The 20 most beautiful places in the Basque Country

Do you want to know which are the 20 most beautiful places in the Basque Country?

The Basque Country has natural landscapes of great value, amazing buildings, a unique culture, an epic history and a gastronomy to drive you crazy, in short, a land that amazes and pleases everyone who visits it.

In this article, we will talk about the 20 most beautiful sites in the Basque Country, 20 places, which we can classify depending on the type of creation: natural or human. Following this classification we find the 10 most beautiful natural sites in the Basque Country and the 10 most beautiful sites in the Basque Country created by man.

Latxa Sheep

In the section of the 10 most beautiful places in the Basque Country created by nature we will find coastal sites such as the Geoparkea and inland as the Irati Forest, two magical places that perfectly represent the nature of the Basque Country and can be found throughout its territory.

As for the section of the most beautiful sites created by man, we highlight the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Marqués de Riscal winery as part of modern architecture and the Hanging Bridge (Bizkaia Bridge) and the Sanctuary of Arantzazu as part of ancient architecture, two different but very spectacular architectures. Want to know what are the 20 most beautiful sites in the Basque Country? Keep reading!

–TheBasque Coast Geopark or Geoparkea: The Basque Coast Geopark is a geological structure formed over the years in the towns of Zumaia, Deba and Mutriku. A wonder of nature that has more than 13 kilometers of cliffs that tell the story of the earth through the layers of rock that form the Flysch. Experts indicate that this natural phenomenon has more than 60 million years behind it, are you going to miss it?

Hermitage of San Telmo Zumaia next to the Flysch

We can visit Geoparkea either on foot along the cliffs or by boat, but why choose when you can do both?

–La Concha Bay: La Concha Bay is a classic of the Basque Country and one of the most photographed and visited areas of our territory. This bay, located in the heart of Gipuzkoa, in the city of Donostia / San Sebastian, has the beach of the shell, an urban beach with a lot of character that many of the upper class families of our country have enjoyed. We recommend strolling along the new promenade of San Sebastian enjoying the views it offers.

–Getaria mouse: The Getaria mouse is the name given to the mountain of San Antón (Getaria) because of its characteristic silhouette, a silhouette that reminds us of a mouse. What many do not know is that this mouse was once an island, which today is artificially attached to land. At this point we can find the lighthouse where once the whales were sighted. If you like walking, you have an interesting walk to the highest point of Mount San Anton, once you reach the top we can only contemplate the beautiful scenery it offers.

Waves breaking in Zarautz

-San Juan de Gaztelugatxe: Another of the jewels of the Basque coast, the sea has designed with the pounding of the waves San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, a jewel that stands out above the entire Basque coastline. Located between the municipalities of Bakio and Bermeo, its highest point is dominated by the hermitage of the same name, a hermitage to which people used to climb to ring the bells and contemplate the horizon. To climb up to the hermitage we will have to make an effort and suffer the 231 steps that separate it from the sea level, do you dare to count them?

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe at sunset

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is a temple for the arrantzales (Basque fishermen), inside you can see all kinds of artistic elements that represent the sea and the men who work in it.

-Pozalagua Cave: The Pozalagua cave currently has the largest concentration of eccentric stalactites in the world, a fact that makes this cave located in the middle of the Armañon Natural Park, in the Karrantza valley, a natural environment of great ecological value, unique.

Exterior of the Pozalagua cave

–Urdaibai Reserve: The Urdaibai Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the most emblematic natural areas of Bizkaia. Formed by marshes, forests, cliffs and beaches, Urdaibai offers corners full of charm. It is the area chosen by many nature lovers for all kinds of active tourism activities.

–Irati Forest: The Irati forest is called by experts as “the forest of forests”. Irati has about 18,000 hectares of virgin beech forests that make him hold the title of one of the largest beech forests in Europe. This Navarrese forest is one of the most visited places by tourists on their trip to Navarre behind the walls of Pamplona.

-Another of the most characteristic natural environments of Navarra, the Irati River makes its way between the walls of large hills forming part of what is now a nature reserve. If this unique formation of 1,300 meters in length catches your attention, we recommend that you visit it by the greenway that accompanies it at all times.

Lumbier Gorge

–Urederra: This wonder of nature forms together with the last 2 places we have mentioned the incredible range of possibilities that nature offers us in Navarra. The birth of the Urederra leaves us a film landscape, crystal clear waters surrounded by spectacular wildlife.

–The Bardenas Reales: This spectacular desert landscape extends over 42,000 hectares of Navarrese soil. In this enclave we can enjoy its tranquility and its rare forms formed by clays and sands.

–Green ring of Vitoria-Gasteiz: The green ring of Vitoria-Gasteiz is actually the union of 6 parks located on the outskirts of the city, forming between them, a large green barrier that protects the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz. The parks that form this green area of Alava-Araba are the parks of Armentia, Olarizu, Salburua, Zabalgana, Zadorra and Errekaleor, among which the park of Salburua stands out.

Many places in the Basque Country are missing in this list because the fame of the Basque Country in terms of its natural value is really a fact.

–Guggenheim Museum Bilbao: The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, a masterpiece in the heart of Bilbao. This museum is much better known for its exterior than for the magnificent collection it houses. The museum has been baptized by many architects as “the best building of the twentieth century” and no wonder, Frank Gerhy creator of this jewel was based on the history of Bilbao when designing this building, a story that decided to reflect symbolizing a ship moored on the left bank of the river Nervión.

–Portugalete Suspension Bridge or Bizkaia Bridge: This work of modern architecture was inaugurated in 1893 and is currently part of the World Heritage Site by Unesco. The bridge joins the municipalities of Getxo and Portugalete crossing the estuary of Bilbao, it is currently the only bridge of its kind that is still active. We recommend to pass by the upper part of the suspension bridge and to return in the nacelle, this way we will have all the possible perspectives that the suspension bridge offers us.

Suspension bridge seen from the sea

Marqués de Riscal Winery: The Marqués de Riscal winery is a classic wine cellar of the Rioja Alavesa, located in the town of Elciego, stands out for its incredible hotel designed by the well-known Frank Gehry.

–Sanctuary of Arantzazu: This sanctuary located in the municipality of Oñati is one of the most striking sanctuaries we have in the Basque Country. Legend has it that the name of this sanctuary comes from the story of a shepherd to whom the Virgin appeared on a hawthorn tree, the shepherd, surprised, asked her: “arantzan zu?” (In Basque that phrase means: you on the hawthorn?). Just for the environment surrounding the sanctuary is worth seeing.

Arantzazu

–Castle of Butrón: This castle, the only one of its kind in Bizkaia, is located in the town of Gatika. At present, the castle is privately owned and it is not possible to make any kind of guided tour inside.

– Cathedral of Vitoria: The new cathedral of Vitoria or the Cathedral of Mary Immaculate is one of the most impressive neo-Gothic structures in Alava-Araba. Its construction began in 1904 and lasted about 65 years until its inauguration in 1969. If you feel like visiting it, this marvel of architecture is located in front of the Florida Park. Do not forget to visit its predecessor, the Old Cathedral of Vitoria-Gasteiz.

– Comb of the Winds: This work of the popular Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida is located under Mount Igeldo at the end of Ondarreta beach. This sculpture is made up of 3 steel structures that have withstood the onslaught of the sea since 1977, the year they were installed. If you visit it during a storm, remember to enjoy the system of tubes installed under one of the platforms that, taking advantage of the force of the waves, pushes up the air and water coming from the sea, thus forming columns of air and water that emit a very peculiar sound.

Comb of the winds

-Las Arenas Promenade (Getxo): This promenade known as “the promenade of the great villas of Getxo” joins the neighborhood of Las Arenas in Getxo with the Old Port of Algorta. A walk that has a great variety of spectacular buildings, all of them from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. We recommend doing this walk and finish tasting a pintxo in the mythical stairs of the old port of Algorta.

Paseo de las grandes villas, Getxo

– Loizaga Tower: Much more than a Rolls-Royce collection. This historic building in the town of Galdames contains in its interior the most important Rolls-Royce collection in Europe and perhaps the world. This collection consists of 45 Rolls-Royces and another 30 classic cars of great value.

Turismovasco.com on the red carpet of the loizaga tower

–Albaola: Men and women recreate the Basque whaler Nao San Juan, a work of maritime engineering that we can visit in Pasaia, Gipuzkoa.

The replica of the Nao San Juan, Albaola

–Bilbao Metro: The Bilbao Metro is the most used transport by the inhabitants of “greater Bilbao”, defining “greater Bilbao” as the urban core of the city of Bilbao and all the surrounding municipalities.

Bilbao Subway

The Bilbao metro currently has two lines, although the third line is at a very advanced stage of construction. If we take into account the number of passengers carried by the Bilbao metro, we must say that it is the third most important in the Iberian Peninsula, behind only the metros of Madrid and Barcelona.

You can see that in the Basque Country you can find everything, places of peace and tranquility created by nature or more bustling places created by man, which of the 20 most beautiful places in the Basque Country do you choose? You choose.