Northern Spain train or car INPUT PLEASE :)
 

Short trip to Madrid/San Sebastian 10 days and the part I'm stuck on is to rent a car or not.

Maybe it is because I am from the US driving is intimate and usually fairly enjoyable.

The railway/bus system seems good, but it is all daily day trips (Bilbao day trip) (La Rioja Wine tour) (3rd trip unknown) seem as if our time would be slowly eaten away by walking to the train/bus station, onboarding process, not having opportune times to depart/arrive, getting from the train/bus station to where we want to go, and though though the cost is slightly cheaper doing it by rail/train, I'm unsure it is worth it.

Maybe I'm looking on the wrong sites lol, but it seems renting 7 passenger vehicle would just be less time wasted waiting, walking, and trying to get places, but then I've only been to Ireland, Italy, Mexico, and throughout the US, maybe Spain is different and Google Maps times for travel are grossly incorrect.

Madrid 3 nights (no car) train to San Sebastian (5 nights in San Sebastian) then back to Madrid stay 1 night and fly home. The part of the trip we are debating getting a car is the 5 nights in San Sebastian.

Yes car for sure in your case. But if want info to plan a rail trip check www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Gt an International Driving License at your AAA for $20 as is required to drive in Spain along with your U.S. license of course.

I´d recommend to get a car, roads are excellent, Google Maps is perfectly accurate and works excellent, as well as Waze. Parking in SS is expensive, though. For day trip to Bilbao, bus in an excellent option (you´ll find public transport to be outstanding). Rioja from Bilbao should be in a vehicle, otherwise you´ll miss most of this area.

I'd suggest having a parking plan if you rent a car. We visited with a friend - she drove us around in that beautiful area that would be hard to visit by public transportation BUT when she wanted to park her car in SS - it was very difficult.

So, I looked and I saw parking garages for $20-$30 Euro a day does that sound right? Or are you saying those are all full? In the scheme of things when you are spending $350 per person on dinner (1 night) I don't think about $20-30 Euro on parking.

Street parking in SS is non-existent. Some visitors to save money leave their cars up in a remote area at one of the city's "park & rides" but it's not particularly convenient.
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The underground garages in the center will cost around 25/day.
The Hotel de Londres y de Inglaterra facing La Concha beaches charges 24/day for its guests.
The least expensive underground garage is Txofre, found in the Gros quarter. Here you can book online by days or hours and if by days, you'll be given a pass to go in and out. In high season, July/August the rate is 18 euros/day.
https://parkingtxofre.es/en/select-type-of-booking/

@Maribel thank you!!! :)

We spent a week in SS in the fall of 2016. Parking was such a hassle that once we had finally maneuvered into the city center, we parked the car in a frightfully expensive underground garage and didn't touch it until it was time to leave the city. I swear we spent as much time hunting down a place to park as we did to drive there from our home in the Dordogne.

The buses (long distance) are excellent and affordable.

Evidently, if 20 to 30eur per day is not relevant, I´d get the car. Roads are very well signed, in excellent condition, and it saves lots of time, despite our very efficient public transport.

A few San Sebastián hotels have their own parking garages (Codina, NH Collection) while others have slightly reduced rates for their guests for the underground garages scattered around the city. The closer the parking to the city center core, the higher the rate.
These garages are indicated by electronic signs leading to them and displaying how many spaces are available at that moment.

The Txofre garage, as I mentioned, is the least expensive, convenient one and sits just a short, pleasant walk from the Old Quarter and La Concha beach.

To give you an idea of hotel parking prices-
Lasala Plaza: €33/day
Hotel de Londres y de Inglaterra: €24
Codina: €23
NH Collection Aránzazu: €22
Astoria 7: €18.50
Niza: €16.50
María Cristina: €40 (but everything costs more at the M.C.!)

We spend 5-7 days every summer in San Sebastián, sometimes with a car and other times without.
We can go by bus to Getaria (bus UK10) and Hondarribia (bus E 21), but for a trip to the Tues/Fri (Sat in July/Aug) market in St-Jean-de-Luz or a beach day in Biarritz or a sightseeing/ museum day in Bayonne we find a car far more convenient.

As mikelg says, since the cost doesn't seem to be an issue, you may want the car for excursions, for example, for a drive to the pretty towns of the French Basque countryside that HappyTrvlr suggests, which can't be reached by bus.


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Trip was great! The biggest issue was the CAR lol. I picked a car that was 1.85M high and the rental company did not have it when we arrived. They put us in a Peugot Traveler 1.990M high, parking was a huge challenge and looking back we probably didn't need the car. It was a experience to drive the big Van in Madrid lol and find parking.

Love the country especially San Sebastian I could live there!