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Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Places to visit between San Sebastián and Bordeaux

26 replies

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 02/05/2020 10:10

One of my favourite lockdown pastimes is planning our future holidays and yes appreciate this may be further in the future than we'd like but a girl can dream....
A road trip along the North coast of Spain is something we've talked about doing, probably taking our own car. I'd also love to visit Bordeaux and it's not unreasonable to include that in this trip.
I'd be interested in recommendations for places to stop off, overnight stop or just for lunch/ a break between San Sebastián and Bordeaux. I know I can google but sometimes people have stumbled across little (or big!) gems you wouldn't necessarily pick up. Any suggestions welcome, thank you.

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sleepwhenidie · 02/05/2020 10:11

Biarritz or St Jean de Luz

QuentinWinters · 02/05/2020 10:16

Arcachon and Blaye (little bit north of Bordeaux but worth it)

Davespecifico · 02/05/2020 10:18

I’ve just been wondering I could plan for real? 2022?

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 02/05/2020 12:00

Thank you all. @Davespecifico we are hopeful for next year for this trip. Possibly France in the autumn this year via the tunnel so we don't have to get out of the car and stay in self-catering. Maybe that's a little too optimistic! Meanwhile both the French and Spanish road trips will be well researched!

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glitterfarts · 02/05/2020 12:01

Zarautz is lovely, seaside village with good beach, restaurants and nice village square.

Davespecifico · 02/05/2020 12:23

I didn’t like St Jean de Luz as much as I thought I would. I like Biarritz - lots of nice places to eat and lovely food from the market and little shops.
San Sebastian has lots of little old fashioned tapas bars.

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 03/05/2020 11:34

Thank you all, some great suggestions, exactly the sort of thing I was looking for

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UnitDare · 02/06/2020 16:29

Getaria - about 20km from San Sebastian. Incredible food, very old village with a perfect harbour and a lovely beach. Zarautz next door also beautiful, long surfing beach and great cafes and town plaza. Great pintxos bars in both (especially Getaria). Also has the Balenciaga museum.The countryside behind both, up to Meagas and beyond is fantastic.

OrangeSamphire · 02/06/2020 16:34

Do you want to hug the coast or go inland a bit? About 1hr east of Bordeaux is the perigord region with its incredible medieval bastide towns (eg monpazier), chateaux galore and the dordogne river.

nomorefencepostsplease · 02/06/2020 16:44

You'd have to drive very fast to get to Monpazier in an hour from Bordeaux!

JellyfishandShells · 02/06/2020 16:44

Hondarribia has a nice walled Old Town, with a Swiss feel to the main square. Was worth a stop for lunch on way back from Biarritz to San Sebastián. Love that coast .

saveeno · 02/06/2020 16:46

Bayonne is one of my favourite places in SW France. Gorgeous buildings on the Nive/Ardour river and lots of great places to eat, both in the old alleyways going up to the Cathedral and on the banks of the river.

Basque country and so very interesting. People were very nice too. However it is VERY close to Donostia/San Sebastian.

You could detour inland to Pamplona (fabulous place, great party town in the Spanish way!) and make your way up to Bayonne from there.

Have a look at Vieux Boucau les Bains on the coast on the way to Bordeaux. Plenty to see and do there especially if you have children with you.

Arcachon near Bordeaux is good also.

Best of luck, I'm looking forward to getting away next year, but I'm afraid this year is more or less written off for me anyway, but it's nice to dream.

averythinline · 02/06/2020 16:54

Hondariba lovely little place -stay in the Parador it's amazing....

TW2013 · 02/06/2020 17:02

If you go to Arcachon then head to the Dune de Pilat it is the largest dune in Europe.

nomorefencepostsplease · 02/06/2020 17:05

As others have said, Arcachon is lovely - have a run down the dune Grin

You can get a boat from Arcachon over to Cap Ferret - lovely beach houses and some excellent seafood restaurants.

JellyfishandShells · 02/06/2020 17:16

@averythinline

Hondariba lovely little place -stay in the Parador it's amazing....
@averythinline We saw the Parador when we were having lunch nearby and wondered about it - good to hear it was good as I fully intend to go back to that part again.
Bobbybobbins · 02/06/2020 17:19

Definitely Biarritz. If you fancied going past San Sebastián, Bilbao is great for a visit - food, beach, Guggenheim, Guernica.

BarbeDeMaman · 02/06/2020 17:26

This is my favourite part of the world so: San Sebastian is nice but we have only gone there on day trips which has always seemed plenty. Super for Pintxos (like Tapas) and if you find a good place which explains how to go about it you could have many a good few hours discovering all sorts of pintxos and the lovely icy white wine which goes with. The best ice creams are to be had at Loco Polo, where you choose your ice cream on a stick and have it fully or half dipped in any chocolate and any sprinkles! Remember that sometimes your eyes are bigger than your stomach.

Santander if you have the chance to visit is a fabulous small city. Really friendly and relaxed with the best beaches at Sardinero and definitely competes with Biarritz for my favourite place to be. It's about 3 lovely miles between the seaside (Sardinero) and the city centre but it is along a busy port channel so a lovely walk. The Spanish, in my experience, are so chilled and friendly. Nothing is a problem (I don't speak Spanish unfortunately)

St Jean de Luz is pretty enough but very geared towards tourists and very busy.

Biarritz is where I want to live forever. It is a lovely, relaxed (it is French though so relaxed re French and relaxed re Spanish are two different animals, Despite the proximity) town. Really great atmosphere and friendly welcoming people. We stayed in Bidart (South of the town) which is a 5km walk to the town centre.

Inland of Biarritz is interesting. Some of it wealthy and touristy but St Jean pied de Port was an eye opener: a pretty town but definitely much less affluent than is coastal neighbours.

Hossegar and Cap Breton are popular but I really did not like them. Very commercial and you could be anywhere in the world.

Arcachon is worth a visit for the sand dune (wear good shoes and bring lots of water, the sand can be boiling) but the town is not all that. However friends spent a few weeks in a campsite nearby and did enjoy the area.

Lacanau Ocean I did really like. It's new and atmosphere-less (for France which is swamped with stunning villages which barely feature on a map) but it has a fantastic beach (for miles) and it is (unusually in my experience for this particular corner of France) good for family cycling. There are woodland trails to the inland lake and the roads are safe. It wouldn't be for every one but it is a decent family holiday destination I think.

North of Lacanau is stunning. I'm talking About towards Soulac-sur-Mer. Between Biarritz and Arcachon and then on to Lacanau is a hard drive. Two lane road through miles upon miles of flat grassland. It's understandable how this area has only been developed in the last century. And that surfing contributed to it's success. It's flat with a straight coastline, so great surf but lacking in any interest. Surprisingly from Lacanau on there are lovely tiny villages which are inhabited and cared for but not touristy. We took the ferry from soulac to Royan and were really impressed by royan. Wish we had spent more time there.

West of Royan is a fairly wild coast but lovely in its own way.

Now I know you said Bordeaux so I went a bit out of your way. Coastally I would bother with more beyond Biarritz. I have it even been into Bayonne but it looks lovely (also planning my next trip!)

saveeno · 02/06/2020 18:54

BarbeDeMaman

Great post.

St Jean de Pied de Port is the starting point of the Camino de Santiago which you probably know. So it is full of seriously committed backpackers and hostels + cheap eats for the pilgrims. Nice town, but I didn't feel part of it as I didn't have a backpack or hiking boots and walking poles!

OrangeSamphire · 02/06/2020 19:50

Yes @nomorefencepostsplease you would Grin

I said ‘about an hour’ is the ‘perigord region’. Not, ‘monpazier is an hour from Bordeaux’

My family live there. I should have been more specific.

nomorefencepostsplease · 03/06/2020 09:09

@OrangeSamphire

Apologies, you were clear- I should have read your post properly.

Monpazier is lovely. We are about an hour from there - obviously not in Bordeaux though Grin

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 04/06/2020 08:40

Wow just noticed all the new responses. Many thanks to you all. Given that it's unlikely that we'll go before next spring now, this is likely to be one of our most ever researched trips!!

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fussychica · 08/06/2020 18:14

DS did his year abroad in St Jean de pied de Port and we visited him there. If you get the weather it's a lovely area. We have stayed in Hondarribia several times. Our favourite stop when driving down from Caen in France to the south of Spain is Sos del Reyes Catolico. The Parador is fab and the town is tiny but charming or there's Olite another tiny town which also has a fabulous Parador.

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 11/06/2020 17:24

Thank you @fussychica

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averythinline · 12/06/2020 11:34

I would highly recommend Paradors...

if you sign up to their website you sometimes get offers - they also used to do a good 5 night deal ....

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