Guipuzcoa

The smallest historic territories of the Basque Autonomous Community and in Spain, Guipuzcoa remains one of the most enigmatically beautiful provinces of Iberia.

Located along the Bay of Biscay, in the Atlantic axis, its 2,000 square kilometres has seven rivers as their backbone (Bidasoa, Oiartzun, Urumea, Oria, Urola and Deba), which all spring in the nearby mountains of the Piocos de Europa.

Donostia-San Sebastián is the capital and one of the essential visits of Gipuzkoa. Since Queen María Cristina fell in love with La Concha Bay and moved the Court here during the summer, many other people have succumbed to the charms of this beautiful and very human city which combines rolling hillsides, soft beaches, manor buildings, and long promenades that skirt the edge of the sea and that can be tackled easily on foot or by bike .

The lively Old Quarter of San Sebastian, with its incessant cultural life, and the marks left by creators like Eduardo Chillida, make Donostia-San Sebastián a place to visit and to come back to. Although it is a large city, only a quarter of the population of Gipuzkoa actually live in the capital.

This small but intense territory, which really could be considered as more of a dispersed big city than as a small province, is divided into comarcas (lands), each with its own character. In spite of its small size, there are many reasons to visit its many charming monuments and tourist attractions.

Apart from anything, the 86 kilometres of Gipuzkoa's coast, which alternate between cliffs formed by the erosion, clean beaches, and quaint fishing ports, all with a great tradition, make for a varied and diverse itinerary.

Zumaia's museums, Getaria's carveries, Zarautz's big beach, or Hondarribia's medieval streets are only some of the gems that can be seen along the Gipuzkoan coast. We pass from the blue of the sea to the intense green of inland Guipuzkoa. Mountain lovers or those keen on an easy hike have endless routes that lead among farmhouses, hermitages, and lower summits.

The natural parks of Aizkorri and Aralar or the Leizaran protected biosphere are all recommended places inside Green Guipuzkoa. In these places the visitor will marvel at the the charm of the small villages and wonder at the historic interest of places like Tolosa, Oñati, Bergara, Segura or Ordizia.

A must-see visit is the Three Churches route, which connects the foundation stones of this intensely flavoured land: the Basilica of Loiola, the Hermitage of La Antigua and the Sanctuary of Arantzazu. Guipuzkoa is a territory with a long tourist tradition.

It has to be said, however, that it is a more sedate type of tourism, far from the modern mass tourism. This is a type of tourism that knows how to share with visitors the same pleasures that delight the people who live and works in Guipuzkoa.

Above all, the food and the wonderful gastronomy, in all its shapes, is perhaps the greates Guipuskoan offering that can be shared. Guipuskoa has an intense cultural life, as evidenced by the many spectacular festivals and the more than forty interesting museums.

There is also an intense respect for Basque traditions as well as for the Basque language, which is spoken as a first language by a high proportion of the population. And, finally, in Guipuzkoa, there is an intense love of living.

Text provided by Guipuzcoa Provincial Council: http://www.gipuzkoaturismo.net/