Bilbao in Spain

Bilbao is a sunny port city celebrated for its urban architecture of soaring skyscrapers, cultural centers and museums such as Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, offset by a coastal landscape and towering cathedrals. Perhaps the best way to explore this northern Basque city is to go bar hopping as the locals do, nibbling on pintxos and downing glasses of txakoli, the sparkling white wine of the region. Despite its modern avatar, Bilbao offers a surprising level of natural beauty with the Nervión River meandering through town, the waterside promenades, parks and tree-lined avenues, all framed by the rolling Iberian hills in the background. Catch a football game at the Estadio San Mamés, followed by tortillas de bacalao washed down with cider at a rustic tavern tucked among the cobbled streets of the old town.