Driving Route From Eltziego to San Sebastian

Well, Vitoria-Gasteiz (220.000h) is more or less the size of Donostia-San Sebastian (190.000h), so not that big, really. Beautiful almond-shaped old quarter, a lovely old cathedral under a renovation process that is visited and explained ("Open for Works"), the amazing Museum of Lanterns, the Palaces...really worth a visit. The basilica of Loyola (aka Loiola) and the tower where Ignatius of Loyola was born (founder of the Jesuit order), in Azpeitia, is also a must on that route. And the monastery of Arantzazu, so different to any other monastery you´ve seen before, in Oñati. Tolosa is also worth a stop, and then on the coast you may want to visit Getaria, a quaintest fishing town.

Hi Kay,

maybe I'm going heavy on the small towns and scenery, but here goes.

From Eltziego, head past Laguardia to the hamlet of Lapoblacion (125 people). From here you will get an incredible view of the Ebro valley. From there, going east, continue on to Santa Cruz de Campezo. Then head north to the San Vicente de Arana, in the Arana Valley. At the far end is the hamlet called Contrasta (55 people). The hermitage there is from the 11th century, and was built using headstones from a 2nd century Roman graveyard. After Contrasta continue east and go through the Amescoa valley. Eulate (289 people) is a cute little village, it has a nice humillidero, and if you like cheese, you can buy some at the Queseria Remiro (it is an award winning Idizabal cheese). When you leave the valley, you reach Zudaire, and have two choices.

If you go north you go through the Urbasa Natural Park. It is a very scenic. (If you ever saw the movie Patton, part of the tank battles were filmed here). It will take you up to Alsaua. There you can get the A1 and head north from there to San Sebastian. Along the way you will pass Idiazabal (2300), and there you can visit the Idiazabal cheese interpretation center. The simple visit is 2.75 €, for 3,40€ you can taste the some cheese, and for 4.50 € you get the visit, the tasting, and a glass of wine. (The negative of this option is descent from Urbasa to Alsasua, for me it is the worst of the two.)

If you go south, you will head towards Estella. When you get there you don't have to enter the town, and can veer north direction Abarzuza. Just past Abarzuza, is the Monastery of Iranzu. Going on from Abarzuza you will continue up through the Andia natural park (part of the Urbasa park). Just before decending from the park, there is a veiw point, Lizarraga, with has spectacular view of the valley down below. Once you go down, you go through the town of Echarri-Aranaz where you pick up the A10, over to Alsasua, and on to Idiazabal.

Hope that is somewhat useful.

I’ll add that on our 2022 trip to that area of Spain, all of Dave’s suggested places to visit were superb and we didn’t have time to see all of them. What’s great about having a car and visiting the small villages and hamlets is you get to see a different side of Spain you won’t see taking a train and you will run into very few, if any, tourists.

I really enjoyed my day trip to Vitoria-Gasteiz, which included a tour of the cathedral under renovation, a lot of walking around the hilltop medieval district, and a visit to one of the art museums. However, if I had a car in that area, I'd use it hit a bunch of the little towns that would be a real struggle to visit via train or bus (the way I travel).

Hi all....Muchas gracias for all of your generous tips. dlindstrom, I especially appreciate the little towns and scenic route. I rather like the back roads with small towns and scenery. It was very nice of you to give me all the towns, routes, and details. acraven, I've seen some of your posts about V-G, which is why I was initially interested. Same for your sightseeing tips, Mikel. I will review those. We are going to Getaria and, per your earlier recommendation, we're basing in Getxo. We're close to aging out from foreign country driving, so jaimeelsabio, you make a good point about being able to see the non-tourist part of Spain (as we are going to be seeing quite a bit of the tourist spots already. Thank you, so much, everyone, for taking the time to respond!

Back today from a visit to Vitoria-Gasteiz. Definitely worth it if you have half day to spend there. And Salinas de Añana, 7000 years of rock salt in pools -and still in use-coming from a small spring, is a must-see place too if interested in "different" but absolutely interesting places.

Hi Kay,

just wanted to throw in a few other observations. You are traveling in May, remember the 1st is a holiday, and the 15th is San Isidro and in many small village he is the patron, so there maybe fiestas.

If you are traveling on a Saturday or Sunday and go through Zudaire, you might want to try to book lunch in Casa Faustina. Very traditional and typical restaurant, only open the weekends, but you have to make a reservation. Lots of weekend warriors head up to that area to hike and then have lunch there so it is often full ahead of time.

Hola, dlindstrom...On May 1, we are in Barcelona. On the 15th we are in Getxo near Bilbao. Any idea for finding villages whose patron saint is San Isidro? I love festivals! Darn about Casa Faustina as we will be going through on a Monday. Great recommendations! Gracias!

Gracias Mikel for the rock salt pool tip near V-G!

Kay, I live in Getxo and the festivals of San Isidro are held for three days in the Andra Mari borough (Getxo is composed of 5 boroughs), it´s a small festivals (main ones are in July) but maybe worth it seeing.

And the (huge) salt valley, https://vallesalado.com/Salt-related-architecture

Muchas gracias por su ayuda, Mikel! We are staying at this address in Getxo: Bidebarri Kalea, 23. Is Andra Mari near to this address? We are primarily interested in local food and cultural activities like dancing. Gracias for the link to the Añana Salt Valley and the sights to see in V-G. We will decide whether to drive the back roads or V-G the day before when we see the weather.

It´s a just 20min walk to Andra Mari. San Isidro is not the main patron saint in Getxo, so there may not be that much going on, but it may be worth it as it´s a day off in Getxo and I believe there´s a market too.

It is nice and close! We love to walk around markets. I have tried to find a list where San Isidro is the patron saint but most information is either about Madrid or Malaga/Andalusia.

I don't know the villages of Biscay, so Mikel can give a better rating of these places, but it seems that San Isidore is celebrated in Derio, Forua, Fruniz, Galdames, Gamiz-Fika, Ibarranguela, Larrabezua, Valle de Carranza and Zeanuri.

On the 9th, which is San Gregorio (a saint from the Rioja/Navarra area) there is a big celebration in Berriatua. Again, I'm sure that Mikel can flesh it out.

Where did you find all of this info, dlindstrom??

Dlindstrom is correct, there are several festivals held during the festivity of San Isidro in those towns. As San Isidro is the patron saint of farmers, most of these towns will have a farmer´s market with music and dances...but it depends on the town and the weather (do not forget this is a rainy area!)

Thanks to both of you - Mikel and dlindstrom. I'm still puzzled grateful for how dlindstrom found them as I searched and searched for the patron Sant Isidore (the farmer's saint) and festivals. Oh, well. I'm excited for both May 9 and 15. Mikel, I'm aware that this area gets a lot of rain. We're from Washington State (Rick's state), the Evergreen State. We're called that for a reason; we've had an exceptionally rainy spring with snow flurries yesterday morning. We'll be well prepared for rain!

Thanks Kay...probably will get more accurate info with the correct spelling, San Isidro. Good luck in your search and have a great stay here!

Just in case anyone else is interested in researching Basque towns, this website has helpful descriptions of each town: https://tourism.euskadi.eus/en.

Hi KayC,

I guess you are getting ready to arrive in Barcelona. You didn't when you are in Eltziego, but next weekend, the 6th and 7th there are somethings happening in different places in La Rioja that you might find interesting. Sent you a PM,

(As a side note...Eltziego is not in La Rioja but in the Basque Country, although it´s part or Rioja D.O.C. wine region, that is in three different communities: La Rioja, Basque Country and Navarre). When in 1980 the province of Logroño changed its name to La Rioja, they took a name that was very close to the Rioja wine region and hence the misunderstandings.

Gracias for the correct location of Eltziego, Mikel.

Sorry Mikel, I forgot it is 2023 and not 1823. I was using the wrong map. 😂