Breathtaking Bilbao

After hiking just over 100 miles on the Camino (see previous posts here, here, and here), my friend, Laura, and I spent a couple of days in Bilbao. We had an amazing airbnb that was right on the water and it had breathtaking views of the city. The location (across the water from La Ribera) was perfect for exploring while also being on a quieter street.

I loved the city and would definitely go back for a longer stint. A river, actually an estuary, runs through the middle of the city and there are loads of cute bridges that connect the two parts. It is a very vibrant, diverse, and lively city filled with cool street art, a lot of parks and churches, and beautiful architecture. The streets were pretty dirty but not worse than some other large cities I’ve visited. And while it did feel very energetic, for the most part, the city did not feel overly crowded. The exception to this was the Old Town area at night which was POPPING.

The food in Bilbao was, overall, outstanding. We went to a place or two that was mediocre but the other spots were delicious. Worth noting is that most restaurants didn’t begin serving dinner until 8:30pm or so. It seems like a lot of people will go out for drinks and some pintxos early evening and then get dinner much later.

My favorite restaurant was Sokarrat which I just stumbled upon. They are known for their paellas and I had their vegetarian option which was served in a traditional paella pan and was unbelievably good. I also had a bright salad with burrata, grapefruit, and strawberries. I may have overordered!

We also went to a well-known food hall, La Ribera Gastro Plaza, which is located right on the water. The variety of pintxos was incredible and it was so fun just walking around and admiring them all.

There are also a lot of gourmet food stores throughout Bilbao and I loved window shopping while wandering through the city.

Besides the food, Bilbao is a lovely city to just wander around. I took the funicular up to the top of a hill which provided amazing views of the city. There’s a cute park at the top too. The funicular was a bit different than others I’d been on — the track was very narrow and there’s a section of it where the up and down tracks merge. So, the timing of the car going up has to be just right with the timing of the car going down.

In my exploration of the city, I also walked around the exterior of the Guggenheim. While I was there, there was a pretty substantial labor protest (which was also happening at the New York Guggenheim). I didn’t go in as a result but the outdoor sculptures were very cool to see.

I very much enjoyed Bilbao and would highly recommend visiting. One could easily spend 3-4 days in the city. I’m sure there’s a lot more than I didn’t have a chance to explore and hope to come back to do so!