Stage 2: San Sebastián-Zarautz (22.2km)
Another marvellous stage running alongside the sea. Anyone so desiring can spend the night in Orio. On leaving San Sebastián, walkers are faced with a short but steep climb to the top of Mount Igeldo. This is followed by a gently rising stretch before a pretty path makes its way down to Orio. From here to Zarautz there are another two modest hills to climb, while the final descent offers delightful views of Zarautz and Getaria, with its ‘mouse’.
Outstanding in Orio is the layout of its Kale Nagusia, or main street, shaped by the coastal route which arrived from San Sebastian and led to the place where a boat would take pilgrims (who were decreed exempt from payment by royal order) to the other side of the estuary.
Zarautz, for its part, is home to the church of Santa María la Real with its tomb of an anonymous 15th-century pilgrim. In the old part of town the medieval way rises steeply between txakoli wine estates, until coming to the Santa Barbara hermitage, a spot offering extraordinary views of the coast.