Need Basque Country Guidebook Recommendation
 

I will be spending a week in San Sebastian in mid-May 2010. I will be on a group tour, however I will be arriving 2 days before the tour starts to explore a bit on my own. I have started to do preliminary research/planning, because although on a group tour, there will be ample free time and I want to make the most of my time there.

I'm finding information on-line about San Sebastian and the Basque Country in general, but very little in the way of "hard" guidebooks. I am very much the "wants to have a guidebook with me" type of person, and yes, I do cut and paste information from online sources into a personal guide I take with me, but I still feel the need to have at least one good guidebook. I have seen several of the big name guide books for Spain which have chapters on the Basque region, but I am looking for a current guidebook focusing on only this region.

I have also seen Cadogen guides and Footprint guides each have books for the Basque Country, however the publication dates for them are from several years ago.

So, my question is, do you know of a Basque Country guidebook that has a recent publication date that you would recommend?

DK Eyewitness published a guide to NOrthern Spain that we took along. However, the best is www.maribelsguides.com..Pais Vasco, San Sebastian, Hondaribbia,printable PDF files. Print out her files and make your own guide book. She travels to this region often and will give you the best and most complete info.

I'm not aware of any aside from the ones mentioned. I did use the Cadogan last time I was there, in 2006. There is a 2008 edition now.

Rough Guides' Pyrenees should cover the Basque region as well.

Also, please try to get your hands on a copy of Penelope Casas' book, Discovering Spain. Although it is about 10 years old, there is some valuable info that remains valid. Another book worth reading, although it covers a wider geographical area, is Barrie Keeper's Northen Spain: The Collected Traveller:


http://www.amazon.com/Northern-Spain...=sip_rech_dp_6

I knew Fodorites would come through for me...Thank you!

HappyTrvlr...thanks for the info on Maribel, I found her website and have downloaded the guides.

EK...I saw the Cadogan guide and was wondering if that was the latest edition. I will definitely look for your other recommendations. On another note...if you have any restaurant recommendations for this area I will gladly take them, I've followed in your footsteps to some of Rome's restaurants and have never been disappointed with any of your recommendations! :-) Did you do a trip report on your 2006 trip?

I used the Cadogan guide last May for the area and it was up to date and useful. it was the 2006 ed.

I also highly recommend Penelope Casas' "Discovering Spain."

Other than what you can find on-line and Maribel's Guide to the País Vasco and Pays Basque, you seem to have every thing that's currently available in print.

Information/Guidebooks may be available at local bookshops, sporting goods shops and even Renfe Station NewsStands that are available only locally. For ex. years ago I bpught a 'Skiing the Pyrenees' paperback at a Sporting Goods store in Bilbao's Casco Viejo. The name of the shop: Ventiscas.

Granted, it won't give you too much advance time; but if you have the highlights covered (like Guernika & Bilbao), such a guidebook could fill in nicely.

Regarding restaurant recommendations - Maribel's guides are excellent for restaurants with a wide range of prices for different budgets. I've used her guides on several visits to this area and they're always accurate.

Low Country: I will find my report from 2006 and bring it up. I flew to Bayonne with a girlfriend, stayed there for two nights (I think) and then took the bus to San Sebastian where we stayed at Hotel Niza. From SS, we took trains to the Dordogne where we rented a house for a week. It was a great trip but clearly I did not see much of the Basque region, other than on a daytrip to Bilbao. I really have to get back to Spain soon!

If you don't mind, what tour are you taking?

EK...

We (mom, my faithful travel companion, and I) are taking the 7 day Rick Steves Basque Country tour. The tour stays 7 nights in San Sebastian and we explore the city and day trips into th surrounding area. We are arriving 2 days before the tour starts to "do our own thing".

This trip evolved from our plans to go to Paris for a week at the end of May. We thought, maybe we should try and get the biggest bang for our buck, and since we had good experience with Rick Steves tours in the past we looked at what he had that would work with the dates we had booked for Paris (we had already booked a Paris Perfect apartment). It turned out the dates for the Basque tour worked with our Paris dates and I had the Basque Country on my radar for the last several years.

Wow...sorry to be so long winded there. Here is a link to the Rick Steves Basque Country tour webpage:
http://tinyurl.com/ydjtel9

Oh...I forgot to mention, I ordered the Cadogan Basque Country guide and the Penelope Casas' book, Discovering Spain yesterday...thanks for the tip! :)

If you´d like to check a local´s blog on the Basque Country, http://mugalari.wordpress.com...I have to update it next week, it´s this crazy period!!

LowCountry,

I wish you a good tour. I'm taking the same one starting on May 30. The tours do not seem to be filling up very quickly, so there will be small groups.

I highly recommend that you read Mark Kurlansky's "The Basque History of the World" before your trip. Enjoy yout trip with Rick Steves!

Thank you, I'll check it out.

Gary...have a wonderful trip. I also noticed the Basque tours still have availability.

HappyTrvlr...thanks, I'll check it out.

Anohter vote for Casas and a big rec for "A basque History of the World". It will really help understand the "whys" not just the "whats". BTW Lowcountry, I am in Beaufort and you borrow my copy.

We have also read the Kurlansky book in prep for trip. I love it and feel more equipped. If you like walks and drives in the country try The Sunflower Guide to the Basque country. It gives long and short routes, much background and interesting info different from Cadogan . It is also small and can be carried with you. I think it is only available from the UK so I got it on Amazon. Really beautiful.

Weber...thanks for the offer, that's awfully nice of you! I'm a pretty slow reader, so I don't want to commandeer your book for a long length of time.

San Sebastián is not only top restaurants (17 Michelin stars), but perhaps first and foremost the great pintxos/tapas bars all around town where you could have gourmet experiences to considerably lower costs. Ferran Adrià (El Bulli) suggests that San Sebastián is the best place to eat in the world "in terms of the average quality of the food, in terms of what you can get at any place you happen to walk into".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsty...rink.shopping2

All about going for pintxos in San Sebastián:
http://www.todopintxos.com/home/home.php?lang=en

I would especially recommend the places on these two routes:
http://www.todopintxos.com/ruta/ruta...cha_rutas&id=1
http://www.todopintxos.com/ruta/ruta...cha_rutas&id=2

Add La Cepa (traditional) and the inventive Astelehena and Zeruko, all in the Parte Vieja/Old Town, and you should have plenty of options for unforgettable food experiences.

Restaurante Urola is my favourite since the late 80's: http://www.restauranteurola.com/english/index.html

One Michelin star Restaurante Kokotxa has got a great value lunch menu: http://www.restaurantekokotxa.com/home.php

I had the meal of my life in the harbour of the close by fishing village Getaria in 1996. This gives you an idea: http://thepauperedchef.com/2007/12/elkano-in-getar.html

kimhe...

Thanks for the great links...I'm already salivating looking at the pictures of the pintxos!