Guide to plan your visit to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe.
Planning a visit to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is essential. Even more so in high season. Today we show you 9 common problems when visiting one of the most emblematic destinations of the Basque coast. A magical place that hangs the full sign almost every day. If you are planning to visit Gaztelugatxe, it is important that you plan your getaway in advance. In this publication we mention a series of recommendations to enjoy this experience in a comfortable and organized way. Remember that we offer guided tours in San Juan de Gaztelugatxe throughout the year. You can book online here. In case you visit Gaztelugatxe in group, remember that we have special rates, we recommend you to contact us, we will help you as much as possible.
1.- Lots of slope and stairs.
When we plan the guided tour to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, the first point is to make the recognition of the route to see if we are able to complete the entire route. We advance you, the route to reach the hermitage of Gaztelugatxe has more than 250 stairs, a drop of more than 300 meters and a length of approximately 1.5 km. As you can see, it is not a route for everyone, do you think it is suitable for you? If so, we hope you enjoy the route on foot. If you don’t think so, don’t worry, we offer boat tours all year round, you can book from here.
2.- Sold out.
At times when a large volume of visitors is expected, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe activates its Ticketing system. For this reason it is necessary to reserve tickets to gain access. It is very common that they are sold out, so it should be your priority. Remember that you can book online from here.
3.- Guided tours are sold out.
Guided tours are a great option when you run out of tickets. Unfortunately, although we offer guided tours in San Juan de Gaztelugatxe all year round, our tours are limited to 25 / 30 people per guide. This means that our guided tours are easily sold out. We recommend you to book in advance, you can book online here.
4.- Parking problems.
In high season, parking in San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is very complicated. Even in the paid parking lots. If you plan to go to Gaztelugatxe in a private vehicle, we recommend you to go with more than 20 minutes of margin. If you want to avoid this problem you can use public transport or contact us to hire a private transfer.
5.- No restrooms during the tour.
There are no restrooms during the tour. For this reason we recommend you to go to the restroom before starting the visit (there are public restrooms next to the parking lot). Remember that tickets are only valid for the time indicated. Passing through the checkpoint with more than 15 minutes of delay can make you lose the possibility of visiting Gaztelugatxe. The same applies to our guided tours. Please avoid arriving late, plan your visit in advance.
6.- Rain and bad sea.
The location of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe in the middle of the Basque coast makes it very exposed to the weather. We recommend that you keep an eye on the weather forecast to be well prepared. A raincoat is essential for most of the year. Remember that our guided tours are not cancelled in case of rain forecast, rain is very common in the Basque Country. If you have booked one of our boat tours, you do not have to check the sea forecast, we will do it for you. In case we have to cancel the boat trip, we will contact you.
7.- Caravan on the road.
If you are coming from Greater Bilbao, the stretch of road that separates Mungia and Bakio does not allow overtaking or high speeds. The same happens with the road that separates the urban nucleus of Bermeo and Gaztelugatxe. In addition, on busy days, caravans tend to form. We recommend you to take this into account in order not to be late.
8.- Where to eat?
Many people decide to bring snacks to eat at the top of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe or in one of the areas set up with tables and chairs (Ermu). But if your idea is to eat in a restaurant near San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, we recommend you to book in advance. In high season it is usually difficult to find a good place.
9.- What route to take?
It is important to decide which route to take before visiting Gaztelugatxe. You can choose to do the route by Ermu or by Urizarreta. Both routes share the final stretch of stairs, we recommend you to take a look at the route of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe.
As you can see, there are many aspects that we must organize before our visit. We hope you find this small guide to help you plan your visit to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. Remember that we offer guided tours throughout the year, do you want to know San Juan de Gaztelugatxe with us?