The Autonomous Community of Euskadi [País Vasco] is composed of three provinces:
- Álava: The largest, but least populated, home to the capital of Vitoria-Gasteiz
- Bizkaia: The most populous, home to Bilbao [and us!]
- Gipuzkoa: The smallest in land area, home of Donostia [San Sebastián]
Our exploration of Euskadi this year had been exclusively within Bizkaia, largely due to the province’s amazing public transit network. Though, we did visit Gipuzkoa five years ago during our “Travel Sabbatical”, spending a few days in Donostia.
During a recent night at our local bar, one of the members of our cuadrilla provided a list of Gipuzkoa recommendations, from the towns we should visit to the activities to do in each. Three weeks ago, having seen the forecast for an unseasonably warm fall weekend, we decided on a whim to make a hotel reservation in one of the recommended towns and explore another of Euskadi’s provinces more deeply.
Day 1: Bilbao to Zumaia [and a flysch hike]
While it isn’t a very efficient mode of transportation, Bilbao and Zumaia are connected by the Euskotren light rail network. Luckily, I had a book that I needed to finish before the loan expired, and the trip provided plenty of time to make progress!
We dropped our bags at the hotel and wandered through the town before making our way to the flysch, Zumaia’s famous landmark, for an afternoon hike. [Flysch are stunning and complex geological formations that I couldn’t begin to describe myself. But, you can read more about them on wikipedia.]
Unfortunately, it started to get cloudy as we arrived at the starting point of our hike, so the visibility wasn’t the greatest. But, we still enjoyed the views. It is possible to hike all of the way to Deva, one of our neighbor’s recommended towns, from Zumaia along this route. But, that would have been too much, given that we started our journey later in the day. Instead, we stayed close to Zumaia, enjoying our lunch at a mirador, and exploring the flysch in both directions.
Day 2: Zumaia to Getaria [and Santiago Hondartza]
Getaria is the coastal town immediately to the east of Zumaia and is perhaps the most famous. It is home to a famous rock formation, Mount San Antón, and was featured in the film Ocho Apellidos Vascos, which is credited with increasing the Spainairds’ interest in visiting Pais Vasco.
While Getaria does not have an Euskotren station, it is accessible via hiking trails. We started with a side trip to Santiago Hondartza for a kalimotxo overlooking the beach, before embarking on the trek through the txakoli vineyards. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky to start the afternoon and the views were absolutely stunning.
Upon arrival in Getaria we enjoyed another kalimotxo at the Monumento a Elcano, an observation deck dedicated to the Getaria native who was the first sailor to circumnavigate the world. After pintxos at bars along the cobblestone streets, we relaxed on the beach before taking another short hike to the top of Mount San Antón. We ended the afternoon by enjoying a drink and a remarkable sunset at a bar overlooking Gaztetape Hondartza, then took the bus back to Zumaia.
Day 3: Lingering in Zarautz
We stored our bags at the hotel and took the Euskotren to Zarautz, one of the other towns recommended to us by our neighbor. We again wandered along the coast and stopped a couple of times to enjoy the views alongside a kalimotxo, before enjoying lunch in the Casco Viejo.
While the sky was cloudy to start the day, the sun soon broke through the clouds. Having packed our beach blanket, just in case, we decided to linger on the beach for a while before returning to Bilbao. After all, it was likely to be our last opportunity to sit on the beach until next summer.
This was a wonderful trip to have taken on super short notice. [We booked the hotel on Wednesday for a Saturday arrival.] We definitely hope to return in the summer and would like to visit Deva, the westernmost coastal town in the region, and spend more time in Getaria. We could also pair it with a trip to the French Basque Country, where a couple of our neighbors own an apartment and spend a month every summer. [They invited us to join them this summer, but my health issues got in the way.]
Up Next: We’ll be traveling to the States later this week. Airlines don’t really offer flights outside of Europe from Bilbao, so we are stopping in Dublin first, and returning by way of Munich. [This will be my first departure from Iberia since leaving DC almost 11 months ago.] Check back soon for details on my return to international travel!