Northern Spain?

[heathpack]

I may attend a conference in Sept 2025 in Bilbao Spain.

My first thought when I heard the location was “where’s that?” Having read a little about it, however, it sounds pretty swell. I like good food and I like natural beauty.

I’m thinking of adding 5 days or so ahead of the conference. I’d prefer a simple beautiful location with good food- something like a mountain village.

However- this parador in a seaside town looks great to me: https://paradores.es/en/parador-de-hondarribia

Is anyone here familiar enough with the area to make recommendations?

 

[Passepartout]

We were there last Summer on a pre-river cruise. Bilbao and San Sebastian are the primary cities in the Basque country that bridge the Pyrenees mountains between Spain and France. Bilbao is home to the Guggenheim Museum, (WOW!) and San Sebastian is the summer home of the Spanish Royal Family when Madrid is too hot to live in. San Sebastian has the largest concentration of Michelin starred restaurants anywhere!

An aside,. I am from Boise, ID, home of the largest group of Basques outside the Spain/France Basque country. We were welcomed warmly and it seemed that EVERYONE had relatives who had emigrated to Idaho. The Basque country was industrial- shipbuilding was a leading industry in the late `19th & early 20th Century, so many of the people came to Idaho to herd sheep. There were Basque boarding houses and schools and Jai-Alai facilities to keep the culture and language alive. Basque is perhaps the oldest language in Europe- more closely linked (they say) to Finnish than any other, but nobody really knows.

Anyway, there is a vibrant old center in Bilbao and good schools. It's hilly and an estuary flows in with the tides from the Bay of Biscay. There are walks/parks along it,. as well as the Guggenheim. This is ; The Puppy. It's about 40 feet tall covered with live plants. It was tp be a temporary exhibit at the Guggenheim, but when it was to be taken down, the city saved it as a permanent installation. It's now the Mascot of Bilbao.

We have stayed in Paradores in the 'White Villages of Southern Spain. WOW! Again. You will no doubt fall in love with Pinxtos (Basque tapas- but bigger) and that time of year, the Txakoli (say it CHOC-olee) mildly fizzy white wine. Lots of 'X's in Basque- pronounce them like 'CH'.

All I can say is GO, GO, GO! You'll fall in love with the place!

Jim

 

[Passepartout]

BTW, I looked at the link to the Parador (these are luxury remodels of castles, monasteries, etc.) and it's in San Sebastian- called in Spanish Donestia. Can I sneak into your luggage?

Oh, and the river cruise we were on was out of fairly nearby Bordeaux, The wines from that area ain't too bad either!

 

[heathpack]

Thanks Jim!

 

[elaine]

We were there last year. Beautiful. La Rioja wine region is just an hour's drive south of Bilbao. You'll love the area! The Guggenheim Museum was a move to reinvigorate Bilbao--a "build it and they'll come" huge success story!

 

[Hindsite]

We stayed in the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz, its inland from Bilbao, right by the Rioja region. Great place to use as a base to explore.
The one thing we struggled with was dinner in the evenings as restaurants only opened from 8pm, so plan accordingly. There were plenty of bars open early evening and some Tapas, but we never got synced with it, so just ate later. From speaking to the front desk staff, its not so much of a problem on the coast where there are more tourists.
We drove around Bilbao and found it to be rather industrial and not a place we would look to return to, but could have missed the good bits as its quite hilly.
Overall its a very nice hidden gem type of region, so you probably can't go too far wrong with anything.
Enjoy!

 

[nerodog]

We were in San Sebastian last Xmas and it's a great place to spend some time... not huge and very walkable. We took a day trip over to the French Basque towns on a private tour which was delightful !! You will love it.

 

[nerodog]

If you decide on Portugal you might want to consider Geres National Park. The pousada there is lovely and like a lodge . We enjoyed a few nights and yes its way up north but about 3 .5 hrs from Lisbon.

 

[vikingsholm]

We're in the Spanish Pyrenees right now, at an RCI exchange ski resort area in Catalonia. Mostly doing hikes, of which there are an endless number of options. Flew in to Barcelona, which we'll explore further at end of this trip. Need a car rental to get around.

Not getting to Bilbao or San Sebastian this trip unfortunately, but will be sightseeing in the French Pyrenees too on a loop back to Barcelona. Next trip will get over more towards the north west where you are going.

Many of the mountains here are as beautiful as the Italian Alps or Patagonia. But we're only seeing a small slice of them. They extend in different ranges across northern Spain all the way west to Galicia. For ones closer to Bilbao, look into Picos de Europa national park. Lots of good photos on Google maps too.

The people, the food, the quaint towns, the architecture, and nature - mountains, coast, and forests galore. My goodness what a place! Lots of biking options too, many of them up here in the mountains.

Here's a pic below of a useful book I got that I'd suggest for a summary overview of the whole region. Then some of my hiking pics, and other photos from this week are shown here.

I'll be back here, for sure.

 

[heathpack]

Wow that is super beautiful

 

[Passepartout]

Spain is SOOOO much more than Barcelona and Madrid and old cowboy movie sets. It's a REAL travel destination. The south is maybe a little warm in the summer, but that's what gazpacho and siestas and late dinners are for.

Jim

 

[nerodog]

We're in the Spanish Pyrenees right now, at an RCI exchange ski resort area in Catalonia. Mostly doing hikes, of which there are an endless number of options. Flew in to Barcelona, which we'll explore further at end of this trip. Need a car rental to get around.

Not getting to Bilbao or San Sebastian this trip unfortunately, but will be sightseeing in the French Pyrenees too on a loop back to Barcelona. Next trip will get over more towards the north west where you are going.

Many of the mountains here are as beautiful as the Italian Alps or Patagonia. But we're only seeing a small slice of them. They extend in different ranges across northern Spain all the way west to Galicia. For ones closer to Bilbao, look into Picos de Europa national park. Lots of good photos on Google maps too.

The people, the food, the quaint towns, the architecture, and nature - mountains, coast, and forests galore. My goodness what a place! Lots of biking options too, many of them up here in the mountains.

Here's a pic below of a useful book I got that I'd suggest for a summary overview of the whole region. Then some of my hiking pics, and other photos from this week are shown here.

I'll be back here, for sure.

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I used the same book... very informative. Beautiful photos

 

[nerodog]

We're in the Spanish Pyrenees right now, at an RCI exchange ski resort area in Catalonia. Mostly doing hikes, of which there are an endless number of options. Flew in to Barcelona, which we'll explore further at end of this trip. Need a car rental to get around.

Not getting to Bilbao or San Sebastian this trip unfortunately, but will be sightseeing in the French Pyrenees too on a loop back to Barcelona. Next trip will get over more towards the north west where you are going.

Many of the mountains here are as beautiful as the Italian Alps or Patagonia. But we're only seeing a small slice of them. They extend in different ranges across northern Spain all the way west to Galicia. For ones closer to Bilbao, look into Picos de Europa national park. Lots of good photos on Google maps too.

The people, the food, the quaint towns, the architecture, and nature - mountains, coast, and forests galore. My goodness what a place! Lots of biking options too, many of them up here in the mountains.

Here's a pic below of a useful book I got that I'd suggest for a summary overview of the whole region. Then some of my hiking pics, and other photos from this week are shown here.

I'll be back here, for sure.

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Which RCI resort is this ?

 

[vikingsholm]

Which RCI resort is this ?

Sol Neu in Baqueira.

 

[SteveinHNL]

Tapas!!!!

 

[nerodog]

Sol Neu in Baqueira.

Will definitely check it out. Thx

 

[bobpark56]

Tapas!!!!

Tapas are southern Spain. It's pintxos up north.

 

[SteveinHNL]

Tapas are southern Spain. It's pintxos up north.

Good to know. We had tapas in Barcelona though