Exchange Zones

 
MY APARTAMENT IN BILBAO

55m2. Quiet, peaceful and secure area, in Bilbao´s city centre. Very Next to the metro station (100m), 10 minutes walking to the Guggenheim Museum, 15 minutes to the shopping streets and financial area, and 20 minutes walking to the historic part of the city. I offer to lend my car (opel astra)



Bilbao is the heart of a metropolis where more than a million people live. It is the centre of the economic-social development and the main factor of the modernisation of the Basque Country. The great architectural and infrastructure projects have been the driving force of the urban and economic regeneration of the city. The Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, the Euskalduna Conference and Music Centre, Norman Foster's Underground, Calatrava's airport, the towers designed by the architects Arata Isozaki and César Pelli... are all examples of the dynamism that exists in Bilbao. The city is situated in the area of Bizkaia and is surrounded by a fertile landscape with forests, mountains, beaches and steep coasts. All this makes Bilbao a privileged destination for visitors. The modern transport and network of roads run to locations nearby such as the other capitals of the Basque Country - Vitoria-Gasteiz (55min.), Donostia-San Sebastián (1h 10´), Iruña-Pamplona (1h 40´), Bayonne-Baiona (1h. 40´).

The cultural activities in Bilbao are irresistible, with six museums, contemporary art exhibitions and an ongoing programme with shows: opera, symphony orchestras, theatre, dance, cinema and light, pop and rock music.

The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao has become the cultural and tourism driving force of the Basque Country. This spectacular building (Frank O. Gehry, 1997) is covered in titanium panels and has its own important collection, as well as sharing the largest private modern and contemporary art collection in the world with New York and Venice. Other museums: The Fine Arts Museum, The Basque Museum, the Diocesan Museum of Religious Art, and The Maritime Museum.

Avant-garde art, fashion, music and leisure are usually present in Bilbao with latest generation clubs and shops; light, pop and rock music concerts; and live music at pubs.

Gastronomy is an art in Bilbao. The city is home to prestigious restaurants which offer dishes ranging from traditional cuisine to the most avant-garde culinary creations. Not forgetting, of course, all the different areas of the city in which to savour the famous pintxos (typical appetisers). Come and discover these delicacies, guaranteed to satisfy the most demanding palates.

Eating well is easy, almost an obligation. You'll find varied menus featuring delicious dishes made with top-quality ingredients. Bilbao is famous for being the capital of cod, because of the wide variety of mouth-watering recipes made with this fish. We recommend indulging in the local custom known as "chiqueteo" (having pintxos with a drink) in a few of the city's numerous bars before sitting down to have a meal.

Shopping for antiques, typical ceramics, exquisite cakes and pastries or the latest fashions is one of the options offered by the shopping centres and shops of Bilbao. Going shopping in Bilbao is a unique occasion for enjoying the architectural heritage of the city and whilst out you can enjoy the popular pintxos in one of the many taverns or cafés lining the streets.

The Old Quarter, Indautxi and Ensanche are the main shopping areas in Bilbao. Here you will find a wide range of products in traditional establishments, shops selling the latest fashions and the modern shopping centres.

Natural Biscay

When we get into the interior of Bizkaia, we find a sheer, abrupt and beautiful landscape. Big extensions, high mountains and deep valleys make it a viewpoint area, where myths, legends, art and gastronomy endure. In short, we encounter a space of a great degree of natural conservation, where history and culture turn it into one of the most pleasing areas of the Basque geography.

The natural parks of Urkiola and Gorbeia constitute the southern axe of the territory, whereas the peaks of Ranero and the Ordunte Mountains close with their heights the northwestern side of the land of Bizkaia.

Besides that, Orduña, located between Burgos and Alava, possesses a spectacular landscape full of possibilities and natural amusements.

They are three geologically different areas that, nevertheless, respond to a common variable. Their proximity to Bilbao will determine a better or worse environmental conservation. Surprisingly, the passage from an industrial medium to a natural one is made almost without transition. In a few kilometres we will find locations where nature is preserved in the most exceptional way.

In the Encartaciones, Bizkaia´s less populated region, we find Karrantza. Its economy is based in stockbreeding and the forest sector.It is considered the jewel of the Northwest: mounts, rocks and pastures shared out in a rural environment, in which we can watch birds and caves as the Pozalagua ones. At the same time, the Parque de Recuperación de Animales y Fauna Ibérica del Karpín (a Park for the Animal Preservation), allows us to see a complete sample of wild animals in its installations.

The Gorbeia Natural Park, the biggest one in Bizkaia and in Euskadi, is a series of mountains, paths, woodlands, rivers, pastures and brooks. It owns the biggest peak in the territory, the mount Gorbeia of m. 1481. The emblematic species of Gorbeia is the deer: in mid-September the males fight against each other for the possession of the females harems. The protected biotopo of Itxina, a karstic area with spectacular walls, is another element of the greatest visual interest.

A little bit to the west and pointing to the mountain range of Oiz on the northern face, we find the natural park of Urkiola. It is one of the most beautiful places in Bizkaia: an alpine landscape where oaks, beech trees and pines alternate with rocks and pastures.

From Durango to Atxondo, roads, paths and places of exceptional beauty invite us to discover the corners and viewpoints of Maris home. Mari, Lady of the Anboto, is the main goddess of Basque mythology.

Orduña, by the Txarlazo and the Sierra Salvada, offers us destinations as thrilling as the waterfalls at the birth of the Nervión River, and trekking routes around woodlands, cliffs and mountains. It is a magnificent place for the practice of hang-glider.

Nature can be enjoyed in the natural parks like Urkiola and Gorbea, the recognised Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, protected areas like Ranero, areas which have been declared Biotypes, like San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, or small villages of long-standing historical tradition: Elorrio, Otxandio, Areatza, Lanestosa...

Traditions

The agricultural, livestock and handicraft fairs, the festivals and the festivals at local shrines, the dances and the music, which has its highest expression in the “bertsolaris”, poets who improvise poems, are a true reflection of a world rich in centenary customs and deeply rooted traditions.

Spectacular rural sport exhibitions, closely related to life in the country house; boat races, or the worlwide known Basque Pelota define our character, and offer a warm welcome to the visitor.

Coastal Biscay

A visitor who wants to learn about a country (about its culture, its identity) is bound to come upon every artistic phenomenon. In the case of Bizkaias coast, this experience may be rich and fruitful, just like our sea.

Music, dance and popular poetry are the core of every festivity or celebration: the "Kaxarranka" and the "Mahaiganeko dantza" are two of many manifestations of popular folklore from the coast of Bizkaia. Some of the characteristics of the identity of this country are the following: The figure of the bertsolari, a poet that improvises his verses reciting them on the spot by using a popular melody in a sort of poetic dwell... Instruments like the txistu, the alboka, the dulzaina or the txalaparta... Chorale music, deeply-rooted among the people... We must add another one: the Basque Language, rich at grammar, old at wisdom, young at spirit.

Basque traditional sports were born under the common rules of every days labor at the caserío: chopping wood, mowing, lifting heavy weight, an so on. Basque Ball, in any of its modalities, has become the most international one of them. A small boat called trainera (originally used to bring fresh fish to the market) originated a kind of regatas that show the link between our people and the sea. Peaceful as our caseríos, brave as our sea: thats how our landscapes character has become unique, matchless.

Joined to the sea

Bizkaia’s coastline (150 km), just a step away from the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, combines traditional seaside villages, unspoilt beaches, and well preserved natural environments (Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve).

It offers tranquillity and good food, waves and salt air to go sailing or to bathe. It is the essence of the sea of the Basques.This zone in Bizkaia vibrates with its sea traditions (boat races), its colourful festivals and flavoursome villages around the fishing ports.

Patrimony

Ibarrola Animated Wood: Oma Valley (Kortezubi).
San Juan de Gaztelugatxe (Bermeo).
San Pelayo Hermitage (Bakio).
Bermeo’s port and old town.
Lekeitio port, St. Mary’s Church.
Plentzia’s old part of town.
Ondarroa port.
Bizkaia Bridge (Getxo and Portugalete).

Vitoria-Gasteiz

Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital of the Álava province and of the Basque Country. The city will hold the title of European Green Capital in 2012.

Rioja Alavesa- synonymous with good wine. Dozens of wineries located along the river Ebro. Come and explore a different landscape: walled towns, ancestral homes and palaces

Donostia-San Sebastian
The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, province of the Basque Country. The main economic activities are commerce and tourism, being one of the most famous international turism destination. Despite the city’s small size, international events such as the San Sebastián International Film Festival have given it an international dimension. San Sebastián, along with Wrocław, Poland, will be the European Capital of Culture in 2016.

Iruña-Pamplona

It´s the capital of Navarre and the historical capital of the Basque Country, and of the former Kingdom of Navarre. The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions. This festival was brought to literary renown with the 1926 publication of Ernest Hemingway's novel, The Sun Also Rises.

Bayonne-Baiona
History lovers will be pleased to discover a beautiful fortified city. From the defensive ramparts to the beautiful cathedral and cloister, listed by UNESCO as worldwide heritage, come and discover the traditions that define this unique town. Visit the Basque Museum, the biggest ethnographic museum in the Basque Country, with more than 2 000 items and works of art. You can also enjoy the Bonnat Art Museum and its ancient sculptures and paintings of Greco, Goya, Géricault, Ingres or Degas.