Bilbao City Guide

Old Town, Guggenheim & Artxanda

From Casco Viejo metro through the Siete Calles to Plaza Nueva and on into the Mercado de la Ribera market hall. Then along the Nervión to Calatrava's white Zubizuri bridge, to the Guggenheim with Gehry's titanium waves and the flower dog Puppy out front. Finish with the funicular up Artxanda, where the whole city lies at your feet.

1. Casco Viejo – Bilbao's old town is a tangle of seven lanes, the Siete Calles - this is where the city began in 1300. Between Santiago Cathedral and the riverbank you'll find pintxo bars, old hatters and fabric shops side by side. Best to set off with no fixed plan and follow whichever place looks busy. Mornings are quiet; from late afternoon every counter turns into a spread of little bites.
2. Plaza Nueva – This severe 19th-century arcaded square is the old town's living room: arches all around, pintxo bars packed underneath. On Sunday mornings traders lay out books, stamps, records and all sorts of bric-a-brac. Under the arcades you stay dry even in the rain - in Bilbao that genuinely matters. One of the buildings houses the Royal Academy of the Basque Language.
3. Mercado de la Ribera – This riverside market hall was built in 1929 and, at around 10,000 square metres, ranks among Europe's largest covered markets. From outside it looks like a ship moored at the quay; inside, light drops through big stained-glass windows onto the stalls. Downstairs people buy fish, vegetables and salt cod; upstairs there are pintxos, beer and txakoli. A good stop before carrying on along the Nervión.
4. Zubizuri – Santiago Calatrava threw this white arched footbridge across the Nervión in 1997 - Zubizuri simply means white bridge in Basque. The curved pylon with its fan of cables is the shot everyone takes here. Careful in the rain: the glass deck turns treacherously slippery, which is why a covering has since been laid over it. From the bridge you can already see the Guggenheim shimmering upstream.
5. Guggenheim Museum – The Guggenheim is the reason the world talks about Bilbao today. Frank Gehry's building of curving titanium panels opened in 1997 and flipped the image of this shipyard and steel town completely - people have called it the Bilbao effect ever since. Just walking around the outside is worth the trip; the titanium changes colour with the light. Inside stands Richard Serra's hall of vast steel spirals that you walk right through. Mondays are usually closed, except in summer - best to book your ticket in advance.
6. Puppy – Guarding the entrance is Puppy, Jeff Koons' twelve-metre West Highland terrier made of flowering plants. He was only meant to stay for the opening, but then the city refused to give him back. Twice a year he's completely replanted, so his coat of colour changes with the season. Shoot him head-on from below with the titanium building behind and you get the best picture.
7. Museum of Fine Arts – Optional: if you still have time and an appetite for art, walk the 500 metres on through the park to the Museo de Bellas Artes. The collection spans the Middle Ages to the present, with El Greco, Goya, Zurbarán and strong Basque work. It's far calmer than the Guggenheim and rarely crowded. Parts of the building close off at times because of the big renovation, and Tuesdays it's shut altogether. Tip: Right in front of the museum lies the Parque Doña Casilda, which locals call the Duck Park, with its pond and flowering pergola, perfect for a short break.
8. Funicular de Artxanda – From the foot of the city's home mountain a funicular from 1915 hauls you up to Artxanda in three minutes. At the top there's a park with terraces, a couple of cider houses and the view you'll keep of Bilbao: the loop of the river, the old town and the Guggenheim like a silver patch in the middle. It's loveliest just before sunset, when the city below turns warm. The same funicular takes you back down; from the lower station it's ten minutes on foot to Casco Viejo metro.