Lauren1979

Hi fellow travelers! I need help with a south of France & northern Spain itinerary. (For next month may 13-29ish) I had originally posted about Spain and Portugal but my husband really wants to go to San Sebastián after reading about it so here is what we are thinking: fly into paris and spend a couple nights, take a train to southern France and then rent a car. Get an apartment from airbnb in Bordeaux, Toulouse or...? (Insert adorable french village with great cafes and bakeries) wander around that region for about 5-6 days and then drive to San Sebastián and stay in that area for almost a week then fly out.

I lived in Paris for one year and only visited la Bretagne, la Bourgogne, Marseilles, sete and Arles (my absolute favorite!) (and visited Barcelona), so I have no idea about these other regions. So, if anyone can help with an itinerary in terms of what I can realistically fit in without rushing and where best to fly out of, that would be great! One week in south of France, one week in north Spain. Should we include Barcelona or is it too far? (I have been, husband hasnt) Also, is the Rioja region doable or is that too much? Any advice on quaint, walkable towns in southern France and northern Spain is appreciated!
We did a ton of sight-seeing on our last europe trip and want this one to be primarily relaxing and enjoying great food and wine. I mention in my OP about my obsession with tapas and seems like SS would fit the bill. People said it can get rainy there so that's why we are thinking may 14-21 in south france and subsequent week in Spain.
Is a car going to be useful or would it be best to take trains? (Other threads mention SS having limited parking)
I will post this in a different forum as well, since I've included france in here. Thanks a million, everyone!!

yorkshire

I think one snag you may hit is renting a car in one country and dropping it in another--that can come with a hefty fee. So, I would check into that first. You could always do two separate rentals. It should be easy to switch to train to get across the border and then just rent another car when you need it.
For SS, look for apartments with parking. The area known as Gros may have more rentals. They were limited when I was there, but I bet that has changed.

Lauren1979

Thanks! Or loop back up into france and drop the car where I got it? Would that be way too much driving?

Michael

There is a local commuter train from Hendaye to San Sebastian. It should be close to the rental drop-off (check with Autoeurope, but I believe it would be a Europcar agency). You do not need a car in San Sebastian proper.

Rather than Bordeaux or Toulouse, consider the French Basque country as a base fro the western Pyrenees. You might want to take a look at this trip report: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-june-2011.cfm

A guidebook would be a great help. For sights, the Michelin Green Guide is very good.

yorkshire

and some gorgeous photography from a Basque food blogger:
http://www.cannellevanille.com/category/basque-country/

Robert2533

Bordeaux isn't quite in the Basque country and Toulouse isn't even close. If you want to experience the Pays Basque and País Vasco, then I would look for something around Navarrenx, which would allow you to explore both the coast and inland regions of the Pays Basque-Bêarn, who got smart and started marketing together.

www.bearn-basquecountry.com
www.tourisme64.com

Our favorite place in the area of Navarrenx is the Château de Lamothe (www.chateau-de-lamothe.eu), much nicer then anything you'll find on AirBnB.

If you have a rental car, you can drop it off in Hendaye and take the TOPO into San Sebastián-Donostia, where you can pick up another car.

sandralist

When I visited parts of western France, I picked up a car in Spain, looped through France, and dropped it off in Spain again.

A trip for me that focused on wine and relax would be to fly into Paris and go directly to Bordeaux. After a couple nights there, I would rent a car and drive a few hours south -- like the Labourd province or such. Then I would take the car into Spain. I love Rioja, so I would want to make it part of the trip. I think I would go there first in Spain, then loop back to San Sebastian. After that, you could drive back to France -- even drop off the car in Bordeaux.

But you might want to call AutoEurope and crunch the real numbers. Sometimes the drop-off fees are not excruciating, and if you could drop off the car in Bilbao and begin flying home from there, it might be worth whatever the drop off fee is.

But there are lots of ways to skin this cat. You could rent two cars.

kimhe

Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capial of Alava and very close to the Rioja Alavesa wine district: http://www.vitoria-gasteiz.org/we001...6d58049b__7fa1

Combining a wine tour with Rocio Molina's out of this world flamenco in the Teatro Princial in Vitoria-Gastez on the 28th could be a powerful ending of the trip. http://www.rociomolina.net/prensa/?lang=en

Visit to a winery in Rioja Alavesa from about 9 minutes in this great Munchies documentary about Basque food and wine culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAoT3fPIACc

Lauren1979

thank you everyone!! so very much!