Getaways from Vitoria-Gasteiz: day trips and destinations close by.

South over the Herrera pass, north along the AP-1

Vitoria is in the middle of almost everything, and each exit leads to a different landscape. To the south, the A-2124 crosses the Sierra de Cantabria over the Herrera pass and drops in about 45 minutes to Laguardia and the Rioja Alavesa; you can also get there along the motorway towards Logroño. To the south-west, the A-1 leads to Miranda de Ebro, with Haro a step away, and continues to Burgos, the gateway to Atapuerca and Covarrubias and Silos. San Millán de la Cogolla is in the same direction, further south.

To the north, the AP-1 climbs to Eibar and joins the AP-8: to the east, Getaria and Zarautz; to the west, Bilbao, Urdaibai and the Cantabrian coast as far as Santoña and Laredo. The N-I via Etxegarate and Tolosa drops to San Sebastián, Hondarribia and the French Basque Coast. To the east, the Barranca motorway leads to Pamplona and, from there to the south, Olite.

Without a car, wine is the easiest. Álava Bus line 9 links Vitoria, Laguardia and Logroño with about ten departures a day, also at weekends, and line 12 goes to Haro. For the coast, Burgos or Navarre a car is best.

Haro and Laguardia, at 40 and 45 minutes

Under an hour is La Rioja: Haro, at 40 minutes, with the wineries of the Barrio de la Estación and the walk to Briñas, and Laguardia, at 45, with its cellars beneath the streets and Marqués de Riscal. To sleep inside the walls there is the Rioja Alavesa in a night.

The fan opens in every direction between one and one and a half hours: Gaztelugatxe and Mundaka (65 minutes), Getaria (70), San Millán and the Yuso monastery (75), Santoña and Hondarribia (85) and Burgos (88). Two have an overnight version: Urdaibai with the estuary by canoe and Burgos and Atapuerca, with the cathedral on Saturday and the Trinchera on Sunday.

Between an hour and a half and two hours the day calls for an early start: Olite, at 95 minutes; Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Biarritz and La Rhune, at 97; the Atapuerca sites, at 105; Covarrubias and Silos, at 115, and Cabárceno, at two hours. Here a night is welcome: the French Basque Coast in two nights, Covarrubias and Silos with vespers or Santoña and Laredo.

The trip is a weekend one from two hours: Santillana and Comillas and Aguilar de Campoo with its bison, at 2 h 25; the Laguna Negra and Urbión, at 2 h 40; Llanes, at almost three; Ordesa from Torla, at three and a half, and the oysters of Arcachon, at 3 h 37.

Burgos and the monasteries for cold Sundays

In winter the cities and monasteries work. Burgos, with the cathedral and the castle, suits any Sunday; Olite has one of its best months in November, and from November to March, when the La Rhune train is not running, there is the winter Sunday at Ainhoa, Espelette and Abbadia. In January there are no visits to the Atapuerca sites.

In spring, the green countryside of the Rioja Alavesa and the Sunday in San Millán de la Cogolla, with Yuso, a Najerilla winery and Cañas. From May the high season for Urdaibai begins.

In summer it is best to go up or to the sea. June is the best month for the Laguna Negra and for Ordesa's Cola de Caballo; in July and August Getaria and Zarautz beach work, and in Laguardia the walk is done early.

Autumn is Vitoria's season. In September and October, with the grape harvest, Haro and Laguardia are at their best, and the vineyards change colour. They are also good months for Olite, Covarrubias and Silos, and the Laguna Negra.

The Abbey Tower and a winery beneath the streets of Laguardia

• Without a car, in a day: Sunday in Laguardia. Álava Bus to tour the town inside its wall, climb the Abbey Tower, go down to a winery dug beneath the streets and taste at Marqués de Riscal.
• By car, in a day: Sunday at Atapuerca. An hour and three quarters along the A-1 for the first guided visit to the Trinchera del Ferrocarril, booked beforehand by phone, and the Museum of Human Evolution before it closes at 15:00.
• With one night: Urdaibai, from the estuary to Gaztelugatxe. An hour away, to paddle down the estuary by canoe to Laida, see Gernika and climb to Gaztelugatxe before anyone else.

With children, the family Sunday at Atapuerca combines the Olmos mine by boat and the CAREX fire.