BASQUE COAST MOUNTAIN BIKE HOLIDAY | SPAIN
North Shore Mountain Biking – Basque Style!
Our Basque Coast mountain bike holiday in Spain is based near San Sebastian on the northern coast of Spain offers incredible mountain biking above perfect surf beaches. We specialise in uplifted, enduro style mountain biking with dedicated van shuttles and expert guiding. If you like amazing mountain biking and great food in a stunning, unspoilt coastal town then this is the mountain bike holiday for you.
“Best holiday I have ever had. The whole experience was absolutely superb. Great accommodation. Incredible riding. Friendly guides. Perfect location”
Mario (Spain)
Culture, Amazing Trails and Shuttles All Day Long
The Basque Coast mountain bike holiday was our original trip and we have been improving it for the last 12 years. Put simply this part of Spain has everything we need with the Pyrenees, the Basque culture, and Spain’s stunning coastline. The mountain biking is very varied, from big mountain trails in the Pyrenees to stunning singletrack along the Spanish coast, each day we will choose something special to suit you.
PHOTOS | BASQUE ENDURO MOUNTAIN BIKE HOLIDAY
(Click an image to see bigger photos)
Mountain Bike Holiday
(beach)
- 7 nights
May, June, July, September
6 days guiding
12,000m descending, 3,000m climbing
Breakfast
BBQ / Kitchen
Single room €450
Mountain Bike Holiday
(catered)
- 7 nights
May, June, July, September
6 days guiding
12,000m descending, 3,000m climbing
Breakfast
Dinners with wine
Single room €250
DETAILS | BASQUE ENDURO MOUNTAIN BIKE HOLIDAY
Overview
What’s Included?
- 7 Nights High Quality Accomodation
- Breakfasts Only or Fully Catered Options
- 6 Days Guiding
- Transfers from San Sebastian or Biarritz Airport
- Small Groups of 6 or occasionally 7
- Local, Experienced Guides
- Full Van Support and Unlimited Shuttles
- Up to 12,000m of descending
- Around 3,000m of climbing
“One of the best experiences of my life”
Karl (UK)
Biking
What is the Biking Like on the Basque Coast?
Having groups with similar levels is key to our mountain bike holidays and something we spend a lot of time sorting before you arrive.
Each week we aim to run two groups with a guide, driver, van and trailer each to allow people to choose the group which best suits their level.
Ride With Groups At Your Level
We rate our holidays for fitness and skill levels and, to find out more about how we do this and an overview of the grades we use, check out our mountain bike holiday skills and fitness guide.
Skill Level
The terrain on our Basque Coast mountain bike holiday is very varied and we can offer mountain bike holidays for all levels from good intermediate riders to expert.
Fitness
To enjoy our mountain bike holiday on the Basque Coast you will need a moderate to good level of fitness.
Logistics
LOGISTICS | BASQUE ENDURO MOUNTAIN BIKE HOLIDAY
Arrival
Most people arrive to Bilbao Airport, however Biarritz is also good. If you are flying via Madrid or Barcelona you might be able to arrive to Hondarribia Airport for the shortest transfer.
If you are coming by car then the ferry to Bilbao or Santander is a good option from the UK. Additionally you can contact us for the most up to date advice.
From Paris you can take the TGV direct to Hendaye.
Departure
Departures are very flexible. We can usually get you to San Sebastian in time to get a flight around 10:30am. Midday makes it a lot more relaxing for you though.
Accommodation
We offer two Basque Coast mountain bike holidays, at two different prices. Hondarribia is a vibrant seaside town and here we use a 4* hotel to offer a touch of luxury. Doneztebe is more inland and is a traditional Basque town, where your accommodation will offer traditional dinners every night, with amazing local food and the perfect hosts.
All accomodation has Wifi, secure bike storage and clothes washing facilities.
Hondarribia (Beach)
The base for this mountain bike holidays is Hondarribia, a vibrant fishing village on the North coast of Spain, just outside San Sebastian. Here the Pyrenees mountains meet the Basque beaches. Add in the fact that the New York times recently voted Hondarribia as one of the best places to eat in the world and you have the perfect place to relax after mountain biking.
For this holiday we use a local 4* Hotel which offers a swimming pool,
Doneztebe (Fully Catered)
This version of the Basque Coast mountain bike holiday is based in Doneztebe, a beautiful traditional Basque village around 20 minutes inland from Hondarribia. Doneztebe is surrounded by mountains and of course fantastic mountain biking! Evening meals are included with this package and the quality, and quantity, of the meals are perfect for hungry mountain bikers. This accomodation suits groups, happy with their own social life and not looking to go out eating and drinking at nights.
The riding is more or less the same as we can easily access similar trails each day.
Calendar
TRIP DATES | BASQUE ENDURO MOUNTAIN BIKE HOLIDAY
This trip will run in May, June, July and September. For a detailed schedule please check out our calendar.
Non-Biking
Basque MTB is located just outside San Sebastian, in Spain, a perfect location to offer great holidays for those who, for some strange reason, don’t want to throw themselves down mountains all day! While your loved ones risk life and limb mountain biking, you can choose lots of alternative holiday activities, from relaxing on the beach, shopping and being pampered with spa treatments to alternative thrills such as surfing. If you would like to, you can surf in Spain in the morning, have a guided tour of a local vineyard in the afternoon, and then dine in France in the evening.
Reviews
Have a read of some of our reviews!
Submit your review | |
We had high hopes for our trip and it was even better than expected. The town, the house, the guides, the trails were all awesome. It was great getting to know the other riders and going out for dinner with them in Hondarribia each night. The riding was perfect for our level - challenging but doable. It was fun to ride trails that were quite different to what we ride here in NZ. We rented bikes and were very happy with them. We will return, and recommend Basque MTB to all our friends!
I was afraid the rides would be too easy - they were actually a good challenge. This, paired with 5 full days of riding really increased my skills/ability a big notch. I'm a better rider as I could go over some blockages I had. Really nice!
The most astonishing scenarios, exciting trails and excellent food....doesn't get any better than this.
A heady mixture of fantastic riding, incredible scenery and food, wine and beer to knock your socks off - I'll be back!
Excellent biking in beautiful scenery! All in all, it was much better than I was hoping it to be.
FAQs
Here are some of the questions we are regularly asked about our mountain bike holidays. If you have any questions we are delighted to answer them, just get in touch.
Do you have an itinerary for your San Sebastian Mountain Bike Holidays?
We don’t have set itineraries for our holidays. We have dozens of trails to choose from and we match each day to suit the mountain bikers we have. The only thing common to all our holidays is that we ride 5 days a week, with one rest day to explore the local towns.
I don’t want to do a week’s mountain bike holiday, can I do a shorter break?
Yes, we can offer shorter breaks. We don´t guide on Wednesday and Saturday but we can offer shorter trips and based around that. If you arrive on a day when we are guiding you might have to have a drink in San Sebastian and wait until we are able to pick you up though!
Or why not check out our fantastic day trips in San Sebastian and the surrounding areas?
What are the group sizes on a typical mountain bike holiday?
During our mountain bike holidays we tend to keep the groups small. The average size of our group is 5-6 people. If you can come in a group of 6 people or more and want your own guide then we can do that. We typically have 10-14 people a week, supported by two dedicated guides, two drivers who can also guide and two vans with dedicated bike trailers.
How do you manage different technical levels on your mountain bike holidays?
During the booking process we guide people towards a week where the other guests are at a similar level. Obviously this isn’t totally accurate so we run our holidays with two guides so we can offer a harder and an easier group each day.
My partner doesn’t mountain bike but would like to join our holiday, is this possible?
Yes, this part of Spain is perfect for non-biking partners, check out our holiday pages for more information.
What is the weather like in that part of Spain?
The weather on the Basque coast is generally amazing, however the price for having mountains right on the coast is that we get some rain. Generally if the rain comes from the north it all falls on the coast and we can drive a short distance south into Spain and enjoy sunny and dry conditions. If the rain comes from the south then usually the Basque coast remains dry while the rest of Spain gets wet. It is very uncommon for the weather to be bad in all the areas we can choose to ride in, however if that does happen then we take some comfort in the fact that it generally means most of Spain, France and northern Italy are affected!
Temperatures remain moderate through the whole season, averaging around 25°C in the hottest months of July and August. Occasionally we will get higher temperatures of around 30°C-35°C for a day or two in August but it never lasts and we can ride high up or next to the coast to escape the heat. In August the Basque Country is full of holiday makers from France and Spain due to it’s great climate.
What bike / tyres / brake pads do you recommend for this part of Spain?
To try and make this subject a bit interactive we have a facebook page dedicated to this. Please have a look here, (and we always appreciate people liking our page!).
Our Basque Coast mountain bike holiday is a fun trip. It is less intense than the High Pyrenees or Backcountry Pyrenees holidays, largely because the trails are more flowing and we are based in one place all week. Each day we use unlimited shuttles to ride the best singletrack, with lots of hand built trails mixed in with fun natural singletrack. There is some climbing but around 70% of the riding is downhill. If you like the idea of riding amazing trails and ending up back in a fun seaside town to go out and eat and have a few drinks then this is the trip for you!
Riding
Amazing riding variety. This is the mountian bike holiday which has the most hand built trails, with berms and jumps. In addition there is a lot of natural riding from big mountain tops to coastal singletrack. The trails on the Basque Coast can be the most technical if your group is up for it.
Uplift
On the Basque Coast we have smaller mountains, however we don´t limit the number of shuttles we do. You can ride up in the van and down on the bike as often as you want.
Environment
Beers with friends on the beach after riding in the deep, ancient forests or high on remote mountains. The Basque culture is famous over the whole world with good reason and Hondarribia offers great nightlife and fantastic food.
Relax
We ride a lot on this mountain bike holiday but in the evenings you can have a BBQ by the pool, or wander to one of the many beach-front bars. Staying in the same place each night means more time for relaxing.
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