After the Maratón Martín Fiz: Bilbao
The Route: Vitoria-Gasteiz → Bilbao → Bilbao Airport Logistics: Coach from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Bilbao Intermodal, about an hour. One night, then the airport bus. Marathon Month: May Duration: 1 night
Vitoria-Gasteiz ──(about 1 hr coach)──> Bilbao Intermodal (1 night)
│
Bilbao Airport (BIO) ◄──(about 20 mins airport bus)──┘
Most runners at the Maratón Martín Fiz fly in and out of Bilbao, an hour from Vitoria-Gasteiz by coach. It makes sense to stop for a night on the way home. Bilbao was an industrial port city of shipyards and steelworks, and since the 1990s it has turned its riverfront into a long walk of parks and new buildings, the best of it flat.
May in Bilbao is green and changeable. In most years the days are mild, in the high teens or low twenties, with showers coming in from the Atlantic; carry a light waterproof. The city is busy but well before the summer peak.
Coaches from Vitoria-Gasteiz bus station to Bilbao Intermodal, at Termibus, run frequently through the day and take about an hour. From Termibus, the metro or tram reaches the centre in a few minutes.
Night One: Bilbao
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Frank Gehry's titanium building on the Nervión, opened in 1997 and changed the city. Inside, the galleries are spread over three floors joined by lifts, with Richard Serra's huge steel spirals in the largest room on the ground floor. Outside, Jeff Koons's giant flower-covered dog, Puppy, stands by the entrance, and Louise Bourgeois's spider sits by the river. Buy tickets online; entry is roughly €18 to €20 (about £15 to £17), and the museum is closed on some Mondays outside summer, so check the calendar.
The primary recovery asset is the riverside walk. A paved promenade follows the Nervión from the Guggenheim past the Zubizuri footbridge and the Arriaga theatre to the Casco Viejo, the old town, about 2 km, flat all the way, with benches.
The Casco Viejo, the Siete Calles, is a grid of narrow, level streets around the cathedral of Santiago, with the huge Mercado de la Ribera on the river. The Plaza Nueva, an arcaded square, is lined with pintxos bars.
A few minutes beyond the Guggenheim, the Museo de Bellas Artes holds Basque and Spanish painting from El Greco and Goya to Zuloaga, on level floors with lifts, and sits on the edge of the Parque de Doña Casilda, an English-style park with a duck pond and flat paths. Between the two museums and the old town lies the Ensanche, the nineteenth-century grid built when iron and shipping made Bilbao rich, centred on the Gran Vía and Plaza Moyúa; it is flat and full of cafés.
For a view without a climb, the Artxanda funicular leaves from a station near the Zubizuri bridge and carries passengers up the hill on the north side of the river in a few minutes. The top has a viewpoint over the whole city and the river valley, and the ride down saves the legs.
Where to stay. Gran Hotel Domine stands opposite the Guggenheim, with rooms looking at the museum. Hotel Carlton, on Plaza Moyúa in the Ensanche, is Bilbao's grand old hotel, a short metro ride or 15 minutes' walk from the river.
Where to eat. Café Iruña, on the Jardines de Albia, has been open since 1903 and is decorated in Mudéjar tiles; its lamb skewers, pinchos morunos, are the thing to order. La Viña del Ensanche, on Calle Diputación, is a wine bar and delicatessen known for its cured meats and small plates.
Getting to Bilbao Airport
The Bizkaibus airport bus runs from Termibus and the city centre, including a stop near Plaza Moyúa, to Bilbao Airport (BIO) in about 20 minutes, every 15 to 30 minutes through the day. A taxi takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Check the first departure for early flights.