Basque coast: Gaztelugatxe, fishing ports and the Zumaia flysch

Route description

Start in Bilbao and head down the Nervión to Portugalete, where the Bizkaia Bridge still carries cars across the river in a hanging gondola. From there take the motorway round the city and follow the BI-631 north to Bakio, then the coast road towards Bermeo to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. The drive from Bilbao takes under an hour, but the walk down to the hermitage and back takes another hour or more.

In the busy season you need a free timed booking for the causeway, so reserve before you set off. Continue to Bermeo, a working fishing port with a small old town, then follow the Urdaibai estuary, a biosphere reserve, past Mundaka with its famous left-hand surf wave. The roads round the estuary are narrow but paved, and there are lay-bys for birdwatching over the marshes.

Narrow local roads and the BI-638 wind along the coast to Elantxobe and Lekeitio. Elantxobe is too steep for motorhomes to enter: park on the road above and walk down. Lekeitio has a beach, a Gothic basilica and the island of San Nicolás, which you can walk to at low tide. From here the GI-638 continues through Ondarroa and Mutriku to Deba and Zumaia, a slow but beautiful coastal drive.

At Zumaia walk out to Itzurun beach and the San Telmo hermitage to see the flysch, ideally at low tide. Getaria, next along the N-634, is the birthplace of Balenciaga and known for grilled fish and white txakoli wine. Finish in San Sebastián after about 180 km in total. Large motorhomes will find parking tight in all these villages; aim for the edge-of-town car parks and use buses into San Sebastián.