A LITTLE BASQUE BORDER CITY WITH A BIG HISTORY! Colourful Streets, Local Discoveries, Spanish Charm & the Calm Before Our Epic Camino del Norte Adventure!
GENERAL IRÚN INFO
📍 LOCATION: Irún, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, northern Spain
🌍 BORDER: Situated beside the Bidasoa River, on the Spanish–French border
🏙️ CITY TYPE: Historic Basque border city and transport hub
🏛️ ANCIENT NAME: Oiasso – an important Roman settlement and port
📜 HISTORY: More than 2,000 years of history, including Roman trade and mining
🥾 KNOWN FOR: Starting point of the Camino del Norte
🏺 HISTORY LOVERS: Oiasso Roman Museum and Santa Elena Chapel
🍷 FOOD & DRINK: Basque pintxos, local cafés and regional cuisine
🚶 GETTING AROUND: Walkable city centre, local buses and rail connections
✈️ NEAREST AIRPORT: San Sebastián Airport (EAS), near Hondarribia
⏰ TIME NEEDED: 1–2 days for a relaxed city visit
🛏️ OUR STAY: 2 days before starting the Camino del Norte
LOCATION
🗺️ GOOGLE MAPS: View Irún on Google Maps
We flew in from Barcelona which was an easy and cheap flight into the SAN SEBASTIAN AIRPORT
Keep in mind that San Sebastian Airport is in IRUN (and not in San Sebastian!)
The location of Irun is right on the border of Spain and France, you walk across the bridge and youre in croissant land via foot!
Irun was a cold and 1 of the days, a wet place and we started to get used to walking in the rain
This is where we tested our wet weather gear and the feel of walking in the rain while on the camino
IRUN ~ The calm before the Camino! 😬
Tucked away in the corner of Spain right on the border of Spain and France is a lively border town
Irun has been an important crossing point between for a long time and its such a great location to explore both countries easily
The beautiful old bandstand in Plaza del Ensanche – bringing a little music and charm to Irun since 1903!
This is an old church and a religious convent – this beautiful building is in the architectural heritage protected list
This is traditional Basque architecture style and it makes this side of Spain so different from the rest!
As soon as you walk around you can tell straight away the difference in architecture and the styles and colours…
The green, dark brown and red balconies are so cute! I like the idea of the long communal balconies too!
The first initial detail I notice are the timber framing on each of the buildings, its so unique and shows the way the Basque created their buildings
They have slopping overhanging eaves which protect buildings from the regions frequent rain
Irun had a cool vibe to it, cool, distinct and clean and proper, I loved the painting on the side of this building which looks like a real scene!
The reason why Basque architecture looks so different from the rest of Spain is for a few reasons:
The North of Spain is much greener and wetter than the Mediterranean south, so they need buildings which can cope with rain
The Basque have always been different, they even have a different language “Euskara” which they speak in the North
There also is a mix of Spanish and French architectural influences, you really can see the difference and as you leave Irun, you dont see this style anymore
What was interesting was that as I explored, I saw different types of buildings as well, Medieval and elegant 19th c builds as well as modern Spanish styles
This is Iruns Library and cultural centre (ironic, as its got no culture to it lol)
The library’s full name is Biblioteca Municipal Carlos Blanco Aguinaga, named after an Irun-born writer and academic – opened in 2015 and a pretty unique place to explore!
Its beautifully built in stone in gothic and renaissance architectural influences
I particularly liked the church entrance, so extravagant! There really is a lot of history in this small border town
The many layers of history! I loved this scene as there is so much going on, with the different styles of architecture, walls that were knocked down, old gothic built on top of, its all very interesting here…
The supermarkets in Spain are some of my favourite!!
They have the freshest bread which tastes so amazing! & I love the selection of food and vegetables which are fresh and taste lovely
CAMINO PASSPORTS ~ AT THE READY!
Irun not the start of the Camino Del Norte, so we had to find a place to be able to get a Camino passport
I really loved getting to know this town and understanding the complexities of its location as well as its history
I recommend minimum 2 days here, especially if you are doing the Camino, its a good place to rest up and get supplies before heading off on your journey
JUN26
