alex230

Hi all,
Frequent traveller here, first time posting on Fodors, although I do check the forums sometimes for ideas. Here’s is my itinerary and some questions for upcoming 2-weeks trip to northern Spain in late May. We are a fairly active, mid 40s couple, we like hiking and city walks, road trips, wine, beer, tapas as well as relaxed dinners, and a nice mix of nature, history, and city attractions in our travels. We hold dual Canadian/European passports which saves a little time going through immigration at the airports. The stop in Brighton was not initially planned, but I found some good airfare deals with this itinerary. Avoiding connecting flights and very early departure flights is also somewhat important to us. We travel light and only take carry-ons regardless of trip length. We visited UK and Spain a few times before, but never Brighton, Madrid, Rioja and Basque country. We’ve been to Barcelona and Costa Brava before; we have a couple business meetings in the area, hence the stops there.

I’ve already made reservations for hotels and car rental, but not for restaurants or museums.
Many thanks in advance for any suggestions, here it is:
Day 1 – arrive Gatwick in the AM, train to Brighton, spend evening there
Day 2 – daytrip train to Eastbourne, walk the cliffs? Any other ideas?
Day 3 – morning in Brighton, train to Gatwick, late afternoon flight to Madrid
Day 4 – Madrid – yet to make plans for what to do there
Day 5 – daytrip to Toledo. What is the best way of doing this? What are the must do’s in Toledo for a few hours?
Day 6 – Madrid – yet to plan
Day 7 – pick up rental car, 4 hrs drive to Laguardia. Any ideas for interesting stops?
Day 8 – Laguardia/Rioja wineries. What wineries/cellars would you recommend in the immediate area? I’d rather not hire a tour guide. Also, no spitting this time so driving is a no-no, so we need to walk or take short bus rides.
Day 9 – drive to Bilbao about 2 hours. Any stops? Visit the city late afternoon and evening.
Day 10 – drive to San Sebastian. Any stops? Pinchos wine bar crawl
Day 11 – San Sebastian – beach, pinchos, wine
Day 12 – San Sebastian to Tossa de Mar, 7 hrs drive. If we leave early in the morning, what quick stops would you recommend, Pamplona, Zaragoza, Lleida? Should we stop 1-2 hours in 2-3 places each, or 4 hours in just one city?
Day 13 – Tossa and business meeting
Day 14 – Tossa to Barcelona, meeting, dinner
Day 15 – return car at the airport, flight to Gatwick, check in at airport hotel, train to London Bridge, dinner Borough market, return to hotel
Day 16 – fly back to Canada

ESW

Is there any special reason you want to go to Eastbourne? Why not spend the day in Brighton as there is more than enough to keep you occupied.

Don't miss the glorious over the top Royal Pavilion built by the Prince Regent before he became George IV.
https://brightonmuseums.org.uk/royalpavilion/

Relive your youth by going for a walk down the pier.
https://www.visitbrighton.com/things...ce-pier-p60603

If it is a clear day, take a trip up 450feet to the top of British Airways i360, Brighton's latest tourist attraction.
https://www.visitbrighton.com/things...-i360-p1102451

Catch a bus to Rottindean, 5 miles east of Brighton and go for a walk around Kipling Gardens. Rudyard Kipling wrote some of the Just So Stories at the Elms nearby.
https://www.visitbrighton.com/things...ardens-p360661
Just across the road is St Margaret's Church which is over 1000 years old with Saxon and Norman work.
https://www.visitbrighton.com/things...church-p359731

There is also Stamner Park, next to Sussex University on the outskirts of Brighton.
https://www.visitbrighton.com/things...r-park-p374771
Leaflet here:
Stanmer_and_Ditchling_Beacon.pdf
Details of walks here:
Health_01_v6.pdf
and here:
Stanmer_NW_Trails_leaflet.pdf

Another walk is the Undercliffe Walk which starts behind Asda in Brighton Marina along the base of the chalk cliffs to Saltdean (do a google image search).
The Undercliff Walk | Brighton & Hove City Council

Preston Manor 2miles north is an Edwardian House with over 20 rooms to see which tells the story of the Stamford Family who lived there and their servants.
https://www.visitbrighton.com/things...n-manor-p52793
https://brightonmuseums.org.uk/prest...r/what-to-see/

English wine is also very good and much under rated. There is information about vineyards near Brighton here:
https://www.visitbrighton.com/things...-and-breweries

Jean

Do I count 8 hotels over 15 nights? Is this the pace you normally travel? I ask because it would be too much in 2 weeks for me but could be a typical plan for you.

At a minimum, I'd probably skip the Brighton/Eastbourne bit, airfare deal or not.

kja

As others are noting, this is a very fast-paced trip.

Many people visit Toledo as a day trip; I was glad I had 2 full days – and they were packed! With so much to see in Toledo, the only way for you to identify YOUR “must-dos" would be to consult a good guidebook or two and make your choices. (FWIW, I found the Michelin Green and Rough Guide most useful for my two trips to Spain.) As you plan, note that many things may be closed on Monday, and often for all or part of Sundays too; and many things will also be closed daily for a very long mid-day break.

If staying in Laguardia (which is delightful), the only winery I know that you can reach on foot for a tasting is Bodega El Fabulista.
Bodega El Fabulista Una visita de fábula
You would, I think, be able to visit a few more if you stayed in Haro instead. Maybe others with greater knowledge will chime in.

If you haven’t already seen it, you might find some helpful information in my trip report:
Four Awesome Weeks in the North of Spain and Catalunya

Good luck!

PalenQ

Eastbourne is not much IMO too. Brighton lot more interesting. I enjoyed staying in Hastings - a nice old seaside port - Battle is right close by train - site of 1066 battle of Norman Conquest - walk around the battlefield. just by train tickets at Gatwick - no need to buy early - for lots on British trains check www.seat61.com - general ideas where to go by train - BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

Toledo - best to just wander around compact old town - an ABC city - Another Bloody Church on every corner and really nice interiors. Trains are fastest but can sell out - buses always available if so.

kja

If someone wants to just wander around Toledo and stop in some of its many churches, that seems to me to be a perfectly legitimate choice. But to suggest that Toledo is JUST a place with lots of nice churches, or that it is necessarily best seen by simply roaming, is simply NOT correct. Toledo has a wide range of treasures, including former mosques, several worthy museums, a castle/palace, some stunning vistas, evocative old streets and plazas, some extraordinary works of art, a couple of churches that are truly amazing (in addition to any number of other churches), and so forth. And seeing even a smattering of those highlights would take far more than a day trip, so anyone who is interested in seeing Toledo's treasures might want to spend a bit of time coming up with a plan.

alex230

Wow ESW, thank you! Great suggestions. We'll just stay in Brighton

mikelg

Some ideas below:

Laguardia/Rioja wineries. What wineries/cellars would you recommend in the immediate area? I’d rather not hire a tour guide. Also, no spitting this time so driving is a no-no, so we need to walk or take short bus rides.

- No buses to wineries, you´ll have to go by car or on foot. In the vicinity of Laguardia, Solar de Samaniego, inside Laguardia Casa Primicia, Carlos Sampedro and El Fabulista. But the most important ones should be reached by car.

Day 9 – drive to Bilbao aout 2 hours. Any stops? Visit the city late afternoon and evening.

- One hour and a half, don´t take the highway, follow the N1 to Vitoria, there´s a diversion to Salinas de Añana. Google for it, you´ll love this salt valley. Vitoria has a very nice medieval quarter. Then highway in Altube to Bilbao.

Day 10 – drive to San Sebastian. Any stops? Pinchos wine bar crawl. On the coastal road, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Mundaka, Gernika, Elantxobe, Ea, Lekeitio, Zumaia, Deba, Getaria (a must), Orio and then SS.

Day 11 – San Sebastian – beach (weather is quite rainy over here, so think of a B plan just in case...), pinchos, wine

bilboburgler

Good decision on Eastborne

The wineries in Rioja tend to be out and about, unless you go to Haro, where a whole shedload are down around the rail head. Then walking is a real possibility, note that the real town is on top of the escarpment while the rail station is at the bottom and the wineries vary. 5 hours by train or bus from Madrid. Haro is a lot smaller than Laguardia and so has fewer other things to visit. The other benefit of both Haro and Laguardia is the wine bars tend to sell Grande Reserva Riojas for E3 or 4 a glass, which makes for great tapas time.

Toledo by bus or train again is easy, certainly worth a day but notice that the middle of the day most things close up, so either plan for a very very long lunch or travel very early to make the most of the time, castle, palace, churches, alleyways, squares, vistas. Not that big.

Picos di Europa???

isabel

Between Madrid and LaGuardia there is the Bardares Reales park - it's a desert like landscape, really unusual for Europe. Looks like a mini U.S. southwest national park. We did it last summer on the way back to Madrid from the area you are headed to. Can be easily seen in a couple hours.

I wouldn't stop anywhere between Laguardia and Bilbao, you don't even have a whole day in Bilbao, I'd get there as early as you can. Same with San Sebastian, just go straight there to have as much time as possible. Your trip is fast paced but not bad as long as you add in a bunch of 2-3 hour stops every other day. Unless you are talking about very small villages, by the time you park and get oriented it's time to leave. I frequently do stops for just a few hours in places - either as day trips or en route somewhere. But you don't really have 'enough' time in the places you are already going, why complicate things by adding a bunch of stops. Unless there is a specific place you really want to see but you seem to just be asking about what's in the area so doesn't sound like you have specific destinations between your overnight stops.

Here's my photos of many of the places you are going - Zenfolio Isabel's_View Spain
Same site if you click on the 'blog' is my trip report with descriptions of things to do in Bilbao, San Sebastian, Laguardia.

alex230

Thank you all very much! Apparently there is a limit of 2 posts per 24 hrs - perhaps because I'm new? - otherwise I would have replied sooner.
As mentioned, the first day we'll remain in Brighton and follow ESW's tips. Also we'll probably skip Toledo this time and focus on Madrid, since it's our first time there. In Guardia we will visit the local wineries and wine bars by walking, and we'll leave the rest of Rioja for a proper future trip. The Champions League final is that evening, May 26, a must watch for me (may Barca win it!), so I don't want to go to a bar too many (maybe after).
On the way to Bilbao we'll try to stop in Vitoria and Salinas de Anana. Bilbao is the only place we're spending just one night, but I just want to feel the place as I'm sure we'll be back. We'll take the coastal road to SS with at least one stop, in Getaria. End of May is probably not yet beach time anyway, so if it rains we'll just keep warm with more red wine.
We'll also save Pamplona for the future trip. Lleida is closer to Barcelona, we go there more often so we can make a daytrip in the future.
That leaves Zaragoza for a few hours stop on the way to Catalunya. I'm happy with this itinerary, thank you all. It probably seems a little rushed to some, but I think it's just right for us, we get a bit of everything. I've heard much worse, people going to Europe once in their lifetime, London, Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome in 10 days. On the other hand, same folks can spend a week in one all inclusive resort just eating and drinking cocktails. To each his own