We have made our flights and are trying to figure out our itinerary for our June trip. We are flying in and out of Madrid. We have visited Madrid on a prior trip, and we are planning to spend 4 nights in Madrid taking 2 day trips on the train to Toledo and Segovia. That leaves 6 nights not including our last night when we will stay at an aiport hotel in Madrid.

We plan on flying from Madrid into either San Sebastian or Bilbao, renting a car there and dropping it at one of these airports when we fly back to Madrid.

I am thinking of splitting the 6 nights equally between the Spanish and Basque countryside using San Sebastian and Biarritz/ St. Jean de Luz as our bases. The other option would be to spend 4 nights in San Sebastian taking a day trip to the French Basque area and then spending 2 nights in Rioja.

I have been reading Maribel's guides and it all sounds fantastic. I just wish we had more time to spend seeing more of these areas. But with only 6 nights, what would be the best use of our time?

Thanks in advance for any help!

I like the San Sebastian /St-Jean de Luz plan. Make sure you go up into French Basque villages which are charming. I'd like to stay in one of them on my next visit there. Maribel is right on with her advice.

If it were me (and I must admit I am biased to the Spanish side of the Basque country) I'd spend 4 nights in San Sebastian and 2 nights in a smaller village on the Spanish Basque coast (to give you a contrast between city and village). You could visit St Jean de Luz and/or Biarritz as a daytrip from San Sebastian. Also, I'd definately spend at least a day in Bilbao. It's a beautiful city so often overlooked or just visited for the Guggenheim as a too short trip.

You may want to take a look at my blog as a local, www.blogseitb.us/basquetourism to gather useful info on the Basque Country. In any case, you can´t miss Bilbao.

If you can, factor in Bayonne, lovely town with an excellent Basque museum and some great restaurants.