Christmas in Basque Country??

Please

Is there anything %26quot;holiday / seasonal%26quot; for foreigners to see or experience in Basque Country during Christmas week? I know it%26#39;s a family time for locals but what can my family do Dec. 23 - Dec. 30? We%26#39;ll be in San Sebastian, Spain but we will have a car. We are English speaking Roman Catholics, where can we attend Christmas Mass?

Absolute ANY ideas or info. is GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you

|||

The Basque Country, Pays Basque and País Vasco, is generally quiet (relaxed) during December, but several of the villages have traditional Christmas celebrations (San Sebastian-Donostia, Tolosa, etc.), but don%26#39;t expect to find too much going on.

You can attend mass at any of the cathedrals, Bayonne, St. Jean-de-Luz, San Sebastian-Donostia, Bilbao, to name but a few. The cathedral in Bayonne, the Cathédrale Sainte-Marie, has one of the largest services, but the rest are not too bad.

|||

Thank you so much for your reply.

If you%26#39;ll indulge me one more question please;

is the attire parishoners wear to mass (especially during Christmas) very conservative, very dressy...?

We would like to blend in. Do women cover their heads?

Are men %26amp; boy children expected to be in suits?

Again thank you for your help, I can%26#39;t find this information anywhere else.

Have a Good Day.

|||

My experience is that the people tend to dress for special occasions, but I don%26#39;t think anyone in the Pays Basque would mind if you dress less formally.

The Basque are very Catholic and generally adhere to all of the normal customs, including women covering their heads. But again, they tend to be very liberal in their practice then the Roman Catholic Church tends to be.

|||

Thanks so much robert2533.

I can now work with the info. you%26#39;ve given me.

Eskerrik asko

|||

-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-

This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.

To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.

Removed on: 12:17 pm, August 20, 2009