Basque Country
Bikepacking

The living trip plan: ferry, seven riding days, a validated coastal corridor, a one-night Zarautz stop, and a three-day inland return to Bilbao.

—core itinerary

—riding days

300–375 kmoverall riding target

5–7k mtarget climbing

ROUTE VIEW · PROVISIONAL GPX

Basque coast & inland return

Straw-man route · not navigational

The route map remains provisional. The itinerary text records the externally validated Strava sections and the revised seven-day stage structure; final canonical GPX promotion will follow route validation.

Route concept

The plan progresses from Bilbao through Urdaibai and the coastal corridor towards Lekeitio, Deba, Zumaia, Getaria and Zarautz, then continues to Donostia before turning inland through Beasain and Eibar to Bilbao.

Core rule
Enjoyment over distance. We have deliberately merged the short Lekeitio → Deba and Deba → Zumaia → Getaria → Zarautz sections into one longer coastal day. This creates the seven riding days needed to reach Bilbao before the Sunday ferry without compromising the three-day inland return.

Ferry-safe strategy

Keep the ferry arrival/recovery day before riding; Day 1 starts Sunday 21 March.
Fri 19 Mar: Rosslare → Bilbao ferry; Sun 28 Mar: Bilbao → Rosslare return ferry.
Coastal riding carries the main scenery and swimming opportunities.
Zarautz is now a one-night stop, not a two-night base.
Donostia is the transition point from coast to the inland return.
Beasain → Eibar → Bilbao remains the three-day inland return, with Bilbao reached Saturday evening before the Sunday ferry.

Trip sequence

DAY MAP

Weather

Forecasts are shown for each riding day when the provider can supply them. Long-range dates deliberately show an unavailable state rather than pretending we can forecast March 2027 today.

Trip planning rule
Use the forecast to inform the riding decision; it does not automatically make a green/amber/red decision for you.

Weather resilience

The weather integration is designed to fail gracefully. If the provider is unavailable, the core itinerary and maps remain usable.

Forecast provider: Open-Meteo. Attribution is shown alongside forecast data.

Accommodation

Bilbao: HOSTEL Quartier Bilbao / Poshtel Bilbao for arrival/recovery and the final ferry buffer.
Bakio: accommodation to be confirmed for the first riding night.
Lekeitio: Camping & Bungalows Leagi / Trinkete Hostel / Hotel Zubieta.
Zarautz: Pensión Zarauz Playa.
Donostia: Koba Hostel / A Room in the City / Pensión La Perla.
Beasain: accommodation to be checked and selected for the revised inland stage.
Eibar: accommodation to be checked and selected for the revised inland stage.

Booking philosophy

Do not book every night far ahead.
Confirm the Bilbao arrival/recovery night and Bakio first riding night.
Book San Sebastián ahead where practical.
Confirm Beasain and Eibar before the route is treated as final.
Treat camping as an opportunity, not the backbone.

Verify for 2027
Seasonal campsite openings and current accommodation details must be reconfirmed for the actual dates.

Food system

Breakfast → café/bakery → substantial lunch or supermarket meal → final-third snack → recovery food → dinner.

Carry one emergency 300–500 kcal snack block.
Start eating within roughly 30–45 minutes.
Target roughly 50–70 g carbohydrate/hour as a starting point.
Use local bread, cheese, yoghurt, fruit, nuts and tortillas.

Gear readiness

Ridley Kanzo · 45 mm tyres.
Alpkit Aeronaut tent.
1-season sleeping bag + silk liner.
Primus Lite Plus Feed Zone purchased for €75.
Fork cages + 15 L saddlebag + small top-tube bag.
Next useful capacity: 9–12 L handlebar bag.
Pack lightweight minimalist sandals for walking around off the bike.

Pre-trip test
Test the complete sleep system around 3–7°C on the Irish gear-test trip.

Family / emergency

This section is intentionally simple. Personal details are not yet populated.