Visit Bilbao - home to the Spanish Football Federation and top-level league, La Liga pro football team - Athletic Bilbao! Bilbao is the Capital of Biscay home to the new Guggenheim Modern Art museum. Enjoy outstanding Basque restaurants and cuisine considered by many to be the best in Spain! Spain's northern industrial port city, Bilbao, is the political capital of the nationalistic Basque people who inhabit Spain's three northern provinces, an area known collectively as Euskadi.

The city is not beautiful - the buildings are soot-stained and the Nervion River running through it is one of Spain's most polluted waterways, but Bilbao does have some surprises to offer visitors, and there are plenty of attractions in the surrounding countryside and around the coast on the Bay of Biscay which can be easily reached on excursions by rail or road.

The main attraction in the city is the controversial Guggenheim Museum, relatively new on the scene, having been opened in 1997. The city fathers regard this avant-garde building as the beginning of the city's revitalisation, which has also recently acquired a new metro system and airport terminal.

Bilbao has some good beaches and a few scenic spots - a favoured picnic site is on Monte Archanda, north of the old town, accessible by funicular. Of the beaches Getxo is the favourite, particularly with surfers, and features a 100-year-old suspension bridge and some lively bars and nightclubs. Top attractions include Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, Teatro Arriaga, Casco Viejo, Plaza Nueva, Palacio de Congresos y de la Música, Parque de Doña Casilda, Santa María de Begoña, Mercado de La Ribera and Puente Colgante.