I am taking a group of 16 year old girls to san sebastian in july -- can anyone suggest any day side trips that would be of interest to them? We have a day and a bus.

We spent a week in the Basque area in May, and loved it!

One suggestion would be to drive along the coastal road to Hondarribia which is a very cute fishing village, and spend an hour or so in the pintxos bars, or tapas, our favorite was Enbata, and shopping along the very picturesome pedestrian street. This area is small.

Then drive to St. Jean de Luz in France. It's a great town and if it's Friday, there is a fantastic market, so they can enjoy a real French outdoor market. Great photo opportunities here also. Then they can shop, spend time in the outdoor cafes in the central square or enjoy the fantastic sandy beach here.

From here you can go to la Rhune, up in the hills. This will be croweded though. Don't miss the most beautiful inner Basque area. It's much more beautiful than the Spanish side. La Rhune is a train that goes up the mountain. You can do a round trip or one way and hike down. Here's a link http://www.rhune.com/pages/en/17/le-...ys-basque.html

I also enjoyed the small town of Ainhoa alot, which isn't far from la Rhune. Besides having cute shops the church and cemetary are very interesting.

How long do you have in this area?

thanks so much -- that helps a lot.... we are there for a soccer tournament from july 1-7.

You may want to read Maribel's Guide to the País Vasco and Pays Basque to get some ideas on what to do (http://maribelsguides.com), but if the girls like the beach, then they'll love San Sebastian-Donostia and the coastal area to the west, including Zarautz and even out to Bermeo and Mundaka. The beach at Laida is a very popular area.

As already suggested, Hondarribia is a good day trip, as would be St. Jean-de-Luz and Biarritz in the Pays Basque.

It's very easy to go to Bilbao (1 hour away) and visit the Guggenheim museum. Even if they are not into art , I'm sure they'll find the building "cool". At least my son thought so when he visited it last year ( he's 17).

Or if there schedule is so packed the other six days they don't have much leisure time perhaps they would want to beach it for the day on S Sebastian (best call it Donostia, the Basque name as S Seb is eschewed as the Spanish occupiers name and is typically scratched out on road signs) at the famous La Concha (sp?) beach - or do a day trip to the real great beaches just across the border in France around Biarritz - they even have surfing there around Anglet - super fine beach and a taste of France and they can even do as most Europeans their age do and go topless.

Yes,Bilbao is a great daytrip and if they are into soccer..maybe they would like to see Athletic of Bilbao stadium, called Old San Mames (they have a new one now) which is the oldest soccer stadium of Spain It's a museum now of the club's history (more than 100 years).

Pamplona is an easy 1 hr bus ride. Let them walk the route of the running of the bulls.

Kenderina,
we don´t have yet a new stadium. It hasn´t even been decided where it is going to be built.

Soccermom, if the weather is fine, I would opt for a coastal trip. Beaches, surf ...

Rgds, Cova

Will you be there during the Feast of San Fermín? Take them to Pamplona. It's a one-hour drive or bus ride from San Sebastián. My wife and I will be in San Seb on July 4/5, then off to Pamplona for a few days.
We live in NYC and go every year.

Maybe I'm going to sound like a party pooper, but if I was chaperoning a group of 16 yr. old girls, one of the last places I would take them is Pamplona during the running of the bulls. I think that would be a big responsibility to undertake.

Cova, sorry for the mistake...I certainly was mixing it up with Real Sociedad's Atotxa...I know, it's a BIG mistake !!