2d

My DH & I are in the process of planning a 3-week trip to Spain in May '07. We are interested in spending time on the Atlantic coast. Has anyone driven east from La Coruna to San Sebastian? We love exploring coast-lines & little fishing villages. Is this drive worth the time or would our time be better spend elsewhere?

weber6560

I have done it and loved it. One my best trips anywhere. I took about 10 days. The great thing is that you can bounce between the coast and mountains and do so in a matter of minutes. Among my favorites were Luarco, Llanes, San Vicente, Santillana del mar, Potes, Cangis de Onis, as well as Bilbao and San Sebastian. [I liked San Sebastian so much I went back last May for the entire month].

I used Penelope Casas' book "Uncommon Spain" to plan the trip. I am a foodie and she is too. the book pointed me to some out of the way places I probably would have missed.

Incidentally, there is a travel agency, Totally Spain, that is based near Bilbao and did a fantastic job for me this last trip. Their local knowledge of the north coast is superb.

Maribel

2d,
Just like to second Weber's (hi Weber!) recommendation of Totally Spain for your travel planning in Northern Spain. They do mine.

I've driven the entire stretch along the Cantabrian coast. I really can't answer the question of whether it's worth your time because I don't know your entire itinerary, and if you are planning any time in the glorious Picos de Europa region that Weber wisely mentions. And I highly recommend as well.

But I can tell you what fishing villages along the coast are certainly worth a visit, at least for me:

In Galicia:

Cedeira, Barqueiro and beyond at the very end of the cape, Porto de Bares, Viveiro, Cervo and Sargadelos (home of the avant-garde pottery)

In Asturias:

the inlet at Ortigueira, Luarca, Cabo Video, Cudillero, the pre Romanesque churches around Valdediós below Villaviciosa, the cider town (the (inland), then back to the coast for Tazones, Ribadesella (prehistoric cave paintings at Tito Bustillo) , Llanes, the drive to the spectacular!!! lookout point between Cué and Andrín (whose inhabitants call it the prettiest village in all of Asturias).

In Cantabria:

Comillas, Santillana del Mar (but heavily touristed!), San Vicente de la Barquera, Santander's El Sardinero beach (one of Spain's great urban beaches and arguably as pretty as San Sebastián's La Concha) and across the bay to Pedreña and the area between there and Santoña (where Totally Spain is based),

In Vizcaya, Basque Country:

the drive Bakio-San Juan de Gaztelugatxe-Bermeo-Mundaka-Llaida beach-down to Gernika
Then up east from Gernika, the drive from Elantxobe to Lekeitio
(recently revisited)

In Gipuzkoa, Basque Country:

the drive Zumaia-Getaria-Zarautz
(locals even walk part of this-we recently spent time here)

There are wonderful lodgings along the way.

We recently stopped in at the Hotel Saiaiz in Getaria and really liked what we saw
www.saiazgetaria.com
In Lekeitio, there's the very nice Hotel Zubieta
www.hotelzubieta.com
or the more expensive Hotel Emperatriz Zita
www.aisiahoteles.com
Near Elantxobe there's the cute little Hotel Gametexo which has apts. and the some of the world's best sea views!
www.hotelgametxo.com
Plus the castle, Castillo de Arteaga, in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, above Gernika
www.castillodearteaga.com

For the Cantabrian section, I use the Club de Calidad de Cantabria group, which has many converted "indiano" mansions (casonas) on the coast, such as the Casona de Meruelo and cozy inns, like the Posada Casa del Organista in Santillana, plus lots of lodging in Picos
www.calidadcantabria.com

For the Asturian coast, there's a lovely hotel group, Casonas Asturianas, which has delightful places like the Villa Rosario in Ribadesella, the Casona de la Paca in Cudillero and the Villa Argentina in Luarca
www.casonasasturianas.com

Hope this gets you started in your planning.

2d

Ohmygoodness, your responses are exactly what I hoped for--Fodorites to the rescue once again! Thanks so much!!

NEDSIRELAND

There's a toll free expressway across Cantabria from near the rio Deva all the way to Bilbao (Vizcaya). It's NOT a Coastal highway but from it you can easily find your way to many of the okaces mentioned by Maribel and weber6560.

I would recommend that you jog south from Unquera (as soon as you cross the rio Deva) to Liebana and its Capital, Potes. In May you can probably make it to Fuente Dé. Visit the Monasterio de Santo Toribio just outside Potes and you may learn some interesting stuff and see the largest fragment of the Cross on which Christ was Crucified that is guarded there.

ChanB

Bookmarking! thanks for the info.

ribeirasacra

Just note that when using totally Spain that they give the excuse that they have deals and do not display prices. I would suggest you check very carefully and maybe book direct as it is not always so. They have to earn their money from somewhere!

Maribel

I've used the services of Totally Spain for years now and stand firmly behind them. While I can easily plan trips on my own, when I get busy with other projects and just don't have the time for in-depth planning, I comfortably leave it to them. If I could do it far more economically on my own, I certainly would, but that hasn't been the case. Totally Spain doesn't quote prices on their web page because they do fluctuate widely, and with their large volume in business they can and do pass along special discounts as they come along.

I've personally been in their office in Cantabria when new, lower pricing has come to them from the Paradors (this has happened frequently as of late), and I've seen these prices passed on to their clients. Again, I stand fully behind my recommendation of their services for those who wish to use custom travel planning, as I know weber6560 does as well .

lincasanova

i can't wait to find the time to take on some of these fabulous recs.

what great information from all of you.

ekscrunchy

I will just add that we liked this little hotel in Cudillero:


http://www.arrakis.es/~casonadepio/habitaci.htm

Revulgo

I love the 'Río Eo, Osco y Terras de Buron Biosphere Reserve' in between Galicia and Asturias.
Search: Rio Eo Osco
in this link:
http://www.spain.info/TourSpain/?Language=en

Maribel

ditto to escrunchy's reco of Casona de Pío, both for its well priced rooms and its hearty Asturian cuisine. Also El Ancla next door for its terrific bocartes and outdoor terrace.

Revulgo's reco reminds me that we explored again the phenomenally scenic, thousand-shades-of-green, Os Oscos region a while ago, and it makes a delightful detour from the coast into relatively little explored rural Asturias. The town of Taramundi, at the very edge, home to knife makers, wooden clog makers, weavers, ethnographic museums (working forge) with its stone and slate buildings is just delightful, one of Asturias' most picturesque rural villages. So is its rural hotel, a former rectory, a pioneer in Asturian rural tourism opened by the government (www.larectoral.com).

The 3 main towns of Os Oscos are San Martín, Villanueva and Santa Eulalia, which also has a totally charming rural inn, as cozy as they come, Casona del Bosque de Pumares (also a member of Casonas Asturianas). It's the epitome of an elegantly rustic, highly atmospheric country inn for a romantic weekend getaway (but only a half hr. from the coast).
www.casonapumares.com
No restaurant but the Sidrería Veredas serves delectable grilled meats in a pleasant country ambiance (a great reco given to us by the manager of La Rectoral).

Another good source for Os Oscos region info:
www.oscos-eo.es/en/portada.asp

These things come to mind as I work on my Asturias guide-half way done!

als0107

I notice that OP was planning for May. Is this route doable in late January or February? It looks so lovely but not sure if there are mountain passes involved that would not be drivable in winter.

Thank you for any thoughts.

ribeirasacra

The OP was planning this route back in 2006 too!
The route is doable, especially as they have now opened up sections of an Autovia (highway or motorway depending where you are from).
If you take the coastal road it will not go though mountain passes unless you take a divert and even though some roads in mountains are blocked they are quite good at getting them reopened when the snow is reasonable.
Plus they hardly get any snow along the coast.
To see how well it goes read this web site and keep refreshing it every few mins and you will understand how quick things change.
This is the first page and you can zoom down to local areas if you want.
http://infocar.dgt.es/etraffic/
PS the weather may be good by next February as last year we had no real snow falls.