A Short Walk Along the Basque Coast – Zarautz to Getaria

One of the best ways to spend a Sunday afternoon is a walk along the Basque coast, whether it’s our favorite local stroll along the San Sebastian beaches, or something more ambitious like the hike we did between Deba and Zumaia in October 2017. The views are always stunning and the ocean breezes refreshing. Recently (March 31), we took a nice easy walk between Zarautz and Getaria, two nearby towns.

To start, we walked 5 minutes to the local train station that is close to our apartment. We hopped on the train and rode about 30 minutes to the center of Zarautz. We then headed to walk along the wide beach promenade. San Sebastian’s main beaches are in a semi-circular bay protected by a small island. Zarautz has a long, unprotected beach that is popular with surfers. Here are the views looking east and west from the beach:

The beach has several art installations. This one was a favorite:

We walked into town to grab a snack before taking the coastal path to Getaria and found the scenic narrow alleyways enchanting:

We left Zarautz going west and enjoyed the views of the surfers and the rock and flysch formations along the shoreline:

Here we are at the mid-point (Shana with our departure point in the background and Jeff with our destination):

This is an easy walk on a paved path along the road that goes between the two cities. Note the road has been built right along the cliffs in some cases with cutouts for the cars to pass through:

Getaria also has a lovely, but smaller and protected beach, somewhat like San Sebastian:

We even caught a glimpse of an adventurous local who was headed out to go spearfishing:

Getaria is well-known as a fishing village and it naturally has some fabulous restaurants that specialize in grilled fish. It is also known for being the birthplace of Juan Sebastián Elkano, who completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth (after Magellan's death in the Philippines, Elkano took command and completed the journey). Portugal and Spain are commemorating the 500-year anniversary of the Magellan-organized and Spanish-sponsored expedition this year. The celebration will continue into 2022, as the journey took three years to complete. The Basques are very proud of their contribution to this momentous feat.

The walk from the Zarautz train stop to the center of Getaria is about 4 miles. So you can work up an appetite for that grilled fish lunch by taking this route. Since the train does not run through Getaria we hopped on a bus back to San Sebastian.

Never a dull moment,

Shana & Jeff