Pilgrims on the road and friends along the way send me changes every day, and they go out the same day. The Camino del Norte app carries all of it offline, and it's still being built — new features arrive routinely.
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The ground behind you: what the walk into Zarautz crosses, and where it could have been broken.
Tomorrow from Zarautz
Nothing says you have to stop here, or there. These are simply the towns within a comfortable day's walk, so you can decide tonight.
| Town | km from here | Shared | Private | The walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Getaria | 5.2 | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | |
| Askizu | 7.0 | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | |
| Zumaia | 9.9 | — No | ✓ Yes | The walk from Zarautz to Zumaia |
| Itziar | 19.1 | — No | ✓ Yes | The walk from Zarautz to Itziar |
| Deba | 22.9 | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | The walk from Zarautz to Deba |
| Ibiri Auzoa | 27.8 | ✓ Yes | — No | The walk from Zarautz to Ibiri Auzoa |
Zarautz has the longest beach in the Basque Country — 2.5 km of sand stretching the full length of town. In summer it fills with surfers; the consistent waves have drawn them since the 1960s, and several international competitions are held here annually. Outside surfing season, the beach is your promenade into and out of town.
The old quarter sits back from the waterfront. The Iglesia de Santa María la Real is a 15th-century Gothic church with an imposing bell tower 50 meters high — one of the town's oldest buildings. Adjacent is the Torre de los Zarautz, which serves as both bell tower and the Museum of Art and History. Inside the church, a tomb marks an unknown pilgrim who, realizing he was too ill to reach Santiago, requested burial here — a quiet reminder of the route's deeper history.
The beach palaces that once lined the promenade are gone, replaced by apartment blocks, but Zarautz retains its reputation as a food town. The surrounding hills produce txakoli, and the restaurants serve as a good introduction to the serious pintxo culture that intensifies as you continue west.
Zarautz is a popular event town and plays host to several surfing competitions and bike races throughout the summer. Both can put a crunch on the number of beds available.
January: San Sebastián on the 20th, as well as a few wine celebrations throughout the month. February: Santa Águeda, patroness of the Basque Country, on the 4th. The town also celebrates Carnaval. May: Santa Marina is celebrated on the 21st. June: San Pelayo from the 25th to the 27th. July: Santiago on the 25th. August: Santa Clara on the 12th, and La Virgen from the 14th to the 16th. September: Semana Vasca, or Basque Week, from the 1st to the 9th.
Zarautz was a whaling town long before it became a surf town. From the 13th to 16th centuries, its men hunted whales in the Bay of Biscay, processing oil, meat, and baleen that sustained the local economy. When the whales disappeared, the town turned to other fishing. In the 19th century, the bourgeoisie discovered the beach and built summer palaces along the promenade, establishing Zarautz as a resort — a role it still plays, now with wetsuits instead of parasols.
The marked way through Zarautz is along the Nafarroa Kalea, about two blocks from the waterfront and parallel to it. As an alternate, you can turn right towards the beach and follow it to the end of town.
Leaving Zarautz can be a confusing affair and the local information office doesn’t do much to clarify matters.
There are two options out of town:
Option 1: The Official Camino to upper Getaria - 5.2
The official camino through the hillside; this option also splits so read ahead to find out more. At the end of the beach or road turn left (south, away from the sea) onto San Inazio Kalea. Keep to the right-hand side and continue a short distance, keeping an eye out for the small road that ramps up to the right and nearly parallel to San Inazio. That road is the one you want, and it will take you upwards.
Near the top, there are signs for the Ermita de Santa Barbara (and an excellent view back east). Not far from the Ermita the camino leaves the road along a path to the right which offers views of the sea. A short distance down this trail the camino joins a different paved road and quickly arrives at a junction. At this point, you have the option of bypassing Getaria entirely. Keep straight for Getaria, or turn sharply left to follow the GR-121. This second option rejoins the first slightly beyond Askizu.
Option 2: The road to lower Getaria - 4.1
The alternate road route along the N-634 coastal road to Getaria. At the end of the Nafarroa Kalea or the end of the beach, turn right and follow the pedestrian path adjacent to the road as it hugs the coastline all the way to Getaria. Simple and straightforward.
5. August 2026 - 8:26
Very hard to enter as they give a keypad number for entry door and bedroom door on reservation email. No staff on premises. Keypads very difficult to use. Not user friendly in anyway. Only for the help of others couldn’t have entered. CTV cameras in kitchen area, but no staff presence….strange? Zero proper air conditioning (feeble rotator fan) which meant our room of six roasted through the August night of the 4th.
But all part of the Camino experience and another sweet sweet Basque town
20. July 2025 - 21:59
For those who have a tent, you can also go to Talai Mendi Kanpina for less than 10€ a night
16. June 2025 - 20:30
Fabulous pensión just a block off the beach and directly across from cathedral. Woman who checked us in was incredibly helpful. Definitely take her recommendations of places to eat. We did. Best meal of our entire trip at Telesforo. Absolutely delicious. Would stay here again. Be sure to take a moment to put your feet in the sand and in the water. Absolutely beautiful. So refreshing after a long day on the trail.
8. June 2024 - 16:30
This town was booked and we finally found rooms to share at Txiki Polit. It was clean and comfortable.
7. May 2024 - 2:30
Beautiful hostel, bit more pricey but the dorms are small (we were four in a five-bedroom dorm), the bathrooms are modern and clean, nice kitchen on each floor, laundry line. Very nice and helpful host. Would recommend!
5. May 2024 - 20:40
A well made bed with a duvet in a big tent de luxe...for 18E, great view on the sea..., the place to be !
21. April 2024 - 18:28
No cheap accommodation available after noon, I carried on to Askizu
10. August 2023 - 14:25
how does an official end-of-stage city not have a municipal albergue?! the accommodation challenges on this first bit of the camino is really discouraging
23. September 2022 - 20:00
Municipal albergue is still closed in Sept 22, so book ahead into a hostel. Blai Blai hostel is cheapest although still pricey at roughly 30 euro. Was fully booked before opening on the day I came, they had to turn everyone else away.
28. April 2022 - 21:30
Blai blai hostel is real good. Above the hostel is a supermarket. No kitchenette available, only microwave.
28. April 2022 - 21:30
Blai blai hostel is real good. Above the hostel is a supermarket. No kitchenette available, only microwave.
27. April 2022 - 8:45
31. March 2022 - 16:26
We went in late March 2022 and BlaiBlai was one of the few places available but it seemed to have good capacity so not essential to book ahead.
31. March 2022 - 16:26
We went in late March 2022 and BlaiBlai was one of the few places available but it seemed to have good capacity so not essential to book ahead.
3. July 2021 - 21:43
Advised to reserve a place ahead, we arrived at 3pm but all albergues and hostels were full.
2. September 2019 - 22:03
Highly recommend to take option 1. It was quite peacefull.
The signing is a little bit difficult to catch, since there is a road/house construction going on right now. I had good use of the map in this app, and had no problems.
14. July 2019 - 22:04
Nice little town! Fox
Esta entidad ha sido beneficiaria de una ayuda del Programa de incentivos a la movilidad eficiente y sostenible (MOVES III), gestionado por la Xunta de Galicia a través del Instituto Enerxético de Galicia (INEGA) en el marco del Real Decreto 266/2021, y cofinanciada por la Unión Europea — NextGenerationEU, dentro del Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia.
