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The houses of Elantxobe stacked up the hillside above its harbour and breakwater on the Bizkaia coast
Frank Gehry's hotel at Marqués de Riscal above the vineyards of Elciego, with the Sierra de Cantabria behind
The stained-glass ceiling over a hall of the Casa de Juntas, Gernika's assembly house
The carved Gothic doorway inside the portico of Santa María cathedral in Vitoria-Gasteiz

Things to do in the Basque Country, coast to wine country

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Photo: Ander Abadia Zallo, CC BY-SA 4.0

Laguardia and Elciego (Rioja Alavesa)

Tour Laguardia's underground cellars and the Rioja Alavesa wineries

Tours in Basque Country

Photo: Roderich Kahn, CC BY-SA 4.0

Gernika-Lumo

Read Basque history in Gernika, from the Peace Museum to the oak

Check dates and prices

Photo: Pere prlpz, CC BY-SA 3.0

Vitoria-Gasteiz (Casco Medieval)

Tour Vitoria's old cathedral in a hard hat, then its medieval quarter

Tours in Basque Country

Photo: JnCrlsMG, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Basque Country, Euskadi in Basque, is a small region whose three provinces feel like different trips. Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa face the Atlantic: green hills, fishing ports and the two cities most visitors come for, San Sebastián and Bilbao, each with its own page. Álava, inland and south of the mountains, holds Vitoria-Gasteiz, the Basque capital, and the Rioja Alavesa, where the Basque Country turns into Rioja wine country.

The San Sebastián page covers its coast from Hondarribia to Getaria and Zumaia, plus the cider houses and Chillida Leku inland; the Bilbao page covers the mouth of the estuary, Getxo, Sopela and San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. This page covers what lies between and beyond them: Gernika and the Urdaibai estuary, the fishing towns of Lekeitio and Elantxobe, Vitoria's cathedral and the wineries of the Rioja Alavesa.

Basque and Spanish are both official, so signs and station names often come in Basque first: Donostia for San Sebastián, Gasteiz for Vitoria.

Places in this region

6 things to do in Basque Country

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The stained-glass ceiling over a hall of the Casa de Juntas, Gernika's assembly house

Read Basque history in Gernika, from the Peace Museum to the oak

Gernika-Lumo

Half a dayBook ahead

In one morning, Gernika takes you from the 1937 bombing to the oak of Basque self-government and a full-size tile Guernica.

Check dates and pricesTwo-hour Gernika walk: the bombing, the oak, the mural
The gated entrance of Santimamiñe cave in a limestone cliff at Kortezubi

Tour Santimamiñe cave, then walk to the painted Forest of Oma

Kortezubi (Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve)

Half a dayTimed entry

Climb to the mouth of a Palaeolithic painted cave, see its art in 3D, then walk to Ibarrola's painted forest.

Tours in Basque Country
The carved Gothic doorway inside the portico of Santa María cathedral in Vitoria-Gasteiz

Tour Vitoria's old cathedral in a hard hat, then its medieval quarter

Vitoria-Gasteiz (Casco Medieval)

Half a day with the old townBook ahead

Put on a hard hat and walk through a cathedral under restoration, from the crypt up to the wall walk and the bells.

Tours in Basque Country
Frank Gehry's hotel at Marqués de Riscal above the vineyards of Elciego, with the Sierra de Cantabria behind

Tour Laguardia's underground cellars and the Rioja Alavesa wineries

Laguardia and Elciego (Rioja Alavesa)

A full dayBook ahead

A walled hilltop town with more than 200 family cellars dug beneath its streets, and a Calatrava winery and a Gehry hotel nearby.

Tours in Basque Country
San Nicolás island off Lekeitio, with the breakwater that surfaces at low tide

Walk to Lekeitio's island at low tide and stop in Elantxobe

Lekeitio (Isuntza beach) and Elantxobe

A full day with ElantxobeFree

Twice a day the sea lets you walk out to Lekeitio's pine-topped island, across a breakwater that surfaces at low tide.

A Euskotren train for Donostia arriving at Deba station

Take the slow Euskotren from Bilbao to San Sebastián

Basque Country

2 hours 43 minutes end to endNo booking needed

A slow train day from Bilbao to San Sebastián, with the sea in the last hour and a stop for Zumaia's layered cliffs.

Plan your trip

  • Which destination for what

    For pintxos, three-star dinners, La Concha and surf at Zurriola, San Sebastián. For the Guggenheim, the Fine Arts Museum and the estuary out to the Vizcaya Bridge, Bilbao. For Basque history, Gernika; for a biosphere reserve with a prehistoric cave and a painted forest, Urdaibai; for a fishing town with a tidal island, Lekeitio. Inland, Vitoria-Gasteiz is a quieter, flatter capital with a medieval quarter and a green ring of parks of almost 31 km, and the Rioja Alavesa is wine country, best seen by car.

  • Combining the coast and the interior

    Bilbao and San Sebastián are about 100 km apart, and ALSA coaches cover the trip in about 1 hour 20 minutes; Euskotren's narrow-gauge train is much slower and works better as a day out than as a transfer. The simple plan is nights in both: San Sebastián for the Gipuzkoa coast, Bilbao for Bizkaia, with Gernika, Urdaibai and Lekeitio as day trips from Bilbao. Vitoria works as a day trip from either city (bus line A3700 from Bilbao, ALSA from San Sebastián in about 1 hour 15 minutes), while the Rioja Alavesa deserves a night in Laguardia or a drive south from Vitoria.

  • How many days

    In must30's view, a week works well: three nights in San Sebastián and three in Bilbao, with Gernika and Urdaibai as one day trip and a day inland in Vitoria. With ten days, add a night or two in the Rioja Alavesa and a coast day in Lekeitio and Elantxobe. On a long weekend, pick one city and one day trip; trying to see both cities in two days leaves no time for either.

  • Getting around

    Each province runs its own buses: Bizkaibus in Bizkaia, Lurraldebus in Gipuzkoa and Alavabus in Álava. Euskotren trains run from Bilbao to Gernika and Bermeo (line E4) and, slowly and mostly inland, to San Sebastián, with another line from there to Hendaye on the French border. Between the capitals, the coach beats the train. A car pays off only in the Rioja Alavesa and for linking small places such as Santimamiñe and Elantxobe; leave it outside central San Sebastián, a low-emission zone.

  • When to go

    On the coast it rains in every season, so pack a waterproof whatever the month; the Rioja Alavesa, on the far side of the mountains, gets much less rain. July and August bring full beaches and the big festivals: La Blanca in Vitoria from 4 to 9 August, opened by Celedón's descent into the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, San Sebastián's Semana Grande in the week of 15 August and Bilbao's Aste Nagusia from the first Saturday after 15 August. In autumn the vineyards turn ochre and red. Some sights keep shorter winter hours: Santimamiñe runs morning visits only from 16 October to 14 April.

Questions travellers ask

Should I stay in Bilbao or San Sebastián?

Both, if you have five nights or more, because each is the base for its own stretch of coast. If you must choose, San Sebastián is the one for food and beaches, Bilbao for museums and the better connections to Gernika, Urdaibai and Vitoria. The two are about 1 hour 20 minutes apart by coach.

How many days do you need in the Basque Country?

A week covers San Sebastián, Bilbao and two or three day trips such as Gernika and Vitoria. Ten days let you add the Rioja Alavesa and the coast around Lekeitio without rushing.

Can you visit the Basque Country without a car?

Yes for the cities, Gernika, Lekeitio, Elantxobe and Vitoria, which all have trains or buses from Bilbao or San Sebastián. The Rioja Alavesa is the exception: Alavabus line 9 stops in Laguardia, but going from winery to winery needs a car or a guided tour. Santimamiñe is also far easier by car.

Is Gernika worth a visit?

Yes, for the Peace Museum's account of the 1937 bombing and for the Casa de Juntas beside the Tree of Gernika, the symbol of Basque self-government. It is 51 minutes from Bilbao on Euskotren and fills half a day; book the free Casa de Juntas visit before you go. Pair it with Santimamiñe and the Forest of Oma, or with Lekeitio.

Can you visit Rioja wineries from the Basque Country?

Yes. The Rioja Alavesa, around Laguardia and Elciego, belongs to the Rioja appellation and lies in Álava, the Basque Country's southern province. Marqués de Riscal in Elciego runs daily 90-minute tours with a tasting, and every winery visit is best booked ahead. From Bilbao or San Sebastián it makes a long day, so many visitors sleep in Laguardia or go from Vitoria.

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