Getting to Dax - which airport to fly into

The connections from Bordeaux will be much easier than from Bilbao. The nearest international airport to Dax is Biarritz - about 50 kms away. Ryanair fly from London-Stansted to Biarritz; I don't know how that fits in with your flight costs from the USA.

P.S. There's a frequent train service from Bordeaux to Dax; journey takes around 1 hr 10 mins. Biarritz - Dax takes about 40 - 45 mins but it's a less frequent service.

Thanks for the reply Tony. I tried Biarritz and even Pau as entry points into the Dax area but the schedules for flights to those two airports were just so infrequent for the specific dates of travel, in addition to the fact that if I flew Stansted-Biarritz, I'd have to change airports in London (I could only fly into Heathrow, but have either Gatwick or Heathrow as my return airport), which I find equally a hassle. Thanks for the information about the Bilbao vs. Bordeaux options. My travel pre Dax is pretty tight (I need to leave Seattle no earlier than August 12 to get to an event in Saubusse by late afternoon August 14) but my return trip has a bit more flexibility (I can leave Saubusse as early as August 16 and need to get back to Vancouver Canada by August 22) so I may fly into Bordeaux and out of Bilbao as I have never been to either and would love to see the Guggenheim in Bilbao while I'm in that neck of the woods anyway.

Thanks again.

Gene

To get from Dax to Bilbao is a two-stage process.

First, take a train from Dax to Irun (just over the border into Spain): it's a fairly frequent direct service and takes about 1 hr 15 mins - 1 hr 30 mins.

Then change to an Alsa bus for Irun to Bilbao. Journey takes about 1 hr 45 mins.

Hope that works out for you.

What about the option of a rental car in either, Bilbao or Bordeaux, or maybe even Toulouse.
TGV Paris CdG to Dax involves at least 2 train changes.

Ferdinand

Ferdinand, the OP isn't going to Paris.

Thanks for all the help thus far...

I would like to avoid a rental car if at all possible...

What I seem to be leaning toward is flying from Seattle to Heathrow and then switching airports for a flight from Stansted to Biarritz on Ryanair. My only concern in doing this is that they will be on two separate tickets. How much time should I allow to transfer between airports (I've never flown from Stansted). The Seattle flight I'm looking at arrives in Heathrow at 13:25. The Ryanair flight from Stansted departs 18:35. Five hour transfer between airports should be aok, even considering both flights are international?

I'm not a London expert even though I live in the UK but I understand that the least complicated way of getting from Heathrow to Stansted is to take the direct National Express bus. Here's their website. You should make it reasonably easily. Ryanair check in closes 40 minutes before departure. Unfortunately you can't use the Ryanair online check-in facility if you have checked baggage. See #53 on the UK/Ireland FAQs.

The OP, also asked about the option to travel to Dax, through CDG.
Which, if it was not for all the different train stations in Paris, would be a great option.

The RyanAir option,
though 5 hours connection time sound good, it is still thight
Ryan air will close check in 40 mins before scheduled departure, so you need to be at STN by 1745
Looking at National express' schedule you need the 15.15 or 15.35 bus for that from Heatrow.
Which leaves you with 2 hours in which you will also have to que for a ticket and get to the bus station, which is another 20 minute bus ride if you arrive by BA in ternimal 4.

Ferdinand