Since the ground outside most churches was level, few staircases needed to be built. Most had small and relatively insignificant stairs, adapted irregularly and asymmetrically to the requirements of the site, as is the case of the main entrance to the church in Eibar. Some, like the side stairs in Zegama, are quite steep and have no landings. They are enclosed with moulded walls instead of balustrades and adorned with large balls at the foot.

Only the most monumental buildings have notable staircases leading to them. The most striking is the one at the sanctuary in Loyola. Here, the great stairway leading from the church to the rest of the building was built with great care with a view to giving the sanctuary a grand entrance and elegantly solving the problem of the unequal height. It is almost entirely integrated into the doorway to which it clings and it occupies almost the full width. After thirteen steps the stairs open out into a wide landing, giving place on the sides to two other flights of seventeen stairs which narrow at the sides, while the front stairs continue upwards with the same dimensions. The outstanding feature of this approach is the play of straight and curved lines which combine in the low walls, banisters, benches and even in the paving, which deliberately follows the same rhythm, oddly augmented around the benches. The quality and refinement of the stonework in all the features is particularly impressive. One remarkable feature is that the balustrades are adaptedóin the Baroque styleóto the gradient of the ramps. This grand staircase substantially alters the external space, giving the doorway of the church a stage-like quality.

Another fine staircase can be seen in St. Mary's church in San Sebastian, which culminates in a wide platform, which lends a certain presence to the whole. The design is similar in Andoain, but in this case a smaller stairs leads to a large esplanade, surrounded by a wall with elegant vases on well-crafted pillars. The majestic monumental doorway of the church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Elgeta extends the entire width of the facade, narrowing at the top to fit into the large central arch of the structure. The same arrangement can be seen in the church in Errenteria.

In other churches, such as Nuestra Señora la Real in Azkoitia, the ends of the steps are rounded and the width gradually diminishes in perspective, thus increasing the sense of depth of the large niche of the facade and lending the doorway a great sense of the monumental. Original but more recent is the church of St. John the Baptist in Hernani, with one central stair and two side ones, and two circular extensions to the central platform with iron balustrades.

Neo-classical facades with their axial staircase have a strong urban feel to them, recalling the stairs leading to classical temples. There is a fine example of this in Mutriku.