Bilbao Travel Forum

Are thee any self catering villas as such around Northern Spain?? My wife and I are thinking of taking the ferry to and Bilbao, taking the car with us.
We have looked in all the brochures but there seems nothing at all in the self catering area!!. A villa with a pool would be great. Thanks for anyone who could point us in the right direction. Any help would be great

I think you would find a bit more choice of villas with pools were you going further west to the area around Santander.
Here area a few web sites -

http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/guipuzcoa/san-sebastian/s/4929/fa/find.squery

http://www.casaspain.com/wing/holiday-apartments-bilbao-villas-vacation-rentals.asp

http://www.homelidays.com/EN-Holidays-Rental/es_paisvasco_vizcaya_es/bilbao_r3.asp

http://www.villanao.co.uk/bilbao/holiday_rentals.html

http://www.coloursofspain.com/rent/search_search-type_slim_poolexists_Yes_landmark-id_8_-_bilbao

I have rented through the first three on the list but not in the Bilbao area. There we have stayed in hotels or rural B&B's. Hope you find something.

I think, without any particular reason, that there are probably more villas to rent the further west you go along the northern coast of Spain. The area around Cantabria (main city Santander) and further west into Asturias and Galicia are favourite holiday destinations in the summer months.
There are two ferries operating from England to this coast. The P&O one from Portsmouth and the Brittany Ferries one from either Portsmouth or Plymouth to Santander.
Brittany Ferries also arrange holiday villas etc and have most of their offers either in Asturias or Galicia.
I am not really sure about why this dearth of offers in the Basque country is to be found - perhaps the demand is lower because of the bad publicity over ETA. Only last month a police officer was blown up in an ETA suspected attack in
Arrigorriaga, outside Bilbao.

We have sailed into Bilbao many times, and stayed there close to the old town and the Gulbenlian Museum. We once saw a "protest Camp" on the river bank demanding the return of ETA prisoners - in fact we walked passed it every day without any problems.
Over many years we came to prefer the Brittany Ferry crossing because it offers, in our opinion, a more comfortable sailing, better restaurant services, more competitive pricing - and, when travelling onwards, avoids the road system to get out of Bilbao!
It's nearly 30 years since we used the Brittany Ferries "package deal" but as suggested above by puerto-lover it is an option worth considering.
The only really bad experience we had, with both Lines, at different times was travelling out on a mini-cruise sailing. Too many drunks around for comfort so we escaped to our cabin immediately after dinner.

you have a few to choose here,
http://www.rentalia.com/houses/bilbao/v51470.htm

i rent by San Sebastian ,Lugo or Logroño and move about in my car. The above site has plenty and its reliable site.
Hope it helps

Suggest you take a look at the Casas Cantábricas website (pump the name into Google). This is a Cambridge-based company, acting as an agency for rural properties in Cantabria, parts of Asturias and Galicia, and other parts of rural Spain. 'Villa' might not be the best description of a rural property here, thank goodness. Some are cottages, others small mansions. Swimming pools tend to be a bit superfluous with so many lovely sandy beaches nearby. And to get an impression of the landscapes, do please check out my pages for villages in Cantabria and Asturias.

Aha - my regular email newsletter from Casa Cantabrica just arrived - special July offers in Cantabria - - next door to Euskadi.

http://www.casas.co.uk/metapage.php?id=96&utm_source=july09&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=july09%2Bnewsletter

Why not check out Agroturismo Euskadi on Google, and see what is on offer for Bizkaia, Àraba and Gipuzkoa (the provinces that form Euzkadi)?

Euzkadi has magnificent upland landscapes, superb walking opportunities, and como que no, excellent cuisine, though it might nit be as cheap as elsewhere. There is no dearth of accommodation - it is just that, for some strange reason, English websites tend to by-pass Euzkadi!

To be honest, when, in the mid-1980s, we were looking for a new home in northwest Spain, Euzkadi would have been our first choice (convenient for shopping in France, too).

I like Euzkadi, and I like its inhabitants, as well!