Active tourism
In the rankings for outdoor activities, Gipuzkoa is right up there in the top places. You have every possible scenario to choose from: mountains and sea, forests and beaches, meadows, cliffs and even an island.
Whatever your hobby or your desire to experience new sensations may be, Gipuzkoa offers you the perfect natural setting to practise active tourism. By land, sea or air, you choose. You can practise hiking, mountain bike, horse riding, golf, diving, surfing or go paragliding for the first time… Enjoy your usual hobbies or have a go at some new ones. On your own, with the family or with friends, you’ll be able to programme different activities for each day going through some spectacular natural surroundings.
In Gipuzkoa, Nature, sport and adventure go hand in hand.
Hiking / Cycling / Multi-adventure / Trails / Pilgrimage Routes / Climbing / horse riding / Pelota / golf / skating / aerial activities
Walk, pedal, trot, fly…
You’d have to walk 40 kilometres a day for 103 years to go along all the waymarked paths and trails in Gipuzkoa. You’ve got all kinds of them, with different degrees of difficulty, distances and thematic aims: churches, cider, cheese, coast, or simply walking in the mountains…
Routes for trekking, for running, or for bike-riding. Greenways, Mountain bike trails and grandes cycling routes. You can walk among horses and sheep, climb Mount Txindoki or the rest of the 150 peaks that are over 1000 metres high, or climb at the rockodrome if it rains. You can walk along the Pilgrimage Routes to Santiago, along the coast or around the interior. And if you are someone who likes to beat about the bush, you have tree-top circuits and companies specializing in multi-adventure activities. Go zip-lining. Or train in Basque pelota. And if horse riding is your thing, there is a wide range of options. Or if you dream of high-flying, you can’t even imagine what you’ll be able to see when you go paragliding or hang gliding.
Just tell us the outdoor hobbies you have and Gipuzkoa will provide you with the places to do them. You won’t get bored in the next 103 years.
Surfing / Boat trips / Sailing and kayaking / Diving
Take the plunge!
Gipuzkoa and the Cantabrian Sea are almost synonymous. Our province has always lived in symbiosis with the sea (and with the six rivers that flow into it). This is why you have almost as many possibilities of practising active tourism in the water as on dry land.
You’ll hear people say “wave” in all languages. Especially in Donostia and Zarautz, visited each year by thousands of surfers from all over the world. You’ll see there that the most popular swimsuit is a neoprene one. Our sea is a never-ending source of types of active tourism: swimming, scuba diving, coastal angling or on boats… Rowing is also one of the local popular pastimes. In a kayak you can explore river areas or go out to sea if conditions allow it. Have a go at windsurfing or paddle boarding, or go out on sailing boats; take a look at the coast and its fishing villages from a catamaran or on other tourist boats. Or just take a boat from one bank to the other in Pasaia. Take the opportunity to actively experience the sea. It’ll add salt to your memories.