At midday, participants arrive at Bilbao airport where the local guide will welcome them with a few words in Basque, «ongi etorri,» which means «welcome» in this ancient language shared between the far northwest of Spain and the southwest of France.

We will visit the city of Bilbao, which was the largest industrial center in southern Europe during the industrial revolution and has successfully adapted to the service sector. It also offers an interesting visit for tourists, mainly represented by its famous Guggenheim Museum, which we will view from the outside as we stroll along the pleasant banks of the Bilbao Estuary.

We will leave Bilbao to head to the coast of Vizcaya, where we will follow the Cantabrian Sea in the Bay of Bizkaia, contemplating its steep cliffs, where the charismatic and famous hermitage of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe stands out.

After skirting the fishing village of Mundaka, we will enter the famous Urdaibai estuary in the Gernika River, which is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, where we will spend the night at the peaceful Angiz Hotel. During our journey, we may spot some interesting birds such as Yellow-legged Gull, Shag, Melodious Warbler, Firecrest, Short-toed treecreeper, or Peregrine Falcon.

We will spend a day of total immersion in the Reserve, starting the morning at the San Cristobal bird observatory, where marsh birds such as Dunlin or Spoonbill can be seen alongside aquatic birds such as Reed Warbler, Kingfisher or Whinchat.

After a pleasant coffee break, we will visit the Urdaibai Bird Center, where we will learn a lot about the importance of Urdaibai during the migration of birds from the Western Palearctic, and with luck we will be able to observe some interesting species such as Merlin and Common Snipe.

For lunch, we will go to the main plaza in Gernika, where we will sample the delicious traditional pintxos or Basque tapas, before visiting the Casa de Juntas de Gernika, the historic assembling house, the very most closely linked building to the Basque people. We will also see Pablo Picasso’s mural of the historically bombed city.

We will return to the hotel, but before enjoying its peaceful garden, we will taste a good local wine called Txakoli, which is homemade in the vicinity.

In the morning, we will leave the sea behind and head south towards the mountains of the Urkiola Natural Park, surrounded by steep limestone peaks where we can try to spot alpine birds such as Red and Yellow-billed Chough or Citril finch. This will undoubtedly be our first sight of Griffon Vulture that nest on the steep cliffs.

We will descend south to Vitoria, the capital of Álava, where we will find the Salburua urban wetland, undoubtedly the best place for bird watching in the whole of Euskadi, the name of the Basque Country in the Basque language, Euskera. In its wetlands, you can see the Great Reed Warbler, Little Bittern, Tufted duck, Iberian green Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, White Stork, Iberian Chiffchaff, Western Melodious Warbler, Booted Eagle, among other interesting birds, with good opportunities to photograph them too.

We continue the afternoon in the vicinity of our accommodation in the natural surroundings of Mendixur, another nearby wetland with good opportunities to observe the courtship of the Great Crested Grebe, before arriving at our second excellent accommodation at Mirador Ardea, where we will also have dinner.

In the morning, we will visit Valderejo Natural Park to look for birds of the countryside and pine forests, such as Ciril Bunting, Crossbill and Marsh tit. We will also be able to enjoy important plants such as Woodcock Orchid and Bee Orchid. This is one of the few areas in the Basque Country where traces of European Wild Cat and Iberian Wolf can still be seen on occasion.

At midday, we will visit the historic Salinas de Añana salt flats, where salt has been extracted using traditional methods continuously since pre-Roman times, dating back to when salt was the local currency. Black redstart is often around on the flats.

After lunch, we will continue to the famous Orduña Pass, where there are good opportunities to observe birds of prey and, of course, rock-dwelling birds such as the Griffon and Egyptian vulture, with the opportunity of seeing Black Woodpecker and others as Bullfinch, Yellowhammer, Montagu´s Harrier, Rock Bunting, Mistle Thrush, Peregrine Falcon, European Robin or Tawny Pipit. Later we will return to our pleasant accommodation.

From the center of Álava, we will head to the southernmost part of the Basque Country, bordering neighboring Rioja, where the continental Mediterranean climate favors the development of fine red wines. People have lived in these ancient lands since time immemorial, as evidenced by the dolmens that we will see along the way. This is a good place for Golden Eagle while soaring the steps and the sierras.

After crossing the Sierra de Cantabria, we will begin birdwatching at La Paul Pond, taking a pleasant circular route, where the star birds are undoubtedly the Bearded Reedling, Bee-eater, Golden Oriole, Nightingalen Night Heron and Purple Heron, birds typical of Mediterranean environments, which are certainly enriched by the presence of beautiful orchids and, of course, the song of the Common Nightingale.

We will then visit the neighboring Carravalseca lagoons, where we will look for the Garganey and, above all, Western Orphean Warbler near the vineyards of the Casa Primicia winery, which will kindly prepare a tasty barbecue for us with delicate local wine and excellent views of the mountains with a multitude of birds nearby as Serins.

After this exclusive meal, we will visit the underground cellars in the historic medieval village of La Guardia, where we will learn firsthand about the historical process of making this excellent wine. We will then return to the hotel after an unbeatable immersion in the land of Basque wine, surrounded by interesting birds.

Early in the morning, we will search for one of the winged jewels of Alava, Middle Spotted Woodpecker in Izki Natural Park, and then continue the morning in La Muela, a nearby rocky promontory where, with luck, we will be able to observe the Blue Rock Thrush and the Alpine Swift with a wish of a witness of the very only breeding pair of Bonelli´s eagle in the near sierras.

After a coffee, we will leave the province of Álava and enter neighboring Gipuzkoa, crossing the Urbasa Natural Park and its dense beech forests, where, with a little luck, we may spot some Nuthatch, Pied Flycatcher and Tree Pipits. We will forward our journey, approaching the Aralar Natural Park, another jewel of the Basque mountains, with eventual sights of Bearded Vulture, gradually making our way back to the coast. We will stay at the Jesuskoa hotel, where we will enjoy an excellent dinner and a well-deserved rest.

In the morning, we will visit the Basque Coast Geopark, where we will learn about the peculiarities of the geological process known as Flysch and, with luck, spot attractive birds such as Grasshopper Warbler and Wryneck.

We will have lunch in the picturesque fishing village of Zumaia, where we will visit the historic center and sample some of its delicious seafood pintxos.

In the afternoon, we will drive up to the nearby Pagoeta Natural Park to enjoy nature on the Agorregi water mills river trail, where we may see the White-Throated Dipper or the Honey buzzard. These water mills used charcoal produced in the nearby beech forests to smelt iron from the mountains, a mineral that has been closely linked to the history of the Basque people since ancient times.

Pagoeta stands as a symbol of the characteristic landscape of the Basque countryside, with large farmhouses scattered among the hills that can be glimpsed above the coast in an idyllic Basque traditional postcard view.

We will return for dinner to the pleasant hotel, where we will also have the opportunity to visit an artisan cheese factory that produces typical Basque cheese.

We start the morning in nearby Peñas de Aia to explore its forest surroundings a little before heading down to the natural border with neighboring France, which is separated by the Bidasoa River that ends at the sea, creating the Txingudi marshes, which offer good opportunities for bird watching, such as Osprey, Gray Plover, Curlew, and where rare migratory birds such as Roller sometimes appear, as it is a mandatory stopover for birds that avoid flying over the Pyrenees.

We will travel by van to neighboring Hondarribia, a historic fishing village that we will visit briefly before heading to the capital of Gipuzkoa and the so-called world capital of gastronomy, San Sebastian, an elegant city that has been a summer resort for many years and where we can also visit its historic center and port.

Back at the hotel, we will be able to summarize this interesting experience visiting and learning about the culture, gastronomy, and nature of the Basque Country.

Depending on the flight schedule, we may stop if we have time to briefly visit the protected Iñurritza Biotope on Zarautz beach, one of the few locations where the rare Little Ringed Plover nests in the Basque Country. After a short break, we will continue our journey to Bilbao airport, where tourists will fly back home.