Basque Country (Sept 14-17, 2023)

September 14

We started off early in the day taking a 4 hour train from Madrid to Bilbao. While it was a long train, it was our first taste into the natural beauty of the Basque country, filled with rolling green hills, idyllic pastures and mountains.

Once we arrived at Bilbao, we checked into our hostel and started exploring the old town section of Bilbao. The old town was bustling with different stores and bars. We got some lunch where had our first taste of pintxos plus some traditional Basque alcohol. Pintxos are essentially the same as Spanish tapas except that its usually some dish on top of bread.

We then made our way to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. This was honestly a very boring museum. They didn’t make very good use of the space in the museum and the modern art was a little too abstract for me to comprehend. Honestly, the view of the museum from the nearby bridge was better than the actual art inside the museum. Afterwards, we made our way to a free fine arts museum, which was also quite average. I would skip the museums in Bilbao unless you are a modern arts fan.

We then chilled in our hostel for a bit and then went back to the old town for dinner. This was a very bewildering experience at first. When we went to a restaurant, we saw no waiter and instead people were streaming into the bar, getting drinks and food and eating outside. This was quite confusing for us but we managed to get a waiter and a table, but not without some confusing stares from the waiter. I finally figured out that bars/taverns here are more used to pintxo hopping, where people drop by different bars, get some drinks and food, and eat outside the bar. We were very unfamiliar with this practice so we didn’t try it out on the first night.

Near sunset, we found a really nice lookout spot of Bilbao called Solokoetxe. Would recommend checking this out for sunset!

September 15

We rose early to get on a bus to Bakio, where we were going to go a short 30 minute hike to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. However, we accidentally got off on the wrong stop, making the hike 1.5 hours one way. However, I am very glad we made this mistake because the hike from Bakio to San Juan was absolutely gorgeous. It reminded me of Big Sur but it was far more peaceful and had interesting sights along the hike.

Once we got to San Juan, we climbed down the hill and made our way up the steps. Again, there were some awesome sights of the Basque coast here. We went in the morning so it wasn’t too busy, so I would recommend it for other people. The only thing I wish we did was arriving at the peninsula either during sunrise or sunset, but it was still really nice.

We had some extra time to kill so we took a bus to Butron to visit a castle. Honestly, it was a very average castle and it was closed anyways, so we made our way back to Bilbao (would skip if coming back here). However, the bus ride to Butron and the way back to Bilbao was also picturesque, almost making it worth going to Butron.

That night, we actually started pintxo hopping and my goodness, it was so fun. I had such a great time ordering pintxos and drinks in Spanish, chilling in the main square in the old town (Plaza Nueva) and just crawling to one place after another.

September 16

We went up to Mount Artxanda to catch sunrise views by using a funicular to get up. The view was quite pleasant and it was a different perspective of Bilbao than I got to see my previous few days. I would strongly recommend coming here for sunrise or sunset. We then went to Bilbao’s market for brunch. I honestly felt that the market was quite average; maybe it’s because I am not much of a market fan. It was skippable.

We then took a bus to San Sebastian (called Donostia in Basque). The bus views were INSANE. I would honestly just go on the bus for the views; they were that incredible. We checked into our hostel and then explored old town and La Concha, the famous beach in San Sebastian. The old town looked very similar to Bilbao’s but it was a lot smaller. La Concha was also alright, the views from the beach were pretty average. I think I didn’t like this as much as Bilbao’s views simply because it felt incredibly touristy. There were so many Americans and British people that it felt like Hawaii at times.

We also visited a queen’s summer residence in San Sebastian, but it was quite average. Would skip.

The best part of this day was taking a hike up Mount Urgull, which is one of the three hills that surrounds San Sebastian. We caught sunset there and watched it with some other hostelers; it was an incredible view once again. To the distance, we saw thunderstorms which made the sunset even more incredible.

Afterwards, we went pintxo hopping in San Sebastian. I personally think the San Sebastian pintxos were better than Bilbao’s. The freshness in the food was palpable and the atmosphere in the old town with everyone pintxo hopping was incredible!

September 17

The main event this day was going to Mount Igueldo. We initially heard that there is a hike up from the base of the mountain which involved just following a windy road, but it turned out that the road was closed. We then backtracked and took a funicular up the mountain. The top of the mountain offered unparalleled views of the city, but it was very busy. To add on to the tourists on the mountain, there were a lot of kids at the amusement park on the top of mountain. The Basques made an interesting decision to put an amusement park on the most picturesque part of the city. We eventually found a tower with a €3 admission fee to get to the top, which gave us the best views of San Sebastian.

Afterwards, we went to get lunch, checked out of our hostel and rode the train back to Madrid (with more beautiful views to send us away). This has been one of my favourite trips to date! The scenery of the Basque Country coupled with the incredible food and history makes this an memorable experience.

Tips for visiting Basque Country

• If you are going to the Basque Country, make sure you plan to go during shoulder seasons of travel (eg. late September/October or spring). This is usually the time when tourism dies down and the weather is still nice!
• Look into how to pintxo hop. This is definitely the best way of experiencing the gastronomic culture in Basque cities
  • This is monumentally tougher for people with food restrictions; fortunately none of us had to think about this
  • I would try to plan some pintxo bars in advance so that you can make maximum use of your time
• Look into getting a Barik transport card. This makes public transport a lot more affordable compared to paying via cash/card for bus tickets
  • Barik seems to work across most of Basque Country
• If you are going to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, make sure to check for tickets! We didn’t need one since we are going at an off-peak time but definitely check before you go
  • I would strongly recommend hiking from Bakio to San Juan. It’s a moderate hike but it offers great views of the Basque coastline.
• Public transport is pretty convenient, even if you are going to off-beat places like Bakio or Butron
• Hostel tips
  • Bring shower slippers, eye masks and earplugs. They are godsend
  • Try to go to hostels with more youth and that are known to have events; it’s a little weird mixing with adults in their 40s
  • Hostelworld is your best bet in finding good hostels