Zumaia is where you go to look at time. On the cliffs just beside the town, at Itzurun beach, the sea has cut through layer after layer of tilted sedimentary rock known as flysch, thin bands of limestone and shale that stack up like the pages of a book and run into the water in long ridges. The rocks span a huge stretch of geological history, and geologists come from all over the world to study the layer that records the end of the Cretaceous, the period when the dinosaurs disappeared. That makes this one of the great natural clocks in Europe, and it is part of the Basque Coast Geopark.
The town itself, about nine thousand people, sits where the Urola river meets the sea, with a small harbour, a stone bridge and a promenade. It is also where the painter Ignacio Zuloaga had his house, now a museum, and the hermitage of San Telmo perches on the cliffs above the beach in a very cinematic way. The coastal pilgrim route of the Camino de Santiago passes through, so you will meet walkers with scallop shells on their packs.
The riding is classic Basque coast: narrow, wooded, undulating roads that climb out of one valley, drop into another and thread between small farms with their traditional stone houses. The corners are tight and frequent, the tarmac is generally good, and the green slopes around Getaria, a few kilometres up the coast, are planted with vines producing txakoli, a lightly sparkling, very dry white wine that goes beautifully with grilled fish. Getaria is also the birthplace of Juan Sebastián Elcano, who completed the first circumnavigation of the globe after Magellan died.
Zumaia is a proper town, so fuel, cafes and parking are easy. Go for a pintxo and a small glass of txakoli at one of the bars near the harbour, and if the tide is low, take the steps down to the beach and look at the rock layers up close. The weather can turn quickly from sun to drizzle, so carry a waterproof even when the sky looks innocent.