father_jack

Off to a wedding in a wee town in Northern Spain called Lekeitio, about 40 miles west of Bilbao.

Spending three days there for the wedding, but have 4 days free to terrorise Johnny Spaniard in a hirey car

Anyone toured round there much, I hear Saint Sebastien is good, might also pop into France, is Biarritz any good?

Any must sees?

Cheers

FJ

edited for spolling

[Edited by father_jack - 8/7/2002 1:39:20 PM]

Amen Corner

I've spent a fair bit of time motoring around those parts. I've driven across the Pyrenees, then down through Biarritz/ St. Sebastien and onto Bilbao. I've also taken the ferry to Bilbao and driven further down from there.

I would say that if you're starting out from Bilbao, you have a choice of 2 pretty good routes:

1. Going North, you can head up (you can follow the coast most of the way rather than taking the autovia - I think the coastal road is the N634) through St, Sebastien, onto Biarritz and - if you had the time - into the Pyrenees which has some of the best roads you will find anywhere. St. Sebastien is very pretty, but does get quite chocked uup with tourists. Biarritz has an air of faded Victorian grandeur about it, but is still very pleasant. If you do go that route, be sure to take in St Jean de Luz which has a wonderful Basque church. You might even be in time for the bull run, which is a bit like the one at Pamplona, but without all the tourists.

2. Going South, you can take the N634 which follows the coast through Castro Urdiales/ Torrelavega and San Vincente until you get up into the Picos. That is a fantastic drive - the minor road pretty much follows the autovia but is clearly a lot more fun! There are some great hairpin bends on that road. Some lovely little villages up in the Picos - Colombres comes to mind as being a pretty little place for a coastal/ mountain walk with a cool beer at the end

From there you can go on what I think is called the AS114 through a gorge (I think called the Corvadogna pass) through the Picos with a river flowing through it. Outstanding scenery and a top road for driving - the road snakes through the bottom of this gorge, crossing the river about 4 times. The road takes you to Covadogna where there is a stunning cathedral up on the mountain. If you have time, from there you can go to to Oviedo/ Lugo and on to Santiago de Compastella - basically following the old pilgrim route. I don't remember too much about that road (everything is going to be an anticlimax after driving the Corvadonga pass. Santiago della Compastella is beautiful, but it is a bit of a hack from Bilbao if you've not got much time.

Either way up, you should have a pretty good time driving round there - enjoy.

AC

father_jack

Excellent info - thanks Amen.

I've done the other side of the Pyranees from Perpignon (sp?) so am keen to do this side, especially with 4 nervous passengers, they can help out with the screeching noises like in that Citroen C5 advert

father_jack

btt - doubt ne1 can beat Amen's post but.............

father_jack

Amen,

Holiday update flew to Bilbao - got a 5 star hotel for 68euros a night, so about Ł50 It was the first night of the fiestas, superb! My mate got a room for 34 euros cos they fecked up the reservation! Check out the Hotel Carlton on hoteldiscounts.com
Everyone was chucking bags of flour and Cava about the place.
Did Bilbao and The Guggenheim, a titanium bulding can't be bad
So, 2 nights at the Bilbao fiestas, tried to get a room in San Sebastien, but traffic was too intense (as you said) ,so went back to Zarautz for 3 days. Nice old town.
Nipped into St.Jean for a day, as recommended, at last I could deal with the language after Basque which is complete madness.
Had some splendid moules et frites.
Then went to Leketio for the last 3 days and the wedding of a friend.
Wedding food was a 10 course meal - lobster - clams - fillet steak - pate -hake - sorbet - king prawns - etc. etc. .

Oh and I crashed the hire car in a minor way on the last day - LOL

Class !

Claudius

Go to Andorra.

Luke

Biarritz is realy nice ,well worth going to.

father_jack

Been to Andorra and climbed the highest mountain in the Spanish Pyranees. They also get my vote for the maddest drivers.
Didn't have time to go to Biarritz unfortunately.