Things to Do in Basque Country, Spain

Quick facts: A striking titanium-clad structure curves along the Nervión River, designed to resemble a ship. Over 1.2 million annual guests explore a collection that challenges traditional art formats.

Highlights: An iconic giant spider sculpture, 'Maman' by Louise Bourgeois, greets visitors with its 9-meter height and 26-foot leg span. Sometimes, lively temporary exhibitions feature immersive digital art that floods galleries with color and sound.

Quick facts: La Concha Beach stretches nearly 1.5 kilometers along a natural bay with fine golden sand and calm waters. The bay’s protective shell shape creates gentle waves ideal for swimming and paddleboarding.

Highlights: A unique iron sculpture embedded in the sand, called 'The Comb of the Wind', interacts with sea breezes, producing haunting soundscapes visitors say are almost magical. At low tide, the beach reveals a hidden stretch of smooth rock pools where small marine life thrives, perfect for curious explorers.

Quick facts: A 123-meter hill overlooking the sea has served as a strategic lookout for centuries. Sculptures and walls from past wars remain along its paths, preserved like an open-air history book.

Highlights: Jaw-dropping panoramic views stretch across the Bay of Biscay and the old city rooftops, making the climb incredibly rewarding. Visitors can explore a hidden WWII bunker tucked beneath century-old oak trees, offering a sensory step back in time.

Quick facts: Housed in a former 16th-century Dominican convent, the museum merges medieval architecture with contemporary design. Over 15,000 art pieces explore Basque history, culture, and daily life.

Highlights: Visitors can wander through a glass-covered atrium where a suspended ship anchors the historic atmosphere. The museum's collection includes a stunning 17th-century polychrome wooden altarpiece that few expect to find here.

Quick facts: Strolling across the plaza, you'll notice its unique octagonal shape surrounded by traditional Basque arcades filled with cafes and shops. The plaza has hosted theatrical performances and bullfights, reflecting the region's cultural mix through centuries.

Highlights: A noticeable feature is the wrought iron balustrades framing the balconies, each Portal representing a different trade guild from the 18th century, offering a glimpse into the city’s merchant past. The central fountain with the statue of Encina celebrates the city’s olive tree heritage, an unusual symbol in Basque plazas.

Quick facts: The area contains over 150 narrow streets filled with more than 60 bars serving pintxos, the local Basque tapas. Visitors often encounter historical buildings alongside lively plazas where locals gather for traditional festivals.

Highlights: An ancient market, still running after centuries, lets you taste over 200 varieties of Basque cheeses and more than 100 kinds of local cider. The street art here includes giant murals telling stories of Basque culture, with some pieces measuring over 10 meters tall.

Quick facts: Over 15,000 marine creatures populate the exhibits, highlighting both local Cantabrian Sea life and tropical species. Visitors can walk through a 360-degree underwater tunnel surrounded by sharks and rays, offering a close-up marine adventure.

Highlights: The aquarium features a massive 2.5 million-liter tank that simulates the Cantabrian Sea, home to schools of anchovies and the mysterious anglerfish glowing in deep water. A lesser-known feature is the touch pool where guests can feel starfish and sea urchins, connecting physically with marine biodiversity.

Quick facts: A sharp limestone peak piercing 1,346 meters into the sky attracts hikers from all over the Basque Country. Local legends speak of Txindoki as a gateway between Basque myth and nature's raw beauty.

Highlights: The jagged silhouette of Txindoki stands out against the green valleys, especially breathtaking when alpenglow paints the peak in fiery oranges at sunset. Climbers often share the unique thrill of reaching its summit’s narrow ridge, where panoramic views stretch across Biscay’s rolling hills and distant sea.

Quick facts: Over 1,000 students from more than 50 countries study here, blending culinary art with science and innovation. The center collaborates with top chefs to develop new techniques and sustainable food practices.

Highlights: The center houses a working kitchen lab that looks more like a high-tech lab than a traditional kitchen, complete with digital ovens and sensory analysis tools. Visitors can see chefs and researchers experimenting with molecular gastronomy in real time.

Quick facts: Forty-three columns hold up the old wine warehouse, and the rooftop pool filters daylight down through a glass floor into the atrium below. The building served as a 1910s wine depot, took heavy damage during the Spanish Civil War, and reopened in 2010 with cinemas, a library, gym, and eateries.

Highlights: Swim laps on the roof and watch sunbathers through the glass floor beneath you, a view that almost no urban pool on the planet can match. Seven of the supporting columns went to guest artists, and the Studio Job piece gleams with thousands of hand-glued gold-leaf squares.

Quick facts: Rising 173 meters straight out of the Atlantic, the craggy islet is reached by 241 hand-chiseled steps that pilgrims have climbed for a thousand years. Ring the weathered bronze bell up top three times to make a wish, a ritual that outlasted even the 2017 Game of Thrones crew who briefly borrowed the chapel for Dragonstone.

Highlights: Climbing the 241 steps keeps the Atlantic roaring in your ears the whole way up, and the summit chapel sits bolted to bare rock with zero soil underneath. When the tide rises, the low causeway vanishes underwater, briefly making the islet as cut off as it was during its first centuries of pilgrimage, with seabirds circling the spray.