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BASQUE COAST TOUR

Discover the charm of the coastal towns of the Basque County

Full Day Basque Coast Tour

Visiting and getting to know the fishing villages of this rocky coast is certainly a pleasant experience to keep in your memories, both because of the beautiful landscapes and because of the people who have made out of fishing, agriculture and industry their living.

The route along the Basque Coast can be started from both West and from East, depending only on where your hotel is. Both San Sebastian and Bilbao have beautiful hotels where you can stay for a few days during which you can visit all the basque lands. Both capitals are very well connected by air, by road and by railway.If you are flying to Bilbao/Bilbo you can land at Bilbao Airport (BIO), 9 kilometres (less than 6 miles) north of Bilbao; and if you are flying to San Sebastian/Donostia you can arrive at either San Sebastian/Donostia Airport (EAS) which is located in the municipality of Hondarribia, 20 kilometres (12 miles) away from San Sebastian, very close to the Spanish-French border or at Biarritz Pays Basque Airport (BIQ) also known as Biarritz Airport located 5 kilometres (around 3 miles) southeast of Biarritz (France). For both options, whether you are flying to Bilbao/Bilbo or to San Sebastian/Donosti, you can rely on Bookroad’s transfers in order to arrive to your hotel comfortably and with no worries. We can also offer city tours at the basque capitals too (Vitoria/Gasteiz, Bilbao/Bilbo and San Sebastian/Donosti), but here we will focus on the coastal towns

Txingudi - Hondarribia

We will start our route from the east, where Bidasoa river widens into the Bay of Txingudi and  flows into the Cantabric. The first coastal village we will visit is Hondarribia, a fishing traditional village with a large history marked by its border, which is perflectly reflected by the look of its old town.

On the one hand we can visit Barrio de la Marina, where the fishing port is located, still active, in spite of the fact that the local economy is based around tourism; here we will be able to walk among the traditional houses of fishermen and we can enjoy some pintxos at its bars. On the other hand, the old town of the city is surrounded by a defensive wall and there we wil find the castle of Carlos V, nowadays refurbished into a Parador. The old town is full of beautiful corners, old houses full of color with coats of arms and balconies with flowers. Among the military buildings that we can see there is the Guadalupe Fortress, which is located on Jaizkibel Mountain, very close to the sactuary with the same name (Sanctuary of Guadalupe).

Finally there are two more must visit places before we leave Hondarribia: the beach and the marina. These are on an ideal place where you will be able to walk and enjoy magnificent views of the Bay of Txingudi, the french municipality of Hendaye just in front of you, and also the Jaizkibel Mountain protecting the beach from west.

Hondarribia
Flysch Zumaia Geoparke

Getaria - Zumaia

Getaria is well known because here Juan Sebastián Elcano the basque explorer, was born. He was the first sailor to complete the first circumnavigation of the Earth back in the 16th century. Another renowed character who was born in Getaria is the famous fashion designer whose success conquered Paris with his haute couture designs all along the 20th century: Cristobal Balenciaga. Here we will be able to see the Balenciaga Museum, opened in 2011.

Another attractive aspect of Getaria, in addition to its beach, and to the town itself, is its gastronomy. There we will be at the perfect place to enjoy grilled fish the traditional way, accompanied with Getaria’s txakoli, a white wine which is traditional of these land too. This wine has earned a place among the most well known Qualified Denominations of Origin of Spain.

After that we can visit the worldwide known flysch or the tidal area which is a landscape of great geological value and beautiful cliffs that fall over the Cantabrian Sea.

Lekeitio - Elantxobe

We will continue with the route westwards and the next stop will be Lekeitio, a municipality in the province of Biscay about 53 km (33 miles) northeast of Bilbao. This town is located on a little bay, at the mouth of River Lea, which is protected by the Island of St. Nicholas.

Thanks to its location, the fishing port is well protected, and as such it is the hub of a town which is always vigilant of the sea, because it has always lived on its offerings. Close to the port you will find the great gothic church of Santa María de la Asunción, with its unique buttresses  and flying buttresses with pinnacles at the top. Once inside the must see is the outstanding high altarpiece, with its late Gothic style.

After watching this beautiful church and before going to our next destiny, a short visit to Elantxobe is worth. It is a small fishing village with a distinctive and steep location. It consists on a series of stepped houses, on the sides of the hill ending at the little port which was built in such a way that it is protected by the huge Cape Ogoño.

Lekeitio
Urdaibai

Urdaibai - Mundaka

Later we will continue with our coastal route in order to arrive to Mundaka, part of the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, a protected region, formed by the estuary at the mouth of River Oka. This is an area with lots of sandbanks and rich animal life which is worth a visit by itself, but we will leave this for another visit. We will focus on Mundaka, which is located at the left bank of the estuary.

Mundaka is known for its left wave, which brings thousands of surfers from all over the world. Here a test counting towards the ASP World Tour is celebrated. This is the major championship within this visually attactive sport. This is the reason why it is highly likely to find people surfing irregardless of the season.

In Mundaka the old town is also very attractive and walking along the narrow streets and watching old fishermens’ houses can be very pleasant. We can also enjoy the views over the estuary and the sandbanks from the Chapel of Santa Catalina, where we will also find the ruins of a19th century defensive fortress.

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe Chapel

We will continue again westwards, after short visit to Bermeo, which deserves another stop, we will arrive at a really unique place of the Basque Coast: San Juan de Gaztelugatxe’s Chapel, a must visit for tourists and for locals.

This chapel was built at the peak of an island which is connected to the continent by a bridge which is unique itself. The path is formed by a stair of more than 200 steps which we will have to climb to reach the chapel: The chapel was built back in the 10th century and there you will enjoy a beautiful sight of the Biscayan coast. This location has been used as setting for tv-shows such as Presunto Culpable by Atresmedia Television and the scenes of Game Of Thrones where we can see Dragonstone by HBO.

In addition to all this, the area in located inside a protected biotope, which also includes Cape Matxitxako coast, the northermost point of the Autonomous Basque Community and from its lighthouse it is possible to see large whales which travel along this area of the Cantabrian Sea.

san-juan-de-gastelugatxe

Our fleet

Sedan
€650

3 pax

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Van
€750

7 pax

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Recurso 5vehiculos

Minibus
€850

16 pax

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