BASQUE COUNTRY  > SPAIN  >  INDEX


Holidays Basque Country  -  Travel information Basque Country 

Provinces in Basque Country : Alava, Guipuzcoa and Vizcaya

Capital of Basque Country: Vitoria-Gasteiz

Basque Country, located in the most eastern area of the Cantabrian coast, with boundaries with the south eastern areas of France.

Each valley, each fishing port, each of the summits in the Basque Country is yet another beautiful spot to be discovered. The savagely green beauty that is present in most of the territory, contrasts against the craggy and winding coastline, with the beautiful beaches and the picturesque fishing ports. All the community shelters unique natural spots from which to contemplate and enjoy its people, its gastronomy or its monuments.


car hire, holiday homes, hotels, travel agencies, travel guides, transportation / travelling to the basque country

links


Car Rental Basque Country

 Holiday Autos -  
Holiday Autos offers the best fully inclusive car hire prices. Get cheap car hire quickly and securely online with holidayautos.co.uk, the experts in online car rental.

 Sixt - 
Pick-Up Station / Return Station: Bilbao Airport, Bilbao Train Station, Biarritz [ France ] and cities and airports throughout Spain.

Camping & Caravanning Pays Vasco

 Eurocampings  -  ACSI Camping Guide

 Camping & Caravaning en Espana

Holiday Homes / Apartments

   -  Holiday homes Basque Country
All properties are checked on a regular basis. All homes can be booked on-line. Properties are shown by destination.

 Euro Relais  -  Holiday Cottages
Charming chalet, villa, castle or mill? Country cottage, mansion or farmhouse? Discover their special holiday homes and book online!

 Spanish-Web.com  -  Self Catering Holiday Rentals
Find your Villa, Apartment or Country House to Rent

Hostels / Budget Accommodations

  -  Cheap Holiday Accommodation Bilbao

 -  Create your perfect trip - Flight, Hotel and Car



Travel Guides Basque Country / Related books

Amazon.com - Travel Guides Basque Country 

The Rough Guide to the Pyrenees - 5th Edition -  by Marc Dubin
The Rough Guide to the Pyrenees is the only guidebook available to the entire region, covering both the French and Spanish sides of this spectacular region, from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. A full-colour section introduces the author's pick of the attractions, from relaxing in the picturesque spa towns to watching the Tour de France wind up the mountains. There are detailed listings of the best places to eat, drink and stay, from boutique hotels in Biarritz to the most remote mountain refuges. For the outdoor enthusiast there are exhaustive accounts of the walking and climbing routes available and information on the host of other activities available, including skiing, paragliding, rafting, cycling and horse riding. There is also expansive coverage of all the cultural highlights including the prehistoric cave art at Ariege and an accesible history of the region from prehistory to the current day.
Paperback 656 pages (July 29, 2004); Publisher: Rough Guides

Transport / How do I travel to Basque Country

 Donostia-San Sebastian Airport
In Hondarribia, 20 km from San Sebastian. It is located less than 5 km from the French town of Hendaia, 30 km from Biarritz, and 20 km from San Juan de Luz.
 Vitoria Airport
 Bilbao Airport
 Biarritz Airport in France

See Aena [ Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea ] for information about these Spanish airports.

 

 
Book cheap flights to Spain at ebookers and benefit from discounted airfares. View their latest offers and book your flights, accommodation, car hire and insurance online

 Iberia / Opodo

 British Airways / Opodo

  Airline Tickets / Bargain Flights / Cheap flight to the Basque Country

  - Ferry Portsmouth to Bilbao

 
Portsmouth to Bilbao

 RENFE [eng]  -  Spanish train planner

  -  Eurolines - coach line to Spain

 DGT  -  car

 Alsa  -  international coach line
 Pesanet  -  interegional coach line

 Bilbobus

 Biskaimove  -  Mobility in Biskaia
Travel information / files / public transport etc.

  Road map Basque Country at Amazon  


Links 

 Travel Insurance

 Pais Vasco [ Tourism Basque Country ]

 Gasteiz / Vitoria - Capital City Basque Country

 Diputacion Foral de Alava
 Guipuzcoa - Gipuzkoa.net
 Vizcaya
Bizkaia offers first-class cultural attractions for all tastes. From visiting museums, like the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum with its original shape and exhibitions, to enjoying a concert at any village around Bizkaia, or jazz festivals, folklore festivals, etc

 Udalnet [ Udalnet es el portal extranet municipal del Departamento de Relaciones Municipales y Urbanismo de la Diputación Foral de Bizkaia ]

 Azpeitia 
Inland from Zumaia, 1km from the town of Azpeitia, is the imposing eighteen-century Baroque Basilica of Loyola built in honour of San Ignacio de Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus.
 Bakio - quiet resort town of Bakio
Has a good beach and walking and mountain-bike trails in the surrounding hills.
 Bermeo 
Once a major fishing port for the arrantzales [ fishermen who once hunted whales ]. Today, they fish for hake and tuna.
 Bilbao
 Bolivar village - from Markina you can visit the tiny village of Bolivar, ancestral home of South American liberator, where there is a small museum.
 Donostia [ spaans: San Sebastián ]  -  Government San Sebastin
 Durango - gateway to the impressive Duranguesado Massif
To explore this area of rocky peaks, the best access point is the Urkiola Pass [ on the Durango-Vitoria road and bus route ].
 Elantxobe 
Perched high above a small harbour, the village is connected to it by an incredibly steep cobbled street lined with attractive fishermen's houses.
 Gernika  -  Immortalized by Picasso's picture
Gernika, inland and west of Lekeitio, is the traditional heart of Basque nationalism. It was here that the Basque paliament used to meet.
 Getaria  -  small historic place
One of the earliest towns on the coast, preserving the magnificent fourteenth-century church of San Salvador, whose altar is raised theatrically above the heads of the congregation. The first man to sail around the worlds, Juan Sebastian Elcano, was born here.
 Getxo  -  Government Getxo
Getxo is Bizkaia's most residential municipality. Five very different areas form Getxo: Algorta, Neguri, Las Arenas, Romo and Andra Mari, a rural area with a golf course, a horse riding club and the blue flag beaches which peep out to the Abra or outer harbour.
 Irun  -  frontier town
Trains to Hendaia (Hendaye) in France and to San Sebastian throughout the day.
 Lekeitio  -  active fishing port
Has two beaches - one beside the harbour, the other, much better, across the river to the east of the town.
 Markina  -  famous for producing many of the finest pelota players
The fronton here is known as Universidad de la Pelota [ Pelota University ].
 Mundaka  -  magnificent surfing and the longest left break in the world
Surf championships often take place here, and any windy day you can watch from the plaza next to the church as the surfers battle the waves.  
 Mutriku  -  fishing harbour and centre of a txakolli producing area
Admiral Churruca, the hero of the battle of Trafalgar to locals, was born here.
 Oma - tucked in a lush green valley
 Ondarroa  -  first coastal town in Bizkaia
Ondarroa has the most photographed and painted bridge in all the Basque Country
 Orduna  -  curious enclave of Bizkaia in Alava Province
The Plaza de los Fueros boasts a collection of fine old buildings. 
 Pasajes San Juan  -  between Irun and San Sebastian
 San Juan de Gaztelugatxe - 
Located near Machichaco cape between Bermeo and Bakio on a small peninsula connected to land only by a steep stone stairway, destroyed by the sea time after time, is the ancient hermitage of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe.
 San Sebastian = Donostia  -  summer capital of Spain
Here the Belle Epoque lives on. Ideally situated on a choice spot on the Bay of Biscay, it's surrounded by green mountains.
 Zarautz  -  a popular place for surfers
Every September, Zarautz plays host to a influx of surf enthusiasts who visit the town.
 Zestoa  -  north of Azpeitia  -  has a rich supply of thermal and mineral waters 
 Zumaia  -  attractive centre and pleasant water - front along the estuary of the Urola river

 Duranguesado
The old Durango county, the Duranguesado, is located in a beautiful natural region bordered by two great massifs: Mount Oiz to the north and Mount Amboto and its foothills to the South. One could say that this area is one of Bizkaia's most beautiful mountain sceneries.
 Gulf of Biscaja

 Aquarium [ Donostia-San Sebastian Aquarium ]
The "Aquarium-Palacio del Mar de Donostia-San Sebastián" opened its doors in 1928 through an initiative of the Oceanography Society of Gipuzkoa (Sociedad de Oceanografía de Gipuzkoa, or SOG). In fact, it was the first natural science museum to be built in Spain and is the only museum in the Basque Country today dedicated to marine sciences.
 Batasuna  -  see Wikipedia
Basque nationalist political party based mainly in Spain but with a French presence.
 ETA - Basque nationalist organization  -  see Wikipedia
ETA is defined as a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States and the United Nations.
 University of Bilbao  -  Deusto University
 
 Pelgrim Route to Santiago de Compostella
Part of the pilgrim route to Santiago [ Bilbao - Ovido - Ribadeo / Logonde ]

Cuisine - Basque Recipes

Basque traditional cuisine, based on simple elaboration processes, bases its success on the quality of the raw materials (fish, meat, cheeses, etc.). On a parallel level, new trends are appearing in Basque nouvelle cuisine, which incorporate new ingredients, aromas, textures and combinations. All these dishes are always accompanied by Rioja wine, from the region of Alava, or with cider or "txakolí" (Basque white wine); all three wines that are typical of Euskadi.

 Spaintour  -  Typical Spanish Dishes
 Traditional Spanish Cooking by Janet Mendel 
Publisher: Garnet Publishing, Ltd.
ASIN: 1859640524

History of the Basque Country

 Buber's Basque Pages  -  Basque History 
Although the Basques were probably inhabiting the area they now do since the stone age, the oldest historical records come from the time of the Romans. Around 75 B.C., the Romans established the city of Pamplona as a regional centre. The Basques seem to have come down from the hills to trade with the Romans, but the Romans seem never to have extended actual control of the Basques living in the hills...
 History of the Basque People [ Wikipedia ]
The Basque people are an indigenous people inhabiting adjacent areas of Spain and France.

Music, Art & Culture, Events & Entertainment

 Center for Basque Studies
Mission : to conduct and publish Basque-related research.
Anthropology, history, women's studies, cultural studies, literature, bibliography, and lexicography have thus far been their main fields of research.
 Euskomedia.org  -  Basque Encyclopedia and other cultural and historical funds

 Guggenheim Bilbao Museum
 Pelota - see Basque_rural_sports
IPelota / Pilota is a Basque version of the family of ball games that covers squash, tennis and real tennis.

Web Portals / Search engines / Basque Directories

 Kaixo 
Euskera-language searchable directory of Basque-related sites
 Pyreneesguide.com  -  Pyrenees tourism travel guide

 Terra  -  portal website / search engine [ Spanish language ]
 Yellow Guide Spain
 Telefonica.es  -  White Guide
 Search Iberia -  search engine for information about Spain

 Surfline  -  see Webcams & Reports  -  see webcam Zarautz


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