
Basque Country Vacations
Hiking vacations, road trips & tailormade tours to the Basque Country
Good food, good company Market day in Ordizia Golden Guugenheim The oak of Guernica First vineyard view Giants & Big Heads Idiazabal cheese The Bay Running with the bulls Pelota with Xabi
From San Sebastián, Basque Country
Of the many ways to cook cod, the Basque have mastered one that beautifully reflects its culture; bacalao al pil pil. It is simple and honest, with nothing artificial nor overly elaborate. And the slow cooking allows space for the other main characteristic of Basque food… socialising!
Food in Spain is not only about what you eat, but who you eat it with. More than anywhere else, in the Basque country food is an excuse to share.
From Ordizia, Basque Country
In days gone by, for the rural Basque population the weekly visit to the local market was not only to sell and buy, but also to socialise, close deals and learn the latest news.
This joyful ambiance is still felt in today's Basque markets in towns like Gernika, Tolosa or Ordizia. And with colourful peppers, aromatic cheeses and autumnal mushrooms on display, browsing the market is always one of the highlights of any visit to the Basque Country.
From Bilbao, Basque Country
The Guggenheim's exterior has stood the test of time remarkably well. Frank Gehry always said that the dramatic shining silver of the titanium cladding would age slowly and gracefully to exude a more golden glow.
I remember thinking at the time that it would most likely become grubby and neglected-looking. Guess who was right? It wasn’t me. I’ve been seeing the Guggenheim for 16 years and it looks more beautiful each time.
From Guernica, Basque Country
In age, the Sacred Oak of Guernica is not an impressive tree today, the young teenager that he is... But like the Basque culture, the tree has a strong character rooted in is history and its values.
Traditionally, the oak of Guernica was were the Medieval lords of Vizcaya would swear to respect the local rights and traditions, something that has extended along the centuries to represent the freedom and traditions of the Basque culture. It's a symbolism strengthend by the oak surviving the infamous bombing of the village on a market morning of 1936.
From Basque Rioja
I remember walking up and over a forested ridge from Navarre into La Rioja. Literally, as you go over the crest of the hills, the landscape switches and you suddenly look down over sun-soaked vineyards rolling over the sides of the valley below.
It’s a memorable view, made sweeter by the tingle of anticipation for the food and wine waiting in the pretty hilltop town of Laguardia.
From Pamplona, Navarre
Pamplona's Running of the Bulls is no longer the rite of passage that it was for me. Now I prefer watching the Sanfermines de la Mañana, when the tourists are asleep.
Giants dance to traditional folk melodies and Big Heads run behind young children, just as they ran behind me, preparing me for the bulls. Parents still hang their children's dummies around the Europeo giant's sword to show they don’t need them anymore, just as mine did.
From the Aralar hills, Basque Country
The shepherd, his dog and his flock of latxa sheep remains an iconic Basque image. Both the dogs and the sheep are still protected breeds. The dogs still take part in contests and the flocks still pasture in the hills. All to create the local cheeses, of which Idiazabal is my favourite.
It's a beautifully creamy ewes’ milk cheese, reminiscent of Manchego but far smoother and richer. I love it even more when washed down with a refreshing cider.
From San Sebastián, Basque Country
A beautiful sweep of white sands, a turquoise blue ocean, gently bobbing yachts and lush green vegetation all watched over by a dominating statue of Christ.
For a minute I thought I had stumbled back to Rio de Janeiro. But we are still in Spain, in stunning San Sebastián in the Bay of Biscay, looking down the over the Concha beach from Monte Igueldo on a crisp September morning. I can't wait to go and have a look around.
From Pamplona, Navarre
Eight days of terror, every year. Yet in every group there'd be one who kept running - the prestigious corredor. That was me. Because amid the fear, without knowing how, something changes...
Instead of separating from the pack, you begin to run ahead of it. You look straight into the eyes of a 600kg bull, just a metre or so behind you, and sense that they consider you another member of the pack - a human with a magical connection with beasts.
From San Sebastián, Basque Country
Xabier Etxarri is a proud Basque. His knowledge of its history, language and traditions is a gift for all who share his company. As part of my own Basque induction with him, I was once coerced into playing an impromptu game of 'pelota' - a bit of a mix of squash and handball - against him.
We had a good laugh, mainly about my skills, but I believe ever since that day my right hand has always been bigger than my left hand!
Let us introduce you to the people and places of the storied Basque Country, a grand old region of lively produce markets and elegant old towns, of sunny vineyards and lush green hills.

Market day in Guernica

For a largely rural society, where family farms were isolated in the hills, the weekly market day was as much an opportunity to socialise as to buy and sell products.
Today, those very same weekly markets across the Basque Country remain more than a commercial exchange. They are a social gathering, a celebration of human relations and food.
The characters on either side of the stalls and the variety of products on display - Idiazabal cheese, txacoli wine, Basque cider, salt cod and more - offer a great insight into Basque culture. Making sense of it all is much easier in the right company, which is why we'd like to pair you up with someone like Edorta, a historian and our local guide in Guernica.
There are a few different markets we can take you to, depending on your schedule, but none resonate more deeply than Guernica’s...


On Monday 26 April 1937, hundreds of food producers were arriving from the surrounding hills to sell their home-grown and homemade produce, as they did every Monday.
Meanwhile, the elite Condor legion of the Luftwaffe, embedded with Nationalist Spanish forces on ‘training’, were taking to the skies. First the allied forces carpeted the town with bombs, then strafed it with machine gun fire.

When they were finished, the town was reduced to rubble and hundreds were dead or injured. It was a key turning point in the Spanish Civil War and the military theory behind the Blitzkrieg, Dresden, Hiroshima, Vietnam and Aleppo can all be traced back to this Monday in Guernica.
Few moments in this country's history have been as devastating or shocking.
Perhaps though, there is no better victory over those heartbreaking moments than to see life thriving in the market again, reminding us of the good things that are common to all cultures. Standing back to people watch, listening to the soundbites of market life and rummaging through the bounty of produce grown by the homesteads and farms of this fertile land is all the more rewarding because of the unique story of Guernica.
That's something worth sharing.
Basque Cultures & Cuisines: A Private Guided Journey
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£3,730 pp$5,222 ppn/a
- 8 days
Basque Cultures & Cuisines: A Private Guided Journey
When: Apr-Oct
Price: US$ 5,222 per person
Duration: 8 days
Riojan vineyards, Pyrenean cider barns, ancient towns and lively markets - enjoy the tastes and tales of the Basque Country with a guide who calls it home.
Walking Highlights of the Pyrenees: Bay of Biscay to Costa Brava
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£3,600 pp$4,900 ppn/a
- 17 days
Walking Highlights of the Pyrenees: Bay of Biscay to Costa Brava
When: Apr-Jun; Sep-Oct
Guide Price: US$ 4,900 per person
Guide Duration: 17 days (can be made longer or shorter)
Basque Country to the Pyrenees to Catalonia, we bring you a rich journey of storied cities, mountain wonders and generous hospitality along Spain's historic frontier.
Across Northern Spain: Drive & Explore Vacation
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£2,950 pp$4,100 ppn/a
- 18 days
Driving holiday
Across Northern Spain: Drive & Explore Vacation
When: May-Oct
Guide Price: US$ 4,100 per person
Guide Duration: 18 days (can be longer or shorter)
Hikes along pilgrim paths; cheese from mountain caves; wine by sunny vines. Trace a coastal Camino course on this deliciously indulgent drive to Santiago.