BASQUE SPORTS

Unique experiences

BASQUE SPORTS

A JOURNEY TO THE ROOTS

Discover the Basque Country through its essence and ancient traditions: enjoying, feeling and trying out everything the roots of this land have to offer.

Gastronomy, monuments, shows and incredible landscapes make the Basque Country a region known all over the world. However, the real exclusivity of the Basque Country lies in its essence, in the beginning.

Through this journey through the past, present and future of the Basque Country, we want to show you how this region has been forged from elements such as stone and wood, the herri kirolak and an incomparable raw material.

Travel with us through the roots that have marked the Basque Country!

Prehistory and Middle Ages

You will travel through places that are difficult to reach by off-road vehicle so that you can admire the best views of the Basque Country. We have the necessary permits to reach places with restricted access.

You will have the opportunity to experience an ancestral sensation when blowing the horn in the Gorbea, one of the mountains from which the General Meetings of Bizkaia were announced in ancient times.

You will enjoy a walk with large herds of beef cattle, horses and large flocks of sheep, all of which are native to the Basque Country. With the company of our breeders and technicians, we will be able to access the expansive pastures that Gorbeia offers us and they will explain to us the importance of them.

They will explain to us the balance, coexistence and mutual convenience between the fauna and flora of the environment, just as our ancestors saw it, identifying Gorbeia, as a place of prosperity and future. We will take you by jeep to the Kurtzegan Menhir, Orozko (Gorbeia), so that you can witness this fact, enjoying a prehistoric legacy that endures. You will see many loose heads of native cattle, the result of the evolution of the first settlements that arrived in that place, identifying it as prosperous by means of the megalithic construction that you will be able to observe, in situ.

Lunch in the shade of an oak tree

After the walk, you will enjoy a lunch here called: HAMAIKETAKO

You will taste meats, sausages, cheeses, wines, bread and sweets selected by our reliable supplier, Autoktona.

All the products come from local producers and have a BASQUE LABEL OF QUALITY and NAME OF ORIGIN. Some of them have been awarded for their quality at a national and international level but all of them are part of Autoktona’s premium selection.

A cook will prepare this lunch live, explaining the peculiarities of each of the products you will try.

You will eat and drink products that are not found in the ordinary commercial channels but if there is something that you like in particular, you will have the option to get your favourite products.

This lunch will be given exclusively to your group and will be under the shade of an oak tree or under the porch of a 16th century chapel. It will depend on the weather, but we will take care of everything, you enjoy.

Stone and wood: creators of a lifestyle

You will walk along a path near Itxina, the largest karst massif in the Iberian Peninsula and second largest in Europe.

By stepping on, seeing and feeling this great limestone massif, you will understand the importance of this mineral for the construction of the first farmhouses, constructions that have lasted, after 500 years.

This ancestral quarrying work led to what we know today as the sport of stone lifting (harrijasotzea). This experience includes an exclusive live exhibition with the leading sportsmen and women in the Basque Country in this field.

After walking around Itzina, we will go to see the marvellous ancient beech forests of Gorbeialdea, the origin of another ancient trade carried out by the charcoal men.

The charcoal makers selected and cut down the beech trees in order to make charcoal that was then used in the forges, among others. The main task of the forges was to separate the iron ore from the slag by melting it down, once the material had been extracted from the large number of iron mines in different areas throughout the Basque Country. The trade of the coalman was essential to prosperity and from this came the sport of trunk cutting (aizkolaritza). This experience includes an exclusive live exhibition with the leading sportsmen and women in the Basque Country in this field.

Herri kirolak: the essence

Through Basque rural sport -herri kirolak-, thousand-year-old traditions and a rural way of life are reflected, building what is now known as the Basque Country. Current sports that emerged from ancient rural trades and that over time, derived from the competitiveness typical of the cultural idiosyncrasy, have become a symbol of identity.

We want to make you aware of the emergence of these sports and therefore, we will not be satisfied with a mere explanation. This experience includes a live show with top-level sportsmen and women, exclusively for your group.

We will show you two of Herri Kirolak’s best known disciplines: stone lifting, harrijasotzea, and log cutting, aizkolaritza.

YOU CAN EVEN TRY IT!

We want you to be a friend of the Basque Country. That is why we are bringing you to the most intimate corners of our home, which, after this experience, will also be yours.

Round trip from any hotel in Bilbao and surroundings

For more information, please write us an e-mail

Binoculars to enjoy the views

Off-road vehicles with special permits

Guide and driver per vehicle

Lunch and meal

Alternatives for allergy sufferers, vegans and vegetarians

ITINERARY

Hotel pick-up

Menhir of Kurtzegan. Gorbeia Natural Park

LUNCH (Hamaiketako)

Austigarmin. Gorbeia Natural Park

Itxina Massif

Gorbeialdea beech forests. Gorbeia Natural Park

Log cutting and stone lifting show

Return to the hotel

* In the case that for reasons beyond the control of Basque Sports we have to modify the itinerary, the content will be the same but in other locations in the Basque Country.
** The content of what has been described is of an informative nature, not contractual.
*** Those interested may consult the contract conditions and prices at aitor@basquesports.eus

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