Visits: 45
Fascinating and educative tour of the two major cities of the Basque Country: Bilbao and Vitoria, during which you will learn a lot about the myths and legends of the origin of this mysterious land and its people, its absolutely unique language. The history of the Basque nation is truly fascinating. During our journey we’ll get familiar with the traditional and exquisite at the same time cuisine of the Basque Country.
We’ll start with a sightseeing walking tour through the old part of the city of Bilbao, where you could see not only the well preserved monumental architecture of the Middle Ages, numerous medieval churches, some of which we could visit, but also touch the remains of the old city walls dated the 14th century, which miraculously survived in the revolutionarily rebuilt city center.
Then, we’ll visit the largest indoor market in Europe, stroll through the Gran Via, with its residence of the Kings of France, visit Alhondiga Bilbao–Philippe Starck’s piece of architecture and his pledge to the city, take a look at Sagrado Corazon column and follow through the park of Dona Cassilda to the Nervton embankment, and the famous Guggenheim Museum of the Modern Art.
From Bilbao we’ll continue to the town of Portugalete, where we could see the unique moving platform bridge, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Upon our wish, we could get on the bridge platform and swing up into the sky to enjoy the freedom, and the view of the ocean surrounding us!
After that, our next big destination is the capital of the Basque country–Vitoria-Gasteiz, named “perfect Gothic town” by Victor Hugo. We’ll take a sightseeing walking tour through the historic part of the city. Vitoria is the only city in Spain with the two cathedrals: the old one and the new, and we’d have a chance to visit both of them. Numerous palaces, villas, belonging to different noble and royal families, monasteries, sprawled over the city would wait for us to take a visit. In the afternoon, we could enjoy the green splendor of the beautiful parks of Victoria-Gasteiz, recognized the Green capital of Europe in 2012!
As a completion of our tour we’d invite you for a dinner at a traditional Basque cuisine restaurant offering plenty of exquisite dishes.