Basque Country

The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain, on the Bay of Biscay along the French border. Its three provinces are Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia and Araba, and its main cities San Sebastián (Donostia in Basque), Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz, the seat of the regional government.

The region’s bar food has a name of its own: pintxos, small bites laid out on the counter, often on a slice of bread held by a toothpick. Basque cider and txakoli, a light white wine, go with them. In this guide, four operators run pintxo tours in San Sebastián, for 91 to 155 euros per adult and 2.5 to 3.5 hours.

Getting around

Bilbao airport is the largest in the region. Biarritz, across the French border, is closer to San Sebastián. Buses link Bilbao and San Sebastián, and the Euskotren network runs local trains between the Basque towns. Haro, in neighbouring La Rioja, can be reached from San Sebastián by road.

Txikiteo, the Basque Country's bar crawl

The regional tourism board explains the word: to txikitear is to go from bar to bar drinking small glasses of wine, txikitos, each one with a pintxo. Today it is a way of socialising rather than a meal, and it is the rhythm most pintxo tours follow in the old quarters of San Sebastián and Bilbao.

Cider houses and the cry of Txotx

In the traditional sagardotegi, or cider house, the menu is fixed: cod omelette, ribs and cheese, says the tourism board. During the cider season the cider is drunk straight from the barrel, released at the cry of Txotx!, and guests queue with their glass each time a barrel is opened.

• The Euskal Sagardoa designation covers cider made entirely from native apples that has passed a quality certification. Its association counts 48 cider houses carrying the label and more than 270 apple growers in Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia and Araba.

Trains between the Basque towns

Euskotren, the Basque Government's railway, sells tickets between towns that include Bilbao, Donostia-San Sebastián, Zarautz, Zumaia, Gernika-Lumo, Bermeo and Hendaia, the French border station, which puts the coastal fishing towns and the cider country within reach without a car.