From the August issue of The Sunday Times Travel Magazine

It’s some task, catapulting a dowdy Spanish port into the upper echelons of the favourite-weekend-away stakes. Barcelona managed it; Valencia too. But neither has quite the dramatic rags-to-riches story of Bilbao.

Barely more than a decade ago, the Basque capital – with its decaying iron foundries, steelworks and shipyards – would have had difficulty giving away air tickets and accommodation.

So what went right? Big shots devised a grand plan for the coastal city, rustling up funds and conjuring a makeover that wouldn’t have shamed Cher.

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The catalyst, now a beacon for long-weekenders, was architect Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum, aka ‘El Goog’. It opened in 1997 in a flash of warped titanium facades; since then, the city’s Neo-Classical beauty has been coaxed out of steam-cleaned buildings, the polluted Ría de Bilbao has been purged, and miles of walkways have been laid to encourage promenading.

With excellent new metro and tram systems, the city’s a cinch to navigate and a pleasure to discover. It’s intimate, too, with two neighbourhoods to explore. The river divides Casco Viejo, the cute, rickety old tangle of ancient streets, from the more expansive Ensanche district. In this ‘younger’ area, you have world-class museums (including Gehry’s), leafy spaces for lazy Saturdays, grand avenues of terraces for summer lounging, designer shops and a mall.

And you won’t go hungry – Basque gastronomy encourages indulgence, be it Michelin-starred restaurants or time-honoured purveyors of pintxos, the local tapas. Match the cuisine with terrific regional cider and wines – Txakoli, perhaps, or Rioja – and totter off to discover Bilbao, classic and contemporary.

THE CLASSIC QUARTER

The compact Old Town, Casco Viejo, is a weathered delight – a jumble of cobbled, pedestrianised streets, some dating from the 14th century. Densely packed buildings with enclosed balconies seem to bend in, casting dark shadows that evoke the mystery of a North African medina. Everyone buzzes around the bars, restaurants and shops like hornets. It’s best to wander randomly, but for a guided walking tour (weekends, £3.80), try Bilbao Tourismo information point (Teatro Arriaga; 00 34 94 479 5760, www.teatroarriaga.com).

Sit for a bit and catch your thoughts at Museo Vasco (Plaza Miguel Unamuno 4; 00 34 94 415 5423, www.euskal-museoa.org; £3; closed Mondays). This 17th-century former Jesuit college is charmingly old-fashioned, with a delightfully calm cloister. Check out the prehistoric and archeological remains, absorbing the quirky tableaux of everyday life.

Peek inside Santiago Cathedral (Plaza Santiago; www.spain.info; free). Little of its original Gothic foundations (circa 1300) remain, but the melange of styles added over centuries makes for a haunting half hour as you take a pew. The high altar is floridly beautiful. Interestingly, this is a spiritual ‘refreshment-stop’ for pilgrims undertaking the hike to Santiago de Compostela, further west, in Galicia.

A minute’s walk leads to Mercado de la Ribera (Calle de la Ribera; 00 34 94 415 7086, www.mercadodelaribera), one of Europe’s largest covered markets, set in a handsome Art Deco building by the river. Over three floors, it’s bursting with the region’s edible goodies. Marble slabs hold huge open-mouthed cods, hake and squid; lurid carcasses dangle. There are fields of technicolour vegetables, avalanches of pulses, towers of bread, and all the ingredients needed for a picnic, too.

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