Driving a couple kilometers south from Biarritz, preferably on the slow route to get a feeling for the country, the Pyrenees get visible and suddenly the font changes – Welcome to the Basque Region.
For more general information about surfing and living in a car in Spain head over to the Introduction Page: The Atlantic Coast.
San Sebastian
The bay of San Sebastian is framed by two cliffs: the west facing one is gorgeous to watch the sunset and have a beer after exploring the gorgeous old town of “San Seb”. Behind the east cliff a camp site is located. San Seb has a nightlife, which is filled by Students, both Erasmus and Locals and people from the french surfcamps.
Bakio
Is a summer holiday destination for mostly spanish people. Even though the city has lost its charme due to big apartment complexes from the 80’s, it is nice to walk the promenade, watch the groms surf the gnarliest shorebreaks, go in for a surf and see the many cute restaurants fill up around 3pm for lunch.
Sopelana
Sopelana is one of the beaches closest to Bilbao, so the surf gets crowded especially on the weekend with good weather. Between 10:00 and 20:00 you have to pay for parking (6€ a day in 2019), but are free to stay the night if you don’t camp (so no tents or stuff outside the car for longer). It’s a great base to explore Bilbao, as you can catch the subway from a nearby station. Usually there are a lot campers around to chat or share a glass of wine in the evening. The view over the ocean from the car is incredible during sunset.
Bilbao
The original capital of Euskadia (Basque Country) draws international tourism because of the Guggenheim Museum. The building alone is worth a trip, but if you’re travelling on a budget and are not the biggest art fan, you don’t need to go in. What I would recommend is to take an afternoon to stroll through the city and finish with a bar and tapas tour. As a starting point I recommend Arana Jatetxea to get a beer and a pinxo each and then just go to the next bar, the next, the next and take the subway afterwards ;). My favourite Coffeeshop/Bar after visiting the old town is Marzana Taberna.
