Me and the other half have been discussing this recently.. It’s a route that her old man would have liked to have done in his youth..

Neither of us are road or distance cyclists, we’ll be doing it on our town bikes taking as long as it takes, camping mostly..

Anyone else done it?
What are we letting ourselves in for.. is it very mountainous?
Will there be lions and tigers and bears..?

Driven it

Don’t remember it being a long journey

Do it … both towns are lovely.

Especially the food… like tapas but with a Basque name something like …. xxxyllyxylyxywxxxxxxxxxx 😀

Friend of mine did this (and more) this summer. He likes his long-distance stuff.
It’s pretty hilly but nothing severe. The nastiest bit is probably between Bilbao and San Sebastian.
Lots of places to stay along the way, there’s always a nice view.

Basque tapas – pintxos

Ermmmm … You will not go through Bilbao on he way to San Sebastian from Biarritz

Unless you’re taking the super scenic route ??? 😀

1 all Mackem 😆

He said from Santander, but still you dont need to go thru Bilbao, but round the edge of it (via Gernika is best)

So he did

Game
Set
Match
Mr Mackem

😆

It’s only about 150 miles, nice ride I imagine.

Are you doing the camino santiago del norte?.

If you get a pilgrims passport you can stay in the allbergues which are really cheap.

It is a pilgramage route but you don’t have to be religious to do it.

It looks like a great ride, lovely part of the world

I hadn’t looked at the Camino Santiago del Norte..

At the moment our plan consists of getting a ferry to Santander and heading East.. probably taking four or five days to give us plenty of time to soak up the scenery..

We’re intending it to be a sightseeing trip as opposed to a cycling holiday, and any tips on routes that avoid main roads would be appreciated

Fantastic trip and one I’d like to do again.
Route we took below:
http://bikeroutetoaster.com/BRTWebUI/Course/62829
http://bikeroutetoaster.com/BRTWebUI/Course/62970

I’d miss out Bilbao completely but try to make some time for pintxos in San Sebastian, great place.

Just follow the coast road from Santander. There’s a motorway parallel, so most of the traffic is on that.

You’ll go thru, Laredo and Castro Urdiales both nice towns (and a few others)

When you get to Zierbena, there’s a bike lane that takes you to Portugalete, take the bridge over and then follow quiet roads to Gernika (via Mungia) . (This avoids Bilbao). From Gernika the coast road is spectqcular pretty much all the way to San Sebastian. You go thru some lovely villages like Lekeitio, Ea, Zarautz, Getaria.

If you need any help/guide for a day, let me know. I live near Bilbao.

Thanks guys.. All great stuff! 🙂

It can also rain quite a lot in Northern Spain.. I camped there for 2 months surfing and theres some great places