Northern Spain for 2 adults and 2 teens?

[JohnMcCainsDeathStare]

We are planning on going to Spain since we speak the language a little and Northern Spain seems attractive - a bit greener and not as crowded as the Med. We are thinking Galicia or possibly around San Sebastian?
We like beaches, the outdoors and not having to cook.
Any suggestions please?

Hi - I started a thread with pretty much exactly this request (right down to tge 2 adults, 2 teens and speaking the language!) a little while ago. I got a few useful replies. I'll see if I can find it and link it...

Here it is!

Gijon is lovely. I drove through france stopping off in Bordeaux for a couple of nights, Bilbao and Madrid for 3 nights before going there, took the ferry back from Santander to Portsmouth

That is one thing I'm thinking of in that is Bairitz (sp) the best airport to go to. Or what about Eurostar? Thanks for the information so far.

I suppose it depends what flights you have available from your local airports.

We had a holiday to a place just over the French border cancelled during covid and when we get round to rebooking, we're going to fly to Bilbao, spend a few days there, take a trip to Guernica as we're interested in Spanish history, then get the train to San Sebastian for pinchitos, art, beaches and go to Hondaribba, which is where we were going to go before and then get the boat over to France, just because. I expect we can fill a week doing that.

We stayed in a village called Poo on that coast. Our Dc were about 8 and 6 and delighted by all the jokes about walking in Poo, swimming in Poo etc. Seriously though it had a lovely beach and good access to the Picos and spots to visit nearby

We did a trip to North Spain last year with a 17 and 19 year old. We did the ferry to Bilbao and did one week to the east and one week to the west. We had a day in San Sebastian but accommodation was prohibitively expensive so stayed in a seaside town 15 mins away called Zarautz. Lovely little town with more than enough cafes, restaurants, lovely beach etc. Direct train to San Sebastian made it very easy.
Spent a couple of days in Bilbao - really loved this city way more than I was expecting too.
On the west, we stayed in Isla. Another lovely base. Lots of water sports available. Stayed at Hotel Olympio which has tennis courts, pool, dinghy to use , steps direct onto a fabulous beach.
Had a day in Santander - wouldn't bother if I went again.

We have flown in / out of Biarritz and hired a car to drive along the north coast - make sure that your car hire allows you to cross the border without extra fees.

We stopped at San Sebastián, Bilbao, A Coruña, Santiago, Lugo, Leon, Pamplona and a few other places (was a lot of driving though).

You can also fly into A Coruña and Santiago quite cheaply - Galicia is a great place to explore.