I have yet to plan my itinerary, but we definitely want to explore as much of Northern Spain as possible during this Sept & Oct. Keep in mind that I pick up my camper in Amsterdam & don't want to be too rushed on my way down as my child wants to celebrate her 6th birthday in Paris & we we have seen lots of France,but want to enjoy new things on the way down & staying for free on some of the french vineyards ( france passion) .

But the main focus is exploring northern Spain and I want to see Galicia while the weather is still at its best. Perhaps we will have to catch the best weather another time as we will have next fall again to check it out after our summer tour of Europe on our way back down to Andalucia.

Will this be enough time to get a feel for northern Spain? I have kind of a hard time imagining the distances.We want to see as much as we can,but need to go at a kid based pace as we will have a "youngin" with us. Like how many hours drive is it from the French border to Galicia? We like some touristy must see things,but especially enjoy authentic rural beautiful places and connecting with locals.

We will explore southern Spain,Portugal & Morocco etc from our base in Andalucia in the winter. We will probably come to Madrid fairly often too as we have friends there. But we are looking to get a real feel for Northern Spain.I have fallen in love with it just by reading about it.

15 Sep is el día de Cantabria and is a holiday and unofficial end to the tourist season in Santander.

There's a campground just east of San Vicente de la Barquera in Cantabria, 3 hrs. drive straight thru from Irun/Hendaye. But you should stop in Bilbao, if only to see the Guggenheim (where there's ample parking) and maybe a brief tour of the Casco Viejo. So it may take much longer than 3 hrs.

I. for one, would have a hard time deciding whether to stop for lunch in Bilbao (Basque cuisine) or to continue to Santander's Barrio Pesquero.

When you get to the rio Deva separating Cantabria from the Principality of Asturias, you will have to decide whether to go south from Unquera to the Picos de Europa and then west, into Asturias toward Covadonga (where the Reconquista began) or to continue along the coastal route.

As you work on your itinerary, I'll be glad to help with specifics. I haven't done the 'camper' bit but I might be able to help ...

I visited Compostella in early October. I had three days of clear, sunny warm weather. The last day there, the day I was flying out, it was overcast skies, slightly cold so I needed to wear a jacket. As the plane was taking off it started to rain.

When it comes to the weather, no matter what you plan it really comes down to luck. I really did planned for the weather not to be good when I visited Compostella and I was surprised.

Bill

Ah,good to know ,thanks! We will probably be there around Sept 15 or maybe a bit before then,so the timing sounds good as I prefer to be out of high season.We will definately be stopping in Bilbao because we want to the Guggenheim & whatever else there is to see there.

So far I know we want to see Barcelona,Donista,basque region,wine region,Galicia,the windmill area of Don Quiote,compe ..well whatever that pilgrimage place is & other places that I foget the names to.I am still learning the names & have to have my books in front of me or I get confused at this point.( So many foreign names that I am still sorting our which is which).Perhaps I could go across the coast and then back thru the middle? I will probably plot a bit as I go depnding on how we feel.

I have the penelope casas book,some northern Spain books, & maribels info ,so hopefully they will help.I do appreciate the ideas and will keep them in my folder to when I get to that.

So its just a 3hr drive from the French border to Galecia Atlantic ocean border if I follow the coast? I am just trying to get an idea or the straight thru time so I can pace myself as I go.

Sounds like the weather will be fine if we are lucky .Good to know.It will be what it will be ,eh? We will be prepared for all kinds,but hope its nice.

Use the website www.repsolypf.com to calculate distances and driving times between cities. You'll be going by or very near the Rioja region which has a number of wonderful villages to visit.

Distances are, in general, shorter than in the US. As stupid as this statement may seem, what I mean is that between one village and another there are probably no more than 10 miles. It's all concentrated in comparison to the States.

In 200 kilometers you may find so different cultures, customes, and languages that it seems almost unbelievable.

Northern Spain is not very known by tourists. It is surprising for most, I would say. Galaecia, Asturias and Cantabria are covered with grasslands and green hills, they drink cider and play bagpipes, as they have celtic roots.

The Basque Country, Navarra and La Rioja are wonderful places to eat and drink (the most known wines are there), and there are incredible places that seem taken out from a tale.

Aragon has the contrast of having high mountains and low valleys, and Catalonia has wonderful beaches, a strong sense of culture and very good cuisine.

Portugal and Spain have wines as good as the French (or even better), and quite cheaper. Portugal is a must if you have the chance to visit it. It has a strong contrast between the northern regions (with Porto and its vineyards being a must), the central part (Lisbon and surroundings) and the sourthern Algarve (strong influence from moorish times).

In conclussion: The north of Spain and Portugal has a lot of things to see concentrated in not so wide land. It may seem a small surface to see, but it has really lots of places to see. Try to plan in advance what you can see in the given time.

Fernando

wtnow writes: No! You either mis-read my post or misunderstood it. I thought I wrote that it was a 3-hour drive straight thru from Irun/Hendaye to the rio Deva that separates the Autonomous Community of Cantabria from the Principality of Asturias. You have to continue across Asturias before you get to the Xunta de Galizia. Asturias is not one of the Provinces that make up the Xunta de Galizia!

And that timing assumes that you will take the Trans-Cantabria Expressway (no toll) which runs a bit inland from the coast.

Sorry about any misunderstanding ...

I am sorry , I probably don't know enough to be asking questions yet.I am kind of in overwhelm here getting ready for take off in 43 days for many years( and many countries) ,so going in about 10 directions at once & not thinking my clearest.

But the info will help a LOT as soon as I get a chance to sit down & make more of a plan with a map and my books.Right now I just have a general idea of things I want to see.Some of the places are hard to sort out because I do not speak Spanish,so my way is to have a general idea first & I kind of gloss over names & details til I get down to the nitty gritty.

Thanks Jerezano for that website.Thanks Fernando about helping me to see the differences in distance there & yes we definately want to see explore Portugal too.And thanks all for the ideas and thoughts.

I will have about 6 weeks to try to get a good feel of Northern Spain and then ofcourse we can always come back again to revisit fav spots and find new ones.Hopefully I will have time to create a more specific plan before we get there.

Just a small correction. While geographically your post has no errors, in terms of naming there is one: Xunta de Galicia is the Government of Galicia, the institution and the persons who are part of it, not the region, or the community, or the country, or whatever you want to call the place. That land is called, simply, Galicia or, if you want the full official name, Comunidad Autonoma de Galicia.

wtnow, if you want to plan your route, I recommend you to use the route planner Jerezano mentions or, alternatively, ViaMichelin (English version). They both have accurate and updated maps of Spain, tourist tips, info about places to visit in your route, etc.

Sorry, Torrales: I guess I was thinking about the Office of the Xunta de Galizia adjacent to the Obradoiro there in Santiago de Compostela and equating it to the name of the Autonomous Community of Galicia (like the Principality of Asturias, for example).