Bilbao and the Basque Lands
-- The Sunday Times
This title marvels at the titanium wonder that is the Guggenheim museum and takes in its fascinating exhibits. It discovers the unique history behind the Basques, Europe's oldest people. It travels through stunning scenery of velvet green mountains, immaculate villages, vineyards and ancient holy places. It explores both the French and Spanish sides of the Basque country and the dramatic vistas of the Pyrenees. It visits vibrant Vittoria and lives it up in the glittering resort of Biarritz. It has a dynamic new two-colour layout for easy navigation. It has a new magazine style, combining stunning photography, tailored itineraries and a personal take on the country. It features clear, newly-designed two-colour maps throughout for increased ease of use. These are the only guides with full-colour touring maps of the whole region. There are extensive listings of hotels and restaurants - all personally recommended for a really local flavour.It also includes 'Top Don't Miss' sights for each regional chapter, plus 'Author Choices' of personal favourite places to stay and eat.
Extract: The Guggenheims
On top of earth or under it, so fearful is their might
They’ll gobble all there is to get and turn you inside out
The Guggenheims will get you if you don’t watch out.
Washington Times, 1910
Gobblers? By the 1970s, even most Americans only remembered the Guggenheims for the extraordinary museum in New York that bears their name, forgetting how only a few decades before their names were splashed regularly across the front pages as one of the dozen richest families in the United States. The one link they have with Bilbao is metals: iron made Bilbao, copper made the Guggenheims. And the fruit of their unlikely marriage, fittingly, is a titanium miracle child.
The Guggenheims were one of the great American sagas of rags to riches. ...click here to read the rest
The only real book on Bilbao, but still strong, /5
I had planned a 1 week trip to Bilbao for business (with a companion) and was desparate to find a guidebook on the city. I was just lucky enough to have the 4th edition of Bilbao and the Basque Lands (BBL) published days before departure (with no stock in the 3rd edition??).
Although this book is the only real thorough guidebook I found that focuses on Bilbao and the Basque region, it is certainly a first rate guide. Although I didn't explore every corner of the city, I was able to use the many maps, restaurant recommendations, Guggenhiem info, language guide, as well as understand the history and customs of the region.
For those who have time to explore more surrounding areas (the north Coast, Vittoria, San Sebastian, etc), I think this book is your best resource. I'm not a guidebook person, but this one is highly recommended.
Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls can be reached at: michel.pauls@wanadoo.fr
