I'm looking for self-guided tours through Basque country. Has anyone had good/bad experiences with particular ones?
thanks!
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
What provinces/departments?
Urban or mountains?
How far?
How rough?
How long?
Out and back, loops, one way?
Do you need beer along the way or will you tote a water bottle?
Posted by
OP
seattle, Washington, United States
5 posts
Great questions. Thinking hills and close to the ocean. Would like to stay in small or medium size towns, so we can get a flavor of food and drink. But certainly can carry water during the day. Could handle 6-10 miles a day, as long as someone else was managing luggage.
Posted by
270 posts
We had a really wonderful visit to Getaria (about 15 km away from San Sebastian on the coast). The hotel we stayed in was right on the beach, Saiaz Getaria - in a 15th century gothic house. Incredible. The people of the town congregate every night along the shore and drink wine outside. There are several restaurants there and they all have outdoor grills where the really fresh fish is grilled and served. I'm not sure about bnb's there, but we plan to return to this precious gem of a town. Oh, and the beaches!! One of the best beaches I've ever been to - lots of great waves!
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Ack! I thought you were interested in something like the western end of the GR10.
In Bilbao, you can take the funicular up to the airport and walk the ridge to about Getxo, cut through town, walk along the beaches to Algorta, then walk the cliffs out to the headland to about some golf course whose name I've either forgotten or never known. That's maybe eight miles. The trek back to the Algorta train station to catch the commuter train back to the city is another three miles or so.
South of Bilbao, there's a good trail from Pagomakurre to Gorbea, that's seven or eight miles, but there's a heck of a lot of elevation change. It'd be a bear to get to by public transportation - - I don't see how you could get there, do it, and get back in a day. The area's desolate.
From San Sebastian there's about a six mile beach/cliff walk out to Pasaia. That one's marked, or was. You can catch a bus back for a couple of bucks.
You could also walk segments of the del Norte portion of the Camino starting in Irun, but the logistics might be rough if you're not going to hump your own junk