Top Things to do in Basque Country
10 Museums in Basque Country That You Shouldn't Miss
Discover the best top things to do in Basque Country, Spain including Museo Mariposas del Mundo, Chillida Leku, Museo de Coches Clasicos y Antiguos Torre Loizaga, Museo Mercedes-Benz Barakaldo Aguinaga, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Photomuseum, Museum of Sacred Art (Museo de Arte Sacro), Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, Museo de la Paz de Guernica, Centro de Interpretacion y Degustacion del Queso Idiazabal.
Restaurants in Basque Country
1. Museo Mariposas del Mundo
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 5 reviews
2. Chillida Leku
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 80 reviews
CHILLIDA-LEKU is an outdoors museum that gathers the work of Eduardo Chillida (San Sebastián 1924-2002) in the properties of “Zabalaga farmhouse”, constructed in 1594 at the town of Hernani (Guipúzcoa-Spain). 10 kilometers far from San Sebastián, 40 sculptures of great format stand out on the ground of 12 hectares and a hundred small format works and drawings, created during 50 years of work, appear inside the restored farmhouse. In the same town in 1951, after his brief Parisian experience, Eduardo Chillida began his works in the forge of a blacksmith.
3. Museo de Coches Clasicos y Antiguos Torre Loizaga
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 77 reviews
4. Museo Mercedes-Benz Barakaldo Aguinaga
5. Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 17,393 reviews
American architect Frank Gehry is responsible for this architectural masterpiece: this fantastic chrome and metal creation houses a large collection of modern and contemporary art, a continuation of the Guggenheim legacy.
Reviewed By RicherTrips - Monterrey, Mexico
Even if you don´t like museums, even if you don´t like modern art, this place is a must. Forget about the art display, the building is the main attraction. If you´re lucky you may actually enjoy the collections and exhibitions (I enjoy immersing in "The matter of Time" by Richard Serra, and watching Kiefer´s "Sunflowers" and Jenny Holzer´s digital poetry). Before or after visiting the museum, take a slow walk around the building, since every spot gives a completely different view. And my favorite works of art are in the outside: "Tall Tree & the eye", by Anish Kapoor (the same that made the Bean for Chicago), Koon´s "Tulips", Buren´s "Red arches" on the bridge, Bourgeois´ spider: If your wander around long enough, you may catch the Fire Fountain and the Fog Sculpture. On the main entrance, Koof´s flowered Puppy isn´t my favorite.
6. Photomuseum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 10 reviews
7. Museum of Sacred Art (Museo de Arte Sacro)
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 36 reviews
A walk through the Biscayan Art of the last 800 years. An exposition from romanesque to present day.
8. Bilbao Fine Arts Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,492 reviews
The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum is an art museum located in the city of Bilbao, Spain. It is the second largest and most visited museum in the Basque Country and one of the richest Spanish museums outside Madrid. It houses a valuable and quite comprehensive collection of Basque, Spanish and European art from the Middle Ages to contemporary.
Reviewed By 855ninac - Hampshire, United Kingdom
Interesting way to organise art - alphabetically. A wonderful collection of a wide range of art, old and new, side by side. The Zuloaga exhibition was an added bonus. Just a short walk from the Guggenheim & definitely worth including in your itinerary.
9. Museo de la Paz de Guernica
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 272 reviews
El Museo de la Paz de Gernika nos invita a recordar, reflexionar y perdonar. Además, pretende acercar al visitante la historia del bombardeo de Gernika, la Guerra Civil y el exilio, 3 acontecimientos dramáticos que forman parte de la historia del pueblo vasco.
Reviewed By bockscar1 - Los Angeles, United States
Well worth the visit. Basque and Spanish; beginning placards are clearly numbered and have translations in a book they hand you English. Later texts are not numbered and become difficult to follow. Five QR codes I tried presumably to get more detailed info all had failing URLs. Artifact and photo captions are not translated, and I'd really love to know what I’m looking at. Much of museum feels like an extended poem on peace, anti-pollution, etc. The historical meat is the smaller section and made my visit by contextualizing the city and displaying insightful artifacts. Clearly much love was put into the presentations, but I'm surprised if the aspiration is to be a modern museum attracting foreigners why English wouldn't be baked in everywhere. Temporary exhibition of cartoons from 1936-7 really well-curated, all with English captions, definitely worth checking out. Bummer all museums in city seem to close 2-4pm. That makes it awfully tough on a day trip. Still, worth the stop for the historical section if not the rhetoric.
