat of my pants with no reservations on my drive cross the north country during the first part of Oct., or will I need bookings? I much prefer the former to the latter. We will be looking to be staying in higher end lodgings but that is not absolutely necessary.

Maribel

mudlush,
If you're considerng the Spanish route and wish to stay at one of the Paradors above, and particularly on a weekend, it would be very wise to reserve. They're very popular, as is the Privilegio de Tena in the Tena Valley.

I can't answer the Spain versus France question for you, as I also enjoy the spots mentioned by Ainhoa. We spend two weeks every summer in this area and just returned. We particularly enjoy the beautiful 3 flower villages ("les plus beaux villages de France&quot of Ainhoa and Sare, plus Ascain, the red pepper village of Espelette, the cherry village of Itxassou on the arguably more picture-postcard-pretty French side of the Basque Country.
But this doesn't mean we find it necessarily more exciting than the dramatic, imposing, majestic scenery of the Spanish Pyrenées valleys of Boí, Arán, Benasque, Tena. However, these require more work, as driving is more challenging, but one is rewarded with some breathtaking, unforgettable vistas.
The drives from Biescas to Formigal in Aragón and from Pont de Sert (Lleida) towards Vielha and Caldes de Boí are spectacular.

I do need to say that St.-Jean-Pied-de Port in the Pays Basque is an extremely busy place at all times (read hectic and crowded, as nessundorma posted about her recent swing through) due to its role as a major staging post for the Road to St. James pilgrimage and end of the line for the Errobi tourist train. So I no longer recommend an overnight there. We went to the Monday market recently, which served to reconfirm my feelings. The legendary market was great fun, but the relentless crowds were not, and we didn't want to linger. That said, you'll have a meal of a lifetime if you stop for lunch at Les Pyrenèes on the maid road. But I would certainly move on for your night's stay, perhaps to the lovely Hotel Arcé in a peaceful, romantic setting, behind the church with river running through it, in neighboring St.-Etienne-de-Baïgorry.
(www.hotel-arce.com)
And try the Irouleguy wines. They can be sampled at La Cave Irouleguy on the maid road.

Or move on to the excellent Hotel Ithurria in Ainhoa, with a truly fine restaurant where we had the most memorable cassoulet ever.
(www.ithurria.com)
Baïgorry is far less busy by day than Ainhoa. While the Hotel Arraya in Sare serves wonderful meals on its terrace under the plane trees (dined here July 25), the beautiful, large rooms at the Rusticae Hotel Churrut, a few miles away down the smugglar's route on the Spanish side in Bera (Vera) de Bidasoa make for an even more memorable stay (we know both). It;s also 1/2 hr. from Pamplona.

If you decide to include the upper Costa Brava to do the French route, besides the 4 star Hotel Sa Punta, you might also want to consider the Parador Aiguablava, not for its dining but for its more glorious setting right at the edge of the Bay of Fornells (but requires advance reservations). Sa Punta, on the beach, is less remote, more practical, but I find the Parador's perch more exciting, as is the Hotel El Far de Sant Sebastià's at the lighthouse atop charming Llafranc. But both are extremely popular.
And inland, there's the high end and very impressive Castell d'Empordá, a Rusticae property, which has been reviewed here.

In fact, Rusticae has some new, really interesting, high end, architecturally impressive country masías (ancient, restored farmhouses) in the Girona province of Catalunya that you may want to consider. if you decide on France. On wkds. in late September it's very wise to reserve in this area as well.
www.rusticae.es
And I agree that Mirepoix, above Foix, as Ainhoa says, is delightful.

Just a few more ideas....

Maribel

Bob,
Sept. is still considered high season in BCN.
A nice hotel, even a 2 star, for $100 US there is becoming more and more elusive.
A Fodorite friend just sent me a note recommending the 2 star Hotel Constanza, on Bruc 33 in the eastern Eixample, near the Placa de Catalunya and off the Gran Vía, and another Fodorite was happy at the AB Viladomat in the western Eixample.
www.hotelabviladomat.com

And try the following coupon programs:
www.bancotel.es
www.talonotel.com

Remember that you can now buy individual coupons for Bancotel at any of the hundreds of Viajes Iberia travel agencies throughout Spain.
Talonotel coupons, as of July, are now sold individually at any Viajes El Corte Inglés agency (both individual agencies and those in their dept. stores).

If you read Spanish fairly well, also try www.halconviajes.com.
Their Weekend Plan vouchers can be purchased on their web page and printed out.

Good luch in your search.

Maribel

Bob,
Make that good "luck"!