10 Best Towns in Bilbao

Among the best things to see and do in Bilbao is undoubtedly touring the nearby towns, which will give you the chance to understand the Basque idiosyncrasy and culture and also allow you to lose yourself in a journey through wonderful landscapes where you' ll feel like a local.

Bilbao is one of the main cities in the Basque Country and has some of the best attractions in northern Spain, but it is also a great place to base yourself and get to know some of the best nearby towns, especially those that border the Basque coast and have some of the best beaches in Europe.

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe became world famous as one of the film sets for the popular series Game of Thrones.

Since then many tourists have discovered that in a remote corner of the coast of Biscay, just 35 kilometres from Bilbao, a rock castle with the hermitage of John the Baptist at the top and a stone bridge that you can walk across on its 241 steps.

The islet containing the hermitage became very popular and nowadays it is possible to discover it on half-day trips or you can do it on your own, on a car journey along the BI-631 route, which offers one of the best options for reaching Gaztelugatxe from Bilbao.

Please note that as it is an open space the entrance to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is free, although if you plan to travel to Bilbao in summer or during the high season months you need to book an entrance to the hermitage in advance. This is to protect the site from the huge influx of tourists triggered by the success of Game of Thrones.

• How to get there from Bilbao... By car you can drive along the BI-631 road for 45 kilometres in approximately half an hour.

The Basque Country has a historical claim to a part of the Basque-French coast, which includes among its most representative villages Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz, which is considered to be the best-kept secret of the Basques. You can visit these two towns on guided excursions from Bilbao or on your own by car or on Alsa buses .

Biarritz is the most famous of the towns on the Basque-French coast. It was the historic summer resort of European royalty and is an elegant town with long beaches and surfing schools. Moreover, from Biarritz it is possible to contemplate one of the best panoramic views of the Bay of Biscay.

The other village of reference on the French Basque coast is Saint-Jean-de-Luz, which has a more humble feel than Biarritz, as it is mainly a fishing village. However, the colourful houses that dot the bay and the views of the Bay of Biscay make it an unmissable place among the towns near Bilbao.

• How to get there from Bilbao... By car you can drive along the AP-8 road for 130 kilometres to San Juan de Luz, a journey of approximately one and a half hours. Biarritz is 17 kilometres north on the same road. You can also travel by bus with Alsa or Flixbus.

It could be said that the wall that surrounds Laguardia gives it the status of a medieval village, because it is a site built on top of a piece of land guarded by the rocky perimeter ordered to be built by King Sancho el Fuerte of Navarre.

This village is also the gateway to the Rioja Alavesa wine route and the wineries are some of its main attractions.

Apart from the picturesque Torre Abacial and the monumental Church of Santa Maria de los Reyes, built within the walls, in Laguardia you will discover an economy based on the wine industry, which is why the town is the gateway to numerous wineries, including El Fabulista, one of the leading wineries in the Basque Country and in the whole of Spain.

Laguardia also stands out for the Poblado de la Hoya and the Chabola de la Hechicera, two archaeological and prehistoric sites that make the town famous as the cradle of Basque memory.

• How to get there from Bilbao... By car you can drive along the AP-68 road for 111 kilometres in approximately one and a half hours.

Guernica was a town like any other in the Basque Country until one Monday in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, the German Air Force bombed it completely and nothing was ever the same again. Since then, the town was reborn from the ashes and became the inspiration for Pablo Picasso's most famous work.

Today, Guernica is a town of just under twenty thousand inhabitants that is notable for the Peace Museum, the Centro de Juntas, the Museum of Euskal Herria and the Guernica tree, a specimen of oak that inexplicably survived the bombing. It is also a regular destination for field trips in primary schools in the Basque Country.

Visiting Guernica is one of the best excursions from Bilbao, a must with history and also a chance to get to know one of the most picturesque villages in the Basque Country.

• How to get there from Bilbao... By car you can drive along the AP-8 road and combine with the BI-635 road for 33 kilometres, a journey of approximately half an hour. You can also get there by combining the Bilbao Metro with the E4 bus to Gernika.

Castro-Urdiales is not geographically located in the Basque Country but in Cantabria, but it is only 31 kilometres from Bilbao and is well worth a visit. This seaside town stands out for its gastronomy and also for the circuit of its historic quarter, which includes the Gothic-style church of Santa María and the medieval castle of Santa Ana, which was converted into a lighthouse.

Castro-Urdiales fulfils two of the conditions that many of the towns on the Cantabrian coast have: it has a medieval profile without losing its essence as a fishing village, but it also has the added charm of being built on a cliff and on the ruins of the Roman period.

If Bilbao stands out for its gastronomic excursions, Castro-Urdiales combines the best of Basque and Cantabrian cuisine, so it also offers some of the best food stalls you will see on your trip.

• How to get there from Bilbao... By car you can drive along the AP-8 road for 31 kilometres in about half an hour. You can also travel by bus with Alsa services.

Portugalete is one of the first towns along the A-8 route from Bilbao to the Basque coast and is often overlooked by tourists, but its century-old Vizcaya Bridge is well worth a visit. This bridge also has what was the world's first mechanical and metal-framed ferry, with a design inspired by the Eiffel Tower.

The Vizcaya Bridge separates Portugalete from Getxo, another town that forms part of the district of the area known as Gran Bilbao and which stands out for the beauty of beaches such as Las Arenas, Arrigunaga, Azkorri-Gorrondatxe and Barinatxe, located next to the stately homes. Then, on one side of the bridge, the industrial strength of Portugalete and on the other, the residential Getxo.

To get from one town to the other you will have to use the ferry, which is in perfect working order and continues to enhance the reputation of the Basque coast as a potential Spanish industrial centre since the 19th century.

• How to get there from Bilbao... By car you can drive along the A-8 road for 12 kilometres in approximately 15 minutes. You can also take the C1 bus or the Bilbao Metro to Portugalete station.

Elantxobe is striking for its labyrinthine narrow streets and the colourful houses built on the slope, giving the impression that the whole village is irremediably heading towards the sea.

The port is the starting point of this almost rural town, which is built on an artificial balcony that shelters the coast of Biscay and which will amaze you as soon as you see it.

If you plan to visit this village, be aware that you will have to put a lot of physical effort into going up and down its slopes while you discover the Church of San Nicolás de Bari, the beaches of Laida and Laga, which are full of surfers every year, and the historic centre of a village built on high ground.

The preponderance of fishermen makes a joke out of a local legend that claims that Elantxobe is a port with a village, and perhaps that may be true, but either way it is a place well worth a visit, especially because it is easy and quick to reach by car from Bilbao and because it is located on the route to other places along the Basque coast.

Interesting facts

• How to get there from Bilbao... By car you can drive along the AP-8 combined with the BI-635 road for 48 kilometres, a journey of approximately 1 hour. You can also take the Bilbao Metro combined with the E4 and A3513 buses to Bide Kalea station.

Orduña, located on the border between the provinces of Álava and Burgos, is a watershed in the broadest sense of the word, because it is the birthplace of the Nervión river, which is considered one of the natural wonders of Spain.

This town devoted to religious tourism is home to the Sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de la Antigua, the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción and the Church of the Sagrada Familia.

Orduña is also home to the hermitage of Buen Suceso, a former Franciscan convent and the Plaza de los Fueros, which is almost the only secular attraction in a town with churches on every corner and which has been a geographical whim, constituting a Bilbao enclave since the Middle Ages, when it was used as a customs post.

Nowadays, Orduña has a testimonial weight in Basque commerce, but it continues to be a reference point for Catholic pilgrimages and a picturesque village from whose main square it is possible to make out the valley that surrounds it, giving the visitor the sensation of being enclosed in a miscalculation of nature.

• How to get there from Bilbao... By car you can drive along the AP-8 road, combining it with the Laudio road, a 45-kilometre journey that will take you approximately 40 minutes.

Mundaka is a reference point for surfers from all over Spain and one of the main sites in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, so it is also a place to watch migratory birds and other species of Bilbao's fauna.

However, Mundaka really stands out for what surrounds its fishing port, which is small but is home to the sailing boats of much of the Basque coastal area. The Church of Santa María is another attraction, as are the palaces of Ibaialde and Kurutziaga, which stand out among the low, colourful houses that adorn the bay.

Mundaka's economy revolves around fishing, but also the surfing business, as there are many schools and it is one of the training grounds for surfers preparing for competitions such as Open LPA Surf City, in Gran Canaria.

In Mundaka you can also access the viewpoints, take a swim in the paradisiacal beach of Laidatxu and enjoy the local gastronomy, which stands out, of course, for its fish and seafood.

• How to get there from Bilbao... By car you can drive along the BI-631 road, a 40-kilometre journey that will take you approximately 45 minutes.

Plentzia is also a Cantabrian town on the route of the tours near Bilbao, but unlike the other destinations, this one stands out mainly for its beaches surrounded by a bay of cliffs, although it also has colourful houses and palaces that stand above the architectural level of the area.

Plentzia is one of the most economically prosperous places on the Basque coast, and this is reflected in its port and in the rich historic centre, which includes the Church of Santa María Magdalena and the main square of the town, which, only 29 kilometres from Bilbao, exudes a tranquillity unheard of in the larger cities of the Basque Country.

Along the way, in Plentzia you will find a town of coastal nature and stately buildings with a long, quiet beach that will be ideal if you are planning to visit Bilbao with children.

• How to get there from Bilbao... By car you can drive along the BI-631 road for 29 kilometres, which will take you approximately 30 minutes. You can also take the C1 bus and the Bilbao Metro to Plentzia station.