Just wonder why you´re skipping Bilbao and preferring Santander. Bilbao is a beautiful city with a wonderful old quarter and a very nice surprise to many. Santander has not much to see and it may be quite disappointing. Regarding wineries, not very fond of those two, but it depends on what you like on wineries (big ones, small ones, touristy or not, good or standard wine...)

joannyc and kja - thank you for your comments. I agree that Oviedo might best be left off this trip, and I'll talk with our group and consider staying in both Laguardia and Haro. I'm not a fan of a one night stay anywhere really, so what about 2 nights in Salamanca and 2 in Segovia? joannyc why do you think 3 nights are required for Salamanca?

mikelg - I'm not sure why I am leaning towards Santander vs Bilbao. I guess it seemed like a smaller more laid back place? We are not necessarily beach people, so maybe I should do a day trip to Bilbao. My husband loves museums and I'm sure would be interested in the Guggenheim. Thanks for asking that question as it has made me think. Also, what two wineries would you not choose? Bodegas Roda and El Solar de Samaniego? I think I got Bodegas Roda from Maribel's guide and El Solar de Samaniego intrigued me just by the art on the wine tanks if that's what they are called. What would be your suggestions to visit in that area? We like good wine and a good experience wine tasting. Small family wineries, not touristy.

Kja and I have similar travel styles I’ve learned over the years. Segovia is very nice. But I did it as a day trip from Madrid and felt like I did it justice. I would definitely add a night to the stunningly beautiful Renaissance city of Salamanca. I did my own Northern Spain journey (plus a week in Portugal) this past April and Salamanca was probably my favorite place of all. (Toledo was close). You could add one night to Salamanca, train to Segovia early the next morning, spend the better part of the day there and hen either train late in the day to Madrid to fly home or if your Madrid flight is in the afternoon, spend the last night in Segovia and train in the morning. The fast train from Segovia to Madrid Atocha is less than 50 minutes and i recall.

Re. Laguardia, I had 3 nights. I liked it but can’t say I LOVED it. I had a rental car and despite Google maps, I still got lost both days driving to Haro. One day I literally ended up in the middle of a vineyard. In Haro, I toured at Lopez de Heredia, the Holy Grail of Rioja (opening a 2004 Tondonia Reserva tonight) and visited the tasting rooms at La Rioja Alta and Muga. In hindsight, staying in Haro would have made it easy to walk to these and other bodegas in town. The car did make it easy for me to visit Briones and San Vicente which would tick off your small Riojan villages item.

In the end, where you base is a trade off of pros and cons.

Re. Burgos, I stayed there one night. The Cathedral is gorgeous. The rest of the town was fine enough. If you can do it as a day trip, that is fine but like kja said, I did not consider it La Rioja at all.

It will take about 4 hours to drive from LaGuardia to Salamanca. Depending on how early you leave, by the time you drive there, find your hotel, check in, park the car, drop bags, etc., it will be mid-afternoon. And, I always make a grocery store stop on my way into town to pick up wine, snacks, breakfast items if not included in my hotel, etc. so that would add a little bit of extra time! So, that will leave you with less than 1-1/2 days to see Salamanca of a 2 night stay. I spent 4 nights there but did a daytrip to Zamora and I was always busy with sightseeing. But, certainly doable if you want 2 nights in Segovia!

Too bad that you be driving right past Burgos and Valladolid without being able to stop for a visit.

There just is never enough time to see everything we want, is there?

2 nights in Segovia will allow you to stop along the way in Avila and La Granja Palace, as I mentioned in a previous post.

I agree to go to Bilbao. I didn't go to Santander, but in my research, I thought it didn't offer enough to see and was probably too similar to San Sebastian.

What time is your flight out of Barajas? If not too early, you could drive there from Segovia in about 1-1/2 hours instead of going to Madrid for a night.

Joan’s post reminded me that I stopped in Avila for about 6 hours while training from Toledo to Salamanca. It was worth that amount of time but then again, I had 3 nights in Salamanca. With only 2, I would not feel it worth it to stop in Avila.

I can't speak for joannyc, but I had 50 hours (2 nights, just over 2 days) in Salamanca and seriously wish I had more.

I far preferred Bilbao to Santander, but I think you said something about using Santander for some of the magnificent prehistoric art in the area? And Santander's Museo de Prehistoria y Arqueologia de Catabria is excellent, IMO,

In addition to the Guggenheim, Bilbao has an excellent museum of fine arts (the Museo de Bellas Artes) and one on Basque culture (the Museu Vasco), both well worth seeing.

Spend a full day in Salamanca and was stasified so this varies from person to person but not a large town. With tons of time maybe 3 nights but if short on time may two nights or even one.

Santander does not have much to offer in terms of places to see. A couple of beaches, the peninsula of Magdalena with an open air zoo and no old quarter or anywhere special. Bilbao has much more things to do and see, apart from the Guggenheim (Puente Colgante, fishing port of Algorta, the Casco Viejo, the funicular of Artxanda, Azkuna Zentroa, Plentzia...) If staying in Rioja, either Laguardia or Haro, not both (they are just 15min away). Roda is just fine...nothing too special about it. Solar de Samaniego has the wine tanks, that´s the special thing about it...but there are dozens of choices, I guess these two could be alright. If in Haro, i´d visit Gomez Cruzado, Muga or Tondonia instead. If in Laguardia (inside the walls), Casa Primicia, no doubt. Baigorri, Ostatu, Villa Lucía...would be other good options. If small wineries, Alutiz in Samaniego would be my choice, or maybe Tritium in Cenicero.

<< If staying in Rioja, either Laguardia or Haro, not both (they are just 15min away). >>

I stayed 2 nights in each because I didn't want to drink and drive. I'm glad I had those nights in both locations. According to Viamichelin, the drive takes between 27 and 39 minutes depending on the route.

<< Joan’s post reminded me that I stopped in Avila for about 6 hours while training from Toledo to Salamanca. It was worth that amount of time but then again, I had 3 nights in Salamanca. With only 2, I would not feel it worth it to stop in Avila. >>

I was lucky enough to have 2 nights in Avila. I think you could stop for a few hours to see Avila and arrive in the late afternoon/early evening in Segovia. It still gives you 2 nights and a full day there. Best photo ops are at night!

mikelg - Thanks for your winery ideas. When we were in San Sebastian in 2015 we visited Vina Tondonia and Baigorri - what stark contrasts of different wineries in the region. I'll look up some of your recommendations, I appreciate them.

Joannyc - I think we will stop over in Avila to see the walls! Magnificent - thank you for the recommendation!

Not to be contrarian, but let me suggest another consideration: I agree that Segovia easily merits at least a full day ( or 2 nights), and that Avila is well worth a full day (and a night, if possible) -- BUT your plan is already quite ambitious. Segovia and Avila are both easily reached by public transportation from Madrid, which has one of the few major international airports in Spain, and so would be easily seen on a future trip -- more easily than some of the places you are considering that are far from a major airport, but not far from the route you are contemplating them. You can't see everything on this one trip, so considering what is most easily deferred might be a reasonable strategy for culling your itinerary. JMO.

<< I think we will stop over in Avila to see the walls! Magnificent - thank you for the recommendation! >>

You're welcome! For a great view of Avila, stop at the Cuatro Postes on your way from Salamanca!

kja - I understand what you are saying, but we have already traveled to Madrid - we saw Toledo from there, so I don't think we'll be back anytime soon which is why I'm considering Salamanca and Segovia this trip. But I'm going to plan two maybe three different options.

One that has been developing with this thread which includes San Sebastian (3), Laguardia (3), Salamanca (3) and Segovia (2) as bases.

I think I will also plan one that includes San Sebastian (3), Laguardia (3) , and then head back up northwest to Santillana del Mar (2) and Oviedo (3). Fly out of OVD. If I understand kja correctly, I think this is what you're suggesting as far as staying north and leaving Salamanca and Segovia for another trip?

And possibly another one - fly to Bordeaux (4 ) San Sebastian (3) and Laguardia (3). Fly out of Bilbao. Bordeaux was a last minute thought, because it's only 2.5 hours from San Sebastian, and wine is a big draw for us.

Thoughts, comments??

IMO, either of the first two options could work well for you, and they are sufficiently different that it really is a matter of choosing what you want to see and experience.

As for adding Bordeaux, well, I haven't been there and so probably shouldn't offer an opinion, but as I understand it, visiting wineries in Spain is very different than visiting them in Bordeaux -- those in Spain, and specifically in La Rioja, involve a tour of the winery (it's production areas and cellars) and a tasting. I encountered several people from Bordeaux while during my visits to wineries in La Rioja, and they all spoke about how much more enjoyable it was to visit them in La Rioja. But maybe they were mistaken, or I misunderstood, or things have changed.... And another thing, if interested in going to Bordeaux, consider waiting until you can visit the Dordogne.

kja- thank you. I really appreciate your feedback. I am leaning towards dropping Bordeaux also, as I really want this to be a Spain trip. Our travel partners my brother in law and sister in law have not been anywhere in Spain except Barcelona. We have been to Barcelona, Provence, Madrid, Toledo, San Sebastian and Haro. Knowing that - which option would you choose - 1, or 2? The Asturias region is less known, which does not make it a lesser trip, I guess like you said, we just need to discuss what we want to see more.

Exactly -- it really depends on what you and your travel partners want. Frankly, if you've already been to San Sebastian, then you might consider skipping it. But then, much as I enjoyed San Sebastian (and I did), it's my least favorite of all the places I've been fortunate to visit in Spain. Of course, there are some who find it their favorite place in all of Spain!

We included San Sebastian because we really think our travel partners will love it. Such a beautiful promenade, parte vieja, Buen Pastor, pinxtos!! Thanks for your suggestions!!

Try to spend at least one day in Bilbao...you´ll be pleasantly surprised. Its parte vieja is much less touristy and more impressive than the one in SS, and if it rains, there are more options of things to see or do. And there are pintxos too (as in all of the Basque Country)!

mikelg - it's on our radar!! Thank you for your suggestions!