An architectural aficionado, or a practicing student of architecture; a connoisseur of diverse cultures, or a curious traveler – whatever your inspiration, when planning your next vacation, Bilbao Spain travel is an absolute necessity.
The northern city of Bilbao is a thriving metropolis of more than one million people, and the center of the social, cultural and economic development driving force which continues the modernization of the Gulf of Biscay region; Bilbao is still under construction, with many of the world’s most prestigious architects partnering with the talented local resources to continue the evolutionary grandeur of the city.
Your Bilbao Spain Travel Is A Cultural Odyssey
Iconic architectures such as the Guggenheim Museum, the Euskalduna Concert & Convention Centre have visually placed Bilboa on the cultural map. The avant-garde Guggenheim, built by the legendary Frank O. Gehry in 1997, is completely covered with sheets of titanium and is one of the world’s most recognizable edifices; it showcases one of the world’s largest and most impressive private collections of modern and contemporary art.
At the same time, impressive infrastructure development such as the Calatrava-designed airport, the Underground designed by Norman Foster, and the ongoing projects by renowned architects such as Isozaki and Pelli dramatically signify the spirit that is Bilbao, while showcasing some of the best architecture of the 20th century.
But complementing your Bilbao Spain travel is the juxtaposition of these elements with more than seven hundred years of historical constructions that are a pleasant surprise. The historic central quarter of the city is an example of urban regeneration that works, showcasing rejuvenated architecture in more than four hundred renewed and rebuilt structures.
Bilbao Spain Travel: Limitless Quantity And Unbelievable Quality
But the danger of overload during your Bilboa Spain travel doesn’t begin to end here. The Top Ten Architectural Must-See list also includes the Catedral de Santiago, built on the site of an old shrine in a Gothic style, but unique in that one façade is Renaissance, one neo-Classsical; the Museum of Basque Archaeology, and the Bilboa Museum of Fine Arts.
Bilboa hosts two of Spain’s best art galleries, six museums, and an incredibly diverse offering of concerts, dance, theatre, symphony, popular, and contemporary cultural offerings. For these reasons alone, your Bilboa Spain travel planning needs to incorporate the flexibility to visit many of these venues again and again.
Bilbao Spain Travel: The Art and Culture of Food, Wine, Shopping and Entertainment
Not every experience you consume in Bilboa is architectural; Bilboa, the capital of the Basque Country, reflects its Basque traditions of the sea in the diversity and quality of restaurants offering dishes ranging from traditional fare to the most avant-garde culinary experiences. In fact, it’s impossible not to eat well.
The gastronomic excellence of Bilboa Spain travel is highlighted by the quality of the ingredients; Bilboa is recognized as the Cod Capital of the World, due to the range of innovative dishes prepared with the fish, a harvest heritage. The traditional starting point for your adventure, especially in the many bars and taverns of the old quarter, is the “chiquiteo”, the custom of drinking wine accompanied by small appetizers and large conversations.
There is an avant-garde aspect to Bilboa Spain travel in the fashion, music and leisure aspects of the local culture, enjoyed equally by the locals and the travelers, the young and the not-so-young. Whether orchestras or rock concerts, film festivals of fantasy or short subject documentaries, private clubs or nightclub venues, the cultural environment exhibits a diversity unmatched by many trendy international destinations.
For shopping devotees, Bilboa offers a smorgasbord of a dizzying variety, from prestigious national and international fashion boutiques, to lively Sunday street markets, to old-quarter antique shops, ceramic studios and exquisite bakeries. Especially popular is the Gran Via and Ercilla, former streets which are now pedestrian malls in the center of the city, lined with a diverse offering of the best shops the city has to enjoy. The unifying aspect of Bilboa Spain travel is the cultural, architectural and sociological attitude which unites all of Bilboa’s cultural diversity in a distillation of quality, vision and imagination.