Heathlands (+)

If you have a couple of extra days in your visit, a beautiful way to get to know the coast in the Bilbao area is to walk along the cliffs from the fishing village of Plentzia to Punta Galea cape in Getxo, where the Estuary of Bilbao opens. Its a very easy hike that takes around 3-4h, climbing several capes and crossing both sand and rock beaches.

We took the metro to Plentzia and walked left before the bridge, leaving the village to our right. The path towards the cliffs starts behind the San Telmo bus stop and is closed by a gate (which you can easily cross through a gap on one side). After crossing an area plagued by pampas grass the path starts meandering near the cliff edge. 

 

The views are spectacular.

The vegetation soon turns into beautiful scrubland of heather and gorse. Heathlands are unfortunately disappearing in Europe, and in an effort to conserve them the local government has fenced off parts of the area. Please be responsible and only walk inside the footpath to prevent further destruction!

The cliffs near Sopelana and Larrabasterra are very popular for paragliders! There are also a few schools offering paragliding to passers-by so if you fancy appreciating the Uribe-Kosta coastline from the air here is your chance!

After Sopelana the trail turns into a smooth paved path that takes you all the way around Punta Galea to our final stop Bidezabal (Getxo), where we took the metro back to the city.