lymichie

Our trip will start with a week of trekking in the Engadin region of Switzerland, then three weeks later, we meeting friends in Lisbon, Portugal. We thought maybe two weeks in Spain and then 5-6 days in Portugal before meeting our friends.

Here is our dilemma… Northern Spain, Basque area, Atlantic costal route. Or Costa Brava. This would most likely be a road trip of sorts, rental car for a couple of weeks, but use public transportation in the larger cities. Best routes? Fly from Zurich to Bilbao or Girona? Renta a car in Girona to start the Costa Brava trip? Or rent a car in Bilbao after using public transport to see Bilbao and San Sebastián? Drive into Portugal from Spain’s Atlantic coast. Or fly from Girona to Lisbon? So many options! We’ve read and watch a million YouTube travel videos! All enticing, but we can get a feel for the areas… any ruminations, impressions and experiences on the different areas would be appreciated! Also, we would like to involve some sort of activities other than sightseeing. Walking, cycling, swimming... Both areas look so inviting, we are torn!

I thank anyone and everyone who have thoughts or suggestion (resources, referrals, etc) on any portion or all of our questions!
Lisa

stevelyon

I cant comment on Northern Spain but I do love the Costa Brava and there are some lovely walks around Calella Palafrugell and Tamarui - beautiful coastal small towns. Both Northern Spain and the area around Cadaques is on my bucket list but cant comment on these either apart from saying they look highly desirable places to visit.

mikelg

Too many options to be able to recommend appropriately, all are feasible, so you should probably narrow down your choices a bit. As a first comment, Girona is the Mediterranean and weather is much drier and water much warmer than in the northern coast, where it tends to rain often.

bilboburgler

I would catch the train from Girona to Toulouse, stopping as you go to visit some of the wonders of southern France before train Toulouse to San Sebastian

Aeroplanes are so last century

julies

I visited northern (Green) Spain in September and found it absolutely delightful. I much preferred it to other areas of Spain I have visited. This time I did a small group tour that was a mix of cultural activities and hiking. You might want to look at the itinerary for ideas for active things to do. It would be very easy to do on your own with a car. https://yellowwoodadventures.com/adv...northern-spain

Maribel

I agree with mikelg, as there are just too many options on the table now to be able to make really helpful, very specific recommendations. They are both great options, but as mikelg notes, the Basque coast is a rainy area, so if you put a priority on swimming, cycling or biking, the Girona province will be drier and warmer.

Do you have the latest edition of the DK Eyewitness Guide for Northern Spain?
https://www.dk.com/ca/book/978024140...orthern-spain/

For the Costa Brava, the Rough Guide
https://www.roughguides.com/spain/ca...e-costa-brava/

lymichie

Thank you all!

stevelyon, we’ll note your mentioned CB towns. Always good to have a few specific towns to research!
mikelg, well, at least all options sound feasible…
bilboburgler, interesting route. Hadn’t thought about visiting Girona and then heading back up to San Sebastián.
jules, we’ve not seen Yellowwood Adventures. We will look at some of their routes for ideas!
Maribel, great websites!

Back to the drawing board, but with a little more information and different routes to consider!

Maribel

Beautiful Girona province towns:
the bohemian, sparkling white, artists' town of Cadaqués (looks somewhat like a Greek island village),
Dalí's home at Port Lligat, his theater-museum in Figueres,
elegant hilltop Begur (filled with turn-of-the-century or early 19th century "indiano" mansions and castle ruins at the top),
the charming medieval villages of Peratallada, Pals, Palau-Sator, Monells, Ullastret (important Iberian settlement dating back the 7th c. BC),
the beach towns of Calella de Palafrugell and Llafranc with plenty of water sports,
the botanical gardens of Cap Roig,
the important Greco-Roman ruins of Empùries,
the fish auction at Palamós, home of the acclaimed red prawns,
the lively Sunday morning outdoor market in Palafrugell
the evocative medieval town of Besalú, to the north of Girona city
and of course, beguiling, multi-layered Girona, a cycling heaven
And on and on.

If you do an advanced search here on the forum, you´ll find lots of other tips about a Girona province or Costa Brava holiday.

lymichie

Maribel, that’s quite a run down on CB towns! The list is a trip in itself. With that being said, we decided we will head for northern Spain and focus on surfing. Of course, San Sebastián and Bilbao will be included stays… hotel recommendations? Then we will rent a car and head west. Since the trip is mid late September, are reservations needed in hotels west? Or is it a good bet that we could find something easily should we decide to move on?

mikelg

The International Film Festival of Donostia-San Sebastian takes place from 20 to 28 September this year, so expect low availability and high lodging prices in D-SS (which is normally expensive, but within these dates prices should be normally higher). Bilbao will be cheaper, some hotels I like are Hesperia Bilbao, Vincci Consulado, Miró, The Artist (formerly Dómine), Indautxu, Tayko...For surf on the northern coast (Basque), Mundaka, Bakio, Sopela, Zarautz...are very popular beaches for this sport. Suances and Ribamontán al Mar near Santander, in Cantabria.

bilboburgler

I've done most of it by bicycle, very interesting and you get to be in the landscape all day long rather than hiding in a metal box

Maribel

Ditto to what mikelg has told you about SS and the film festival, and really, the entire month of September. Also the first two Sundays of September, Sept. 1 and 8, is when the trainera regatta races will take place, bringing more visitors into the city.

Because of the hugely expensive room rates in SS, we now stay west of the city, in the charming fishing village of Getaria, with famous grilled fish restaurants, each with an outdoor grill, and the birthplace of explorer Elkano and costume designer Balenciaga, whose costume museum is worth a visit. it´s an easy bus ride or a drive into SS from there.

Alternate Getaria lodging:

• Saiaz Getaria, in the middle of town
• San Prudentzio up in the hills surrounded by txakolí vineyards
• Gainza, a small hotel / txakolín winery up in the hills but an easy walk down into town (mikelg sent us here)
• Ameztoi Experience, a new hotel with only 4 rooms attached to its txakolí winery
• Iturregi, a luxury, gorgeous and very elite estate up in the hills--hard to book as it does a large weekend wedding business

Alternate lodging in Zarautz, the surfing town:

• Ur Bare, a new boutique hotel
• Zerupe, in town, popular with surfers

There's also Hondarribia to the east of SS, but rates here are also high in September

lymichie

Yikes, we’d better get on it!! Thank you all so much! I’ll look at reservations today and I’m certain I’ll be back with more questions!
Can’t thank you all enough!

Maribel

If you need it...
One more water facing hotel/restaurant in the surfing town of Zarauz, west of San Sebastián, Hotel KA (the initials of the famous Basque chef Karlos Arguiñano)

lymichie

Maribel, Getaria looks wonderful, but our time is so limited, we decided to stay in town. We were able to book a lovely Air BnB on the western shore of La Concha. We arrive on the 7th. Just in time for the regatta on the 8th… Bravo!! What fun! Thank you for the heads up on the regatta, we would have not made the effort to get into SS without your note!

For Bilbao, we were able to reserve a room at the Tayko. Nice nice reviews, thanks for the recommendation, mikelg!

I’ve pulled up old posts on dinning recommendations in both San Sebastián and Bilbao. What a wealth of information. Now, here’s the big question… if there was only one place you were able to visit in each city, which one would it be?

On logistics for the travel from Zurich to Bilbao. Air travel looks rather limited for direct flights into Bilbao on Saturdays. Vueling Airlines appears to be the only direct flight of the day. Does anyone have comments on the airline? The reviews are rather disappointing, delayed flight and overbooking… I just want to be prepared and make certain that it’s a legitimate airline…

And, recommendations (and other suggestions) for a rental car company. We are thinking about renting a car to head west after our time in San Sebastián/Bilbao. We would prefer a one way hire. We’ve also read about a loop beginning and ending in Bilbao, but would prefer a drop off in the west and then fly down into Lisbon. Or has anyone has driven into Lisbon from Spain with a rental? We’d like to hear which rental company was used. We are looking at the SIXT car rental agency for a one way rental. Any dealings with the company? Once we get the rental car squared away, then we start planning the route for the beaches!

mikelg

You probably link the word "regatta" to a fancy race with nice white sailing boats. Well, you´re coming to the Basque Country and our very rough ocean, green forests and so mountainous...and with our so different sports. Expect the attendance of over 200,000 people to the finals of La Concha Flag of "traineras", these 13 rowers boats, a video of what these regattas are here, . It´s a very popular competition on a league that lasts 4 months and extremely popular here.

Vueling belongs to IAG group of airlines (British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Level) and it´s one of the biggest in Spain, absolutely reliable and widely used. There are not illegitimate flight companies in EU Europe, not a single one.

Maribel

lymichie,
I forgot to explain trainera races, so it's great that mikelg has explained them to you and posted a video.
If your apartment is on the western shore of La Concha it may mean that it's close to or inside the Old Quarter, La Parte Vieja, which means you may be right in the thick of things. So expect lots of crowds, noise and excitement!

If I had only one fine dining experience in San Sebastián/Donostia, and I wanted to stay inside the city and not have to taxi to the suburbs (Lasarte, Errenteria), I would choose Rekondo on the slopes of Monte Igeldo, with glorious views of the entire bay from its terrace, a classical Basque menu and boasting one of the world's best wine cellars (and bottles at very reasonable prices). Rekondo wins the Wine Spectator Grand Award each year.

I've been fortunate over the years to have dined in all of the city's Michelin stars when they were far less expensive, except for Amelia in the Hotel Villa Favorita.
The one I would most like to return to, if it were in my current dining budget (tasting menus now priced at 330/p plus drinks), would be Martín Berasategui in Lasarte, because 1) it was my first Michelin star experience in SS and 2) it has a gorgeous country setting and 3) the chef has amassed 11 Michelin stars among his restaurants. (He had 12 but just recently left his overseeing of the 1 Michelin starred Club Allard in Madrid.)
That said, you will have a Martín Berasategui restaurant, Ola, inside your Tayko hotel. So a trip out to Lasarte for the MB experience won´t be necessary.

I would definiteley not want to return to Mugaritz (too highly experimental & even provocative now for me), not would I return to Arzak (I think mikelg and I agree on that one, although many would disagree--some service issues we had there).

Kokotxo with one star, in the Old Quarter, would be your least expensive of the starred restaurants and the closest to your lodging. And the chef Dani López is a fine chef and his wife Estela a lovely hostess. We've returned to Kokotxo several times, but it can't compete with those spectacular views of Rekondo.

For within the city of Bilbao, I would like to dine at Porrúe or try the new Islares, which is getting great reviews from the professional gastro critics. But I'll certainly defer to mikelg on Bilbao. Mikelg has taken us to many wonderful dining spots in the countryside, but you'll most likely want to stay within the city.

I wouldn't pay much attention to those negative Vueling reviews, as very few people leave reviews when they've been pleased with the experience or when nothing goes wrong.
We've flown it on multiple occasions and will do so again. As mikelg says, totally reliable.

If you pick up a rental in Spain and drop it off in Portugal you will pay an exorbitant drop off fee. For around 20+ years we've used the consolidator Auto Europe or its sister company, Kemwel, to arrange our Spain/Portugal/France rentals, as have many other Fodorites. Our rentals through Auto Europe recently have been Europcar vehicles or occasionally Avis. We haven't had vehicles from Sixt but I wouldn't hesitate if the price were right.

You could pick up your car in Bilbao and return it to the Asturias airport (OVD) to catch a flight to Lisbon on Volotea. There is no flight from the Santander airport to Lisbon.
Volotea was created by the founders of Vueling.

lymichie

Thank you mikelg and Maribel for the explanation in thinking we might be expecting a sailing event when we hear “regatta”.
Didn’t cross our minds… we are apparently running in different circles

Also thank you for putting our minds at rest regarding Vueling. It’s virtually the only nonstop on Saturday down to Bilbao.

Maribel, we will also check AutoEuro. SIXTY’s quotes have been reasonable for one way. Good thing you mentioned Volotea, I’m certain I would have been posting again asking about the airline! And the note about flying out of Asturias vs Santander. We just assumed the flights to Lisboa would be from Santander.

Back to the dining… wow, that was quite a rundown! Thanks! Now for just local good food - wine of course, not fine dining (as you can assume from our interpretation of “regatta”) are there any places you have enjoyed in or around SS and Bilbao?

Thanks you all, once again…bit by bit this trip is coming along nicely!!!

Maribel

"Just good local food"---all of these will serve locally sourced Basque food; I'm omitting the fusion, sushi, new Peruvian and Mexican-Basque places and the famous pintxos bars like La Cuchara de San Telmo and Borda Berri

None of these will have a bargain priced weekday, lunch fixed price menu of the day (like we had with mikelg in Gernika at Boliña Viejo), because this menú del día has almost disappeared in SS due to the massive numbers of tourists now. But...I suspect that perhaps mikelg has found a hidden gem.

In San Sebastián,
in the Old Quarter, where.prices are higher due to the tourist crowd:
Casa Urola for pintxos at the bar or for more comfortable sit down dining upstairs (but 70/p w/o drinks because it sports 2 Repsol suns).
Bodega Alejandro for sit-down dining down a flight of stairs (where MB got his start at his parents' restaurant, 60/p).
Juanito Kojua (ditto, basement dining, 60/p)

In the SS Gros quarter, where the Zurriola surfing beach sits:
Bodega Donostiarra at Peña y Goñi 13 for small plates dining (breakfast, lunch or dinner) seated in the communal tables inside the original bar, out on the terrace, or sit down dining across the street in the lovely annex, at Peña y Goñi 16, for its "greatest hits". Inexpensive for SS
For creative pintxos, Bar Bergara, again, sit down style at communal tables, because it has always had communal tables since its origin, I believe, It´s one of the two originators of the miniature haute cuisine, pintxos movement
Gerald's Bar, which does have a weekday lunch menu for 20.50/p

In the center of the city:
La Espiga for pintxos standing at the bar or sit down in their dining room
Casa Vallés, where the gilda was supposedly invented (gilda= a skewer of a green olive, a salted anchovy and a chili pepper) with bare wood communal tables.

For Bilbao,
I completely defer to mikelg as he is our expert on dining in his city, but we liked very much the charming, beautifully decorated Los Fueros, where he sent us in the Casco Viejo, the Old Quarter where your hotel sits.
In the modern quarter, the Ensanche, on Calle Diputación we like Viña del Ensanche for the finest Joselito Iberian ham (sit down).

Bilbao, ime, can easily compete with San Sebastián for great dining these days.

Maribel

I checked the Santander airport, as I also assumed there would be a flight to Lisbon, but it´s Asturias airport only.

Sorry about the long Michelin star dining post. !!
It's just a question that I get very often, sometimes here and lots on the Hungry Onion Spain/Portugal/Italy forum : "Maribel, of all the Michelin stars in San Sebastián, which is the best?
The ones in San Sebastián and Bilbao have priced themselves out of our league these days.