Santiago de Compostela to San Sebastián

El Transcantábrico Gran Lujo is Spain's most celebrated luxury train, winding its way along the wild, green Atlantic coast of northern Spain over eight days and seven nights. The journey from Santiago de Compostela to San Sebastián traces the historic Camino del Norte in reverse — exchanging the pilgrim's sandals for a grand suite aboard a rolling palace — and reveals a Spain that most visitors never encounter: ancient cathedral cities, dramatic gorges, pristine beaches, medieval villages, and the snow-capped Picos de Europa.

The journey begins in Santiago de Compostela, where guests are welcomed before transferring to Ferrol to board, and passes through Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, and the Basque Country, threading together some of Iberia's most spectacular landscapes. Every excursion is included — from two days in and around the Picos de Europa to the riverside architecture of Bilbao — and all meals, wines, and live evening entertainment are served aboard the exquisitely fitted carriages.

This is a journey of slow travel at its most refined. The train overnights in each city or at scenic sidings, so guests step off each morning into a new world: the fishing port of Viveiro, the cider houses of Oviedo, the sea-cliffs of Llanes, and finally the pintxos bars and belle-époque promenades of San Sebastián. Contact Palace Trains at 1-800-724-5120 or travel@palacetours.com to check 2026 availability and pricing.

Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela is one of the great spiritual capitals of the Christian world. For over a thousand years pilgrims have converged on its UNESCO-listed Old Town along the Camino de Santiago routes from across Europe. The centrepiece is the magnificent Cathedral of Santiago, completed in 1211, whose Pórtico de la Gloria is among the finest works of Romanesque sculpture anywhere. The golden Obradoiro facade — an explosion of Baroque towers completed in the 18th century — looks out over a square that has been the emotional endpoint of pilgrimage since medieval times. Beyond the cathedral, the city is a labyrinth of granite arcades, atmospheric markets, and the stately Parador Nacional Reyes Católicos, a 15th-century royal hospice now one of Spain's grandest hotels.

Asturias: Oviedo, Gijón, Llanes, and the Picos de Europa

Asturias is Spain's greenest and perhaps most underrated region — a land of apple orchards, soaring mountain ranges, and a coastline of spectacular cliffs and hidden beaches. Oviedo is famed for its pre-Romanesque heritage: the 9th-century churches of Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites, are among the earliest surviving Christian buildings in Spain. Gijón combines Roman foundations, a lively fishing harbour, and vibrant cider-house culture. Llanes is a gem of medieval Asturian architecture with an intact sea wall and proximity to some of the finest coastal scenery in Spain. Inland, the Picos de Europa offer soaring limestone massifs, mountain villages and deep river gorges.

Cantabria: Potes, Comillas, Santillana del Mar, and Santander

Cantabria packs extraordinary heritage into a small area. Potes, a stone market town in the Liébana valley, sits beneath the eastern massifs of the Picos de Europa, while Comillas on the coast is known for its palaces and modernista architecture. Santillana del Mar is a perfectly preserved medieval village — entirely traffic-free, its cobbled main street lined with aristocratic stone palaces dating from the 15th to 18th centuries — earning Sartre's famous description as the most beautiful village in Spain. Santander itself is a sophisticated bay city with excellent beaches, a superb fish market, and a fine arts museum.

Bilbao and San Sebastián

Bilbao reinvented itself at the end of the 20th century through culture and architecture. The catalyst was Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum, which opened in 1997 and single-handedly transformed the former industrial port into one of Europe's most visited cities. The Old Quarter (Casco Viejo) retains its 14th-century street plan and is famed for some of Spain's finest pintxos bars. San Sebastián is perhaps the most beautiful city in Spain: its horseshoe bay of La Concha is framed by wooded hills and lapped by calm Atlantic waters. The city has more Michelin-starred restaurants per capita than almost any city on earth — including three three-star restaurants — and its Old Town is a labyrinth of narrow streets packed with some of the world's most creative pintxos bars. The nearby Monte Igueldo offers sweeping views over the entire coastline.