The Basque Country — Euskadi in the Basque language — is an autonomous community in the north of Spain, tucked between the Bay of Biscay, the Pyrenees and the French border. It is one of the most distinctive parts of Europe. The Basques are probably the oldest indigenous people in Western Europe, with a language (Euskara) that is unrelated to any other in the world and whose origins are still debated; their culture is robust, defiantly proud, and visible everywhere in the flags, bilingual signs, and cheerful nationalism of the bigger towns. The region was heavily industrialised in the 19th and 20th centuries, then hollowed out, then reinvented itself — most famously in the case of Bilbao — as one of the most rewarding and unexpected corners of Spain for a visitor.
Bilbao, the largest city, has been entirely transformed since the opening of the Guggenheim Museum in 1997; Frank Gehry's titanium clad sculpture on the river is the emblem of the region, and the old town (Casco Viejo) behind it is full of excellent bars and pintxos. San Sebastián (Donostia) is the most beautiful Basque city — an elegant belle-époque resort wrapped around the perfect arc of La Concha bay, and widely regarded as the best place to eat in Spain thanks to an extraordinary concentration of Michelin stars and the pintxos bars of the Parte Vieja. Vitoria-Gasteiz, the administrative capital, is a quieter inland town with a well-preserved medieval centre. Guernica — famous for the 1937 bombing by the German Condor Legion that inspired Picasso's painting — is a small market town with an important peace museum. Along the coast, the fishing village of Getaria has one of the finest small museums in Spain (the Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum, dedicated to the Basque-born couturier), and inland Laguardia sits at the heart of the Rioja Alavesa wine region.
Come for the food above all else — Basque cooking is widely regarded as the finest in Spain, whether you are eating pintxos standing at a bar in Bilbao or spending an evening at one of the San Sebastián temples. The coast has good surfing and some lovely beaches (Zarautz, Mundaka); the Pyrenees hold surprisingly gentle hiking country; and the region is small enough that everything is within a couple of hours' drive. A week here is not enough.
