Basque
 

I am trying to finalize the Basque portion of our 6 week trip. After Midrid we fly to Bilbao and will arrive the night of May 5th. So, here are my thoughts for the next 9 days,
May 6th- visit the Guggenheim Museum in the morning. and then have the afternoon free to drive to Haro to one of the nearby towns or just explore Bilboa.
May 7th- Depart Bilbao in the morning and drive to San Sebastian via Gernika.
May 8th as a day trip from San Seb.explore villages south of San Sebastian to Pamplona
May 9th as a day trip explore villages and toward Ainhoa, Sare and possiibly Bayonne (museum)
May 10th ???
May 11th Drive toward Figueres. Probably go through Carssonne, Narbonne and then south,. I think we will wing it where we stop that evening. Probably will take in one of the Carthar Chateaus on the way.Stay within 2-3 hours of Figueres.
May 12th Drive to Figueres (probably not do much else here)and visit museum and then drive to Cadaques and overnite there.
May 13th Tour Dali's house in the morning and then drive probably along the coast to Tossa da Mar (overnite there) If we didn't do the coast drive we could drive to Girona and explore for a bit.
May 14th Drive to Barcelona in the morning and drop car and then begin our time in Barcelona.
I had originally thought we might do a day trip from Bilbao to Santillana del Mar but most replied that it was not worth as a day trip. So, I still have a free day. My thinking is now that we would spend it San Sebastian.If you really felt we need more time elsewhere we could dpart Bilboa after touring the museum which would give us another day. Too many options and too little time! I really appreciate your thought on this itinierary and suggestions of towns not to miss. The route to Figueres is also flexible if there is something instead that we should see.
Happy New Year.

Except for the museum, Bilboa didn't impress me. I
wish we hadn't stayed there but though nothing much to do, I did love my hotel, the food in Ainhoa. Cathar country is interesting and very different in the many ways. the gift shops sell thingsnpt seen elsewhere. I wish I had bought one of the witches.

If I'm reading the post correctly you really only have 5 days for the Basque country - the remainder of the time is in Catalunya or the trip there.

With only 5 days (6 nights) for the Basque country and flying into Bilbao I'd probably spend the entire first day in Bilbao. It's a vibrant city with plenty to do and is beautiful at night. You could visit the Guggenheim then have lunch - the food in Bilbao is excellent. Then spend the remainder of the day roaming the old quarter. I wouldn't plan anything on May 10 - you hardly have any time to explore San Sebastian in the 4 nights you will be staying there. So I think you really need to stay put and enjoy this beautiful city. Is there a reason why you're ignoring the coastal villages? I see a day (May 8) exploring the villages south of San Sebastian towards Pamplona and then the next day going into France and exploring the interior villages. But I don't see alot of time on the Spanish coast

I may be off base here, but do you really mean Carcasonne? What route would you take to get there from San Sebastian? If I were you, I would include the Pays Basque area or see more of the Spanish Basque country rather than travel all the way to Carcassone...maybe I am missing something in the routing..

I don't know where the Pay Basque area is. Are you referring to Pau? From San Sebastian to Figueres Google Maps routed us from San Sebastian to Bayonee, Pau, Toulouse, Carassonne and then south on 39. They report that it will take about 5 and a half hours.

The Pays Basque is the French Basque country, which ends near Pau.

As already mentioned, if you have nine days, I would spend them exploring the País Vasco and Pays Basque (see www.maribelsguides.com). And yes, Bilbao is a vibrant city, but not a good base for exploring the area by car. Too much traffic at times. It would be better to stay outside of the city and take the bus or train into the city for the day.


www.turismoa.euskadi.net/s11-18805/en

The way the Google map routed you is a long, boring drive.

so what would be a better route?

Pays Basque is the area of France that borders the Spanish Pais Vasco.. SO, St-Jean de Luz, Bairritz, Ainhoa, Espellette, Sare, etc. Beautiful area.
We stayed in Hondarribia and drove over to Pays Basque several times as well as when we left for Barcelona via Carcassone and Collioure. We drove east on the French side of the Pyrenees.
Maribel's Guides has a section on both the Pais Vasco and Pays Basque, the Basque regions of Spain and France which are very helpful.

How do I access Maribel's Guides

http://maribelsguides.com/

Robert2533 provided the link in a previous post.

We spent more than 9 days, but did a similar trip this past May. I loved Bilbao and think it offers much beyond the Guggenheim. Its definitely worth a full day or even 2. I wouldn't use it as a base to explore the area though, I'd rather be someplace less crowded with traffic. From Bilbao we headed up into the hills for several days and then stayed in San Seb for 3 nights. After time in San Seb we went over to the French Pays Basque area and found it utterly charming and a nice break from the Spanish side. Bayonne was quite interesting for an afternoon. We then spent several days driving around the various small villages in the area and the scenery was beautiful. We vowed to come back and spend way more time iin the area as we barely scratched the surface. We eventually made our way to small town in France about 30 minutes south of Toulouse. The drive to get there was not particularly scenic, but it wasn't bad either. While in this area we did some of the Cathar trails and saw some castles--fascinating and not to be missed.

From the Toulouse area we drove right past Carcassonne (didn't stop as we have visited it b4.) and ended up in the vicinity of Figueres where we based ourselves for 4 days. We went to the Dali museum in Figueres and walked around a bit. Town didn't grab us and the musuem was packed. Only lace we went to that was crowded the entire month we were away. Loved Dali's house near Cadaques. Make sure u make reservations. We tried to just show up and couldnt get in that entire day. The drives around that area are spectacular. Then onto Barcelona. We only spent an afternoon and evening in Girona and wished we had more time.

There is a lot to see in this rather large area and I think 9 days is really shortchanging it.

<<We stayed in Hondarribia and drove over to Pays Basque several times as well as when we left for Barcelona via Carcassone and Collioure. We drove east on the French side of the Pyrenees.>>

This is what we did, except we went East on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees through Pamplona and Zaragoza. Loved the Spanish and French Basque Regions.

Tidy - If you have a day or two to enjoy yourself, you can follow thereyert's route through Pamplona, but stay in the northern part of Aragon, going from Pamplona to Jaca on the N-240 to connect to the N-260. From there you can drive to La Seu d'Urgell before finally heading down to Barcelona, or drive south to Lleida and then on to Barcelona. It's a lot more interesting route, but not something you'd do in one day.

I do want to see the Dali Museum and his house so we would visit both of those sites before going to Barcelona. There is soooo much to see. Maybe I should give up the overnite in Tossa da Mar and just drive straight to Barcelona from Cadaques.