Spain
Bilbao and San Sebastián sit barely an hour apart on the Basque coast of northern Spain, and together they make one of the most rewarding short trips in Europe.
Bilbao is the city that reinvented itself around a building: Frank Gehry’s titanium Guggenheim Museum, which opened in 1997 on the banks of the Nervión and turned a fading port into an art destination. Around it you find a newly expanded Fine Arts Museum, the cathedral of Basque football at San Mamés, a maritime museum in the old shipyards and, downstream, the Vizcaya Bridge, the world’s first transporter bridge and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. San Sebastián, or Donostia in Basque, is the elegant seaside sister, curled around the shell-shaped bay of La Concha, where the old town’s bars line their counters with pintxos and the funicular climbs Monte Igueldo for the view that ends up on every postcard. Between and beyond the two cities lie the hermitage of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe on its rock in the Bay of Biscay and the sculpture garden of Chillida Leku. This guide books the visits worth booking, from Guggenheim tickets and a guided pintxos crawl to a coastal day tour, flags the Monday and midweek closures, and matches you to the right hotel in either city, from the belle époque María Cristina to a value base near San Mamés.
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Frank Gehry’s titanium masterpiece on the Nervión, the building that put Bilbao on the map. Book a timed ticket or a guided tour, give the outside as much time as the galleries, and do not miss Richard Serra’s walk-through steel sculptures.
San Sebastián Pintxos Tour with Spanish Wines
The official San Sebastián tourism office’s guided pintxos crawl through the Old Town: eight pintxos and five wines from different Spanish appellations over three hours, in small groups, in English or Spanish. The best introduction to the city’s bar counters.
San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Bermeo, Mundaka and Gernika Day Tour from Bilbao
The hermitage on a rock in the Bay of Biscay, reached by a stone causeway and 241 steps, on a full-day guided coach tour from Bilbao that adds the fishing towns of Bermeo and Mundaka, Gernika and a txakoli tasting. Transport solved, scenery guaranteed.
Bilbao Museoa (Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao)
Bilbao’s great Fine Arts Museum, reopened in October 2026 after a Norman Foster extension that floats a glass gallery above the old buildings. Seven centuries of art, Basque masters, a new free atrium and free Tuesdays, ten minutes from the Guggenheim.
Frank Gehry’s titanium masterpiece on the Nervión, the building that put Bilbao on the map. Book a timed ticket or a guided tour, give the outside as much time as the galleries, and do not miss Richard Serra’s walk-through steel sculptures.
The official San Sebastián tourism office’s guided pintxos crawl through the Old Town: eight pintxos and five wines from different Spanish appellations over three hours, in small groups, in English or Spanish. The best introduction to the city’s bar counters.
The hermitage on a rock in the Bay of Biscay, reached by a stone causeway and 241 steps, on a full-day guided coach tour from Bilbao that adds the fishing towns of Bermeo and Mundaka, Gernika and a txakoli tasting. Transport solved, scenery guaranteed.
Bilbao’s great Fine Arts Museum, reopened in October 2026 after a Norman Foster extension that floats a glass gallery above the old buildings. Seven centuries of art, Basque masters, a new free atrium and free Tuesdays, ten minutes from the Guggenheim.
A behind-the-scenes tour of San Mamés, the cathedral of Basque football, and the museum of Athletic Club, the team famous for its tradition of Basque players. One of the best-rated experiences in Bilbao, with an audio guide.
Bilbao’s maritime museum in the old Euskalduna shipyard, with a dry dock full of historic boats, a giant red crane and the story of the river that made the city rich. A great-value visit next to San Mamés.
The world’s first transporter bridge, still carrying people and cars across the mouth of the Nervión in a hanging gondola since 1893. A UNESCO World Heritage Site: ride the gondola for small change or walk the high walkway for the views.
The classic San Sebastián view: ride the 1912 funicular up Monte Igueldo for the whole shell-shaped bay of La Concha below you, then stroll the promenade back along one of Europe’s most beautiful city beaches. Cheap, old-fashioned and unmissable.
The sculptor Eduardo Chillida’s own museum: monumental iron and stone works scattered across meadows and woodland around a restored sixteenth-century farmhouse, just outside San Sebastián. Book an entry ticket or a one-hour guided tour.
A 24-hour sightseeing bus ticket that loops San Sebastián’s bay, seafront and neighbourhoods and climbs to the top of Monte Igueldo, with an audio guide in many languages. Handy for a first overview; in November it runs from Friday to Sunday.
Hotels we would book ourselves, from splurges to good-value bases.
Centro, San Sebastián (by the Urumea river)
San Sebastián’s grande dame, a belle époque palace by the Urumea river that has welcomed royalty and film stars since 1912. Elegant rooms, a famous Dry Martini bar and fine dining, a few minutes from the old town and La Concha.
Rates on Expedia →La Concha seafront, San Sebastián
A classic nineteenth-century seafront hotel right on the promenade of La Concha, with sweeping bay views, 167 rooms renovated in 2020 and the old town a short stroll away. The best location in San Sebastián for beach lovers.
Rates on Expedia →Abando, museum quarter, Bilbao
A stylish four-star boutique hotel designed by the fashion designer Antonio Miró, on the Alameda de Mazarredo between the Guggenheim and the Fine Arts Museum. Fifty sleek rooms, a gym and sauna, massages and a photography collection.
Rates on Expedia →Casco Viejo (Old Town), Bilbao
A four-star design hotel in a restored 1924 building on the river in Bilbao’s old town, next to the La Merced bridge and the Ribera market, with soundproofed rooms, a gym, its own car park and a Martín Berasategui restaurant.
Rates on Expedia →Ensanche near San Mamés, Bilbao
A good-value three-star hotel in central Bilbao near San Mamés, about a kilometre from the Guggenheim, with a pintxos restaurant, a free 24-hour gym, parking in the building and some of the best accessible rooms in the city. Pet-friendly too.
Rates on Expedia →The practical primer for a first visit to the Basque Country’s two great cities: what to book ahead, Monday and midweek closures, getting between Bilbao and San Sebastián, reaching Gaztelugatxe without a car, and how to fit the Guggenheim, the pintxo bars and the coast into four or five days.
How to choose your base in Bilbao and San Sebastián, from a belle époque palace by the Urumea and a classic seafront hotel on La Concha to a design hotel between Bilbao’s museums, a riverside hotel in the Casco Viejo and a value three-star near San Mamés.
