Bilbao City and Guggenheim

Bilbao isn't just any city. It's THE city. Its inhabitants, the Bilbainos, say so, adoring it above all else and affectionately calling it 'the capital of the world' or 'el botxo' (which means 'the hole'). That's Bilbao, a dynamic, playful, exciting, grandiose city that reinvented itself almost 30 years ago thanks to the opening of the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum.

Heading to el Botxo

We'll depart early for Bilbao via a classically Basque highway, the legendary A-8, characterized by its curves, tunnels, and viaducts, a 100% Basque Country experience. In just an hour, it will bring us to the gates of Bilbao, but we'll bypass the city to visit Getxo, a unique town with many attractions.

Unique in the World

One of these attractions is colossal, giant, and unique, a metal behemoth that has been bridging the two banks of the estuary for over 100 years. It's the Bizkaia Bridge, better known as the 'hanging bridge' by locals, a unique engineering marvel: it was the world's first transporter bridge with a metal structure and one of the few still providing an essential service to residents. We can climb to the top to stroll along its panoramic walkway. Yes, we'll do that. We'll go to the top.

There's an old joke about Bilbao that says Jesus Christ was so humble that even though he could’ve been born in the most beautiful city in the world (Bilbao), he was born in Bethlehem. When this joke became popular, Bilbao was anything but a beautiful city: an industrial mega-city with a perpetual curtain of smoke, cloudy skies, and a chocolate-colored estuary. Keep this image in mind because the Bilbao you're about to discover is radically different, a city reborn and reinvented in every way.

Old Town, New Pintxos

We'll explore Bilbao's Old Town, its oldest and tastiest neighborhood. This is where the main hot spots for traditional pintxos are found, its Plaza Nueva, a great assortment of unique traditional commerce in the city, and streets both classic and unique. The Siete Calles (Seven Streets) traverse Bilbao's old medieval skeleton, hence the narrow alleys through which, of course, we'll stroll.

Europe's Largest Market

The final touch to our stroll will be found at the Ribera Market, a sort of stranded ship by the estuary where Bilbainos have been buying the best gastronomic goods for centuries: vegetables from Basque orchards, meat, fish caught just hours before...The market also holds a Guinness World Record: it's Europe's largest covered market.

The Museum that Changed Everything

The Guggenheim Bilbao Museum is much more than a mere building: it's a locomotive that, in the 1990s, was able to move an entire city trying to adapt to new times after its industrial past. The place where the museum stands today was, 30 years ago, a loading dock filled with industrial warehouses, cranes, and containers. We'll thoroughly explore the building (and its surroundings), greet the Puppy dog, and discover the keys to its architecture and success.

A place as inspiring and avant-garde as the Guggenheim is capable of transforming everything it touches. The city's gastronomy is one of those things that the museum revitalized, motivating a whole generation of chefs to step out of their comfort zones and lead a gastronomic revolution that we'll experience with our palates.

Into the Titanium's Depths

There's no better dessert than delving into the depths of the Guggenheim, exploring all its nooks and crannies (no two rooms are alike), getting lost through Richard Serra's snake, or enjoying the current temporary exhibition. You will have free time to discover its great works and a few secrets, too.