Help in planning vacation in Northern Spain Sept 2018
 

Hi,

We - retired coupIe from Canada - are planning our vacation in Spain in September - October this year. We had visited Spain before, but had never been to Basque area.

We already booked our flights, flying to Madrid on Sept 20, and returning home from Barcelona on Oct 6.
Out interests are arts, architecture, nature, food, sightseeing.
Planned itinerary:
1. Sept 21 - 24 Madrid ( we visited Madrid before, would like to see it again)
2. Sept 24 - Pick up rental car first thing in the morning, drive to Salamanca (2.5 hrs)
3. Lunch in Salamanca and 3-4 hours sightseeing.
4. Leave Salamanca around 4-5 pm, and drive to Burgos (2.5 hrs)
5. Sept 24 - Spend late evening in Burgos, sleep in Burgos
6. Sept 25 - Burgos sightseeing, and in the late afternoon drive to Bilbao (2 hrs)
7. Spend evening in Bilbao, sleep in Bilbao.
8. Sept 26 - sightseeing Bilbao ( Guggenheim 3 hrs, other sights?). Sleep in Bilbao.
9. Sept 27 - leave Bilbao for French Basque area via Leikeito; stop in Leikeito; take a scenic drive.
10. Sept 27 - Stay in Biarritz or Bayonne or Saint-Jean-De-Luz? What would be the best place to stay for one day sightseeing?
11. Sept 28 - sightseeing French Basque area and drive to San Sebastián to return rental car.
12. Sept 28, 29, 30 - stay in San Sebastián
13. Oct 1 - take train or bus to Barcelona
14. Oct 1-6 Barcelona

Is my plan for Sept 24 Madrid - Salamanca - Burgos doable? We do not want to drive in the dark.
What would you change / add?
Any suggestions for hotels are appreciated. We are looking at hotels under 150 Euros a night, quiet, clean, within walking distance ( 2 km) of sights. Would consider B&B, apartments.

Thank you very much for reading this and any help you provide.

Leah

S Sebastian to Barcelona is a long 6 hour train ride. For train info - booking in advance can save tons at Renfe - www.seat61.com has loads on doing that yourself online - general train info (like on night trains also available I believe on that route via nearby Burgos) also check www.ricksteves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts. I'd check cheap flights too.

Thank you, PalenQ for the reply. I know train is 6 hours, and bus is 7 hours. However, driving is also 6 hours and then we have to return rental car in Barcelona, which would be more cumbersome than SS. I checked flights, but we have to get be at the airport an hour before, and then get to Barcelona. The same time.

Leah

Although I've not been to Bayonne, I have been to Biarritz and St. Jean de Luz. Stayed in the latter for 2 or 3 days and loved it. Much more friendly feeling than Biarritz IMO

Thank you, JulieVikmanis
I am inclined to stay there as well. Any hotel recommendations? We will have a car, so will need a place with parking.

Leah

Should be a great trip! Just a few comments:

Have you checked sunset times? You can do so on timeanddate.com – and I would encourage you to do so, as I think you are wise to try to avoid driving after dark.

It depends on what you want to see and experience, but I thought Salamanca easily worth more than 2 full days. If you are only giving it a few hours, be sure you think through your priorities in advance. Similarly, a part of a day is not much for Burgos, and Bilbao offers much more than the Guggenheim.

If you haven’t already seen it, you might find some useful information on my trip report:
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...lunya-1047395/

Hope that helps!

Thank you, kja for your reply. Yes, I checked sunset times - it is aro7nd 8:15pm; hopefully, we will not drive in the dark. We would love to spend more time in Spain, but we cannot extend our vacation. I read your wonderful report, it’s really good, a lot of information. I could not see your reference to Salamanca, but did note places you mention in Burges. Just by chance, I already booked the same hotel in Burges where you stayed - Hotel Forum Evolution. Hope you liked it.

We realize that 3-4 hours in Salamanca is not enough, but we would like to see the University, and the Cathedral. The rest will have to wait until our next trip to Spain!
We will spend full day plus an evening in Bilbao - modern arts museum is closed, so we hope to see Guggenheim and other sights in that long day. Hopefully it will work.

Thanks again
Leah

Here's my now old review of the Hotel Forum Evolution (on TA as KJA3); the hotel still seems to get good reviews:

Thanks, kja. Hope the hotel is as good now as when you visited!

Leah

Hello again. Sorry to be so late in responding to your request for info on St. Jean de Luz hotels, Was on vacation in Savannah and just checked back in.

We stayed at Hotel de la Plage, directly on the water with a view of the sunset and in the middle of the town. Really liked it. I see, however, that they seem to have done some redecorating since we were there in 2015, so their prices have risen. If that doesn't trouble you, I'd recommend it highly. They do not have self parking but an excellent valet service. We would just drive into their driveway right next to the hotel and a valet would appear and whisk the car away and return it whenever we requested. Convenient.

You didn't ask but here are the restaurants I'd recommend in St. Jean de Luz--Zoko Moko near boat port and "Best in town" Kaiku that has lovely decor, wonderful langostines, and pork with a somewhat Asian bent.

If you decide to stay in SJdL, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

I also stayed in Hotel de la Plage in St. Jean. Liked it as well!

Bayonne is lovely; spent three nights there on another trip (one that included San Sebastian). I'd recommend. However, I think you are trying to cram in far too much in too little time. That drive from Salamanca to Burgos(??) Leave Salamanca for another trip. Head to Burgos from Madrid with maybe stop in Lerma, or detour to area near Sepulveda for nature..Cañon del Rio Duraton. Maybe sleep in Sepulveda if you like food a lot. Look at Hosteria de los Templarios. Then drive to Burgos next day.

https://www.turismocastillayleon.com...el-rio-duraton

I thank you, JulieVikmanis,

I booked a hotel with parking in SJDL, but it’s near the highway - will definitely look at another hotel near the center. Thank you for restaurant recommendations, we will look at both restaurants, and try to change the hotel to something within walking distance of the downtown. Hopefully it will be dry and not too cold in September!

I booked all hotels -
Madrid - Ayre Gran Hotel Colon
Burgos - Hotel Forum Evolution
Bilbao - Cosmov Bilbao Hotel
Saint-Jean-De-Luz - Hotel Arena
San Sebastian - Pension Regil
Barcelona - Ayre Hotel Caps

All hotels can be cancelled, so if I find a better hotel within our price range, I will rebook.
I also booked car rental from Madrid to Barcelona. If someone is booking a car, note that AutoEurope does not charge one way car drop off fee.

Ekscrunchy, thank you for your suggestion. We will decide Re Salamanca when we will pick up the car in Madrid. We do understand that we need more time for Salamanca, but we thought that if we leave Madrid around 9 am, we can have lunch in Salamanca, see University and may be Cathedral, and then drive to Burgos. We do not know when and if we will be in Spain again. There are so many places in the world that we want to see, and we are not getting any younger.

Thanks to all of you - I always consult Fodor’s forums when planning vacations.

Salamanca to Burgos must be a long drive - seems to be an impossible day?

PalenQ, thanks for the comment. Via Michelin shows around 2.5 hours between Salamanca and Burgos. We will make a decision in Madrid whether we will go straight to Burgos, or go via Salamanca.

Well I guess that that's not that long and as you have your hotels boked it seems is fine -otherwise I'd say spend the night in Salamanca and drive to bilbao and skip Burgos.

PalenQ, do you think that Salamanca is more interesting than Burgos? Would you suggest we stay in Salamanca and skip Burgos?

Thanks

I'm not PalenQ, and so hope you will forgive my uninvited comment, but Burgos and Salamanca are SO different that I would strongly encourage you to decide based on your interests. IMO, the glorious Plateresque architecture and vibrant energy of Salamanca are very well suited to a visit of 2 full days. IMO, the wealth that flowed through Burgos and funded its Gothic / early Renaissance churches and monasteries and convents is also well worth seeing, but so different as to be a comparison of apples to fish. FWIW, I was satisfied with just over 24 hours in Burgos.

Your itinerary would be WAAAAAAAY too much moving around for my taste. I just returned from the north of Spain in early May. Like kja said, I was glad to have had 3 nights in the stunningly beautiful Renaissance city of Salamanca. I had one night I. Burgos which was enough time to see the Cathedral and walk the town. And while it’s not classic Northern Spain, I actually revisited Toledo, spending two nights there at the start of my trip as the one night I spent there in 2015 was not enough for this fascinating city. In fact, in two trips to Spain, both Toledo and Salamanca are in my top 3 favorite cities, along with Sevilla.

I suspect you are emotionally committed to your itinerary but if it were me, I cut out two days from somewhere and add it to Salamanca.

@ MinnBeef: Hi! Glad you enjoyed Salamanca. ;)

Hola kja. Good to catch up with you again. Salamanca was truly breathtaking. I can think of 3 or 4 moments right off the top of my head when it took my breath away at first sight of something. And I had very good tapas and full meals there as well. I’m hoping the OP reconsiders and gives it the time it deserves.