San Sebastian

[tickledtrout]

I am looking into going to San Sebastian next year but not to sure of the best way to do it. Fot the last few years have been booking independently but after looking online is it best to go via Madrid or Barcelona and is there a way of avoiding Heathrow, our nearest airport is Manchester.

[dzug]

There's plenty of budget airlines serving airports in the area that are rather nearer than Barcelona or Madrid. Look just over the border in France as well.

Nothing from Manchester but I think Ryanair go from Liverpool to Santander and to most of the rest from Stansted

[Buenchico]

(Multi-part post):

The nearest Spanish airport to San Sebastian is Bilbao. There are no services from Manchester. You clearly don't want to travel on the Iberia service from Heathrow but would you consider flying from Stansted? If so, there are cheap easyJet flights from there. (According to the Bilbao Airport website, those are the only UK flights to Bilbao):
http://www.easyjet.com/en/book/index.asp

Buses run from Bilbao airport, into the city centre, every 30 minutes. Or you could take a taxi; it's a 15 minute journey, for around �20. However, despite the geographical proximity, the rail journey to San Sebastian takes around 5 or 6 hours (with a long wait at Miranda de Ebro).

Hiring a car would be much easier. It's about 100km, with (according to the ViaMichelin routefinder) a driving time of little over an hour. Hire car options are here:
http://www.aena.es/csee/Satellite?cid=10476584 32601&pagename=Estandar%2FPage%2FAeropuerto&SM O=3&SiteName=BIO&c=Page&MO=3

However, if I can persuade you to consider flying from Stansted, it might be easier to forget about flying into any Spanish airport. San Sebastian is just over the French border and only 50km from Biarritz, which is served by Ryanair:
http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/

[Buenchico]

From Biarritz airport, it's just �1.20 on the bus into town (or a taxi would cost around �10). The train to San Sebastian takes around 1 hour 10 minutes, including a change at Irun.

Alternatively, details of car hire firms at Biarritz Airport are here:
http://www.biarritz.aeroport.fr/servicen.html

From Manchester, your scheduled flight options are to travel to Madrid (Barajas), with BA:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/publ ic/en_gb?countrycode=GB
or to Barcelona, with either Monarch or Jet2:
http://www.flymonarch.com/
http://www.jet2.com/
You could also consider flying to Reus, with First Choice:
http://www.firstchoice.co.uk/flights/

Barajas Airport isn't directly served by RENFE train services. You need to take the underground (with 2 changes) to get to Madrid Atocha statiion. (Or take a bus or taxi into the city centre). Trains from Atocha to San Sebastian are infrequent, with journey times varying between about 5� and 7� hours. The driving distance is 455 km (283 miles) with an estimated duration of 4� hours (excluding breaks). Car hire details are here:
http://www.aena.es/csee/Satellite?cid=10497270 06285&pagename=Estandar%2FPage%2FAeropuerto&SM O=3&SiteName=MAD&c=Page&MO=3

[Buenchico]

Rail travel from Barcelona Airport to San Sebastian takes between 7� and 9 hours, usually involving several changes. By road, the journey is about 580km (360 miles), taking around 5� (plus breaks). Car hire details are here:
http://www.aena.es/csee/Satellite?cid=10455696 07387&pagename=Estandar%2FPage%2FAeropuerto&SM O=3&SiteName=BCN&c=Page&MO=3

A taxi, from Reus Airport, to the rail station costs about �15. Rail travel to San Sebastian takes a minimum of 7 hours but the services are infrequent and some journeys take substantially longer. The road distance is around 490km (305 miles), taking around 5 hours plus breaks. Car hire details are here:
http://www.aena.es/csee/Satellite?cid=10488589 49358&pagename=Estandar%2FPage%2FAeropuerto&SM O=3&SiteName=REU&c=Page&MO=3

Dzug's suggestion of flying, with Ryanair, from Liverpool to Santander is a good one. The bus into the town centre only takes around 15 minutes (�1.50) or a taxi costs around �15. However, the rail journey takes ages, with a minimum journey time of around 8 hours and other (infrequent) journeys taking far longer. By car, it's around 200km (125 miles), with an estimated journey time of around 2� hours. Car hire details are here:
http://www.aena.es/csee/Satellite?cid=10475703 95106&pagename=Estandar%2FPage%2FAeropuerto&SM O=3&SiteName=SDR&c=Page&MO=3

So, if you're hiring a car, Liverpool-Santander looks useful, otherwise Stansted-Biarrit

[Buenchico]

Oops! Cut off!

All that the final sentence should say is that (if you're not hiring a car) Stansted-Biarritz might be your best option.

I hope that lot helps. At least I've answered your question about Madrid & Barcelona ;-)

Chris

[dzug]

There is a bus service from Santander to San Sebastian which takes about 2.5 hours - a lot quicker than the train, so it could still be an option if you don't want a car.

[mushroom25]

bus services Santander-Bilbao-San Sebastian by Alsa
http://www.alsa.es/VentaParticulares/contenido Horarios.jsp
train service Bilbao-San Sebastian by Euskotren
http://www.euskotren.es/castellano/horarios/pd f/verano/BILBAO-DONOSTIA.pdf

[tickledtrout]

Thx all not even thought about going through France, and as far as I know Ryanair still fly from Blackpool to Stanstead so flying to Biaritz looks the most appealing, and will probably hire a car as well. This site is great!

[mushroom25]

Ryanair no longer fly to Stansted from Blackpool.

In general, be careful when building a connecting itinerary using budget flights, as these are strictly point-to-point; ie if a flight is late and you miss the connection, hard luck - even if both flights are with the same airline.

[tickledtrout]

Went on ryanair after here and saw they had took it of but didn't know about the problem with booking connecting flights on a budget so thx for the advice will look into other options but we would love to go.

[Compostella]

Personally, we go from Heathrow direct to Bilbao. I know Heathrow is a pain, but all airports are really.

Anyway, we have some friends who use Biarritz and it works really well but be careful if you hire a car. Make sure that you are able to take the car into another country.

One thing to also bear in mind is that because you would have French plates on, the police often take more interest in you and you may find yourself being stopped more often that if you had Spanish ones