A trip to Basque Country

As someone whose weekend trips have been to Spanish cities, I recommend Bilbao in the north! We left Friday morning and arrived midday after two trains. I will outline our schedule, but you can move it around, swap some things out, or even add places based on your interests! 

Day 1 

There was a lot of walking and exploring the city. We came across Plaza Moyúa and the tulips were beautiful. Our best find was the Koppera thrift store. I found a leather jacket there that I now wear everywhere, so definitely check that store out if you’re into thrifting. We closed off the day with gelato at Parque de Doña Casilda Iturrizar and visited el Museo de Reproducciones (not a lot to see, all replicas); you can swap this museum out with Guggenheim (one we sadly didn’t get a chance to enter). 

Day 2

Saturday was a day trip. Our plan was to go to the Castillo de Butrón and Playa Gorrondatxe, but we didn’t really think about how to get there. To the castle, we took a taxi which would be expensive if you’re solo, but there were three of us that could split the fare. However, Europe has cheap public transportation, so from the castle we researched the bus system. Using Google Maps, the app figures out the closest and fastest type of transportation from your location to your destination. It took us on a fun little walk through farm fields to get to the nearest bus stop that would leave us a 35-minute walk from the beach (we had lunch at a burger place halfway through this walk).

The fare was 1.50€ and you could pay on the bus, I highly recommend this type of transport! Both locations are a way out from the city center so you may opt to stay close and explore Bilbao, but the sights were beautiful and worth it in my book. Playa Gorrondatxe was very green and had black sand! Even after this long day, we walked an hour to get to the Artxanda viewpoint (there is a trolley you can take up for cheap, we didn’t know before the climb) to watch the sunset.

Day 3

Sunday morning we checked out of our AirBnB and wandered around the Flower market, Nervión River, Zubizuri Bridge, and outside of the Guggenheim Museum. We had lunch across the street of Guggenheim at a Chinese restaurant and then headed to the station where we took a train and then a bus to Salamanca!