The Basque Coast Drive: San Sebastian to Bilbao

You can drive from San Sebastian to Bilbao in about an hour on the motorway, roughly 100 km, but the coast road is the better trip and takes most of a day. The route that works best is east to west: Getaria, Zumaia, then a hop past Lekeitio to the Urdaibai estuary, with Gaztelugatxe, Bermeo and Mundaka as the finale before you head inland to Bilbao. The one stop that needs planning is Gaztelugatxe, which may require a free timed ticket and has very little parking.

This is a day-drive guide for people already based in either city, or arriving in one and leaving from the other. If you want a longer loop, our Galicia road trip and Asturias guide pick up the same green coastline further west.

The route at a glance

Sources I checked put the coastal version at around four hours of driving and stopping, which is optimistic. With a lunch and the Gaztelugatxe walk, plan on a full day and start early.

Why east to west

Driving from San Sebastian towards Bilbao puts the ocean on your right for much of the way and lets you reach Gaztelugatxe in the afternoon, when the earliest and busiest slots have passed. It also ends the day close to Bilbao, so you are not doing the hardest driving with tired eyes. If you are staying in Bilbao instead, reverse it and do Gaztelugatxe first thing.

Getaria: eat before you sightsee

Getaria is a former whaling town with a compact old centre, a church with a tunnel running beneath it, and a harbour where fish is grilled outdoors over charcoal. The coast road between Zarautz and Getaria runs along the cliff edge and is worth taking slowly rather than using the motorway.

Eat here if you have to choose one meal stop. Go for whole grilled fish, which is the local speciality, and ask for the price by weight before ordering. The town is also home to the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum. I could not verify current opening hours or prices, so check the museum website before building it into the day. If you are in San Sebastian first, our pintxos crawl route covers the city side of the food.

Zumaia: the cliffs, not the town

Zumaia's draw is geological. The flysch, striped layers of rock tilted almost vertical, runs along the coast beside Itzurun beach and is part of the Basque Coast Geopark. You can see it for free from the beach and the clifftop path. The Algorri interpretation centre and the Geopark run guided visits on foot or by boat; booking details are on geoparkea.eus, but I could not confirm 2026 dates or prices, so check there.

Tide matters. The best views of the rock platforms come at low tide, so look up the tide table before you leave rather than arriving at high water and seeing a normal beach.

Is Lekeitio worth the detour?

Lekeitio sits roughly halfway between the two cities and has a beach that changes with the tide, sometimes linking to San Nicolas island by a sandbar. Opinions differ on whether the extra kilometres are worth it. If you are on a tight day, skip it and save the time for Gaztelugatxe. If you have a second day, it makes a good lunch stop.

Gaztelugatxe: the practicalities

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is a small island hermitage joined to the mainland by a stone causeway, and it is the reason most people do this drive. It is also where the logistics go wrong. This section is based on the Bizkaia provincial government's official page; check it again before you travel, because the rules change by year.

Tickets

• Entry is free, but on controlled-access days you need to reserve a free ticket online at reservagaztelugatxe.bizkaia.eus. On other days access is open with no reservation.
• Show the ticket, on paper or your phone, at the access point.
• The page lists a daily limit of 1,462 visitors and asks you to cancel if you change plans or the weather turns.
• Which days are controlled is set out in a calendar PDF linked from the official page. An older source suggested weekends in spring and autumn, Easter and every day in high summer, but I could not confirm that applies in 2026. Use the official calendar.
• The official page names 24 June, 31 July, 29 August, 31 August and 30 December as local celebration days when visitors are advised not to go.

Parking and buses

Parking is the real constraint. The official page lists a 22-space public car park at Urizarreta, a larger private one just below it that charges a fee (price not stated), and a 57-space car park at Lurgorri near the Ermu access. They often fill between 10:00 and 16:00. The council recommends parking in Bakio or Bermeo and taking a Bizkaibus. In summer there is a direct bus, line A3517, from Bilbao, hourly in June and every 30 minutes in July and August. Motorhomes cannot use the car parks because of a 2 metre height barrier.

If you are hiring a car for this, our guide to renting a car in Spain covers the basics. A small car makes the Bakio and Bermeo approach roads and the parking far less painful.

The steps

The official figure is 241 steps up to the hermitage; some blogs say 231, so do not rely on a number. The access trail from Urizarreta is 1,200 m with a steep 35% gradient, and the return to Ermu is 1,600 m at 15%. The council suggests about 2.5 hours for the whole visit. Wear proper shoes and avoid the island when there is an orange weather alert, which the council advises checking on Euskalmet.

Opening hours for the attention points are listed as 10:00 to 19:00. Bermeo's council also ran paid guided visits in summer 2026 at 10 euros for adults, booked via bizibermeo.eus, but that is one option rather than a requirement.

Bermeo and Mundaka: end the day here

Bermeo is one of the main fishing ports in the Basque Country and has a more working feel than the prettier villages earlier on. Its old port and the Ercilla Tower, which houses a fishing museum, are the sights. Mundaka, a few minutes on, is a small village set in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve and known for its surf break. It is a good place for a late drink or an early dinner with the estuary behind you.

From Mundaka the route turns inland through Gernika towards Bilbao. If you are staying there, our Bilbao guide has ideas for the evening.

Elantxobe: optional extra

Elantxobe is a steep fishing village on the coast between Mundaka and Lekeitio. I found no recent first-hand reviews, and local opinion is mixed on whether it justifies the extra distance. Treat it as a bonus if you are ahead of schedule.

What to skip

• Doing every stop. The most useful advice from locals I found was that trying to fit both coastal loops into one day is exhausting, especially with children or anyone prone to carsickness. Pick four stops and do them properly.
• Arriving at Gaztelugatxe at midday in summer. The car parks fill between 10:00 and 16:00, so either go early, late, or use the bus.
• The motorway the whole way. It is fast, but then you are just driving between two cities. If you are short of time, take the motorway to Zumaia or Bermeo and do the coast in one section.

Quick planning checklist

1. Check the official Gaztelugatxe calendar and book a free ticket if your date is controlled.
2. Look up tide times for Zumaia.
3. Check the weather on Euskalmet; avoid the hermitage in an orange alert.
4. Leave San Sebastian early and book lunch in Getaria if you can.
5. Decide in advance whether to park in Bermeo or Bakio and take the bus.

Figures here come from the Bizkaia and Basque government pages and were the latest I could confirm; I could not verify hours or prices for the Balenciaga museum, Geopark visits or the private car parks.