Starting point Orozko Museum

With this day plan, we’ll visit the municipalities at the foot of the Gorbeia and Urkiola Natural Parks.

We’ll begin at the Orozko Ethnographic Museum. We recommend exploring this space in an 18th-century manor house, ideal for families, friends or enjoying on your own. By walking through its three floors, you’ll learn about the history of the Orozko Valley, its palaces and manor houses, churches and hermitages, and the importance of its rivers as a source of energy. It’s worth highlighting an exhibition whose proposal offers a rereading of the presence of women in history and in the historical discourse, especially in activities associated with the tasks assigned to them and their invisibility in terms of historical relevance. On the ground floor, you’ll find the Gorbeia tourist office, where you can take the opportunity to pick up information for the rest of the day.

The next stop is Areatza, whose historic centre is classified as a Cultural Asset in the Monumental Complex category, and with the help of a QR code you can follow a self-guided route through its narrow cobbled streets. You can also visit its interpretation centre located in the same town hall square. We leave Areatza and within a few kilometres we arrive in Zeanuri. We can stroll among farmhouses and head to the Saldropo wetland to enjoy the woodland and beech forests and take a short walk.

We continue our route and arrive in Otxandio. Otxandio is one of the most characteristic towns in our area. The Basque language survives in the streets, among young and old alike, as they go out for pintxos (Basque tapas) and potes (drinks) around town. Come and join in this culinary tradition, which is undoubtedly a hallmark of the Basque Country.

We’ll finish the day in Dima, which stretches along both sides of the Indusi Valley, a tributary of the Arratia, extending south to Mount Goikogana. From the mountains of the Urkiola Natural Park, which you can access from Dima, known as “the little Basque Switzerland”, you can see all the summits of the neighbouring Gorbeia Natural Park. If you’ve still got time, you can’t miss its mythological route to the Baltzola caves.

Starting point Santimamiñe Cave car park

Declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1984, Urdaibai is the greatest natural treasure the Basque Country has to offer. This estuary, at the mouth of the Oka river, combines sea, softly contoured mountains, sands and marshes.

We’ll start this day with a walk that will take us to the Oma Forest. To do so, you must park in the car park next to the Santimamiñe Caves. To access the forest you need to book in advance and we also recommend you wear suitable footwear, comfortable clothing and take water with you. The route to be covered on foot from the car park is 2.8 kilometres long and takes approximately 50 minutes. The Oma Forest, in Kortezubi, is a magical place where art and nature come together. It’s made up of several sets of motifs and geometric figures painted on the trunks of radiata pines, with the aim of bringing artistic work into the natural environment.

Once you’ve visited the forest, we suggest you go into the Santimamiñe Cave, the most important archaeological site in Bizkaia, declared a World Heritage Site in 2008. It preserves remains of human settlements over 14,000 years old and houses almost 50 beautiful cave paintings inside that depict bison, horses, a bear and a deer, among other things. It’s worth bearing in mind that advance booking is required for this activity too.

Before continuing, we recommend you recharge your batteries in one of the restaurants in the area, as we still have the afternoon to spend travelling around the reserve.

The next stop is the Urdaibai Bird Center, located in the municipality of Gautegiz Arteaga, in the heart of the marsh. It serves as an international airport for birds, offering us a wonderful glimpse into this great natural spectacle. The centre offers audio guides, exhibitions and a large viewpoint equipped with state-of-the-art cameras and telescopes for you to enjoy this experience.

To put the finishing touch to this day in the reserve, head to the beaches of Laida and Laga, where you can take a swim, sunbathe or stroll along them. If you’re bolder and you like the sea, in Laida you can do some surfing and kayaking. Laga, by contrast, is a wilder beach, exposed to the open sea next to Cape Ogoño, which makes it one of the most beautiful beaches in the Basque Country.