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Flavours of Bilbao, San Sebastián & Bordeaux by Rail

A gastronomic journey along the Bay of Biscay

Basque heartlands | Journey by rail from Spain to France with great views along the way.
Mouthwatering Cuisine | From tasty pintxos to the wines and gastronomy of Bordeaux
Staggering architecture | Including Bilbao's iconic Guggenheim Museum.
Bilbao | Northern Spain's cultural and gastronomic hub.
San Sebastián | Beautiful beaches, world-renowned restaurants and charming old town to explore.

What is included
  • 6 nights
  • 6 breakfasts
  • detailed cultural information
  • notes for city walking tours
  • rail travel Bilbao-San Sebastián-Bordeaux
  • Flavours of Bilbao, San Sebastián & Bordeaux by Rail
    A gastronomic journey along the Bay of Biscay
  • Place de la Bourse 'mirror'
  • The iconic Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
  • Bilbao's atmospheric Old Town
  • Victor Montes bar and restaurant, Bilbao
  • Pintxos – Basque-style tapas
  • Take the train to Portugalete, a pretty suburb of Bilbao
  • Take your pick from the many delicious pintxos bars
  • San Sebastián
  • Playa de la Concha, San Sebastián
  • A typical pintxos bar
  • Wonderful street sculptures in San Sebastián
  • Beautiful Bordeaux
  • The delicious 'cannelés' of Bordeaux
  • Fountain of Three Graces, Bordeaux
  • Bordeaux, France's wine capital
What is included
  • 6 nights
  • 6 breakfasts
  • detailed cultural information
  • notes for city walking tours
  • rail travel Bilbao-San Sebastián-Bordeaux

Holiday information

A rail holiday from Bilbao to Bordeaux

Journeying by rail from the Basque heartlands to Bordeaux, you explore three highly gastronomic cities, with self-guided walking tours provided. Visit Bilbao's staggering Guggenheim Museum; savour mouthwatering pintxos in San Sebastian; and drink in the fine architecture and even finer wine of Bordeaux.
Between the hidden coves, dramatic cliffs and authentic fishing villages that line the Bay of Biscay are three of the world’s most gastronomic cities, each with a distinct charm and character.

The quality of the cuisine, particularly on the Spanish side of the border, is striking – not just high-quality restaurants, though both Bilbao and San Sebastián have plenty of these, but a thrilling pintxos scene which provides a delicious way to immerse yourself in the local culture.

Once you have eaten your fill of these tasty Basque-style tapas, and discovered the cities’ main and lesser-known attractions on our self-guided walking tours, make your way across into France and to Bordeaux, where magnificent architecture, tree-lined boulevards, and the world’s very best wines await.


Itinerary

The key to Inntravel holidays is flexibility. You can start on the day of your choice, and are free to add extra nights.
  • Arrival in Bilbao
    Night 1: at Hotel Tayko (the first of two nights here).
    As your first night’s accommodation is on the day of travel, Day 1 is your first day of exploration.
  • Explore Bilbao
    Bilbao is a city that has shrugged off its industrial past to become one of Spain’s key cultural and gastronomic hubs, thanks in no small part to the transformational effect of the Guggenheim. A visit to this iconic museum is a must, as much to admire the impressive exterior as the works of modern and contemporary art inside. From here, it’s a pleasant stroll alongside the River Nervión to Bilbao’s medieval Casco Viejo (‘Old Town’), where sinuous streets are lined with atmospheric pintxos bars.

    We also recommend exploring the city’s much lesser-known outskirts: hop on a local train to the pretty medieval suburb of Portugalete, where you’ll find the Puente Colgante – the world’s oldest transporter bridge. Cross the 45-metre-high platform and enjoy the far-reaching river views before beginning a 4-kilometre sea-front stroll to tiny Getxo, a former fishing village characterised by its narrow, winding alleys and huddle of whitewashed fishermen’s cottages.

    Those with extra time may also like to take the local train to visit Guernica, the Basque town whose tragic past was immortalised in Picasso’s famous painting.
    Explore the old town
    Head to the pretty suburb of Portugalete
  • Bilbao to San Sebastián: 2.5hrs by train
    Leaving Bilbao, you journey by local train for two nights at the Hotel Niza in San Sebastián, a lovely seaside city with more Michelin stars per capita than just about anywhere else on the planet. You’ll need to book ahead for these outstanding eateries, or make like the locals and embark on a txikiteo (pintxo ‘crawl’). Each bar has its own speciality and style – ranging from the rustic to the experimental – and we include a self-guided trail to help you navigate between them.
  • Explore San Sebastián
    On your full day here, you’ll no doubt want to try more of the famous pintxos bars, though we also provide notes for a city walk that takes in the absorbing San Telmo museum (closed Mondays), where different aspects of Basque life are showcased via a number of dynamic temporary exhibitions. It’s also well worth riding the city’s century-old funicular to the top of Monte Igueldo for fabulous views over the handsome Belle Epoque architecture, manicured gardens and waterfront promenades. However, nothing beats relaxing on the sweeping golden sands of San Sebastián’s three beaches, the most famous of which – the expansive Playa de la Concha – lies just in front of your hotel.
    The famous pintxos
    Discover the Belle Epoque architecture
  • San Sebastián to Bordeaux: 4hrs by train
    Back on the Slow train, you cross to Hendaye in France, from where a second, faster train whisks you north to Bordeaux, capital of the wine trade and one of Europe’s most elegant cities. Here you spend your final two nights at the centrally located Quality Hotel Bordeaux Centre.
  • Explore Bordeaux
    Like Bilbao, Bordeaux has undergone a huge regeneration in recent years, and its graceful 18th-century mansions and boulevards are now complemented by a thriving riverside district and a new crop of restaurants and museums. Discover these on our self-guided city trail, which also leads you to the Musée des Beaux-Arts, home to works by Van Dyck, Matisse and Rubens, among many others. Further highlights include the spectacular Place de la Bourse and its ‘mirror’ water feature, and the highly acclaimed Cité du Vin, where you can learn all about world wines before relaxing with a glass of the city’s famous claret.

    We strongly recommend adding an extra night in Bordeaux to visit nearby St Emilion and its world-class vineyards.
    Stroll beside the Garonne (C) Rémy Martineau
    Cafés near Port Cailhau (C) Bordeaux Tourism
  • Visit St Emilion
    We thoroughly recommend adding an extra night in Bordeaux so that you have the chance to visit St Emilion, the beating heart of the French wine scene, which is just 40 minutes away by train (pay locally). This pretty medieval village boasts an incredible monolithic church which was hewn from the surrounding limestone in the early 12th century (part of it is underground). It is the largest church of its kind in Europe and is also famous for having served as a hiding place for the stained glass from Paris’ Notre-Dame Cathedral during the Second World War. For a fitting finale to your holiday, you might also like to join a small-group guided tour by tuk-tuk which includes a tasting at one of the area’s prestigious châteaux (you should arrange and pay for this yourself, but we provide full information on how to do so in the information pack that we send to you prior to your holiday).
    St Emilion's monolithic church
    Vineyards surrounding St Emilion

Accommodation

Your three hotels have been hand-picked for their excellent, city-centre locations, and as such make ideal bases from which to explore.

We particularly recommend extra nights in Bilbao – to see the world’s oldest transporter bridge in the pretty suburb of Portugalete or to take the train to Guernica – as well as in Bordeaux, from where you can visit the surrounding vineyards. There’s also plenty to discover in San Sebastián, not least the city’s three sweeping golden beaches.

To make your holiday all the more special, we offer an upgrade option in Bordeaux.

In Bilbao, we work with more than one hotel, as shown below. Both are hand-picked by us and, unless there is a price implication (in which case we will contact you to discuss your options), we will tell you which one we have booked for you on your booking confirmation.
Prices & travel options
All prices are in £ sterling (GBP). If you'd like to see what they equate to in your currency, use the converter. For general information on pricing, see the 'your holiday price explained' page.
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  • 6 nights: 01 March 2026 - 19 July 2026, 19 August 2026 - 31 October 2026, 01 March 2027 - 18 July 2027 & 18 August 2027 - 31 October 2027

    Start any day | End by latest date(s) shown above

    Starting Price *
    1 - 30 Sep 2026 From £1390
    1 - 25 Oct 2026 From £1259

    * Final price is subject to change due to the customisable nature of our holidays and is dependent on accommodation availability for the dates selected. We will contact you to confirm the final price. Single supplements are applicable on many of our holidays. Please contact us for full details.

    Includes accommodation, meals, travel between hotels and any other services integral to the holiday as described, plus a detailed information pack, but no travel from the UK, nor any connecting travel from the airport unless stated below.

    Included travel: Bilbao–San Sebastián–Bordeaux by rail
    Pay locally for travel arrangements between city stations and hotels

    Book your flights through us and we'll find the best route and times to suit you. Please contact us to find out more about our flight booking service. We can also book connecting travel - see below.

  • RECOMMENDED AIRPORT(S):
    Bilbao or Santander for the outward flight; Bordeaux or Bergerac for the homeward flight
    As an alternative to flying, we can arrange rail travel from London

    Travelling from the UK

    Travelling from outside the UK

    If you are flying from outside Europe,  you may need to fly via an airport not listed here. To discuss onward connecting travel to the start of your holiday, please contact us.

    Travelling from outside the UK
    We have many years' experience catering for customers who live outside the UK, and will be happy to make tailored arrangements to fit with your plans.

    You have two options:

    1) Book your own flights to London, from where we can book flights and onward connecting travel to your hotel.

    2) Book your own flights direct to an airport appropriate to your chosen holiday. You can either make your own way from the airport to the hotel, or we'll be happy to book onward connecting travel for you. Please consult with us before booking your flights, so that we can advise you on the suitability of your proposed route and timings.
    Outward route Airline
    Bristol - Bilbao easyJet 
    Return route Airline
    Bordeaux - Bristol easyJet 
    Bergerac - Bristol Ryanair 
    Outward route Airline
    Edinburgh - Bilbao (via Amsterdam Schiphol) KLM 
    Edinburgh - Bilbao (via Barcelona) Vueling 
    Edinburgh - Santander Ryanair 
    Return route Airline
    Bordeaux - Edinburgh Ryanair 
    Bordeaux - Edinburgh (via Amsterdam Schiphol) KLM 
    Bordeaux - Edinburgh (via Paris) Air France 
    Outward route Airline
    Glasgow - Bilbao (via Amsterdam Schiphol) KLM 
    Return route Airline
    Bordeaux - Glasgow easyJet 
    Outward route Airline
    Gatwick - Bilbao British Airways,  easyJet,  Vueling 
    Return route Airline
    Bordeaux - Gatwick British Airways,  easyJet 
    Outward route Airline
    Heathrow - Bilbao British Airways,  Iberia,  Vueling 
    Heathrow - Bilbao (via Madrid) Iberia 
    Return route Airline
    Bordeaux - Heathrow (via Brussels) Brussels Airlines 
    Bordeaux - Heathrow (via Paris) Air France 
    Outward route Airline
    Stansted - Santander Ryanair 
    Return route Airline
    Bordeaux - Stansted Ryanair 
    Bergerac - Stansted jet2,  Ryanair 
    Outward route Airline
    Manchester - Bilbao easyJet 
    Manchester - Bilbao (via Barcelona) Iberia 
    Manchester - Bilbao (via Heathrow) Iberia 
    Return route Airline
    Bordeaux - Manchester easyJet,  Ryanair 
    Bordeaux - Manchester (via Amsterdam) Air France 
    Bordeaux - Manchester (via Paris) Air France 
    Bergerac - Manchester jet2 
    Outward route Airline
    Newcastle - Bilbao (via Amsterdam Schiphol) KLM 
    Return route Airline
    Bordeaux - Newcastle (via Amsterdam Schiphol) KLM 
    Bordeaux - Newcastle (via Paris) Air France 
    Travelling from outside the UK

    If you are flying from outside Europe,  you may need to fly via an airport not listed here. To discuss onward connecting travel to the start of your holiday, please contact us.

    This list of flight options should be used as a guide only, and you should check each airline’s website for current routes, frequency and schedules. Not all flights operate daily, and may not run for the entire season. You should also heed the latest flight arrival time and earliest flight departure time, as it may not be possible to arrange connecting travel outside these times. Please do not book your flights until we have confirmed your accommodation to you. Alternatively, our expert reservations team will be happy to offer advice and to make flight bookings for you for any of the options listed above. We charge £35 per person for our flight booking service. Your flights are then covered by our package-booking conditions, which give you greater protection in the event of delay or cancellation, as well as providing ATOL cover.

  • Prices below are based on 2 people travelling together. If you are travelling solo or as a party of 3 or more and our arrangements include a taxi, please contact us for prices; additional passengers often pay less.

    Unless otherwise stated, connecting travel by rail or bus tends to be from the city centre station, rather than from its airport, and connections between the two should be paid for locally.

    Where a price range is given, the price you pay depends on your date of travel.

    Connecting travel options - flying via Bilbao

    Outward route Price per person Latest flight
    arrival time
    own travel arrangements Bilbao airport to hotel pay locally flexible
    Homeward route
    not recommended in this direction TBA

    Connecting travel options - flying via Bordeaux

    Outward route
    not recommended in this direction TBA
    Homeward route Price per person Earliest flight
    departure time
    own travel arrangements hotel to Bordeaux airport pay locally flexible

    Connecting travel options - flying via Bergerac

    Outward route
    not recommended in this direction TBA
    Homeward route Price per person Earliest flight
    departure time
    taxi hotel to Bordeaux St Jean (0h10, pay locally), rail Bordeaux St Jean to Bergerac (1h30) TBA 1300

    Connecting travel options - flying via Santander

    Outward route Price per person Latest flight
    arrival time
    coach Santander to Bilbao (1h30) TBA 1700
    Homeward route
    not recommended in this direction TBA
Reviews

If you've experienced this holiday first hand, why not write a review?

We are keen for as many customers as possible to review their holiday. To make it easier to do so, we include a specific review section on our post-holiday questionnaire, and this is what we publish here, unedited. Read our full review policy >

Please note: any reference to maps in customer reviews is now out of date – we no longer provide these. For information on this, please see our FAQs page.


 

FAQs

If you have any questions relating to this or any other Inntravel holiday, our friendly travel experts will be happy to help. You might also find our General FAQs section helpful.
  • The information that we send to you 2-3 weeks before your holiday includes practical information about each stage of your journey so that you can travel confidently from one hotel to another, recommendations for places to visit and eat out in each place, plus cultural information about the area. Where applicable, we also provide notes for a self-guided walking tour of most cities, and some large towns. Sample travel pack >
  • We can book a wide range of routes from the UK with a variety of airlines. As well as being more convenient for you to book all elements of your holiday together, it also means that we’ll accept liability for your travel arrangements, so if things go wrong, such as the airline going bust, we’ll make suitable alternative arrangements for you. The fee for this service is £35 per person (£15 for children aged 2-11). More information on flights >
  • Absolutely! We are experts in tailored rail travel. Making use of sleeper trains or stopovers in cities along the route, we can get you from London to virtually anywhere in mainland Europe. We can even make arrangements to Mallorca, Sicily and Norway with a combination of ferries and rail. Please contact us to discuss your plans.
  • We can’t book flights that originate outside the UK, but if you wanted to book your own flights to London (or elsewhere in the UK), we can make all onward travel arrangements (including flights) from there. Alternatively, if you are booking your own flights to an airport in continental Europe that’s appropriate for your holiday, we can book onward rail travel and/or taxis. More information about how we can tailor holidays for customers outside the UK >
  • Once you’ve decided on your exact itinerary (our travel experts will be happy to offer advice), you need to provide us with your party’s details, either by phone or via our booking form. At this point we also ask you to pay a deposit so that we can secure a room for you immediately on confirming availability with the hotel(s). If it turns out that we can’t secure the accommodation for the holiday you’ve requested, or offer an acceptable alternative, we’ll refund your deposit promptly and in full. After booking your accommodation and other key elements, we'll then book your travel (or you can do so if you’re making your own arrangements) and send you a Booking Confirmation and Invoice.

    More information about the booking process >
    Information about accommodation, general practicalities and more >
    Booking conditions >
  • Yes, it’s something we insist on, even for holidays in the UK. The vast majority of holidays go smoothly, but when things go wrong, it can be expensive to put them right. Buying a new pair of walking boots after your suitcase is stolen mightn’t seem so bad, but the bill for being airlifted down from a mountain with a broken leg or flown home while still recovering from an illness or accident can incur a five or six-figure bill.

    Many insurers offer travel insurance (you can find details on our insurance page of a policy that you may like to consider if you are a UK resident), but you do need to make sure that you’re covered for medical emergencies – including falling ill with Covid-19 while on holiday – and repatriation. We also recommend that you are covered for other eventualities, such as cancellation and loss of luggage and passports.

    When you purchase a policy, be sure to check that it covers the activities you'll be doing on holiday and that it is adequate for your own individual needs.
  • (Castilian) Spanish is one of several official languages; Catalan, Basque and Gallego have equal status in Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia, respectively. The currency is the Euro. Spanish time is GMT/UTC + 1. It uses Daylight Saving Time, so in summer is on BST + 1.
  • It is your responsibility to ensure you are in possession of the correct travel documents, with the correct validity. If you’re a UK citizen, you need a full British passport to travel to Spain, but not a visa (please note, however, that a new travel authorisation system is being introduced). If you are a citizen of another country, you’ll need to check requirements with the national embassy or your own consulate.

    Current information regarding vaccinations and travel health advice for UK citizens can be found through the Travel Health Pro website. You must make sure you have adequate insurance cover for illness, accidents and repatriation (see the insurance question). You should also apply for a Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) if your EHIC has expired (if you have a still-valid EHIC, you can use this until it expires).
  • The official language is French. The currency is the Euro. French time is GMT/UTC + 1. It uses Daylight Saving Time, so in summer is on BST + 1.
  • It is your responsibility to ensure you are in possession of the correct travel documents, with the correct validity. If you’re a UK citizen, you need a full British passport to travel to France, but not a visa (please note, however, that a new travel authorisation system is being introduced). If you are a citizen of another country, you’ll need to check requirements with the national embassy or your own consulate.

    Current information regarding vaccinations and travel health advice for UK citizens can be found through the Travel Health Pro website. You must make sure you have adequate insurance cover for illness, accidents and repatriation (see the insurance question). You should also apply for a Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) if your EHIC has expired (if you have a still-valid EHIC, you can use this until it expires).
  • For information on the practicalities of travel now that the UK is no longer part of the European Union, visit www.gov.uk/visit-eu-switzerland-norway-iceland-liechtenstein.
  • The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) provides up-to-date, country-by-country travel advice, as well as information on security, local laws, passports and visas for UK citizens.

    If you live outside the UK, see our essential travel information page for a list of relevant websites.
Flavours of Bilbao, San Sebastián & Bordeaux by Rail
6 nights
Flavours of Bilbao, San Sebastián & Bordeaux by Rail
6 nights
Journey by train
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