Oñate and surroundings

Gipuzkoa is an historical territory with a shoreline filled with towns that catch the visitor’s eye, but, as we’ve said already in the past, the valleys on the inside of the region are also rich in history and culture. Today, we suggest you an ideal plan to discover some of the inland areas of our province, which you can see by car in just one day.

We start our trip in Oñate (officially, Oñati), which in the past was a prosperous town, with a duchy, that was not a part of Gipuzkoa until 1845. Due to this curious history Oñati still holds a popular character, which is intertwined with an incredibly beautiful landscape, as the village is located in the deep end of a valley surrounded by mounts that go up to 1000 metres, where several little rivers are born that die in the Oñate river (tributary of the Deva river).

At Oñati, thanks to its illustrious past, you can find several architectonic styles, like at the Zumeltzegi Tower-House (a gothic house inside a tower built between the XIII and XIV century and transformed nowadays into a hotel), the Lazarraga Tower-Palace (a very worked on gothic building with beautiful gardens) or the San Miguel Well (built around the XV century and turned nowadays into a museum). But, of course, the crown jewel is the University of Oñate, which we have already discussed, the first university in the Basque Country.

And if the crown jewel is the university, Aranzazu’s Sanctuary is the crown itself. Located really close to the University of Oñate, it is unforgivable not to visit for a long time this beauty of the religious Basque Country while visiting this village. And once you’ve visited this sanctuary for as long as you need, you can’t miss the several ciderhouses that are located around it.

Because not everything in this life is visiting beautiful buildings, you can also give yourself a treat, and at Oñate you can find an amazing gastronomic offer at very reasonable prices! From grill houses to restaurants with “worker’s menu”, as well as more modern establishments. And if you have a sweet tooth, you can always visit the Museum of Chocolate, “Txokolateixia”.

As you can see, you have a busy and ideal trip to get out of San Sebastian if we don’t have a great weather, you don’t want to be lost in the crowd or you just want to do something different.