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Description
We cycled one week in the beautiful Basque Country, saw the stunning coast of the Atlantic Ocean, crossed some mountains on old train tracks and had delicious snacks called Pinchos every evening.
We only had reservations for one night at the start and end in Bilbao and just asked for free beds on arrival in all other places. It worked in early June but I recommend to book in advance during the summer.
| Our One Week Basque Cycling Itinerary |
|---|
| 1. Bilbao |
| 2. Mundaka |
| 3. San Sebastian |
| 4. Irurtzun |
| 5. Vitoria |
| 6. Bilbao |
Gallery
Overall costs
$ 1000
Duration
7 days
Rating
Itinerary:
Bilbao
We arrived at Bilbao airport with our bikes, cycled into town to our hostel and went straight to Plaza Nueva for some Tapas. We then just walked around to see the city and the famous Guggenheim Museum.
In the evening we visited several bars in Goienkale Street.
The Basque Coast
We followed the river out of town and then east along the coast on the main roads. Cyclists are very common in the area so people are aware of them and drive carefully.
Once you reached Bakio, follow the narrow street uphill at the end of the beach. It leads you to a Vista Point for the famous Gaztelugatxe islet. A small footpath a bit further brings you down to the bridge connecting the island. We parked the bikes there and walked up to the chapel.
The day ended in Mundaka.
On the next day we continued our journey along the coast with a little stop at Gernika to Deba from where we took the train to San Sebastian.
San Sebastian
We stayed two nights in San Sebastian to enjoy the Pinchos Bars in the old town, the beaches and took the bikes to Donibaneko Atalaia.
Vía verde del Plazaola – Leitzaran
Credit: Author – License
To cross the mountains in the South of San Sebastian you can use an old train track. It starts at Andoain (Plazaola Kalea, 45) and goes the way to Plazaola.
The route is nowadays a pure bicycle road with old brides and tunnels.
We drove to Irurtzun where we spent the night.
Vitoria and back to Bilbao
The way to Vitoria was pretty easy, you can just follow the wide valley on some side roads. If you are looking for an extension of the route you can proceed from here to Pamplona and further down to Barcelona.
Vitoria is a nice little town with the usual mix of bars and restaurants.
The last part back to Bilbao takes a whole day since you have to cross the mountains again. We just looked for smaller roads even if they weren’t the shortest ones.