Gaztelugatxe

Truly disappointed. I came here from Italy and this was one of the most exciting experiences I would have liked to have. I arrived at one of the entrances to Gaztelugatxe and the girl who worked there told me I needed to reserve a ticket for free to enter the path and that's so insane, why should I reserve a ticket to walk for a kilometer across a bridge? Nonetheless, there's was no way to reserve a ticket in ten days! I went there on 24th of August and all dates were full until 2nd of September. The girl told me that I had to hope that someone canceled their reservation to reserve a ticket for me but it's very unlikely: if no amount of money is asked to you to reserve a place, why should anyone cancel their reservation if you decide not to go there anymore? Plus, if you didn't pay any price for the reservation you're less motivated to go there, you have nothing to lose if you quit visiting this place. Actually, on the website it said the path was fully booked while on the bridge there were very few people, it didn't look like it was fully booked, there was surely place for other people without the ticket. The second star is due only to the incredible beauty of this place, but the company who runs the place should organize way better how to manage the entrances, because I feel too many people come back home disappointed as there were other tourists like us who were rejected at the entrance. That's not respectful towards all the people who drive/travel a lot to...

If you ate too much of the delicious food in the Basque country, this is a great hike to digest.

We were there in May before high season, so we avoided the mayhem of reserving free tickets that others reviewers have reported. Do take their advice in reserving in high season.

First, you need to go down a steep staircase to get to the bottom, walk about 20 minutes and then, start climbing up the big (241) staircase. Do not underestimate the effort, we saw old people having to be brought up in ambulance because they were too tired to get back up.

The view on top is fabulous in May. The greenery, flowers and clean ocean blue all come together here in a beautiful array of colours, nature at its best ! The 10th century church at the top is closed.

Reportedly, the staircase was highlighted in a Game of Thrones, however the castle was digitally added so there is no point on coming here just to see it, it does not exist.

About 2 hours for the whole tour, do not bother to order a drink at the restaurant on your way back, they really do not like tourists and service is rude. Avoid.

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Absolutely beautiful scenery. DON’T forget to book in advance, it’s free but you can’t enter without the QR-code. They allow you to enter up to 10 minutes before your reservation. Wear comfortable shoes and carry a water bottle with you as there won’t be any shops on site (nor bathrooms). There’s a small hike towards the actual islet but it’s doable. If you’re someone with knee issues or can’t walk up many stairs and slopes you can see the islet from a viewpoint that doesn’t require too much walking. There’s a parking spot nearby that costs 3.5€ and other ones for free but they’re further away. Paying for the parking is definitely worth it as you’d conserve your energy for the walk up and...