A Weekend in Bilbao

A WEEKEND IN | CABANA TRAVEL | WORLD OF CABANA

Beyond the gleaming curves of the Guggenheim, Bilbao reveals a city of contrasts, where industrial heritage meets avant-garde architecture, pintxos bars animate medieval lanes and the creative energy of the Basque Country finds expression in daring design, ambitious hotels and a fiercely individual food culture. Richard Mellor shares an insider's guide.

BY RICHARD MELLOR | CABANA TRAVEL | 25 OCTOBER 2026

This summer, Bilbao was literally in the spotlight, perfectly placed for viewing August’s total solar eclipse, the first one this century with peak visibility on mainland Europe. But there are many additional reasons that those in the know travelled to the Spanish Basque’s biggest city.

Hugging the narrowing Nervión river estuary, Bilbao grew rich on iron-trading in the late 1800s; a century later, the arrival of its striking, sinuous Guggenheim Museum affiliate spawned a cultural boom that has since seen renegade designers, daring chefs and ambitious hoteliers come to shake up old-town lanes or, easily reached by metro, leafy beachside suburbs.

Where to Stay

Palacio Arriluce: The savviest stay in Getxo, a well-heeled northern suburb lining the Bay of Biscay. That’s partly for sandy beaches (see below) and tranquility, and partly because of a cliffside family mansion-turned-beautiful hotel. A turreted fusion of neo-gothic and English country-house principles, Palacio Arriluce now lays on a thermal basement spa, a chapel-set cocktail bar, lounges containing original cubist art by František Kupka and stellar food. All 49 bedrooms or suites combine space with soft hues while the poolside gardens overlook a sprawl of sea and sky. Private boat trips to the Guggenheim offer maximum style points.

Hotel Tayko: Be it exposed concrete or steel girders, post-industrial vibes dominate at this century-old building on the old town’s western flank, although its classical, butter-yellow frontage gives no indication of any of that. The best of the 53 rooms are those up high, commanding river views from their balconies. Downstairs, as well as a gym, are two restaurants overseen by the super-chef Martín Berasategui: fine-dining Ola, centred on seasonal, market-driven plates, and the more informal Bodega de Ola.

The Artist Grand Hotel of Art: Aesthetes are handily placed here: not only is The Artist only 100m from the Guggenheim, past Jeff Koons’ floral sculpture Puppy, but it’s also just a five-minute stroll to the Museum of Fine Arts. An 85-foot, cypress tree-imitating stone column anchors the hotel’s lobby, stretching seven storeys high to The Rooftop, a bar-restaurant where tortillas and local cheese plates accompany views of distant hills. Also on site is the fine-dining restaurant Olio, a spa delivering rosemary-scented massages and a speakeasy cocktail den, while rooms combine warm palettes with mid-century modern armchairs.

Axel Hotel Bilbao: A typically stylish and energetic offering from Germany’s LGBTQIA-minded Axel group, this adults-only affair lines the Nervión next to a former flour factory. Copper finishes and curving metallic lines pay tribute to Frank Gehry and his Guggenheim, with that fluid design continuing in big-windowed bedrooms with mischievous glass-walled showers. Above, a rooftop bar and emerald-tiled pool afford soul-lifting old town vistas.


Caravan Cinema: In the old town, just off Plaza Nueva, this boutique eschews contemporary sleekness in favour of a color-packed vintage feel. Each of the five rooms and two apartments (featuring kitchens for self-catering) is themed after a famous film-maker. In the Alfred Hitchcock apartment, that translates as silhouetted birds paintings and, naturally, a rear window. Good mattresses and mosaic-tiled bathrooms add a touch of luxe.


Where to Eat & Drink

Pintxos tour: Less famous than San Sebastian, Algorta, a beachside quarter of Getxo, is just as proficient at pintxos (Basque tapas). Climbing from whitewashed, 17th-century houses to plainer shopping streets, this lively neighbourhood is littered with taverns or bars, which are besieged by locals on weekends. One such local, Saioa Martín of Basque Destination, hosts excellent bespoke tours of the best places to eat and drink. Stand-out spots include the simple Ajuria, for its peerless tortillas bravas, and Unai Jatetxea, where glasses of semi-sparkling txakoli wine combine perfectly with tender steak slices.

Euskalduna Restaurant by Etxanobe: It was at the Euskalduna Palace, a boat-shaped concert hall which hosts Basque Symphony Orchestra shows, that local boy Fernando Canales first scooped a Michelin star. Now, numerous awards later, Canales has returned to the venue’s fifth floor, and a cosy yet spartan space by Patricia Urquiola. Offering a contemporary, haute-cuisine reprise of regional staples, his Discovery tasting menu often includes a bravura duck breast beside corn-powered cream. Sit al-fresco if possible, gazing across Bilbao between courses.

El Laterío: Amid the edgier Don Diego district and its vivid, large-scale street art, El Laterío is a bar-restaurant that spills out onto the sloping street most evenings. Quirkily, its seafood-heavy small plates celebrate canned Portuguese foods, with mackerel, sardines and eels all common alongside various pates and cheeses. Wash it all down with a txakoli spritz, an excellent bloody Mary or bottles of Brutus beer.

Martina de Zuricalday: At nearly 200 years old, this is reckoned to be the Spanish Basque’s oldest patisserie; today, four branches dot Abando, central Bilbao’s newer left-bank area. Recipes handwritten by its namesake founder are still followed and every macaron, cupcake or Bilbao butter bun has been handmade that day.

Delaunay: If you don’t stay at Palacio Arriluce, do dine at its main restaurant. Taking inspiration from the avant-garde artist and designer Sonia Delaunay, whose works adorn the walls, and supported by a terrific cellar, Beñat Ormaetxea lays on three themed tasting menus in which he makes daring use of typical Basque ingredients, plus an a la carte option borrowing from his renowned Jauregibarria Jatetxea venue, 20 miles southeast. During autumn, order the oxtail cannelloni with truffled potato cream, quince jelly and mushrooms.


 © Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

What to See & Do


Guggenheim Museum Bilbao: On a once-dilapidated riverside, Frank Gehry’s wavy walls and gleaming, titanium-tiled canopies pay tribute to Bilbao’s shipbuilding past and fishing heritage. That structure itself, plus Louise Bourgeois' spider-like sculpture, make a powerful first impression; inside, across three floors, are bold exhibitions and a permanent collection ranging from Yayoi Kusama installations to three-tone Rothkos. Crowds are a blight, though; skip-the-line tickets and late afternoon arrival are canny solutions, as is decamping to the nearby Museum of Fine Arts for works by El Greco, Goya and Gauguin.

Vizcaya Bridge: Still ferrying people across the Nervion in a hanging gondola, this transporter bridge — locally known as Puente Colgante — was a world-first upon launching in 1893 on Getxo’ fringes. It’s now on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. These days, the 90-second journeys accompany a more daredevil, vertigo-inducing option: breezily strolling, if there’s good weather, along the 50-metre-high, wooden planked pasarela (footbridge) above.


Climb Monte Artxanda: Puente Colgante isn’t Bilbao’s only maverick conveyance option. Close to the old town, a twisting funicular ascends to Monte Artxanda’s 250m (850ft) summit every 15 minutes. Even if you’re not a transport buff, it’s well worth doing for wonderful views over Bilbao, with the Guggenheim and cathedral-like San Mamés football stadium both in clear view, to lush, iron-rich mountains behind.

Wander Casco Viejo: Bilbao’s old town contains elegant, narrow shopping lanes — headlined by the 700-year-old Siete Calles — full of upscale boutiques below apricot or lemon-coloured buildings, plus a gaggle of grand churches. At one end is the Ribera market hall and at the other Plaza Nueva, a small square with arched arcades around every side. On warm evenings, people sit outside pintxos bars sipping vermouth as kids kick footballs around.


Where to Shop

Vintage Bilbao: A canalised island north of central Bilbao, Zorrotzaurre was once an industrial heavyweight. While tracts are slowly being regenerated according to a plan first devised by Zaha Hadid, many former units stand vacant. Not the old Artiach biscuit factory, though: complete with a Kreuzberg-like atmosphere, it hosts Vintage Bilbao’s sprawling second-hand clothing market every weekend, plus a cafe hosting Friday night concerts.

A Erre: The term ‘souvenir shop’ usually makes anyone with a semblance of taste run for the hills. Run by two youthful graphic designers, A Erre is different: made either by those owners or other local artists, its Bilbao-themed totes, textiles, journals prints and postcards are elegantly desirable. A second branch will soon accompany their original old town store.

Mercules: A native Bilbaina, Mercedes Gallego studied at Central Saint Martins in London and worked for the likes of Galliano and Dior before starting her own line of brand leather accessories — be it bags, belts, shoes or wallets. Her inspirations range from functional geometry to Greek mythology. Devotees are found as far afield as Japan, but Mercules’ two airy, bijou Bilbao branches — one in Getxo, one in Abando — mark its spiritual home.

Los Encajeros: Having only manufactured lace veils when first established in Bilbao almost 150 years ago, this fourth-generation family firm now sells luxury tableware as well as bathrobes, blankets, kids clothes and napkins from a large, homely store in the upmarket Gran Via shopping district. Its client list has evolved too, with Rothschild family members and Qatari sheikhs among those calling on the expert handiwork of around 40 sewists.

© Getxo Turismo