The Basque Country, Spain — Bella Via Travels
Spain
The Basque Country
The world's finest food culture
The Spanish Basque Country is the food capital of the world — a region that has produced more Michelin stars per capita than anywhere else on earth, and where the pintxos bars of San Sebastian are the finest expression of the art of eating standing up.
San Sebastian is the most beautiful city in Spain — a city of beaches, a bay of extraordinary elegance and a food culture that has been producing extraordinary restaurants for three decades. The old town, with its pintxos bars in the Parte Vieja, is the best place to eat in Europe — a labyrinth of narrow streets where every bar has a counter piled with extraordinary food and a glass of Txakoli to wash it down.
Bilbao was transformed by the Guggenheim Museum, which opened in 1997 and became the most important building of the late twentieth century — a titanium-clad structure by Frank Gehry that put the city on the cultural map of the world. The old town of Bilbao, the Mercado de la Ribera and the Casco Viejo are all within walking distance of the museum.
The Basque countryside — the green hills, the cider houses, the fishing villages of the coast — is a landscape of extraordinary beauty that most visitors never see. Bella Via designs Basque itineraries that combine the food culture of San Sebastian with the art of Bilbao and the quieter pleasures of the interior.
“A counter of pintxos in the Parte Vieja of San Sebastian, with a glass of Txakoli and the old town outside — it is one of the great food experiences of Europe.”
What to Expect
The Bella Via Experience in The Basque Country
San Sebastian's Pintxos Bars
The finest concentration of food culture in Europe — a labyrinth of narrow streets where every bar has a counter piled with extraordinary pintxos.
The Guggenheim Bilbao
The most important building of the late twentieth century — a titanium-clad structure by Frank Gehry that transformed a post-industrial city into a cultural destination.
Txakoli Wine
A slightly sparkling, bone-dry white wine made from the Hondarrabi Zuri grape — the perfect accompaniment to pintxos and the finest seafood in Spain.
The Basque Cider Houses
Traditional sagardotegiak in the hills above San Sebastian, serving cider from the barrel with salt cod omelette and grilled beef chop — one of the great seasonal food experiences of Spain.
The Basque Country rewards those who arrive hungry and leave with a new understanding of what food culture can be when it is taken seriously.