Bilbao...whats interesting??
 

My son will be a "travel abroad" student in Bilbao this fall for a semester from the US. (First time for this). Any tips for him and for a nervous mom?? I hope to visit him in Nov.
He is an avid surfer and hopes to do some surfing while there in the area. Thanks for any input!!

Mundaka and Sopelana !!! He will have a great time.

Which uni is he attending?

Bye, Cova

the gugenheim museum is very good also the food market by the river is an interesting place. A walk round the old part of town can be interesting with lots of bars and restaurants. There are quite a few clubs and a bowling ally. Google clubs in bilbao.

After the gugenheim, we made the rounds of the tapas bars.

I have seen people walking down the streets of San Sebastian with their surf boards in their wet suits.

My sister and I enjoyed taking a short road trip to the Painted Forest (the bosque pintado - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1Py_...eature=related - not my video, but it gives you a look at some of the work). If memory serves, it was not far from Bilbao by car, and it was such a unique experience.

Beaches for very good surfing are just a few miles away and easyly accesible by public transport.

A very safe city, by the way.

we, too, are fans of the unique bosque pintado...you can drive it easliy from Bilbao or San Sebastian...it's located jst a few kms. north of Gernika. How to reach it without a car may pose a problem. I have no proven idea, but I imagine a bus from Bilbao or San Seb. would drop you off within a doable hiking distance.

The first look will stun you, and then there is a tranquil peace about the place, if it's not too corwded. We luckily arrived when there was one other person in the forest...a German photographer with a tripod who was having a field day shooting away!

If I recall, both Rough Guide and Lonely Planet have a few paragraphs under "Oma"...The artist is the famed Basque, Agustin Ibarrola..age, in his 70's.

These are from scanned pix, pre-digital days..sorry I can't do better. (also shows the dirt road leading to the forest and the surrounding mountains)

http://tinyurl.com/4mj9y5

Hope your son can somehow get to it on his way to hit the surf.


Stu T.