Basque Country Here We Come - Ideas?

[Penn251]

We had been thinking about a trip to Scandanavia in September - but, we have now abruptly switched gears and are heading to Basque Country. Southern Europe always tugs at our heartstrings. The basics of our trip are booked and now we are fine-tuning. We will fly into Madrid and spend a couple of days (we have been to Madrid a few times before). We will spend 5 nights in Bilbao and 7 nights in Bayonne, with a few odd days enroute to Billbao and on the way back to Madrid. We fly home from Madrid. We will of course see the Guggenheim in Bilbao and we have already planned a couple of days hiking in the Pyrenees. We will have a car, so getting out of the cities for day trips should be easy when public transportation is not efficient.

Any advice on must-sees, hidden gems or just plain fun things will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

I will post this in both the Spain and France forums.

 

[Shannon]

In Bilbao, everyone is in the streets at apertivo hour. Everyone. From great grandma to newborn, they are out drinking and eating pintxos in the many bars around the city. I know a guy who does a sort of pub crawl - he is not cheap but he is well worth it. I can post his info if you want. Of course you can do it on your own too, honestly there is no reason to ever even eat in a restaurant there..

Also the La Ribera market in Bilbao is fantastic, to buy food to take to your apartment or to eat inside.

Vitoria-Gasteiz is a very nice town not so known to tourists outside Spain - definitely worth a look and also a gastronomical paradise, if you are into that sort of thing. A visit to Laguardia, maybe a tour of one of the wineries in town.. and there is a great wine museum in Briones.

September will be harvest, a good time to be around.

 

[Penn251]

I can post his info if you want.

Please send me his info. We are good at exploring eating options on our own, but having an option is good too.

The aperitivo hour vibe you describe seems very much like what we experienced in Seville. Such fun.

Thanks for the response.

 

[Shannon]

Here you go.. his name is Mikel and he does a lot of tours, here is the pintxos one -

An Authentic (and maybe the best) Pintxos Tour in Bilbao - ToursByBasques

Enjoy a real pintxos and wine tour in Bilbao with your local insider, a great way of discovering our traditions and socializing with friends!

toursbybasques.com

He gives a guided tour of the city as you go, so a bit more than just eating and drinking.