Basque Country must see..?

Question

What are the top 5 must see things in the Basque Country ?

Answer 1

WITHOUT QUESTION!!: The Guggenheim Museum

The Sanctuary of Loyola, Getaria, Zarauz and San Sebastian

Also, the Musee Bonnat, Bayonne is a great Art Museum, the Virgin on the Rock statue in Biarritz.

Cote des Basques, Biarritz   - Beach

Museum of the Sea (Musee de la Mer), Biarritz  - Aquarium

St-Martin's Church, Biarritz

Russian Orthodox Church - Eglise Alexandre Newsky, Biarritz  - Architectural Landmark

Choco-Musee Puyodebat, Bayonne - Museum

Jardin Botanique, Bayonne - Gardens

Maison Louis XIV, St-Jean-de-Luz  - Castle

Maison de l'Infante Joanoenia, St-Jean-de-Luz  - Castle

Answer 2

A triangular-shaped route  that starts in Bilbao, at the Guggenheim Museo, designed by Frank Gerhy. The building is spectacular and, if that were not enough, the collections on display inside it are another great international claim to fame.

The itinerary continues with a visit to the Artium Basque Museum of Contemporary Art in Vitoria-Gasteiz and the Eduardo Chillida Museum - Txillida Leku, in Donostia-San Sebastián.

You can round off the tour with a stop in Zarautz, at the archaeological excavations of Santa María la Real and at the Romanization Museum, in Irun. From autumn onwards, the visitor will also have the chance to visit the Museum of the great dressmaker, Balenciaga, in the town of Getaria in the province of Gipuzkoa, very close to Zarautz.

A very important detail: from the Guggenheim Museum of the Artium in Vitoria-Gasteiz takes only 45 minutes by motorway, and the distance separating the Alava capital from Txillida Leku can be covered in an hour.

On this circuit, the visitor will find internationally-acclaimed works in cities steeped in history yet which are also very different from each other.

Bilbao is a great metropolis that has been transformed and regenerated in recent years in a spectacular way.

At the other corner of the triangle is San Sebastián, the city by the sea, with a promenade around the Concha Bay designed with every attention to detail – to the extent that a replica of these railings appears in the film “Titanic.”

The Old Quarter of Vitoria-Gasteiz is also a picture postcard place, together with its St. Mary’s Cathedral – “open for building work.” The writer, Ken Follet, decided to base the second part of his novel “The Pillars of the Earth” on this Gothic building after visiting the restoration work that is being carried out at the cathedral. Paulo Coelho also dedicates a few lines to it in his book “The Zahir.”

Anyone who is familiar with the Basque Country will know that you can eat and drink extremely well in Euskadi. That is why our third tourist suggestion is the Wine Route – the perfect excuse to head inland away from the coast.

Txakoli is made on the coast – a young white wine of fine quality - and inland, in Rioja Alavesa, you can taste young wines - crianzas, reservas and gran reservas - that continue to enhance the reputation of this region.

The “City of Wine” opened to the public in September in the Alava town of Elciego. This is a wine cellar designed by the architect, Frank Gerhy, the designer of the Guggenheim Museum. And it’s not the only one – a true spectacle along the route is the wine cellar also designed by Santiago Calatrava, in Laguardia, together with others that feature innovative architecture.

If you would like to delve into the world of wine, we suggest you take advantage of the long bank holiday weekend between 5th and 8th December to visit Vitoria-Gasteiz, which plays host to the ARDOARABA wine festival. This is a must for wine lovers and attracted around 200,000 people last year.

A fine txakoli, a fine wine...and, of course, fine dining. Not in vain does Euskadi now boast 21 Michelin stars. The cuisine on offer ranges from cod a la vizcaína (cod cooked with tomatoes and red peppers) to the famous pintxos (bar snacks), not to mention scrambled egg with perretxikos (forest mushrooms), the typical cider house menu or something as splendid as a meal in a gastronomic society or in a txoko (Basque club).

The Coast :Zarautz, Irun and Hondarribia.

Irun and Hondarribia, together with Hendaia in France, form the Bay of Txingudi – an environmentally protected area with excellent beaches.

Sheepdog trials are also held in October in the elegant fortified town of Hondarribia, one of the most interesting folkloric-sports events in Euskadi.

Zarautz is the third town on the coast of Guipúzcoa we would like to introduce to you. It is not just a seaside town but also has the longest beach on the entire coast of Gipuzkoa, with waves that are famous worldwide – a major claim to fame that ensures surfers have been coming from all corners of the planet for years. The fact is that the coast of Euskadi is an ideal place to practise all types of water sports.

If you prefer something more peaceful, don’t forget that both Hondarribia and Zarautz have gold courses and, if you choose to contemplate the sea from the mountains, you can also do so from any cliff top. Sea and mountain often merge together in this part of the world.