San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Basque Country, Spain

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is one of the most dramatic and beloved landmarks of the Basque coast — a craggy islet rising from the Bay of Biscay near the fishing town of Bermeo, crowned by a small hermitage and joined to the mainland by a slender, twisting stone bridge and stairway. Its Basque name means roughly “castle rock,” and a chapel has stood on the summit since the 10th or 11th century, dedicated to St John the Baptist; the present hermitage has been rebuilt many times after fires, storms and even pirate attacks over the centuries. Long a place of pilgrimage and legend for local people, it found sudden global fame when it appeared as Dragonstone, the ancestral island seat of House Targaryen, in Game of Thrones.

What to See

Reaching the hermitage is the whole experience. From the coast, a path leads down to the dramatic double-arched stone bridge, beyond which a stairway of 241 steps zig-zags steeply up the rock to the little church at the top — a climb of around twenty to thirty minutes, rewarded with tremendous views along the wild, cliff-lined coast and out over the sea. By tradition, visitors ring the hermitage bell three times and make a wish. The setting is magnificent in any weather, whether under blue skies or with Atlantic waves crashing against the rocks below, and the surrounding coastline, a protected biotope, is superb for walking and birdwatching. Just inland, the town of Bermeo and the nearby resort of Bakio, with its txakoli vineyards, make good bases.

How to Get There and Practical Information

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe lies on the Biscay coast between the towns of Bakio and Bermeo, about 35 kilometres north-east of Bilbao and roughly a 45-minute drive away. There are car parks near the top of the access path, though they fill quickly, and in the busy season a shuttle bus runs from Bakio; buses also connect from Bermeo and Bilbao, and many visitors come on organised day tours. From the car park it is already a walk of around twenty minutes downhill just to reach the bridge, before the climb up the steps — so allow a couple of hours in total and be prepared for a real, if short, uphill effort. Access is free, but to manage numbers a timed entry ticket (also free) is required at peak times and must be booked online in advance; wear sturdy shoes, bring water, and note that the exposed rock can be windy and the steps slippery when wet.