How to plan, and take, epic day trips from Bilbao
If you’re looking for day trips from Bilbao, first of all, that’s awesome because it means you’re planning on spending at least a few days in Bilbao, a city I love. Second of all, awesome news, there are some amazing places to visit and things to see around Bilbao!
In this article we’ll take a look at the most interesting day trips (according to both me and others) you can take from Bilbao. I have been to Bilbao a couple of times and can’t wait to get back for some more adventuring in the Basque region. In this article I include the ‘regular’ well known day trips but in addition, because I’m me and you’re you, I have also included some less well known, more ‘off the beaten track’ ideas.
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Useful Bilbao info
Don’t miss: The Guggenheim art gallery, the funicular, walking by the river, through the gorgeous streets of the old town and along the Gran Vía
→ Read the full MexicoCassie guide to why visiting Bilbao is a great plan
👶🏽 If you’re visiting with kids, use the MexicoCassie guide to Bilbao with kids to plan your trip
Finding a hotel: Use the MexicoCassie interactive hotel finder map to help find your perfect hotel
Getting around: Bilbao is an easy city to get around on foot but if you’re not a walker, there are buses, metros, cabs and even tourist boat options for you.
How to plan & take day trips from Bilbao
This is the ‘boring but necessary information’ – how are you going to get around? What is your transport preference?
I have tried all four of the following options while in the Basque Country. Personally, my favourite is having my own car. I like being able to reach the most rural areas, being able to scour the map and pick a random place to visit. I don’t like other people’s timetables and I also get slightly motion sick on buses.
🚘 Driving – check prices and availability with my favourite rental car broker, Discover Cars (and if you’re wondering about what it’s like driving around the Basque Country, read the MexicoCassie guide to driving in the south of Spain.
🚆 Trains – there are decent trains around the Basque Country, linking the three major cities as well as the smaller coastal ones along the way.
🚌 Buses – there are also good bus links between the main cities as well as smaller towns
→ Check bus routes and prices on Busbud
👣 Tours – there are some incredible tours and day trips on offer. I generally like to use Viator & GetYourGuide to find my tour options
Best day trips from Bilbao
We’ll split this into sections – 🌊 coastal fun, 🌳 inland nature adventures, ⛲️ visiting cities & towns, and 🥘 foodie adventures. As I said above, I’ll include the main ‘must do’ activities as well as some less well known things that I’ve done in this region and really loved.
🌊 Coastal fun
The Bay of Biscay is magnificently beautiful no matter what the weather, which is handy as it can be extremely windy and is can be more prone to showers and wind than other areas of Spain. The weather can be extremely changeable along this coast – from cloudy and windy to gorgeously bright sun in minutes.
You’ll find great surfing options (Sopelana & Zarautz), hikes, spectacular views and more…
San Juan de Gaztelugatxe
This has become one of the most popular sites to visit in the Basque Country thanks to it having been used in the popular tv show, Game of Thrones as Dragonstone.
⚠️ This is not a trip for everyone – it involves a decent amount of walking up & down cliff paths. If you have any personal concerns about hiking, probably better to sit this one out, sorry.
Essentially, you walk a cliff-side trail down to the narrow stone bridge/stairway you can see in the photo above. Then you walk up the 241 steps to the small church on the rocky island.
⭐️ There is a nice view point about half way down from the carpark if you don’t think you can make it all the way up the steps.
⭐️ It’s free to walk here BUT at during peak season you are required to have pre-booked and to show your ticket when you arrive. I went on a weekday during off-season and we didn’t need tickets but you should always check this for yourself. → Reserve your ticket here
👣 MexicoCassie recommended tour – this 6 hour, small group, tour gives you the chance to explore Gaztelugatxe, Guernica & the lovely beach town of Mundaka – a true 3-fer.
Flysch adventures
The flysch coastal formations are some of the most fascinating and beautiful formations I’ve ever had the good fortune to see. Flysch began forming under the sea 110Ma ago when sediment slowly accumulated over millions of years. Flysch layers can be limestone, or sandstone. In some cases the deposits are formed from enormous underwater sediment avalanches usually caused by the ocean floor sinking, which occurred when the Bay of Biscay opened and created turbiditic layers.
What we can see today along this awesome section of coast occurred (apparently) during a period between the Cretaceous and Oligocene periods when the Iberian plate collided with the larger European plate causing all that sediment to fold, fracture and raise itself.
The Basque Geoparkea is a 13km long section of coast where you can gaze in wonder at landscape formed 60 million years ago. This area was declared a UNESCO Global Geopark in 2015.
You can hike, drive or even take a boat trip to see the flysch. While the park is only officially 13km long, there is a 54km viewing trail between Zumaia and Mutriku. I’ve seen it from all three places mentioned below on various hikes. I’ve also had fun seeing it on random beaches. My dad recently took a boat tour and had a brilliant day (and since I saw all one gazillion photos I can confirm the views are great!).
It’s actually found all over many beaches but the very best places to see it are:
⭐️ Algorri lookout – At low tide here you can see a thin layer of black rock that was created at the time of the Chixculub Meteorite (look, a Mexico link 😉) some 65 million years ago. It’s apparently one of the most important places in the world to study the extinction of dinosaurs.
⭐️ Flysch Begiratokia – Baratzazarrak – there is a carpark here and it’s a pleasant 500m walk to the mirador
⭐️ Flysch de Sakoneta – google suggests it’s possible to drive all but the last section to reach this section of the coast. We definitely saw people around who didn’t appear to have hiked in like we had but I have no personal experience of trying to drive here.
Beach days out
There are some truly beautiful beaches in this region. Bilbao is not a beach town itself but it is nicely located for visiting some delightful spots. From Bilbao the closest beaches to you are: Sopalana/Sopela & Plentzia (above), both of which are long, gorgeous sandy beaches and both of which are accessible by public transport from Bilbao. Plentzia is where many locals like to spend their summer days & Sopalana is a great surfing beach.
⭐️ I highly recommend booking a table at El Peñon de Sopela if you get the chance.
If you have a car, there are, of course, numerous other beaches to visit all along the coast towards San Sebastián-Donostia. Zarautz, is great, as is Mutriku.
🏄🏾♀️ If you want to see the most epic surfing in the Basque Country, head to Mundaka and hope it’s a good surfing day – this is one of the best (wildest) locations for surfing in all of Spain.
→ To read more about the individual beaches in the Basque Country, the full MexicoCassie guide to the best things to do in the Basque Country is a useful read.
Fishing villages
And, of course, where there are beaches, there are villages. The fishing villages along the Basque coast are lovely, gentle places to visit if you enjoy meandering through narrow streets, eating well and trying local cuisine. Each of these small towns has its own, distinct personality to discover
Getaria
(Photo above) Best known for being the birthplace of the fashion icon, Cristóbal Balenciaga, and for its vineyards. If you’re interested in fashion and haute couture then a visit to the museum dedicated to the designer will make for an interesting few hours. If you’re not excited by fashion, then a tour to a txakoli vineyard to learn about the region’s microclimate and famous fizzy wine might suit you better.
The town also has 2 small beaches and some lovely restaurants.
👣 MexicoCassie recommended tour: this small group, 8 hour tour, visits Loyola, Getaria, Zarautz & San Sebastián ensuring you have time to explore everywhere.
Zarautz
Home to the region’s longest beach, this is a popular spot for surfers and beach goers. The whole of the town is located on a colossal dune. If you have time, it is recommended to climb the nearby Talaimendi headland – from here you’ll have magnificent views over the coast, especially at sunset.
The town is basically an open air art gallery that’s a joy to walk around: you’ll find sculptures all along the promenade and throughout the town.
Officially founded around 1200 years ago there are still Roman remains, a medieval necropolis and more. There is also a photography museum in town that is considered to be one of the best museums in Europe focusing on photography and cinema.
👣 MexicoCassie recommended tour: this small group, 8 hour tour, visits Loyola, Getaria, Zarautz & San Sebastián ensuring you have time to explore everywhere.
Zumaia
The beautiful Zumaia is the entrance to the Basque Geopark, home to the astounding flysch rock formations. I stopped for only a few hours in Zumaia, but very much enjoyed my walk through the town. My parents have also just visited for a few days and absolutely fell in love with this magnificent location.
There are 2 beaches, both of which are of interest to geologists as the town is situated along the flysch coast. On the Itzurun Beach it’s even possible to find ammonite fossils.
If you’re an art lover, visit the home of the painter Ignacio Zuloaga and see his collection of works by various artists including El Greco, Diego Rivera and Goya.
Here, the rivers Urola and Narrondo meet and it’s a pleasure to walk along either one them watching people paddle board and kayak.
Irún / Hondarribia
Irún & Hondarribia straddle the French border. I actually stayed a few nights in Irún, using my time to explore thoroughly.
The highlight of this small town is its museum, Museo Romano Oiasso, which explains in loving detail, the Roman history of the town. I loved the museum generally but what made my visit here extra special was how excited the staff were to share their town’s history with me. Their enthusiasm was entirely contagious and I found myself both fascinated and signing up to their museum email list to learn more.
From Irún, it’s possible to walk into France, which I did, just to pick up French pastries for my kids and to be able to say I’d gone to France for breakfast.
If you visit Hondarribia, you’ll probably take a walk around the gorgeous old city, the Casco Historico, where you’ll admire the church, city walls and gorgeous old buildings and then you head down to the beach.
Whale watching boat trip
I tried to book a whale watching boat tour for my family this summer but failed as there are very few boats heading out and I left it too late. I understand that there are actually more boat tours from the French Basque Country than the Spanish so if you miss out on the Spanish side, try looking over the border.
If you do manage to book yourself a tour you could see: sperm whales, porpoises, orcas, and more between April and October every year.
→ Book your whale watching tour with Verballenas
MexicoCassie specials
➕ Soplana hike – it’s no secret that I’m an avid hiker and this 5-6 hour walk was an absolute beauty. We walked along the coast from Soplana to Acantilados Barrika using Komoot maps to guide us.
Almost the entire walk includes incredible views over the wild ocean. In terms of difficulty I’d say it’s a ‘medium’ level walk. There are some ascents & descents and some sections had us scrambling through gorse bushes but nothing was particularly arduous and my kids barely complained at all 😉.
➕ Barrikako Begiratokia – we actually found this spot while on the above hike. It’s a viewpoint out over the coast. Here you’ll find a carpark, a large grassy area with benches, a water fountain, and steps down (many, many steps) to a popular beach area. We returned here with a picnic and spent a lovely few hours enjoying the views.
🌳 Inland nature adventures
However you arrive in Bilbao, it’s impossible to not notice how stunningly beautiful the surrounding area is. It’s hilly, it’s verdant and it will call out to you to come play. Most people, though, don’t. Most people visit the Basque cities and coastal areas. The interior, often gets overlooked, but with 9 natural parks in this tiny region, you can guarantee that if you enjoy incredible views, with or without hiking, this is somewhere you’ll adore.
You can find castles, mills, waterfalls, gorgeous old villages and so much more as you explore the countryside around Bilbao.
→ Use the full MexicoCassie guide to exploring the Basque Country to pick your natural park adventure
→ There are some great Vía Verde options for easy level hikes and walks around the region.
MexicoCassie specials
➕ Urikola Natural Park – not necessarily a secret but certainly not on the tourist trail, I would marry this natural park if I could. Ok, I’d move there if I could. Ok, I’d, oh, I dunno, let’s just say I fell head over heels in love with this place. We walked from Urkiola (where there’s an excellent visitors’ centre and plenty of space to park safely).
From Urkiola you can take a good long hike (like I did), or you can have a delightful short walk to a mirador with incredible views over the park and the mountains (I did this too). When you arrive there are signs and maps so even if you don’t go into the visitors’ centre, you’ll be just fine.
We enjoyed a good menu del día at Arri Toki, nearby when we were finished with our morning hike.
➕ El Pobaleko Burdinola museoa – this is a small medieval iron mill just a 30 minute drive from Bilbao. Tours are required but we didn’t book in advance as it’s not a well known place.
Our guide, Íker was super kind and spoke English where he could so that my parents (who were with us) could know what was going on, too. The tour is an interesting way to interact with local history, and there’s a lovely small river right there that you can enjoy, too.
From here it’s a short drive up to Bar Montellano (in Montellano) for a delicious lunch.
⛲️ City & town adventures
Euskadi is small and has great transport links making it nice and easy to visit the other well known cities in the area.
San Sebastián-Donostia
San Sebastián-Donostia is the most famous of all the Basque cities, it’s also the most popular thanks to its cute old town (casco viejo) with its winding narrow streets, its amazing culinary reputation (deserved) and the three beautiful beaches, the most famous being La Concha Bay.
→ Read more from MexicoCassie about San Sebastián
MexicoCassie guide to what to do in San Sebastián
MexicoCassie guide to visiting San Sebastián with kids
👣 MexicoCassie recommended tour: this tour visits not only San Sebastián but also Getaria & Hondarribia, two of my recommended villages above. The tour includes both guided and free time in eac place.
Vitoria-Gasteiz
Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of the Basque Country is, in my opinion, an extremely interesting place to visit for the day from Bilbao. The narrow streets of its tiny casco viejo are covered in political street art, the buildings are gorgeous and there are some good museums to visit, including the Archaeological Museum & the Memorial to the Victims of Terrorism, which I found very interesting despite it lacking a good coherent explanation of the grievances that lead to the terrorism that rocked Spain. The plazas are a delight and because this is an official ‘green’ city, there are parks everywhere.
➕ We ate a great menu del día in Restaurante el 7
→ Read the full MexicoCassie guide to exploring Vitoria-Gasteiz
Guernica/Gurnika
This small town was made forever infamous by the devastation it suffered at the hands of Franco and the Nazis during the Spanish Civil War and Picasso’s painting memorialising it. While you might not think this sounds like a cheery place to visit, it’s a lovely small town with a replica of Picasso’s haunting work to see, a good Peace Museum, and of course, the Assembly House and its iconic tree (which was an important part of Basque political life)
👣 It’s possible to find tours of the smaller Basque coastal towns that include Gurnika, Getaria & more
The French Basque Country and Biarritz
Yup! It’s even possible to visit Biarritz from Bilbao, should you wish to spend a day in France. I haven’t been to Biarritz since I was a naughty 17 year old (you’ll have to pay me to find out what I got up to → that’s right, see that coffee buying button over there…) but it’s something people seem to enjoy doing.
👣 MexicoCassie recommended guided tour: this 10 hour tour visits 2 towns in France, Biarritz & Saint Jean de Luz, and San Sebastián on the way back. Guided tours available in each town.
→ Check the details & book now
Santander
Leaving Euskadi (the Basque Country), and heading into Cantabria, you’ll find the gorgeous city of Santander. You’ll want to head into the casco viejo to check out the cathedral, the Mercado de la Esperanza (public market) and the more trendy foodie venue, Mercado del Este. There are also a few museums worth checking out, a funicular and even a beach.
🥘 Food/drink days out
Wine tours
🍾 You may, or may not, have heard of txakoli (chak-oli), a lightly sparkling white wine from the Basque region. It’s good to drink in bars with a pinxto or two and it can also be fun to visit vineyards and taste the wines in situ. There are three regions of the Basque Country that make txokoli – Álba, Gupuzkoa & Biscay.
In Bakio, a place with a long tradition of growing vines and producing Txakoli thanks to its microclimate and location on the coast, you’ll find the Txakolingunea, the Txakoli museum, which is apparently very interesting.
I haven’t visited a vineyard although I did have a tour set up at one point. It was oddly diverted to another activity in which I had no interest so I took myself and my friends off to drink txakoli in Gataria instead. So yes, I recommend visiting a vineyard but haven’t had the opportunity myself yet.
La Rioja is also not far away and is considered to be part of the Basque Country if you’re more interested in non-sparkling wine tours.
→ Check out some awesome txakoli tour options from both Bilbao & San Sebastián
Cider house visits
🍺 I have to begin by admitting that I do not like cider one bit, not even Basque cider but people who do like it tell me it’s very good.
What I do enjoy, though, is a trip to a cider house in the Basque Country. No one forced me to drink cider, it’s fun to watch it come out of the giant barrels and the food (part of the tradition) is excellent and never ending.
A visit to a cider house means sitting at long tables digging into huge meals that include delicious salt cod omelettes, fried cod with peppers, steak, cheese & walnuts as well as the giant barrels of cider.
→ I recommend booking cider house tours directly with the cider houses to get the best deals.
Pintxos Tours
🫒 Pintxos (pronounced pinchos) are essentially the Basque equivalent of Spanish tapas.
A tapa is a small plate designed for sharing (tapa means ‘lid’ in Spanish and this plate can serve as a lid to your glass)
A pintxo is traditionally a slice of bread with various toppings on it held in place with a cocktail stick
Of course, both tapas and pintxos have evolved somewhat from these definitions but they more or less hold true.
Because it can feel overwhelming to walk into a pintxos bar if you have no idea what you’re doing, taking a pintxos tour can be an excellent idea. You’ll find pintxos in most places in Euskadi but you really only need to do one tour – this will give you the confidence to know what you’re doing, what you’re eating and how to order.
In Bilbao, I recommend this 3 hour small group pintxos tour that includes 9 pintxos (trust me, you can’t eat more), very generous local alcohol servings (it’s research, right?) and some great information about the city as you explore and eat.
In San Sebastián-Donostia, I highly recommend booking your pintxos tour with Devour Tours – they’ll take you to the very best bars where you’ll try the most iconic pintxos while sampling a generous amount of local alcohol too (I’ve taken their tours in Sevilla and Madrid and come away happy, full of great food & new knowledge and most definitely, slightly merry 🍻).
