Gernika-San Kristobal through Urdaibai nature reserve 11 km

Nice hike in Gernika and the Urdaibai nature reserve, amidst salt marshes and along a tidal river. The hike ends at San Kristobal station where you can take a train back to Gernika. See https://www.euskotren.eus, the timetable for the E4 line Atxurri Bilbao – Bermeo. Trains go every half an hour. You can find plenty to eat and drink in Gernika and a few bars in San Kristobal. The hike starts at a free parking lot not far from the station, where you could also start if you arrive by public transport.
You walk from the parking lot towards the center of Gernika. You pass the Park Eriako Lorategiak and then a square amidst Escualas Publicas. On the square is a memorial for the Gernika bataillon. You climb the stairs and then arrive to the Gernika assembly hall. In the garden surrounding the assembly hall you can find a monument with the tree stump of the old Gernika tree. Below this tree, Basque lords came together and made decisions for a long time. A new tree has recently been planted behind the assembly hall. You leave the garden (not always open) and then cross the Parque de los Pueblos de Europa near the Iglesia Santa Maria and walk to the mural with a reproduction of Guernica, the famous painting of Picasso, describing the horrors of war. Gernika was bombed by the German Condor Legion on the request of Franco to Hitler in the Spanish Civil War. From here you walk towards the river Oka via the Foru Plaza. This tidal river flow through Gernika towards the Riá Mundaka, the estuary forming the heart of the Urdaibai nature reserve. You follow the road which later turns into a gravel path along the river past the football stadium and a wooden pedestrian bridge after 2.2 km. After about 4.6 km walking along the river, the straight river flows into an estuary with large meanders surrounded by salt marshes. A narrow path takes you to the railway. Parallel to the railway you walk close to the river to the old factory building and chimney close to Murueta. You keep to the right on a small path through the salt marshes. We discovered that the old path suddenly terminates at a fallen bridge. Instead you follow a newer path through the marsh past some dead trees back to the railway. You cross the unguarded railway, and follow a path inland through a small forest. You then follow smaller roads towards the main Gernika-Bermeo road, which you follow on a cycling/pedestrian path to San Kristobal for 800 m. In San Kristobal you walk to the station. Here you take a circular walk to a bird observation shelter on the edge of the salt marshes through grassland. I did this circular walk on a later day than the rest of the walk. The circular walk brings you back to the station. Hiking times Gernika center 0h25, along Riá Oka to Riá Mundaka 1h00, Along Riá Mundaka to railway crossing 0h25, Railway crossing to San Kristobal Station 0h30, Circular Walk at station to salt marsh 0h25.