RS Basque Spain tour
My husband and I would like to take RS Basque country tour this summer, June or July. We are not sure which would be the easiest way to arrive in Bayonne France where the tour starts. Do we go to Paris and take a train to Bayonne or do we go to Barcelona and take a train to Bayonne? We would spend a couple of days in either city before going on to Bayonne.
If anybody out there has done this tour and would care to share their stories or tips with us we would really appreciate it. Thank you all so much.
Maria
Sta. Teresa, NM USA 2/20/13
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I will be taking the Basque tour in May. I have a train ticket from Paris to Bayonne (France) that cost about 40 Eu; the trip is about 5 hours. I used iTGV for my ticket purchase.
I think that is the simplest, maybe cheapest and quickest way to go compared with Barcelona to Bayonne by train.
The train leaves Paris' Gare Montparnasse.
If you can choose, pick July. We were in San Sebastian/Donostia last April. It's a very pretty town but cold and rainy when we were there. The Basque coast needs to be seen in full summer.
If you can train from Paris for 40 euro, that's probably your best option. Barcelona seems difficult, you cross a mountainy area to get to Bayonne.
I was thinking Madrid up through Pamplona, San Sebastian and over to Bayonne would be more convenient - but train service in Spain doesn't match France.
The easiest way to get to Bayonne from the US is to fly there directly (you will need at least one connection, since there are no nonstops from the US). The airport is also called Biarritz or Biarritz-Anglet-Bayonne, and its code is BIQ.
You may find that it cost only a little more than flying to Paris, and it will be much easier for arrival than changing to a train.
If you look at the Pre Tour tab on This Page about your tour, you'll see that RS itself recommends you fly into Biarritz and out of Bilbao, using an open jaw ("multi city") ticket. Don't look for two one-ways, as that's much more expensive.