Driving from San Sebastian down to Barcelona
 

Hi

There are 4 of us driving from France to San Sebastian at the end of September. We were wondering if you have any good suggestions for a more scenic drive from San Sebastian to Barcelona. We have a few days to do this and thought there would be some pretty spectacular scenery to see rather than fly or train it. We wouldn't mind if we came in north of Barcelona and went to Salvador Dali's museum and stayed a night on the coast. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Check out: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...with-route.cfm

You can do the reverse of this route through Pampona, arriving in Barcelona from the north.

We spent the night in Jaca, a nice mountain town near the Pyranees.

Took the Northern route as far as we could go, and then down to Barcelona.

Very pretty drive.

Thanks everybody,
Any of the routes described look interesting and we are sure to enjoy what ever we do. There are some pretty spectacular photos on Google Earth of dry "wild west" type mesas and desert scenery. These are further west and appear to be around Tudela and north of Zaragoza.
Can any body advise if this is worth a visit? How does it compare with the scenery through the Pyrenees? Clearly it is different of course.

Interesting blog post about some of the dry desert landscapes here: http://www.euskoguide.com/blog/2013/...ner-than-ever/

The area you're referring to is the Bardenas Realses de Navarra (www.bardenasreales.es/inicio.php), near Tudela (http://www.turismo.navarra.es/eng/or...606/Tudela.htm) in the south of Navarra. The area has been used as a backdrop for several movies.

Thank you for that information. It is now becoming clear that we need 6 months for this trip rather than three weeks! It happens every time we travel!

I've been traveling the area for more than 20 years and have only scratched the surface.

I guessed as much. Thanks for your assistance, we will have a wonderful time. I work on the principal of "It is not so much what you don't see, it is what you do see" I am looking forward to a great holiday after which I will probably need another.
Thanks again.

Hi Robert. We have returned from our trip to Europe, when we travelled from San Sebastian to Barcelona, using your suggested route for the most part. It was fantastic and thanks for your suggestions. Great scenery, and interesting to visit the old towns along the way, some of which are really quite quaint. For the record we took three days, going San Sebastian, Irun, Lesaca, (late breakfast) Elizonde, (picnic lunch some where here) Orchagavia, Isaba, Sigeules and Jaca (Good Restaurants) on day one, then to Sta.Cruz de la Seros monastery (fascinating 10th century stuff) Bailo, Santa Maria, Ayerbe, Esquadas, Huesca, Angules, Barbastro, Benabarre, Peurto De Montanana, Tremp, La Pobla de Segur, Gerri de la Sac, and Sort on day two. Finally Sort, La Seu d'Urgell, Puigcerda, Ribes, Ripoll, Olot, Besau, Figeures, Roses and Cadaques for the night.
We went on to Barcelona the next morning which was easy along the Highway (A7 from memory).
This was a highlight of our trip and I leave the detail of it in the hope that some one else may enjoy it as we did.
Thanks again!

Glad to here the route worked out for you. Let us know when you'll be back in the area and we'll see what else might be interesting. It all depends on how much time you have.

Saludos!