4 days in the Basque Country with mountains, friends and wine.
Friends, mountains and wine: perhaps the three most important things to enjoy a good holiday. On this trip we offer you all three.
1 mountain route: Not just any mountain: Basque Mountains: Gorbea Natural Park (the largest natural park in the Basque Country).
3 Basque cities, Bilbao + San Sebastian + Vitoria with the visit of the Islet of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe.
To this we add, Friends from all over the world who share your same interests and a visit to a famous RIOJA winery CVNE.
Did you know the Gorbeia Park? If not, take a look at Google and you will be surprised by its beauty.
Estadio Mestalla, Av. Aragón 31 (Google Map)
01:00 (AM)
We will leave Wednesday night around 01:00 and go directly to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe where we will arrive in the morning. We will visit the most impressive island in Spain, where they filmed a good part of Game of Thrones and other movies. After the visit we will go to Bilbao where we will have our hotel for all the nights. The rest of the day we can rest and visit Bilbao.
Distance: 11/13km (depending on the weather)
Positive elevation gain: 600m /800
Technical difficulty: moderate
Negative elevation loss: 800m /600
Maximum altitude: 1,500 m/1,200
Route type: circular
Good physical condition is required for this trip.
We have chosen our 4**** hotel Hesperia Hotel Bilbao with great care, thinking of everyone and making the most of the 4 days. Something central and in a city where you can visit nature in the morning and go out in the evening. Also, it is a central point for all the routes and cities we are going to visit. We stayed in Bilbao centre at Hesperia Hotel 4****. The rooms are Triple with breakfast. But you can ask for a double room with a supplement of 7€/person/night.
Can you come alone and how do you share the rooms?
Of course, many of our travellers come alone. We divide the rooms between the same gender and we try to have the same age group.
San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is much more than just the setting for Game of Thrones or many other films, it is an essential place to visit in Bizkaia, being the second most visited place in Bizkaia, after the Guggenheim Museum.
Gaztelugatxe is Gaztelu (castle), “gatx” (difficult) or “aitz” (stone, rock). A difficult castle made of stone, we leave your imagination there. It can only be visited if booked months in advance.
The Gorbeia Natural Park is the landmark of the Basque mountains. Its 1,482 metres of altitude mark the boundary between Biscay and Alava.
The Itxina Protected Biotope and the Gujuli waterfall, with a drop of over 100 metres, are two of the many things to see in this park. In autumn and early winter, the park looks like a blanket of red as the leaves fall. It is as if the earth changes colour.
This city doesn’t need introduction. A city known internationally for its culture and urban transformation in recent years. Here you can discover the Guggenheim Museum, a great international symbol and the gateway to the world of Basque culture. We will visit it at leisure on the 3rd day of the trip with an official guide of the city (optional visit).
If you are a fan of “Belle époque”, cinema, the beach, historic cities and the ocean, you will fall in love with San Sebastian. Its beaches, the Victoria Eugenia Theatre, the Plaza de Cervantes, the Miramar Palace, the Hotel Maria Cristina are some of the most incredible places that are waiting for you. Internationally known as the city of cinema, it is perhaps the most beautiful city in Spain. We will visit it on the 3rd day after Bilbao, we will have the whole afternoon to discover it.
Strolling around Vitoria is like taking a trip back in time with its medieval history. Nowadays, it is one of the cities with the best quality of life in Spain. Just an hour from Bilbao, Vitoria has a well-kept historic centre surrounded by large parks and green areas, an imposing cathedral and a lively Plaza Mayor.
Logroño: the capital of the region of La Rioja, and Haro the vine capital of Rioja. We will visit the famous CVNE winery in Haro and after we will go to visit these villages.