Basque Country

The coast is where most trips concentrate, and it divides in two. Gipuzkoa, from San Sebastián west to Zumaia, is gentler and more built-up, with Getaria, Zarautz and the flysch at the western end. Bizkaia, from Ondarroa to Bilbao, is more dramatic and far less visited, with the Urdaibai estuary, the fishing harbours, the cliffside village of Elantxobe, and Gaztelugatxe, on a stretch that still looks like itself. Lekeitio, two thirds of the way along, has the best harbour of the lot.

La Concha in San Sebastián is the famous one and deserves it. Zarautz is longer and better for surf, Laida at the mouth of the Urdaibai is the wildest, and the beaches at Getaria and Zumaia are small and tidal. There is no resort development anywhere on this coast.

This is the reason most people come. San Sebastián has the highest concentration of good restaurants in Spain and pintxos bars that are cheap and excellent; Bilbao's Casco Viejo runs it close and costs less; the cider houses in the Gipuzkoan hills serve a fixed menu of steak, cod and cheese in a room full of noise. Book the famous places months ahead, and eat in the small towns for less.

Bilbao's Casco Viejo and the Guggenheim, San Sebastián's Belle Époque seafront and its own old quarter, Vitoria's medieval almond, Gernika's assembly house and oak, and the harbour towns that built the Spanish whaling and tuna fleets. The Basque Country wears its history matter-of-factly, and the industrial past is as present here as the medieval one.

Easy, and the better choice for the cities: trains and buses link San Sebastián, Bilbao and Vitoria every half hour, each has an airport, and a local train runs along the coast as far as Zumaia. The Bizkaian coast villages and the wine villages need planning without a car, and Gaztelugatxe needs a bus or a taxi.

A car unlocks the coast: every village between San Sebastián and Bilbao, the estuary, the cliff walk at Zumaia, and the vineyards in an afternoon. Distances are short and the roads are good; parking in San Sebastián is the one real difficulty.

Late May, June and September are the best months: warm, long days, fewer people. July and August are hot, booked out and expensive, above all in San Sebastián. Winter is wet and quiet, and the coast is genuinely cold.

Do not try to see the Basque Country in two days: it is compact, but each of the three cities deserves a night. Do not leave San Sebastián's restaurants unbooked in high season, turn up at Gaztelugatxe without a reservation, or book a Bilbao hotel during Aste Nagusia without checking the price. And skip the coach circuit of the coast: the villages are small and the coaches go to the wrong ones.