Barcelona and Bilboa

AARRRGH

Hello all

I hope someone can advise me on this.

I have about 10 days to kill between Barcelona and somewhere else in Spain - I'm thinking Bilbao.

1. How many days do you recommend I spend in Barcelona? I would do some touristy stuff, and a lot of relaxing.
2. Is Bilbao a good city to visit too? How many days would you recommend I spend there?
3. Any other recommendation?

Thanks!

Sr. Pirotecnic

Bilbao is ok but there's not a whole lot to see, a day or two should be long enough there. San Sebastian is only an hour away and is v nice, lots of other lovely small towns on the Basque coast too.


re recommendations on the rest of Spain it's hard to know where to start. If you are determined to visit Barcelona then it's not worth trying to see Galicia/Asturias and Andalucia (all fantastic places) as you would spend a day getting there and another one getting. You might like rural Catalunya and I heard Girona is great.

SuperStarHoney

I'd second the above. Never been to Barcelona but I think two days would be loads in Bilbao. The main thing to see is the Guggenheim which is amazing.

We went from Bilbao to San Sebastain and as the previous poster said there are some lovely towns along the way especially when you hit the coast nearer San Sebastain.

Dodge

Some people underestimate how big Spain is. If you're starting in Barcelona, the nearest big city (and one I'd recommend) is Valencia. You could easily spend 4/5 days in Barcelona (depending on your interests). There's loads to admire in the small towns around barcelona too and if you're drivng it might be fun to just pick one at random if you see a bar or café that looks cool.

greendom

As has been mentioned, San Sebastian is a beautiful city - other great places to visit along the North Western coast include, Santiago & Santander. Not to mention the beautiful mountains of the Picos de Europa

leon76

I've been to the basque country numerous times. firstly visit the 'Guggenheim museum. Secondly, the (7 calles) old Bilbao and sample the tapas / beers around the city. Witness a match and sample the atmosphere in San Mames,home of Athletic Bilbao. Get a Gondola to the top of the Mountains above Bilbao. Jump on a metro to Getxo,20 minutes from Bilbao. Beach front and great restuarants. Check the events that a happening and if your lucky sample a concert in Palacio Euskalduna.
If you decide to rent a car I'd highly recommend a trip to the coast . Huge festival in Bermeo next weekend and its a must do. Also visit Gernika, Mundaka(famous for surfing) ,Saint Juan (not far from Bermeo) and finally San Sebastian.
If you require any more info let me know.
Regards

Leon.

Qwerty27

What are the beaches like in the Bilbao and San Sebastien? Probably wont want to rent a car when visiting the 2 cities later in the summer but definatley want to spend a few dasy just chilling out on the beach. Can you recommend a spot in or near either city or anywhere else where I could go?

SuperStarHoney

You won't need a car for the beach in San Sebastian, it's literally in the middle of the town. La concha is the main beach and there's another but I think more for surfing though.

I'm not exactly sure about Bilbao but there is not beach in the immediate vicinity of the city, I think it's a couple of miles away but could perhaps be reached by bus.

When we did our trip there, we did four days beach/relaxing in some of the towns just before San Sebastian and then in San Sebastian itself.

Hope this helps.

Qwerty27

Thanks for your reply?

What were the names of the smaller places you stayed and what was the accomodation like? Is there much to do in the evenings, restaurants etc? And finally, what was the weather like?! Sorry bout all the questions!

SuperStarHoney

No problem.

We stayed in a small town called Zumaia ,

http://www.talasozelai.com/ing/archivos/home.php

the hotel was ok, fairly dated but in a spectatulor location on a cliff looking out on the Atlantic. We stopped off for a day in Zarautzbut didn't stay over. It's larger than Zumaia with a bit more going on.

In San Sebastian we stayed in http://es.solmelia.com/hotel/tryp-orly.htm

The room here was quite modern even though the common areas were a little dated. We had a room only rates so we didn't eat in the either hotels.

We were there the last week in July and the weather was only ok at the beginning of the week when we were in Bilbao but was fab for the three days we were on the beach in San Sebastain.