97 Best Sights in The Basque Country, Navarra, and La Rioja, Spain

Note the equestrian statue of the saint Santiago Matamoros (aka St. James the Moorslayer) presiding over the main door of this church, which was reconstructed in the 16th century.

Take an evening paseo alongside locals through this central park with promenades and pools on the site of an ancient fortress.

Noted for its twin baroque towers, the present-day cathedral was rebuilt in the 16th century in a Gothic style atop ruins of a 12th-century Romanesque church.

The Basque Gothic architecture of this early-16th-century convent, church, and museum gives way to Renaissance and baroque ornamentation high on the main facade. The Museo Diocesano de Arte Sacro (Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art) occupies a carefully restored 16th-century cloister and turns into a bake sale come Christmastime. The inner patio, ancient and intimate, is alone worth the visit. On display are religious silverwork, liturgical garments, sculptures, and paintings dating back to the 12th century. The convent is across from the Atxuri station just upstream from the Puente de San Antón.

The haute-couture maestro Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895–1972) was born in Getaria, and the impressive museum created in his honor is a must-see, regardless of your fashion sensibilities. The collection and interactive exhibits are distributed between two buildings, the mansion where Balenciaga was born and a starkly geometric monolith inaugurated in 2011. Feast your eyes on ever-rotating couture relics from the foundation's 1,200-item collection, from suits to gowns and accessories that represent his life’s work. “Balenciaga is a couturier in the truest sense of the word,” said Coco Chanel of her rival. “The others are simply fashion designers.”

Bilbao's main park, stretching east toward the river from the Museo de Bellas Artes, is a lush collection of tree-shaded paths, duck ponds, fountains, and wide lawns. It's a sanctuary from the hard-edged Ensanche, Bilbao's modern, post-1876 expansion. Doña Casilda de Iturrizar was a well-to-do 19th-century Bilbao matron who married a powerful banker and used his wealth to support various cultural and beneficent institutions in the city, including this grassy refuge.

The family behind this majestic winery with guest rooms on-site has been in the business for five generations. Surrounded by vineyards on all sides, Eguren Ugarte offers a variety of prebookable tours and tastings on foot, horseback, and Segway.

Designed by the engineer Valentín Gorbeña in 1893 and finished by architect Severino Achúcarro in 1898, this colorful train station looks across the Nervión River to the Paris Opéra–inspired Teatro Arriaga, responding with its own references to the colonnaded Parisian Louvre. The peacock-fan-shape, yellow-and-green-tiled entrance is spectacular, along with the immense stained-glass window over the access to the tracks in which facets of Bizkaian life and work are represented, from farmers and fishermen to factory workers and jai alai players. Meanwhile, the graceful arch of the hangar over the tracks is typical of traditional railroad terminals around Europe. 

Enter the Sierra de la Demanda by heading south from Santo Domingo de la Calzada on LR111. Your first stop is the town of Ezcaray, with its aristocratic houses emblazoned with family crests, of which the palace of Conde de Torremúzquiz is the most distinguished. The town is famous for its mohair (angora goat wool) textiles, of which Mantas Ezcaray is the only remaining producer in Spain; the shop ( Calle Cristobal de Zamudio 12  www.mantasezcaray.com) services fashion houses like Loewe and Armani. Good excursions from Ezcaray are the Valdezcaray ski station; the source of the Río Oja at Llano de la Casa; La Rioja's highest point, the 2,284-meter (7,494-foot) Pico de San Lorenzo; and the Romanesque church of Tres Fuentes, at Valgañón. The hamlet is also known for its wild mushrooms—and the resulting tapas served in its barrooms.

Take a five-minute spin on the railway up to the top of Artxanda Mountain for some of the best views over Bilbao. At the summit, there's a park, hotel, sports complex, and a couple of good asadores.

This gallery is filled with colorful abstract paintings of landscapes and rural life by a local artist. Calling ahead is recommended.

The village of Elciego, 6 km (4 miles) southeast of Laguardia, is the site of the historic Marqués de Riscal winery. Tours of the vineyards and cellars—among the most legendary in La Rioja—are conducted in English. Reservations are required. The estate also includes the stunning Frank Gehry–designed Hotel Marqués de Riscal, crafted out of waves of metal reminiscent of his Guggenheim Bilbao.

Small-production, minimal-intervention wines produced according to the biodynamic method are the specialty of this independent winery that's a 25-minute drive east of Laguardia. Tours and tastings are by online appointment only.

Just in from the harbor, in the shadow of Monte Urgull, is this baroque church with a stunning carved facade of an arrow-riddled St. Sebastián flanked by two towers. The interior is strikingly restful considering the bustling area. Note the sculptures The Harmony of Sound, by Maximilian Peizmann, to the right of the entrance, and By the Cross to the Light, by Eduardo Chillida, in the baptistery.

The church of Santiago is known for its door and its gold sculpture of the saint.

The architectural highlight of Haro, this single-nave Renaissance and late-Gothic church was completed in 1564. It has an intricately sculpted plateresque portal on the south side and a gilded baroque organ facade towering over the choir loft.

An expressive wooden sculpture of Christ on a Y-shape cross in this church was the gift of a 14th-century pilgrim on his way to Santiago de Compostela.

You can visit this uninhabited island that rises from the center of La Concha's bay and shields it from high swells. Ferries (around €8 round-trip) run from the mainland every 30 minutes and are packed on summer weekends. Reaching the island from the beach is a fun challenge for experienced swimmers. There's a small bar at the ferry dock and lifeguard service at a beach that reveals itself only at low tide. Bring sturdy sandals as the coastline is rocky. Within the lighthouse is a 15-ton bronze fountain called Hondalea (\"Sea Floor\"), by Basque sculptor Cristina Iglesias; unveiled in 2021 and open only on select dates (see website), its whooshing flows are meant to mimic the tides.

This carefully researched nautical museum, beloved by kids and adults alike, reconstructs the history of the Bilbao waterfront and shipbuilding industry beginning from medieval times. Temporary exhibits range from visits by extraordinary seacraft such as tall ships or traditional fishing vessels to thematic displays on 17th- and 18th-century clipper ships or the sinking of the Titanic.

This gorgeous Navarran hamlet 54 km (33½ miles) southeast of Pamplona, perched atop a lush riverbed and gorge, is the birthplace of the 16th-century Roman Catholic missionary Francis Xavier, cofounder of the Jesuit order. There's a fine castle, cathedral, and monastery, comfortable hotels, a couple of restaurants, and an impressive visitor center with rotating exhibits. Whatever your religious persuasion, it's a beautiful stop on your travels in the Pamplona area.

This museum 12 km (7½ miles) east of Pamplona commemorates Jorge Oteiza (1908–2003), the father of modern Basque art. In his seminal treatise, Quosque tandem, Oteiza called for Basque artists to find their own aesthetic and not acquiesce to the Spanish canon. Rejecting ornamentation in favor of essential form, he created the school of artists from which Eduardo Chillida (1924–2002) emerged. The earth-tone concrete slab of a building housing the museum was Oteiza's home for more than two decades.

A 20-minute drive southwest to the village of Balmaseda is in fact a one-way ticket to chocolate-and-coffee heaven. On an hourlong factory tour, learn firsthand what goes into making some of Spain's finest \"bean-to-bar\" chocolate and award-winning single-origin coffees—and how both delicacies tie into Spain's rich food history—during a tour that culminates in a heady tasting. 

Architect Joaquín de Rucoba built this city hall in 1892, on the site of the San Agustín convent destroyed during the 1836 Carlist War. It shares the Belle Époque style of de Rucoba's Teatro Arriaga. The Salón Árabe, the highlight of the interior, was designed by the same architect who built Bilbao's Café Iruña, as their neo-Mudejar motifs suggest.

Bilbaínos wax poetic about this welcoming town green surrounded by concrete jungle. Overlooking the square is the Basque Gothic Iglesia de San Vicente Mártir, whose amply robed sculpture of the Virgin—located on the main facade—had to be sculpted a second time after the original version was deemed too scantily clad, according to local legend. The Jardines de Albia are centered on the bronze effigy of writer Antonio de Trueba, by the famous Spanish sculptor Mariano Benlliure (1866–1947).

A museum on the move, this traditional wooden Basque fishing boat called a mater—the last of its kind—was built in 1900 and today gives roving ecotours of the coastline. Visitors can choose from experiences ranging from an out-to-sea itinerary exploring ancestral fishing methods to an in-depth tour through the bowels of the vessel centered on the art of shipbuilding and maintenance.

The city's much-cherished subway system opened in 1995 and was designed by British architect Sir Norman Foster, winner of the 1999 Pritzker Architecture Prize and architect of Barcelona's 1992 Collserola Communications tower and, more recently, the international terminal at Beijing Airport. The construction project was a necessity when Bilbao began to spread up and down the Nervión estuary. It connects Bolueta, upstream from the Casco Viejo, with Plentzia, a run of 30 km (19 miles), and, in the other direction, with Basauri. The metro is nearly spotless, graffiti is scarce, and most of its passengers ride in a respectful silence. 

Winner of the railway architecture Brunel Prize of 1996, the metro in general and the Sarriko station in particular were designated as the prizewinning elements. The Sarriko station, the largest of all of the 23 stops, is popularly known as El Fosterazo (the Big Foster); the others are Fosteritos (Little Fosters). The most spectacular are segmented glass tubes curving up from underground, such as those at Plaza Circular and Plaza Moyúa, widely thought to resemble transparent snails.

Dating to the 10th century, this monastery was later converted by Cistercian monks to a pilgrims' hospital; next door, and now operated by the Bodegas Irache, is the famous brass faucet that supplies pilgrims with free-flowing holy wine. Call ahead to arrange a guided tour.

This beach is said to have the longest break in Europe and among the best in the world, making it a magnet for surfers. In summer and fall this beach is off-limits to families who just want to splash around. Amenities: lifeguards; water sports. Best for: surfing.

Just south of the park, this weaponry museum has prehistoric hatchets, 20th-century pistols, and a sand-table reproduction of the 1813 battle between the Duke of Wellington's troops and the French.

Spain's number-three fine arts museum, bested only by Madrid's Prado and Seville's Museo de Bellas Artes, features works from every Spanish school and movement from the 12th through the 20th centuries. The collection of Flemish, French, Italian, and Spanish paintings includes works by El Greco, Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Diego Velázquez, José Ribera, Paul Gauguin, and Antoni Tàpies. One large and excellent section traces developments in 20th-century Spanish and Basque art alongside works by better-known European contemporaries, such as Fernand Léger and Francis Bacon. Look for Zuloaga's famous portrait of La Condesa Mathieu de Moailles and Joaquín Sorolla's portrait of Basque philosopher Miguel de Unamuno. Expect to spend at least three hours here.