Zarautz

Right now in Zarautz (as of October 2026)

• Donation hostel: The pilgrim hostel in the Ebro Etxea (60 places, July and August only) is listed by two hostel portals as permanently closed (as of August 2026). Don't count on it; count on the private hostels.

How long to stay?

An afternoon is enough. Zarautz is a beach resort, not a pilgrim town. After the stage from San Sebastián, which takes you over the hills of Igeldo and through Orio, you arrive in the early afternoon. That leaves time for a walk along the beach promenade, the church of Santa María la Real with its tower museum, and your feet in the Atlantic. Tomorrow morning Getaria is only five kilometres away, and that is where a longer stop pays off.

Zarautz in Ninja numbers

• 21.5 kilometres from San Sebastián to here, with 787 metres of ascent. For a stage by the sea, that is a lot.
• 803.6 kilometres still lie between you and Santiago on the Camino del Norte. Almost all of it is still ahead.
• Around 2,500 metres long is the beach, the largest sandy beach in Gipuzkoa.
• Three levels of graves lie beneath the church tower, from the 9th to the 14th century.
• 5.1 kilometres to Getaria tomorrow.

Arriving: from the hill to the sand

The day from San Sebastián is a constant up and down. The highest point is 313 metres above Igeldo, then the path drops to Orio at the mouth of the Oria. The last 5.6 kilometres to Zarautz are gentler: over one hill with 164 metres of ascent and down to the bay. The town lies flat behind the long beach; the church and the old tower stand at the western end, close to the water.

In brief: a fishing town becomes a resort

Zarautz received its town charter at the beginning of the 13th century under Ferdinand III of Castile. For a long time it lived from fishing. Older still is the chapel of San Pedro de Elcano from the 14th century, considered the town's first parish church. At the end of the 15th century the Gothic church of Santa María la Real was built, in 1536 the palace of the Narros family right on the beach. In the 19th century Queen Isabella II spent several summers in the Palacio de Narros. Since then Zarautz has been a beach resort, and today the surfers wait in the middle of the beach.

Between tower and beach: what to see

Everything important lies at the western end of the beach, a few minutes' walk apart.

• Santa María la Real: The Gothic church dates from the end of the 15th century; the side chapels were added in the 16th. The high altar of 1560 is the work of Andrés and Juan de Araoz. For you, it is the church where you can fall silent at the end of a beach stage. We have not found mass times.
• Museo de Arte e Historia in the bell tower: The tower is the oldest building in Zarautz. Beneath it a medieval necropolis was excavated, with graves on three levels from the 9th to 10th, the 11th to 12th and the 13th to 14th centuries. Here lie people who lived in this town when the first pilgrims walked along the coast. The museum is closed from 1 January to 14 February; we have not checked other opening hours.
• Torre Luzea: A Gothic tower house from the 15th century, once a watchtower. You see it as you walk through town.
• Palacio de Narros: The palace of 1536 stands on the beach promenade opposite the church. Above the doorway is written "Zarauz antes que Zarauz", Zarautz before Zarautz: the family was older than the town, the inscription says. It is private; you see it from outside.
• The beach: Around 2,500 metres of sand, the surfers in the middle. If you are going to take your boots off, this is the place.

Honestly

• No cheap pilgrim hostel. The donation hostel is listed as closed, and even when it was open it only ran in July and August. You sleep in private hostels from just under €30 (as of October 2026).
• Expensive in summer. Zarautz is a popular beach resort. In July and August beds are scarce and prices high.
• Few pilgrim traces. There is no church of Saint James or pilgrim monument here. The town belongs to the bathers.

Where pilgrims sleep

There is currently no public or donation hostel: the hostel in the Ebro Etxea on Calle Zumalakarregi, which the Saint James association of Gipuzkoa ran in summer with 60 places, is listed as permanently closed. Instead there are several private hostels with dormitories. The Hego Haize Albergue Hostel charges from €29 for a dorm bed, the Blai Blai Hostel from €35 (as of October 2026). There are also surf hostels and the large campsite above the town, which also offers rooms. Booking ahead makes sense in summer.

Ninja tips

• Take the hill tomorrow, not the road. After Zarautz you can walk to Getaria on the promenade beside the main road or over the chapel of Santa Bárbara. The hill costs ascent, but you get a view that pilgrims there describe as unmatched.
• Go back to the western end of the beach after dinner. From there you can already see Getaria on its headland, your first goal in the morning.

Practical tips for pilgrims

• Tourist office: Nafarroa Kalea 3, phone 943 830 990. In summer there is also an office on the beach promenade.
• Connections: Buses run to Bilbao, Irún and Pamplona, among others, in case you need to skip a day.

Onward: through the vineyards to Getaria

After Zarautz you can choose between the promenade by the sea and the path over the hill. The DB route climbs to 179 metres through the Txakoli vineyards and then drops to Getaria: 5.1 kilometres with 213 metres of ascent. After that it continues via Askizu to Zumaia (km 103.1) and on via Itziar to Deba. Deba is 22.9 kilometres from here.

What awaits you tomorrow

Getaria, after a good hour: a fishing town on a headland, at the end of which lies a rock they call "the mouse". Getaria is the birthplace of the man who first sailed around the world. And the church stands so crookedly on the rock that you feel it in your legs as you walk in.

Deep dive: A beach before Zarautz

A short read, in case you want to learn more about Zarautz. About three minutes' reading.

Beneath the tower

The oldest building in Zarautz is the bell tower beside the church of Santa María la Real. When people dug beneath and around it, they found graves. They lie in three layers, one above the other. The lowest date from the ninth and tenth centuries, the middle ones from the eleventh and twelfth, the uppermost from the thirteenth and fourteenth. For five hundred years the people of this town buried their dead in the same place. Today the tower houses a museum of art and history.

Zarautz before Zarautz

The church itself is younger. It was built at the end of the fifteenth century in the Gothic style and extended with side chapels in the sixteenth. Its high altar dates from 1560. Opposite, right on the beach, the Narros family built their palace in 1536. Above the door they had a proud sentence carved: Zarautz before Zarautz. It means that the family was here before the town existed. Whether that is true is hard to say. The sentence is still there.

The queen by the sea

In the nineteenth century Queen Isabella the Second came several times to spend the summer in the Narros palace. With her came the bathing season. The fishing town became a place where people go on holiday. Today the beach, around two and a half kilometres long, is the largest sandy beach in the province of Gipuzkoa, and in the middle of it the surfers wait for the wave.

What Zarautz gives you

You have only been walking for a few days, and Santiago is still more than eight hundred kilometres away. Zarautz is not a place for pilgrims, and perhaps that is its gift: here other people are on holiday while you walk. Beneath the tower lie those who stayed. On the beach lie those who will soon leave again. Tomorrow you walk on, along the coast, day after day to the west.