Andy Symington - Bilbao & Basque Region

top things to do and see

Bilbaos Casco Viejo

Bilbaos compact historic centre slots into a bend in the Nervin River and is an enchanting series of narrow streets surrounding the citys Gothic cathedral. With characterful shops and a great food market, its a lively zone of commerce and tapas-hopping and the perfect introduction to Bilbao..

Museo Guggenheim

Frank Gehrys titanium masterpiece is an unforgettable sight and a powerful symbol of the regeneration of this industrial city and its formerly moribund riverbank area. Its a building to interact with, walking around it and appreciating its perspectives from different angles. Inside, impressive permanent installations are complemented by temporary exhibitions..

San Sebastin

The scalloped bay set between craggy headlands with golden sands and an island feature give San Sebastin the most postcard-perfect setting of all Spanish cities. Beyond the beaches is an intriguing history and a standout food culture: this is the place that reinvented tapas and made modern peninsular cuisine great..

Getaria and Lekeitio

Winding your way along the Basque coastline between Bilbao and San Sebastin is a thrill of character-packed fishing towns, top seafood, spritzy dry whites and some impressive beaches. Getaria and Lekeitio make particularly enticing stops, with picturesque, active fishing harbours and great coastal scenery..

Gernika

The town whose bombing by Nationalist forces in the Civil War inspired Picassos canvas of the same name and ushered in the era of civilian casualties is no sombre shrine. The spiritual heart of Basque nationalism, its a lively place with an excellent peace museum and lots to see in the surrounding area..

Laguardia

One of Spains most attractive small towns, hilltop Laguardia basks in the sun surrounded by grapevines that produce some of the best Rioja. It makes a superb base for wine tasting and exploring the region and has a winning medieval centre, with old wine-making cellars dug out under nearly every home..

Peine del Viento sculpture by Eduardo Chillido in San Sebastin

In an amazingly short time the dirty industrial city of Bilbao has successfully transformed itself into a buzzing cultural capital. The Guggenheim museum is the undoubted flagship of this triumphant progress, a sinuous fantasy of a building that will take your breath away. While the museum has led the turnaround, much of what is enjoyable about modern Bilbao was already there: bustling bar life, harmonious old and new architecture, a superb eating culture, and a tangible sense of pride in being a working city.

The Casco Viejo still evokes a cramped medieval past. Along its web of attractive streets, designer clothing stores occupy the ground floors where families perhaps once huddled behind the city walls. El Ensanche, the new town, has an elegant European feel to it with stately banks and classy shops lining the planned avenues. The riverbank is the most obvious beneficiary of Bilbaos leap into the 21st century: Calatravas eerily skeletal bridge, designer promenades and Gehrys exuberant Guggenheim bring art and architecture together and make the Ro Nervin the citys axis once more.