Trekking

GR - 121 Zumaia-Deba

An increasingly popular excursion which passes through one of the most beautiful and interesting regions of the Basque coast. The walk from Deba to Zumaia offers a number of alternative paths, one of which is a section of the GR 121, sometimes called the Gipuzkoa Circuit. It is this path that we suggest here. You should therefore follow the red and white GR markings. The route can be walked in either direction, although we suggest you catch the Euskotren train to Deba and then follow the route back to Zumaia.  Right from the first chapel, dedicated to Saint Catherine, the route is guaranteed to delight you with its stunning views over the magnificent coastline. Another of the route’s attractions is the enormous variety of different landscapes through which it passes. In the middle section of the walk, it is worth leaving the GR trail for a moment in order to take a look over the edge of the impressive Mendatagaina and Sakoneta cliffs.
The Zumaia Tourist Information Centre regularly organises a guided trek of this route.

Length: 15 km.

Talaimendi - Algorri

This trek leads along the cliffs located nearest to the town of Zumaia - a geological treasure chest that is still relatively little known and full of surprising secrets. It is best to do the trek at low tide, in order to gain a better view of the vast tidal plain that is revealed as the water level lowers. The route leads first up to Talaimendi, then crosses Itzurun Beach before following the line of cliffs to the summit of Algorri. One of the most striking aspects of the route is the structure of the rocks. This formation, which looks a bit like puff pastry and is called flysch, is really a series of alternate hard and soft layers laid down as sediment millions of years ago at the bottom of a deep and ancient sea. Having been brought to the surface by the movement and collision of tectonic plates, these layers were then uncovered by the action of the sea: waves act as knives which cut the rocky front edge, sculpting a horizontal abrasion platform and creating a vertical cliff face at the limit of their influence. In Algorri, the strata contain a 65 million-year-old layer which contains particles belonging to a meteorite which hit the Earth during that period, probably causing the fifth great extinction in the history of life on our planet. To learn more about this area and its fascinating geology, see the guided tours regularly organised by the Zumaia Tourist Information Centre.

Length: 4 km.
 

Zumaia Circuit

A route inspired by the "Vuelta a Zumaia" organised every year by Zumaia’s Indamendi Mountain Walking Club. It is a pleasant walk along mainly cement or asphalted tracks, which combines the attractions of the coast with those of the more inland areas. The route crosses the River Urola twice, and passes through the small rural villages of Artadi, Oikia, Ibañarrieta and Elorriaga, in a landscape characterised by mountains and traditional farmhouses. The route we propose here leads in a clockwise direction, and has the same starting and finishing points as the two previous routes. You should therefore follow the directions for route 4 until you reach Artadi, and then at the end, following the instructions for route 3 from Elorriaga to Zumaia.

The route is also suitable for mountain bikes, although in the interests of comfort, you may wish to leave the route outlined here for two brief stretches: in the middle of the route you should take the turning to Arroa and then join it again shortly afterwards; and at the end, you may wish to continue on the last asphalted track, which takes you directly to Zumaia.

Zumaia - Artadi - Askizu

This is a very relaxed walk, which gradually leads up to a height of 200 metres and which offers magnificent views at many points along the way, as well as passing through the local txakoli vineyards. The initial part of the ascent leads along the road to Artadi, although this section is fairly short and the road itself has little traffic and offers the advantage of passing through a magnificent holm oak forest. A few minutes after leaving Artadi, the route continues to rise. Garategaina, which you will reach just a few minutes later, offers wonderful views over Oikia, the Urola Valley, the Izarraitz massif, Indamendi and other nearby mountains. You will soon leave the Cantabrian oak forest behind and enter the txakoli vineyards, which cover increasing areas of land every year, both here and in other coastal regions around Getaria. If you do the walk in September or October, you may be lucky enough to see the harvesters at work. Continuing on along the route, you will soon arrive at the village of Azkizu, which once received all the traffic travelling along the coast, until the new road was built just over a century ago and the village became a quiet rural settlement once again. From here, the route converges with the Coastal Pilgrim Trail to Santiago de Compostela. For the rest of the walk, the route offers magnificent views of Zumaia, nestled in its privileged natural setting.

Length: 9km.

Zumaia - Elorriaga - Pikote

The most surprising thing about this walk is that it enables you, in a very short space of time, to explore a wide variety of different landscapes: the Zumaia estuary, the rolling hills and farmhouses near Elorriaga and the cliff-lined coast. During the initial ascent up Amesmendi, there is a brief stretch of path that is poorly marked and you should pay special attention here in order to avoid getting lost. Soon you will reach various points which offer little known views of the estuary, and from where it is not difficult to imagine what Zumaia must have been like all those centuries ago: a small collection of houses protected by a defensive wall and surrounded by a wide estuary with wetlands which flooded during high tide. Moving through a beautiful landscape of hills and farmhouses, the path slopes gently up to Elorriaga, with its small chapel dedicated to Saint Sebastian. The neighbourhood has a number of different establishments which serve lunch. From here, the route runs back along the coast through rolling hills and gentle slopes, until suddenly, right next to Pikote farmhouse, it surprises us with a 150 metre high sheer cliff. From Pikote there are two possible alternatives: the easiest option (option A) is to continue along the track leading from the farmhouse to Zumaia, and the other (option B) is to continue along the edge of the cliff, although here there are sections in which the path is poorly marked and fairly steep. If you opt for the second route, it is important not to leave the path or invade the adjacent fields or plots.

You can download a file with all the routes in pdf format here.