Basque
 

Okay I have 2 options for final planning for the Basque area. We arrive in Bilbao the evening of May 5.
Option 1
May 6 visit the Guggenheim Museum in the morning(overnite Bilbao)
May 7 rent car and go SanSebastian through Guernica (overnite SanSeb)
May 8 San Seb and area (overnite SanSeb)
May 9 head toward St Jean Lux (overnite St Jean Lux) or I guess another option is to spend the next 2 nights in San Seb. I thought by moving to a different location it might be easier to explore different areas and it is a shorter drive to Cadaques then.
May 10 free day (overnite St Jean)
May 11 drive to Cadaques, about 6.5 hrs (St Jean Lux is a bit shorter drive) (overnite Cadaques)
May 12 tour Dali's house (overnite Cadaques)
May 13 To Figueres visit museum (overnite Figueres or drive to Girona in the afternoon and overnite there)
May 14 Drive to Barcelona and drop car. I
I also considered dropping the car in Figueres and taking the train to Barcelona but I think it was cheaper to keep the car at this point for another day. I believe the train is 30 euros for for each person but I am wondering now if the 30 euros is one way or RT. Does anyone know that???
Option 2
May 6 visit the Guggenheim Museum in the morning rent a car in the afternoon and drive to San Seb. via Guernica(overnite San Seb)
May 7 explore SanSebastian
The the rest from May 8 would be the same as option 1. So the only difference is that on option 1 we would stay 2 nights in Bilbao.
Than you for all of your help and Happy Halloween.

Visit Guggenheim, stay two to three nights in San Sebastian..
From San Sebastian or St-Jean de Luz, you'll get on highways, autoroutes or autostradas and drive east. Consider an overnight in the Pyreenes..

tidy: Either option would be ok. However, I recommend you find the painted forest (El Bosque Pintado...Bosque de Oma) a few kms beyond Gernika (use the Basque pronunciation). Get directions from TI in Gernika...it's just off the road to San Sibby (term of enderament for San Sebastian)*. It's a marvelous discovery and a great photo op. 100's of painted trees in a wide variety of designs, some very intriguing..in a rather remote setting. Famous Basque artist, Agustin Ibarrola, created a unique attraction here. We found it in an obscure art magazine a few months before leaving for one of our visits to Northern Spain and Basque country..stayed in Bidart near Biarritz and took two days trips..to the Guggy and then to the forest and eventually beautiful San Sibby. *<i>I learned of this term of endearment in a strange way...Sebastian "Sibby" Sisti, a shorstop for the long defunct Boston Bees (later the Braves)...I'm a Red Sox fan and avoided going to Braves Field. The one time I did, Sibby made three errors!</i>

Here are some pics of the aformentioned Painted Forest. Great
photo ops and a glorious sight to see. We were all alone when we ventured there. Click on magnifying icon to enlarge...the road gives you an idea of the surrounding countryside. There are also caves in the vicinity that are qute dramatic (Santi- mamine (sp). Small tavern with food at the entrance to the 5-6 km. road leading to the forest. I have given directions to several Fodorites, none of whom ever carried through to find it.

Maribel, why do so few Fodorites ever mention this remarkable site??

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuartto...ForestOfSpain#

http://www.pbase.com/txirloro/elbosque

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trempoli/4512752758/

Tidy..have a fun visit to Basque Country.

<i>Sorry I hijacked your Montserrat thread. Always someone who loves to snipe at other people's honest opinions....</i>
stu

Speaking of honest opinions, I don't think St Jean de Luz is much of a destination, especially when you could be enjoying the Pyrenees in Spring (although I'm sure Maribel would urge you to go!) It's touristy and tourist shop ridden, and there is much more beautiful coastline in other areas of both the Spanish and French basque coast.

For what it's worth, when I did a very similar trip, I drove my car to the Barcelona airport and dropped it off there and then took the airport train into Barcelona proper. That said, if you aren't planning to spend any time in Barcelona, you might check out ending your trip in Girona (even flying out of there if you haven't already booked your air tix).

No, we do need to drive to Barcelona and drop a car because we will then spend 4 days in Barcelona. So, where would you recomm. staying in the Pyrenees? Can I take a chance and make reservations in Bilbao, San Seb. and then just find a hotel for the last 2 nights when there?
Tower, I am intrigued with the painted forest and will likely visit. So, with that said is it going to be too rushed to leave Bilbao at say 1:00PM and try to see the sights (Gernika Peace Museum and Assembly House and Oak Tree and also the forest before we reach Sibby? One more question, does anyone know the price of a one way train ticket from Figueres to Barcelona???

Tidy..Gernika is a small town..everything is within easy reach and an hour or much less would be sufficient to see those only things of any interest that I could find. The drama of it all, of course, is seeing this small town that was so cruelly bombed to smithereens in 1937. Leave Bilbao at noon to be on the safe side. I think you can easily reach San Sibby well before evening at that time of year. The road through the little beach towns (Lekeitio, Zumaia, etc) is wind-y, with some nice scenic views. The small detour to the forest, a walk though and return should not be more than an hour of your time.

<i>French basque coast.</i>
Zeppole....appears as though the French basque coast is overlooked by many. The rock formations on the beaches around Bidart (3 kms south of Biarritz)especially, are like a lunarscape with lovely long stretch of sandy beach, too.

The visit to the Peace Museum takes more than an hour, so set aside some time and have lunch in Gernika. Restaurante Zallo Barri is worth the stop (www.zallobarri.com). Just outside of Gernika, in Forua, is another excellent restaurant, Baserri Maitea.

tidy,

You don't need to book in the Pyrenees in the beginning of May. You do need to watch the weather and not drive up into high destinations. But wherever you go, you will find tons of accommodations, because so much of the area is popular with skiers. By May, they'll be gone, but it is too early for summer -- so lots of rooms at the inns.

In spring, I was thrilled with area around Cauterets/Pont d'Espagne, filled with rushing waterfalls. But it is all beautiful. The Blue Guide to the region was very helpful, and you can find some information on websites with googling. The only place I would positively avoid is Lourdes.

PS: Just to be clear: Watch the weather and don't drive up into high destinations unless you know you have clear weather up there. Consult with locals. I drove up into some high peaks and roads were open, weather was brilliant. But one day (on the Spanish side), I miscalculated and ended up in a cloud. The lower elevations are charming, so no need to take chances.

There are charming French basque towns inland, so don't just hug the coast.

What are some of the charming Basque towns and someone said to stay in the Pyrenees. Any suggestions. We live in Colorado so certainly driving mountain roads is NO problem.

Esplette and Ainhoa are on my list.

2 nights in San Sebastian is not enough.

If you want to plan on traveling in the Pyrenees, then one of the best sources of information is the Pyrenees Guide (www.pyreneesguide.com). It should give you all of the information you need in planning your route. As far as charming Pays Basque villages in the Pyrenees, most are in the foothills, including St Jean-Pied-de-Port. There are a number of interesting villages in the Pyrenees in the Bearn Region south of Pau, and of course the Val d'Aran (Aragon) is spectacular, summer or winter.

I think this is a little aggressive for 10 nights. 2 nights for San Sebastian (and really only 1 day) for example. This is actually the parts of the Basque country & Catalonia all in 10 days.