Plans for all the family in Gipuzkoa
10 suggestions in the very best natural settings and cultural resources.
Although Gipuzkoa offers numerous resources, here I’ll just leave you a series of family plans to enjoy a great day out. They are intended for children, but they’ll also convince adults.
Natural resources combined with culture, which, unfortunately we don’t know about in many cases.
Topic Tolosa. The puppet museum.
A real pleasure for children, but it will take adults back to our childhood. Original and entertaining, bursting with colour and unusual effects. The mascot Mariona will welcome us at the reception area for the different rooms in the museum and we will go on a journey to the past and the present.
“The puppet is not just a doll, it’s a doll that comes alive. And who brings it to life? The passion of the person who moves it, and the passion of the person watching”.
Feel just like Indiana Jones for a day. Irugurutzeta mines in Irun.
Put your helmet on and go into the Irugurutzeta mines. A gallery packed with history as it was the Romans who began to work these mines. Seeing the colours that the mineral leaves on the gallery walls is a treat which children will really love. A wonderful way to appreciate the importance of Aiako Harria, the Peña de Aia, the first Basque mountain to come out of the sea.
The visit starts out from the Oiasso Museum, with all of the Roman presence in Irun, which is also worth visiting.
Come on board the Mater Museum and feel like a sailor. Pasaia.
The Mater, a tuna fishing boat turned into a museum, is also a classroom, and also aims to raise awareness among the public about the importance of cleaning up the sea. If you want to learn about the life our sailors lead, come on board the Mater; and if you want to set sail on the sea, help to clean the boat, or see the magnificent cliffs of Ulia and Jaizkibel, this is an adventure for you.
Lur Garden. Among flowers and more flowers. Oiartzun.
A little corner hidden away in Oiartzun turned into a natural orchard. Created by Lur Paisajistak after nine years of work. Walk around the mirror garden, the large leaf garden, the Jurassic garden…
I’m convinced that you will go round more than once. Just seeing our gallery will make you want to come here.
Making talos (cornflour pancakes) in Igartza. Beasain.
Igartza is the only complex of historical monuments in the Basque Country with a press, palace, ironworks, sawmill, chapel and an inn. And if that weren’t enough, it has the only press to have been turned into a museum in Europe. Its guided tour is one of the most highly recommendable in Gipuzkoa, as you’ll be in for more than a surprise.
It includes a talo workshop, that afterwards you will eat, which is fun for children and… adults.
Horse riding in the very best natural environment. Lazkaomendi.
The Aralar Mountain range and its unmistakeable Txindoki, meadows with sheep, cows and horses. An open landscape that, quite rightly, is where the Goddess Mari has her abode. Among the numerous activities that we can find in Goierri, horse riding will be a magnificent experience.
Very close to the Lazkaomendi hill and the Pipas outdoor bar, the hallmark of Donosti City, is the Lazkaomendi riding club. Zaldibia is horse country, so it will be something that we recommend that you do. There are also multi-adventure and horse-riding camp options.
Multi-adventure park in Larraitz. Abaltzisketa.
In Larraitz, Abaltzisketa, and once again at the foot of Txindoki, you’ll find the very best adventure park for children, adults, families, groups of friends…
Challenges and obstacles in various circuits that are more or less difficult. Ziplines, tubing...
Back to the past at the Lili Palace and Ekain Berri. Zestoa.
When you arrive at the Palace you must knock on the door three times and hand over some coins to Andre Madalen. This is the ritual that has to be performed come what may to visit this jewel of Basque Gothic architecture, the Lili palace. Guided tours with historical re-enactments in which Andre Madalen, the mistress of the house, will take you back to the past. She’s a bit bossy, so she may well ask you to set the table or make some compote, and for half an hour you’ll be her servants.
The visit to Zestoa can be rounded off with Ekain Berri, a replica of the cave that is now a World Heritage Site. At Ekain they organise some really entertaining activities for children and adults. For a few hours you’ll think you are in prehistoric times.
- Link: DONOSTI CITY VISIT TO LILI, EKAIN and ZESTOA.
- Web site link: LILIPALACE.
- Web site link: EKAIN BERRI.
San Sebastian Aquarium.
A San Sebastián classic that never goes wrong. A day out to see a great many coloured fish, the remains of the great whale and some incredible collections.
- Link: DONOSTI CITY AT THE AQUARIUM.
- Web site link: AQUARIUM
Visiting a cheese farm. Ondarre in segura.
Cheese is one of our gastronomic star products. At the Ondarre agrotourism cheese farm in Segura they’ll show you what life is like at the farmhouse, how the sheep are cared for and how cheese is made.
There are guided tours that are worth it, in a really beautiful rural setting.
