Hi all-

Working on a relatively short driving trip in Northern Spain (in addition to some time in Portugal)

Plan is to start in San Sebastian and head West through Bilbao. Trying to figure out where to turn South when driving West along the coast. Current line of thinking is to go as far west as Gijon, then head south to Salamanca, and then back East through Segovia and wrap in Madrid.

We're looking for cute towns, some beaches to see, great food and wine (of course), and some historical sights. Does it make sense to drive all the way West to Gijon, or if we stop at Santander or Comillas and turn South, will we miss a lot of interesting sights?

Thanks in advance.

Leon a worth a visit, and driving from Gijon, make sure you take the old road that goes over the pass, it's worth it as long as you do not mind mountain driving. Otherwise take the superhighway.
To whet your appetite for the Asturias and Leon: https://flic.kr/s/aHskGvBjfL

I also wrote a Trip Report: Spanish Basque Country etc. Click on my name to find it if interested.

The normal route from Gijón would take you south to Oviedo, which you should visit regardless of your final route. But for a more adventurous route, I would head west to Ribadeo then south through the mountains to Taramundi, Lugo and Villafranca del Bierzo (El Bierzo wine region) before ending in León for a couple of nights. From León, you head south to Zamora, then east to Valladolid. From there you can take the train to Salamanca, then on to Segovia before ending up in Madrid. When driving along the north coast, if you take the N-632/634, you will pass through or by a number of coastal villages.

Asturias es España; lo demás es tierra conquistada. “Asturias is Spain; the rest is conquered territory.”
https://explorepartsunknown.com/astu...o-to-asturias/

Now the problem is how much time do you have?

We did a trip to that area summer 2016. Here's my trip report - we visited most of the places mentioned and many more. You could get some ideas from it - Criss-crossing the Camino: 5 weeks in Northern Spain (and a bit of France)


You say 'relatively short' trip but that means different things to everyone. How long in terms of days/weeks? That will make a different on the advice you get.

Isabel, just re-read your wonderful TR! We appreciate all the time and energy you devoted to this great detailed report. Having just returned from visiting some of those places, your report helps us relive some great experiences. Thanks again!

Great feedback and amazing trip report. Will dive into it in detail! We'll only have about a week or so, so looks like we'll probably need to stick to 3-4 towns on this trip. Wish I could extend it but have some work obligations in Europe on either end.