Basque Country

Joys of last minute travel.

Apparently it's a similar situation in Portugal.

Combination of high season, school hols and people avoiding other countries or areas that have had various problems of certain kinds over the last year or so.

Currently planning a Spanish trip for later in year or May 2017 and have found Rough Guide Spain to be a useful starting point. Also using LP Andalucia as that's the first part that we planning on heading to (others to follow at later dates).

If things are booked up for May 2017 we have no hope!

We're planning for Oct 2016, but May 2017 is our backup date.

Only booking first and last night accomodation plus Granada (inc Alhambra) in advance

Rest is being made up as we go along.

Try airbnb.com for accommodation, maybe you can find something available on there.

Thanks - yes, we have tried that and there are a few things, but none seem very suitable. Slim pickings. Thanks though - will keep trying!

The real beach season in San Sebastian is only July/August because the weather there isn't actually that good rest of the year. You're going in the middle of that, and your short trip includes two Fridays/Saturdays. Of course everything is booked up, when else would it be.

Your best bet is renting a car and driving into the countryside. Most tourists only either want to stay at a beach or don't want to rent a car, which means they stick to a pretty uniform gringo trail. I just tried going to booking.com and entering some small towns out in the countryside (Potes, Frias, Sos del Rey Catolico), and there are plenty of ~€50-60/night options for July 29th.

I don't use to travel in peak season but to add to what #6 has written i would indeed use booking.com, search on Basque Country in general, select 'best reviewed' to come first and then check the places that are within your budget. Now, assuming that you have a guidebook you can search the locations of the places with availability and check whether they are in interesting surroundings. That way you can make an itinerary.
Of course Saturdays will be even more booked up compared to other days of the week.

Good luck!

Out of curiosity, I just went to booking.com and looked at San Sebastian prices for 29th of July. Holy guacamole! The hotel I last stayed at in low season for €60/night is now €246/night!

Thanks that's really helpful.. And sounds like a good plan. We might even head West via Cantabria to Galicia instead