Irun to Getaria (By Bike)

The opening stage of the Camino del Norte by bike covers close to 48 kilometres between Irun and Getaria, with a cumulative ascent of around 700 metres spread over short ramps. Unlike the walking itinerary, which climbs Mount Jaizkibel and strings together narrow paths above the cliffs, the cycling variant takes the coastal course of the N-634 and the bidegorri sections built between the towns, allowing riders to link in a single day what would take two on foot.

Leaving Irun, the route soon abandons the town centre and the Bidasoa flood plain and heads west. After cresting the Gaintxurizketa pass, the descent leads to the bay of Pasaia, where the bustle of the harbour and the coloured houses of San Juan and San Pedro announce that Donostia is near. The city is entered through the Gros district and the Paseo Nuevo, with the Wind Comb sculpture and La Concha bay as a backdrop.

Beyond Donostia the itinerary skirts Mount Igueldo along the N-634 towards Orio, a fishing village overlooking the river Oria and renowned for its rowing crews and its charcoal-grilled sea bream. From there the course alternates ramps and descents as far as Zarautz, whose beach of more than two kilometres is the longest in Gipuzkoa and a customary halt for pilgrims.

The final four kilometres to Getaria hug the sea along one of the most photographed corniches on the Basque coast, with Mount San Anton growing ahead. Getaria preserves a historic quarter listed as a monumental site, built around the Gothic church of San Salvador, beneath whose sloping floor runs the street that drops to the harbour. The town was the birthplace of Juan Sebastian Elcano, the first man to circumnavigate the globe, and of Cristobal Balenciaga, whose museum occupies the Aldamar palace. Its grilled-fish restaurants and the txakoli vineyards climbing the hillsides round off a first day demanding in distance but gentle in profile.