France/Spain Basque Country Honeymoon | Spain - Lonely Planet Forum

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Tue, 12 Jul 2016 02:29:49 +0000

Hi there! Looking for suggestions for our honeymoon itinerary in early September...

My husband and I are flying into London from the States and from there are planning to take a quick flight to Barcelona, acclimate in Barcelona for a couple of days, then head to the Basque country for about 10 days exploring Spanish and French Basque Country. San Sebastian is a must. Generally, looking for great beaches, relaxing pace, fabulous food (casual - no need for 14 course meals), laid back people - cultural opportunities ok but not a must. We want to chill, eat well, and get to know the locals. We don't want to stay more than two places in Basque Country so were thinking of splitting our time between San Sebastian and somewhere in French Basque Country, with day trips from each. Open to train/bus travel, maybe renting a car for a day or two but don't want to be tethered to a rental car. Open to returning to BCN to fly back to LHR or to flying from Basque Country back to LHR for our return flight home. Experienced airline travelers.

Suggestions in terms of itinerary or lodging very appreciated! Gracias.

ONLINE

Tue, 12 Jul 2016 09:38:57 +0000

hello,
A big part of French Basque country are forests for commercial purposes, a boring area.
More interesting will be the Rioja area between Pamplona and Logroño ( google Haro,Estella,La guardia) with lots of vineyards and medieval villages, romance to the max.. You can continue to Bilbao (Guggenheim) and San Sebastian which has a very good moonshaped citybeach and is the city of the pintxos, great food..

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ONLINE

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 07:31:22 +0000

In response to #1

Hi
The big forest area is Les Landes which is north of French Basque Country and not in the Basque Country. It's "gascon" people whom original language is part of occitan languages (latin language).

If you want to stay in French Basque Country and want to stay on the coast. There are for me two big options :
Saint-Jean de Luz and Biarritz.
I prefer Saint-Jean de Luz as it's smaller and has a historic center and a port. The beach is nice and there are fantastic places for eating.
Biarritz is bigger with trendy places, luxurious hotels. It's a spot for surf and has good nightlife.

A car will be better to explore French Basque Country and its wonderful villages (Espelette, Ainhoa...) and scenery (Kakouetta canyon, Baigorry valley, Iraty mountains...). With train, you have to go to Bayonne from where you can go to Saint-Jean Pied de Port (worth to go there, starting point for many Santiago pilgrims).

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Fri, 14 Jul 2017 01:01:16 +0000

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