Basque Pyrenees Traveller Reviews

This was a fantastic and varied walk, beginning in the mountains, then opening out as we neared the coast, veering into France for a bit, before finally arriving in San Sebastian. The itinerary even included a couple of short boat rides, which were fun. Our accommodations along the way were fantastic and always a welcome rest at the end of each day. We had some gorgeous views along the way, which kept us going, especially after some of the steeper climbs. And we really enjoyed the opportunity to take a bit of a detour to "bag a French peak" along the way. Our local guide, though we never actually met him, had great recommendations for fun places to eat and other helpful advice. The route notes provided by On Foot, along with the electronic route data they provided for the Pocket Earth app, made navigating easy and worry free. It was a wonderful eight days in the hills and along the coast!

We felt the whole trip was extremely well organized and everything went very smoothly. The help, guidance and advice we received from the On Foot team in planning our trip was excellent, and we couldn’t have asked for more. We did two hikes back-to-back, and their coordination and advice about our travel details between and at the end of each hike (including details about connecting trains and buses) was very useful and beyond what we expected for the sections of our trip which they weren’t planning. The local guide contacts were also super helpful, responsive and a pleasure to work with.

The eight-day hike through the Basque Pyrenees was delightful. The trails and terrain were varied in difficulty and scenery, and the accommodations included some of the most comfortable and quaint we’ve stayed in on similar hikes. Notable, too, was the exceptional customer service from On Foot. We were assigned a local contact that provided immediate assistance when needed, let us know about weather conditions that might have affected our day’s hike, made dinner recommendations, and even suggested a route alteration when a storm was on the horizon so we wouldn’t miss out on what was billed as the most stunning portion of the trip.in addition to the local contact, the office staff provided on-the-ground support when we had a question about the GPS file for our trip. We’ve done self-guided trips with other companies and this one with On Foot ranked at the top.

See above.

Seven solid days walking in the Baztan valley then along the French border, down to the Atlantic and along the coast to San Sebastián. Excellent routes cleverly joining small villages, no transfers required at all, and finishing in bigger Hondarribia then SS.

Our third OnFoot holiday, all been very good but this one absolutely excellent. In other words it was what we were looking for - lots of walking, largely unspoilt countryside, interesting culture (history, farming, food and drink, language), not many Brits!! Excellent walking notes and maps.

A delightful combination of characterful villages, varied, scenic walking on ridges and coast and a unique mix of charming accommodation that allowed us to experience friendly Basque culture and cuisine. Thoroughly enjoyed exploring this hidden area of rural Spain.

Very efficient, knowledgeable and helpful. Walking routes were attractive and original, supported with very detailed written notes, with the option of digital maps. In addition, the WhatsApp contact with local guide was a real bonus.

All of it was fantastic.

All communication was excellent.

A fantastic well planned walk full of delightful cultural experiences and surprises - enchanting villages and valleys (each one with a different character); amazing oak forests; verdant green (so green) pastures; colourful spring wildflowers; misty mornings followed by sunny afternoons; welcoming hosts who treated us to very warm hospitality; varied walking through farmland, forests, and some lovely ridge walks. One of our favourite days was a day when the country was cloaked in misty rain all day and we we arrived to a local guest house in one of the smaller villages to be treated to a welcoming meal of pimientos, a glass of wine and fresh local cherries for desert. The memory will stay with us always! The trip had so many highlights it is hard to name them all but one that was very special was the night we discovered by chance that the whole village was gathering in the town square for a night of storytelling and traditional Basque dancing and singing, accompanied by local musicians. It was fantastic to gain these small insights into Basque culture, and left us wanting to know more about the history and ways of life of the Basque people.

This was our fourth walk with On Foot, and as always the support from the central office in advance of the walk was very helpful. Every question we had was answered promptly, and the advice for planning our itinerary (including some rest days) was excellent. The combination of walking notes, maps and GPS routes made planning each day easy, and we never had any difficulty navigating any of the routes. We had planned to take some of the shortening options, but the walking notes and opportunity to see different parts of the region enticed us to take the longer options most days. The support from Aznar - our local contact - was outstanding. He made sure we knew what restaurants were open, gave us advice when were a bit concerned about the impact of the rain on our next day's route, checked in on how we were going especially early on, and made sure our luggage got from Bera to Hondarribia before a local strike blockaded the border.

We walked Basque Pyrenees to San Sebastian. The daily routes were challenging but all achievable with some great places to stay and of course recommendations where to find excellent food in the evening. The walk had a purpose heading back to the coast and was meticulously planned from village to village through magnificent green Basque countryside. It’s yet another great job by On Foot in finding and mapping the route and also the charming small hotels and village houses each night.

On Foot are for us consistently the best walking holiday company with challenging routes with a sense of purpose, great places to stay of an interesting variety and good places to eat. They reply promptly when setting up the holiday and working through available dates and the knowledgable staff are all hugely helpful and a pleasure to work with.

A wonderful self-guided 7 night walking holiday in the Basque Pyrenees expertly organised by On Foot Holidays. . We enjoyed the warm welcome of local accommodation each night. delicious meals and a wide variety of enchanting landscapes, including farmland, mountains and coastal paths and some beautiful villages. A local guide/contact, maps and excellent walking notes ensured we were always on track and enjoying each day to the full.

Our tour operator is On Foot Holidays UK. The On Foot Holidays team are amazing. Meticulously organised, professional trustworthy and always very helpful and friendly. We were provided with many helpful, relevant details before our walk and the walking route and accommodation provided was exceptional. We were most impressed with every part of the On Foot Holiday throughout our booking, before, during and after our holiday. Our experience highlights On Foot as an operator who genuinely cares about their customers, have a high regard for safety, who know and personally check their walking routes and holidays and have a genuine interest in the regions of the holidays that are offered. A very special company.

Six days' self-guided walking, from Ziga to San Sebastian, with an extra day in San Sebastian at the end. Some quite hard uphill stretches (it's the Pyrenees after all!), but we were always rewarded with fabulous views of the beautiful countryside of this region. Lovely accommodation, varying from smaller, family-run establishments to the luxury of the Hotel de Londres in San Sebastian. Very good food and wine throughout, and all travel connections and luggage transfers worked seamlessly. Another great trip through On Foot.

This was our seventh holiday with On Foot, and as ever their service was second to none. It's so refreshing these days to have phone calls answered straightaway by a real person, who knows who you are and which trip you're going on. Promised call-backs were made, and all emails answered promptly. The route notes for the walk were comprehensive, as was the other documentation for the trip (booking confirmation, transfer details, background information about the area visited). All onward travel and luggage transfers were fine, and the accommodation was all excellent. On Foot's local contact Aznar was also brilliant and can't be praised highly enough - he was so proactive, contacting us each evening with advice about restaurants, where to get packed lunches, weather updates etc.

We self organized a couple of days in Bilbao and then picked up the on-foot leg of our holiday which was 4 days walking and 4 nights in San-Sebastian to recover. Very well organised. Lots of good information before we went. Lovely walk and friendly accomodation. Particularly enjoyed the parador at Hondarribia. Weather a bit mixed but what we expected. Challenging walking on some days but we knew what to expect. Lovely to be in the hills without anybody else on 2 days. All arrangements went really smoothly including hotels, transfers and bag transfer. Nice to have restaurant bookings made ahead in the more remote locations. Lots of options on all the routes but we did the full route. Directions were great. Really enjoyed it and would do another walk. This was our first time on this kind of holiday although we have done trekking before in South America and Africa.

Very responsive and friendly service. Always really quick to answer any questions we had. Even when I was getting to grips with a Garmin Sat nav which I had never used before they helped me out with technical support and advice. The track routes for Garmin were accurate and helpful when we were in cloud. Everything worked exactly as expected and hoped for. Our in country contact (Aznar) was very helpful on WhatsApp and even added additional information in his messages on local customs and language which was really nice.