Sept. Trip to the Basque Region
 

I'm planning a trip for the first week in Sept. and would like to go to St. Jean De Luz, St. Jean Pied de Port, and San Sebastian. Is it possible to travel between the three towns by train? I'm going solo and don't want to drive. I'd like to spend 2-3 days in one place and then 2-3 days in a second. Which of the three makes for the best base? Would a day trip to Bilbao be too much?

I'm also considering doing this trip through Backroads but it's pricey. Has anyone been on their Pays Basque trip?

Thanks.

I would probably divide my overnights between St. Jean de Luz and San Sebastian. You can do Bilbao in a day trip from SS. Market day in St. Jean Pied de Port is Monday so you might want to do a day trip there from St. Jean de Luz. I doubt if St. Jean Pied de Port is on any train lines..bus might be more likely. You could also rent a car for two days and do it as an overnight..the drive from the coast inland is very easy and the scenery is beautiful There are lots of small towns you might wish to stop in such as Sare. I would rent a car to get to St. Jean Pied de Port for this reason. I would consult Cadogan's excellent guidebook, Bilbao and the Basque Lands for more details on transportation and food, which is wonderful in this reason, as I am sure you know.

Sorry I meant in this "region." If you want more details on hotels and eating in St. Jean de Luz and St. Jean Pied de Port I will post them and recommend some good resources other than the Cadogan guide.

St Jean de Luz is a terrific place to hang out. Great town, beach, restaurants, shopping. The Grand Hotel is best...right on the promenade and the beach. Expensive but they offer promotional rates occasionally.

Restaurant info for St Jean de Luz would be welcome.

One of the best places to use as a base to explore the region is the fishing village of Hondarribia. Since you don’t want to drive, you can easily explore both Donostia-San Sebastian and Bilbao from Hondarribia by bus. You can also cross over to Hendaye in the Pays Basque on the passenger ferry that makes several runs a day when the weather is decent and take the bus from Hendaye to St. Jean-de-Luz and Biarritz. There is also excellent bus and train service between Biarritz and St. Jean-Pied-de-Port.

You should be able to explore this region on you own with the proper perpetration. The Cadogan Guides of “Northern Spain” and “Gascony & the Pyrenees” are good resources, but you may also want to download a free copy of Maribel’s Guide to the Basque Country (http://maribelsguides.com). These will give you a good basis to do your planning. I’d only consider “Backroads” as a last resort. This region is very easy to explore on your own with only the barest knowledge of French or Spanish. A little basic knowledge of Euskara would be helpful because a lot of the signs are in the Basque language.

Finding a good restaurant isn’t difficult in the Basque Country. You will find the food outstanding just about everywhere you go, but there are some notable dining experiences to be had. You can start in Hondarribia with the restaurante Alameda, 50 to 60 euros, the Hermandad de Pescadores with a menú del día for 12 euros, or the Beko Errota with a 17 euros menú del día. Both Bilbao and San Sebastian are havens for food lovers. The great restaurants number in the dozens. The Pays Basque in very much the same, but a number of the better restaurants are in the countryside. You may have to take a taxi in order to eat at some of them. Ithurria in Ainhoa has a 29 to 49 euro menu. The Chateau de Brindos in Angelet has a 30 to 45 euro menu. Le Cheval Blanc in Bayonne-Bayona is a little more expensive at 60 euros, but well worth it as one of the top rated restaurants in the area. The Sissinou, 45 to 50 euros, and the L’Auberge with a 23 euro menu in Biarritz are also excellent examples of the areas great restaurants. In Bidarry is the Auberge d’Iparla (28 euro menu) and Ostapé (70 euro menu), both a part of the Alain Ducasse group. In St. Jean-Pied-de-Port you’ll find the highly acclaimed Les Pyrenèes which is one of the highest rated restaurants in the Pays Basque and is priced accordingly. There are enough good and great restaurants to fill a couple of pages, but this is enough to get you started, and you’re only going to be there a week.

Thanks so much for all this wonderful information! I've decided the Backroads trips is just too expensive and also doesn't give me any time just to hang out on a beach or visit the Guggenheim in Bilbao. My thought now is 4 nights in San Sebastian and then either two nights in St. Jean De Luz or Sare or one in each. Hotel suggestions would be welcome -- I'm not a fan of chains or large hotels and would like to spend under 120 euros a night.

The following hotels are all within your budget.

Hotels in Bilbao:

Abando****, Colón de Larreátegui, 9
Artexe**, Carretera Enekuri-Artxanda Km.7 (4 kms from the center of Bilbao)
Hespería Zubialde****, Camino de la Ventosa, 34
Petit Palace Arana***, Bidebarrieta, 2 (in the Casco Víejo - the old quarter)
Sirimiri**, Plaza de la Encarnación, 3 (in the old quarter)

Hotels in Donostia-San Sebastian:

Amara Plaza****, Plaza Pio XII, 7
Europa***, San Martín, 52 (across from La Concha beach and the H. Niza)
Niza***, Zubieta, 56 (on La Concha beach)
La Galería**, Infanta Cristina, 1-3 (at Ondarreta beach)

Hotels in Hondarribia:

Jaizkiel****, Baserritar Etorbidea, 1
Obispo***, Plaza del Obispo,1
Pampinot***, Mayor, 5
Río Bidasoa***, Nafarroa Beherea, 1
San Nicolás**, Plaza de Armas, 6

In St. Jean de Luz we stayed at Hotel de le Plage; a seafront double room cost about $100 US two years ago. It is not fancy but adequate with a great view. I recommend Le Kaiku for dinner in the same town. In St. Jean Pied de Port, Les Pyrenees is an excellent, expensive place to eat in the Relais Chateau hotel; I would recommend a splurge to both stay and eat here if you can manage it; there are many less-expensive options in town. Remember: Monday is market day in St. Jean Pied de Port. If you are interested in the food of the region, and where to eat, I will dig up my notes and post them here.

ekscrunchy, would love to see your food and restaurant comments on the Basque Region as mentioned in an email in June. We are thinking of a trip there in late April early May.

For a start, you can check G. Hirigoyen's cookbook, The Basque Kitchen. In the back of his book, this Basque chef (now working in California) gives a list of restaurants and sources for Basque foodstuffs. I xeroxed the pages and took them with me. If you want some more details, let me know; the best meal we had was at Les Pyrenees but it is very elegant and there are less upscale places for great food.