Basque Country Travel Forum

ΜADRID TO OVIEDO AND BASQUE COUNTRY
Posted: Wed April 22, 2009 08:31 AM UTC

hello
i am flying to madrid in june and after a 2-days stay i am planning to go north to visit the basque country. I will have 7 days for the north. Normally it should be enough for the basque country but i'd like to squeeze in Oviedo. i'd like to do santiago de Compostella too, but seems unfeasible. my question is if oviedo is worth sacrificing 2 days, and what the highlihts of the basque country are. And is a daytrip to france recommended? i heard there is a very beautiful place very close to san sebastian.. What about vittoria gasteiz and pamplona?? Is gernica worth visiitng or theres nothing else there than the memories of the war?
thank you

tuille

9 replies

[Reply]

Re: ΜADRID TO OVIEDO AND BASQUE COUNTRY
Posted: Wed April 22, 2009 09:09 AM UTC

Oviedo and Gijón in Asturias are nice indeed, but you could make a short cut to Santader in Cantabria. Santander is pretty similar to Oviedo and Gijón (to me :-) it is).
I would drive through Palencia (Castilla y Leon) and the Valley of Liebana (Cantabria). The views over the National park of Picos de Europa are fantastic, and Potes is the centre of Orujo culture! This would save you some travel and you would still experience the Spain's green coast.
The Asturian cider culture (sidra natural asturiana) is interesting, but there are cider bars (sidrerias) also in Cantabria.
I would skip the trip to France to save the two days. June is fantastic time in the Spanish northern coast.

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Walker30s

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Re: ΜADRID TO OVIEDO AND BASQUE COUNTRY
Posted: Wed April 22, 2009 03:06 PM UTC

an area i visit every year from France. This time will be in Galicia thus ::)

From Madrid you can easily find transport to Bilbao/Bilbo or San Sebastian/Donostia ,bear in mind the city names will be both in spanish and basque. Santander is not basque country thus. 7 days rather keep it concentrated in one area, then go to Oviedo(Asturias) or Santander(Cantabria) or Santiago de Compostela(Galicia). also, France is nice as long as kept in the basque country there.

Besides the big cities of Bilbo and Donostia, you can see Bermeo off the coast near Bilbo/Bilbao, Eibar, Azpeitia,Zarautz, near San Sebastian/Donostia, Vitoria/Gasteiz, Hondarribia,Pamplona/Iruña is nice in Navarra.Then go over France to Hendaye,Cibourne and St-Jean-de-Luz along the coast.

you will get a good feel for the beautiful basque country as in Spain and France. By the way, the basque in France can also speak Spanish ::)

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pedmar

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Re: ΜADRID TO OVIEDO AND BASQUE COUNTRY
Posted: Thu April 23, 2009 07:00 AM UTC

thank you all for your helpful replies
i guess i will skip oviedo for now and concentrate in the triangle SanSebastian -bilbao -Vittoria with daytrips to Pamplona and some villages as you recommended

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tuille

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Re: ΜADRID TO OVIEDO AND BASQUE COUNTRY
Posted: Thu April 23, 2009 11:03 AM UTC

you will love it,have a great trip!

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pedmar

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Re: ΜADRID TO OVIEDO AND BASQUE COUNTRY
Posted: Thu April 23, 2009 11:20 PM UTC

Oviedo has a very nice old town and Center but one full day is enough to see it. However, the Picos de Europa National Park is nearby and worth at least a day. It's feasible to include them in your trip but almost 200 miles from Bilbao. Definitely recommend San Sebastian. Also, Santilla del Mar is considered by many to be the most beautiful village in Spain -- it's between Oviedo and Bilbao. It does get TONS of Tourists during the day. Bilbao is worth a visit if you are interested in seeing the Guggenheim Musuem. Also, Estella/Lizarra in Navarra is a stop on the Camino de Santiago and worth a couple of hours. It's south of Pamplona. Have not been to Pamplona or Vittoria.

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dino335

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Re: ΜADRID TO OVIEDO AND BASQUE COUNTRY
Posted: Thu April 30, 2009 09:31 AM UTC

help again
On the way from madrid to bilbao i would happily stay overnight somewhere in between, to pass from some Rioja wineries. Where would you recommend to stay?? I see Logrono and Burgos as possibilities. Are they worth it?whioch one would you suggest? Some important wine making place???

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tuille

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Re: ΜADRID TO OVIEDO AND BASQUE COUNTRY
Posted: Thu April 30, 2009 10:01 AM UTC

Hi,

I don't know Logrono but Burgos is a superb city, plenty to do and see here.

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pfsmalo

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Re: ΜADRID TO OVIEDO AND BASQUE COUNTRY
Posted: Thu April 30, 2009 11:12 AM UTC

if you want some Rioja wines, then Logroño is the capital of the region plenty to drink there ::)
calle Laurel and crossing streets has more bars per sq meter than any other street in Spain !
you can visit Bodegas Marqués de Murrieta, Franco Españolas and Palacios there all classic Rioja bodegas.

Burgos is very nice indeed with a beautifal cathedral, with one of the most magnificent city center anywhere, buildings going back to 1187, the Cathedral is inmense and gorgeous; Good Castilian food but Logroño has better wines ::)

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pedmar

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Re: ΜADRID TO OVIEDO AND BASQUE COUNTRY
Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 08:58 PM UTC

I think you should really take in Hondarribia, and some of the Basque villages like Elantxobe or Elorrio, Mundaka, Pasajes de San Juan, etc, besides obviously Bilbao and San Sebastian. And I would agree that you leave Cantabria, Galicia, etc each for a seperate trip on their own. There are many many nice villages around and spectacular scenery, both on the coast as well as inland.

While there is plenty of public transport available (for instance Bizkaibus in Vizcaya will take you to a lot of the smaller towns), it will be slower and frequency suited to local people, although it will mean you can drink and eat pintxos all you want!

If you can afford it, hiring a car will give you far greater flexibility and allow you to see a lot more, and also take you to viewpoints and places that you would not other be able to reach. the downside is that you will be restricted in terms of drink-driving etc.

Have a good trip!

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