- HOME
- GEORGINA HOWARD
- HOLIDAY TYPES
- Self-Guided/Guided Walking Weeks in the Basque Pyrenees
- Group Guided Walking Weeks in the Basque Pyrenees
- Spanish Language Immersion Weeks
- Creative Writing Retreats in the Pyrenees
- Walking the World War II COMET Line (one-day tour)
- The Total Basque Mountain Experience (one-day tour)
- Inmersion Total en Ingles en Los Pirineos
- ACCOMMODATION
- DATES & PRICES 2023/2024
- PRESS & REVIEWS
- CONTACT
Amazing Chalet in the Baztan Valley
Chalet Rental and B & B in the Spanish Pyrenees
A Home with a Human Heart
I feel so privileged to live in the Baztan Valley area. It really is such a beautiful part of the world. Yet the greater joy is to watch the expression on my guests' faces the moment that they walk in the door and behold the views. These views!
Our home, Iaulin Borda, is situated in an enchanted shepherd's hamlet in the Basque Pyrenees, surrounded by mountain villages and river valleys. Its unique situation high above the Bidasoa and Baztan Valleys makes the house ideal for walkers, offering them direct access to more than 10 circular walks - ALL of them starting and finishing - at the farmhouse door.
Guests can forget their carbon footprint the moment they arrive as there is absolutely NO NEED for a car all week.
House Rental or B & B
Iaulin Borda is open to guests for the following options:
- Full House Rental (6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, living room, kitchen, dining room, library and exclusive use of our amazing sunny terraces and landscaped gardens.) (See Airbnb)
- Bed & Breakfast (single / double en-suite rooms with communal access to fridge, dining room, library, sunny terraces and gardens). (See Airbnb)
- Total Immersion English Language Courses.
- Total Immersion Spanish Language Courses.
- Total Basque Mountain Experience Self-Guided / Guided Walking Weeks.
See Prices Below
Ituren - a Traditional Basque Village
Ituren is a traditional Basque village in the Pyrenees on the northern fringe of Navarre. It has a population of about 600 people spread between several small hamlets - of which ours, Ameztia, is the smallest and furthest of all! Despite its small size, Ituren still has a village shop, a chemists and a hairdressers as well as several bars and restaurants with charming outdoor terraces and gardens. In the summer the village square is full of children playing pelota and we all have our favourite places along the river for a swim! Ituren is linked by a delightful 10 km river walk to several other pretty Basque villages, Zubieta to the west and Elgorriaga and Doneztebe/Santesteban - our main market town - to the east. Our hamlet of Ameztia is 4km from Ituren plaza with numerous pretty walks into town. More on Ituren.
Georgina Howard
Experienced Writer, Teacher & Guide
Kaixo! As you will be a very welcome guest in my home, let me present myself. I arrived in the Basque Country by accident some 20 years ago in pursuit of a dream, and I never left. Until then I had worked in various countries as an English language teacher, journalist and cross-cultural facilitator and I am also a feature writer for the Sunday Times on Basque Culture. My teaching environments have oscillated between the Spanish embassy boardrooms in Copenhagen and the husky-drawn sledges of Greenland, where I trained the Inuit hunters as English-speaking guides. Teaching irregular verbs at -30 degrees has its challenges!
For the past 20 years I have lived in warmer climes running my company Pyrenean Experience Ltd which organises language, walking and cultural programmes in Ituren, Navarra. My dreams have come true and I now spend much of my time outdoors with my guests guiding them through the Basque Pyrenees and introducing them to the Basque culture and history. In the process, I have developed a fascination for the old smugglers' trails and the Comet (Comète) resistance network.
My first book on self-development was called 'Freedom to Choose' (Denmark 1997), followed by 'Breaking the Language Barrier' (England 2001) which was a rhapsody on language learning. My current manuscript - a travelogue/memoir - entitled 'Life on a Basque Mountain', has just been completed. published by Simon & Simon Ltd. The origins of Pyrenean Experience Ltd were inspired by both books, harnessing a restless spirit and love of adventure!
Prices 2022/23
Bed & Breakfast
Guests are lodged in either single/double en-suite bedrooms with access to our lounge, dining room, library and all our outdoor terraces and landscaped gardens. We offer a free tea, coffee and biscuits bar and guests are welcome to use our communal fridge. Maps for all the walks from the house are provided. Continental breakfast. Two nights minimum stay.
Prices: Single Room 90 euros per night. Double Room 110 euros per night.
Rental of Entire Farmhouse
Iaulin Borda has 5 double en-suite bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen and beautiful, private terraces and landscaped gardens. Maps of the walks are provided as well as a practical introduction to Ituren and the Basque Pyrenees:
Prices: Weekend (2 nights) 850 Euros. Week (7 nights) 2000 Euros.
Extra Services
Guided Walks, Village Tours, English or Spanish Lessons can sometimes be organised for guests renting the house or staying on a B & B basis (at extra cost). Bicycles can also be rented in the village.
Transport
A pick-up service or taxi can be organised from San Sebastian, Bilbao or Biarritz airport (at extra cost). There is also a local bus from Pamplona or San Sebastian to our nearby village of Doneztebe/Santesteban where we can pick up our guests and drive them to the house.