I think it's no longer a secret for my friends (and some acquaintances) that I am a huge fan of the famous TV series "Game of Thrones". Since I was introduced to this series in 2014, I started to follow it religiously and I am beyond excited to watch the eighth season in April 2019 (but it's sad tho, it's the last season)!!

Apparently, living in Spain to study also gives me another advantage in traveling, especially if it's related to Game of Thrones; I am able to visit some of its filming locations! Spain is one of the countries that becomes the locations of those magnificent scenes. For example, the exotic Water Gardens of House Dorne, the majestic Dragonstone Castle of House Targaryen, and the beautiful Highgarden Castle of House Tyrell.

Thankfully I had the chance to visit those places this year, and it was one of the best moments I've had during my stay in Spain. I will describe more of my experience visiting those spots, but in this post I'd like to tell you the story of going to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, where the Dragonstone Castle took place.


San Juan de Gaztelugatxe (in Euskera; to spell: Gaztelugache) is located in the autonomous community of Spain called Basque Country (País Vasco). To be exact, it's located in small city called Bermeo in Biscay Province. It's also quite close to Bilbao, the capital city.

I'd say that it's so easy to access this site from Bilbao, since the public transportation system to visit each villages there (or in Spanish it's called pueblo) is already well-managed. From Bilbao, you have two options to visit San Juan de Gaztelugatxe by public transportation: Bilbao to Bakio (another pueblo near Bermeo) and Bilbao to Bermeo. I'll explain each of them since I used both routes; I went from Bilbao to Bakio first, then when I went back to Bilbao, I went from Bermeo.

Bilbao to Bakio
From Bilbao, the only bus stop to go to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is at Moyua Plaza (Barclays Bank). But remember, during winter and summer period, they have different schedule. I went there on Thursday 20th September, which was still included in the summer period. Take bus number:

A3517 (Saturday & Sunday)

A3518 (Monday-Saturday)
Summer period: 07.15 to 21.45 every 30 minutes
Winter period: 06.30 a 21.30 every hour; festival day: 08:00 a 22:00 every two hours
Price: €2,55/trip

*) Note:
Pre-summer: from Easter to 30th June, summer period is basically July & August
Post-summer: September & October, winter period is basically October to April

It took about 45 minutes to 1 hour to go to Bakio. By taking bus A3518 during the weekdays, I left the bus at the last bus stop "San Pelaio". From this place, I had to option to reach San Juan de Gaztelugatxe: hiking or taking 8-seats taxi (number A3524).

Hiking
I never expected that I'd go walking to that place! Actually it was out of my first plan, because I was going to take the 8 seats taxi. Since I had to wait longer for that (it operates every two hours), so I decided to walk to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe.


I did a few mistakes that day. Since I know the northern Spain is colder than the southern, I was assuming that the temperature would have been lower and the wind would have been stronger (since it's on the coastline). I brought my only leather jacket for my trip in Bilbao and San Sebastián, also 2 big bottles of water and lunch (which were extremely important) in a tote bag. So basically I brought 1 small sling bag, 1 tote bag, and a jacket. Apparently my prediction was totally wrong; the wind wasn't that strong and it was a very sunny day. I was overwhelmed by my own stuffs during the hike. So folks, next time you want to go hiking, please just bring necessary things *cried while heavily sweating*.

The route was pretty challenging for me, looking at the stuffs I carried. Even when I almost arrived at the parking lot of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe (yes, just the parking lot), a woman whom I encountered at the first point of hiking (she was jogging), she already went back! She nicely cheered me up by saying, "Ánimo!" and I only could reply, "Muchas gracias!" while sweating like crazy. I had to walk uphill and downhill... It was pretty rough.

Then I arrived near the hill, BUT, there're other options to go to the foot of the hill: the short route or the long route. The short route is only 1,5 km (around 15-20 minutes by walking) but it was extremely steep; I took this route and I really needed to step carefully. Even the other visitors had to walk slowly, since the route is also quite narrow.



What happened after passing the 1,5 km route? I hadn't reached the chapel yet! I had to walk a bit until I found the very first staircase to the San Juan de Gaztelugatxe hill. I decided to rest a little bit first in order to prepare my body (also my breath) because there were 241 staircases to reach the top. Yep, the famous staircases that you might have seen it in several photos, or when you see when Danaerys went to the Dragonstone Castle for the first time.


When I finally reached the top of the hill and see the chapel...

It. was. amazing!





The view, it was so captivating. I could see the curvy staircases to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe from above, and I was able to see other hills near the ocean. The blue color of the sea... I really love it!

Unfortunately, the chapel wasn't opened for public that day, but visitors were able to ring the bell outside for three times, after that they could make a wish —as the legend said—. I wasn't doing it, but I thought it was enough just to see other people did that. Up there, I ate my lunch then simply enjoyed everything I saw and I felt; the wind, the view, the bell ringing, and the ocean wave...

When I wanted to leave the chapel area, of course it was so much easier to go downstairs, but to go back to the main road, I had to walk uphill again. This time, I chose the long route instead, which took around 1 hour for me to pass the 2,4 km route—yeah, I walked so slow. During my return to the main road, I could see the chapel from another point of view.



8-Seats Taxi (A3524, Bakio-Gaztelugatxe-Bermeo)
To go back to Bilbao, it's basically almost the same with the route I took when I went to Bakio. This time, I didn't need to go back to Bakio, because as I mentioned before, there's a 8-seats taxi that was operated from Bermeo to Bakio and vice versa. I waited the taxi at the bus stop "Gaztelu Begi"; it's right in front of the other parking lot of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe and an information booth there, so it's very noticeable with a bus sign and you won't get lost when you search for it.

Getting a seat in the taxi was quite challenging, because it was a medium car and I had to "fight" with other 5 people to get the seats, since there're already 4 other passengers inside. Thankfully I was alone, when I thought there's no seat left, the front seat was available for one more person (see, the perks of traveling solo!). It only cost me €1,55 for that trip.

Ah, I almost forget, the taxi I took was going to Bermeo. During the trip to Bermeo, I talked to an old lady next to me. We spoke in Spanish, but she taught me a little bit Euskera. It was so interesting because Spanish (or here as Castellano) and Euskera are so different! By the way, this taxi is only available during weekdays, so on the weekend you should take the bus A3517 since it will directly pass the road close to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe.

At first the old lady asked me to go with her by train, but if I went by train, I had to change train at one spot and it would be not very effective for me. So from Bermeo, I waited for the bus number A3527 (Bilbao-Mungia-Bermeo) here to go back to Bilbao. The last stop in Bilbao was exactly the same when I took the bus A3518, which was located at Moyua Plaza (Barclays Bank).

Bilbao to Bermeo
It's basically almost the same with the route Bilbao-Bakio, but obviously you have to take another bus, which is the bus A3527 to Bermeo. From the exact same spot (last bus stop), you can take the 8-seats taxi A3524 to go to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, then you can leave at the bus stop "Gaztelu Begi". From Bilbao, the schedule during winter period is from 07.00 to 22.00 every hour and festival day from 09.00 to 21.00 every 2 hours. Meanwhile from Bermeo, the schedule for winter period is Monday-Saturday from 06.50 to 20.50 every hour and during festival day is at 08.05 to 20.05 every 2 hours.

To get more information about the bus schedule, hiking route, or any alternative route to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, please visit these websites:
Bizkaia Bus
Bilbao Tourism official website
Bermeo tourism website
Bakio tourism website

Overall, my trip to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe was beyond amusing! It might have been rough at the beginning, started from the falsely predicting the weather, unplanned hiking, until reaching the top of the hill, but they were such eye opening moments.

Not only that, I was finally able to enjoy the northern Spain, since it has significant differences with the southern Spain, especially in the terms of weather and ambiance. In the north, I mostly saw green landscapes and it has colder temperature, meanwhile around Jaén and Andalucía in general are olive trees and brown landscapes, also has warmer temperature (should I mention how crazy the temperature in Andalucía is during summer? But seriously, Andalucía has a very special spot in my heart).

Honestly I am not a big fan of hiking, but this once-in-a-lifetime experience had taught me so much new things; be prepared for anything that might surprise you during the trip, but remember, the memorable journey awaits you.

If you are fan of Game of Thrones (or not, it's okay!), you definitely can't miss this beautiful site. A little tip for you: please wear anything comfortable from head to toe, since you're gonna walk uphill and downhill A LOT to reach this place; there's no other way.

So, start planning, prepare yourself, and enjoy your trip!