Bilbao or San Sebastian
 

Hello all. I'll be making a short stop in Bilbao during this coming December. I'll have 3-4 days to stay in the area. Would I be better off staying in either Bilbao or San Sebastian for the entire time? Or is it better to split the time between both places?

Thanks for any suggestions.

I think it really depends on what you want to see and experience. I preferred work-a-day Bilbao to the tourism of San Sebastian, but suspect that others had different reactions.

Thanks for the response. As much as I like to pretend I'm not tourist...that is exactly what I am. So I'm assuming San Sebastian caters more to tourists than Bilbao? Which place affords easier day trips to nearby, smaller towns?

I am planning a long weekend in Bilbao in late September. Some articles for you to review:


https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/48-hours-in/bilbao-city-guide-how-to-spend-weekend-break-things-to-do-spain-guggenheim-best-restaurants-hotels-a8015111.htm


lhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/spain/articles/Vitoria-Gasteiz-Spain-a-cultural-city-guide/

http://getxo.eus/en/turismo/

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/spain/articles/the-top-10-things-to-do-and-see-in-vitoria-gasteiz-spain/

https://www.rome2rio.com/

Best app to plan getting from here to there!

We were very happy with our stay in San Sebastian.

We visited Bilbao for a day and found it sufficient.

((I))

Excellent links...thanks!

I've never been to Bilbao but instead went to San Sebastian based on the suggestion of a co-worker who's from... San Sebastian. I was really happy I went but I was only there for one full day and one half day (travel day). I think 3-4 days would be too much. I went a few years ago on my own but I wrote a trip report with my itinerary, photos, and some costs:
https://fanofblank.blogspot.com/2014...-in-spain.html

It might give you some ideas of what to expect.

They're quite close to each other, and of course, the ease of day trips depends on which specific nearby, smaller towns you wish to visit. I'm not sure you could pick between the two on that basis alone, unless you had some very specific interests.

OReilly64 gave you the link to rome2rio.com, which should prove useful to you. Just be sure to follow through the links to source material, as the main site is not sensitive to seasonal variation in transportation schedules.

We rented an apartment in San Sebastián for a week exactly 2 years ago and loved it. We did a daytrip to Bilbao, though, and wished we had planned for another day or two, as well as for some other daytrips.

You could stay between them, in Getaria but that might be super quiet in winter. It's a beautiful place to stay, though. But of the two mentioned above, which I have visited several times, I would choose San Sebastian. You can easily get away from the tourist areas if you like. It is not like a tourist Disneyland, in the least, and December should be a super time to be there.

I think San Sebastian was much more visually appealing and more interesting. The promenade along the water is beautiful, the views from both the mini-mountians on either side are stunning (and fun to climb), the old town is lovely. I took a day trip to Hondarabbia which was easy and fun. I did like Bilbao more than I expected to but definitely preferred San Sebastian. If you have four days I would probably do 3 nights San Sebastian and one in Bilbao. Depends on where you are going to be before and after that region.


Here's my photos of the area: https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/p494569692

Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions and the links to your personal journeys. I fly into Bilbao in the late afternoon so I've decided to spend the night there, and see the Guggenheim and old town the next day. Then spend the next 2 nights in San Sebastian. If I have a 4th. day (unsure at the moment), I may just explore west along the coast and loop back to Bilbao for my flight out in the late afternoon.

Any hotel suggestions?

Great photos, Isabel....gave me a real sense of what to expect.

Lindygirl..also quite enjoyable. Looks like you had a great time.

That could work!

If you find value in trip reports, you might also take a look at mine.
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...lunya-1047395/

More things to do and see in Bilbao and nearby...more scenic San Sebastian, but you can see it in one day. And it may be very rainy in December (both)

I didn't think youj could see San Sebastián in one day. During the week we spent there we got out of the main tourist part of town many times, hiked all around the surrounding hills and out to far-flung neighborhoods. Sure, if all you want to do is shop and eat on that main tourist drag you could do that in one day, but there is far more to SS than that. The parks alone could occupy a full day. And I suppose it's a touristy attraction, too, but we loved the day we spent at La Perla spa.

Unlike StCirq (and with due deference), I wish I'd given San Sebastian only a day. But in truth, that's about all I did give it -- although I had three nights there, I spent most of my time elsewhere.

In contrast, I found more than enough to keep my happily busy in Bilbao for a couple of days.

I probably could have been happy in and around Bilbao for a week, kja. I need to go back, and fortunately it's pretty close by. People's impressions are SO formed by the time they have to spend and what they think, in advance, will set off their travel sensors (and that can all change in the blink of an eye). I'm immensely lucky in that I can just wander around these places fairly easily without a whole lot of planning. I look forward to going back to Bilbao next spring. It's just a couple of train rides away, and I want to know more about it..

...and it´ll be my pleasure to be your host!