Day 11 of our Europe Trip

Sunday 20th March

After a few admin days on and off, we decided to start the day early and head to Donostia San Sebastián. We found free parking, just outside of the main town and walked about 20 minutes down the hill. As we wandered down the steep paths, the bay of San Sebastián came into view, and it was absolutely breathtaking. The sun was shining and it must have been about 20C (in March!) and the sun was so blue and clear and the sands were so golden. Dogs were having the best time running wild and free and enjoying splashing around in the water. We strolled around the harbour and people were sitting down to their Sunday lunch, enjoying wine, paella, tapas or a beer in the sunshine. We wandered in to the old town square enjoyed some tapas; we had croquettes, oyster, and shrimp as tasters and they were all delicious! 

Afterwards, we headed back to the car and took the no toll route through the mountains, which were truly special, so green and the hillside villages were so quaint. A tip - many of the motorways have tolls in France and Spain and can be quite expensive, so sometimes we opt for the no toll routes, although they often take longer. We dropped out of the mountains and into Bilbao, the capital of the Basque country. Its an industrial port city in northern Spain and there is a lovely walk by the water with its contemporary  artwork and ultra-modern titanium-clad structures that made it look super streamlined. There were many outside restaurants and bars and we had the biggest ice cream, which felt like a meal in itself!

We left Bilbao, and headed back up into the mountains, found a wild camp spot - a tip for some aire’s in Spain, they have electronic gates and need a booking to release the gatecode. This has to be done via an app which can honestly be a bit of hassle, especially when signal is patchy! Otherwise though, the aire was clean, quiet and secure. We cooked up some paella and headed for bed.