Spain

City travel guides

Bilbao Travel Guide

Bilbao is the largest city in the Basque Country, north of Spain, and the capital of the province of Biscay.
Once a city of industry and football, Bilbao has had an extraordinary transformation. The Nervión River’s banks are home to numerous business and factories, which during the industrial revolution brought heightened prosperity to the region.

A ship building centre is now an industrial/cultural feast for the eyes and senses.

The river Nervión divides the city decisively between the old and new. On the east are the narrow streets of the Old Town, the Casco Viejo, which centres around the Siete Calles district, full of bars and restaurants and near the old sights such as the vast, cathedral-like Mercado de la Ribera food market – the largest of its kind in Spain.

On the opposite side of the river you will find the city’s stunning modern "other half", which is a perfect contrast. It is here you will find the Guggenheim and other iconic buildings like the state of the art Palacio Euskalduna.

There is no doubt that Frank O. Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum provides a surreally beautiful physical and spiritual focus to Bilbao, but you would be immensely foolish to overlook the rest of this magical city. The Guggenheim provides your first taste of Bilbao, an enigmatic starter before the delights that stretch out from it.