THE BASQUE COUNTRY

Gentle green hills dotted with farmhouses, a stunningly beautiful rocky coastline, an ancient language, strong Basque identity, and arguably the best food in Spain.

When it comes to food, the Basque Country seems to have it all. There are scores of Michelin Star restaurants, born from the Basque response to France’s nouvelle cuisine in the 1970s. The culture of culinary innovation has spread across Spain since then, but the Basque Country is still the heart of modern Spanish food. All of that creativity had to come from somewhere, though, and here it is the richness of ingredients and recipes. The Basque countryside offers wild-caught Atlantic fish, foraged mushrooms, dry-aged beef, sheep’s milk cheese, fresh vegetables, and artisan cider and the local white wine Txakoli. The quality ingredients are everywhere here, not just in the manicured dining rooms of starred restaurants. Pintxos bars (Basque tapas bars) compete to have the best and most creative tapas. Seaside restaurants serve the best grilled fish you’ll ever have, and in the hamlets of the countryside, simple recipes shine with the flavors of the hills. This is the only part of Spain with cooking clubs where members use professional kitchens to cook for each other and their friends, and where the kitchen is often larger than the club. Even economical midday menus in the cities will surprise you with the purity of flavor in their dishes. We know you can eat all the Michelin star meals you could want in the Basque Country. But trust me: you won’t want many because the food everywhere you go is so good. I say eat like the Basques do: traditional food made with great products sourced and produced in Euskadi, in bars and restaurants and cooking clubs. Then you’ll understand what all the fuss has been about.

What to Expect in the Basque Country

San Sebastián

What to expect

• 19th-century urban elegance

• Teeming pintxos bars

• Best way to do it: Dedicate yourself to eat and drink

Don’t miss

Lunch in a private can’t-get-into gastronomic club

La Concha beach stroll

Seafood feasts in nearby coastal towns

Bilbao

What to expect

• More locals than tourists

• Amazing Rioja wines in the pintxos bars

• It’s very Basque

Don’t miss

• The Guggenheim Museum from the outside

• Cork Wine Bar

The Basque Coast: Getaria, Hondarribia, Pasajes, Urdaibai

What to expect

• Grilled Cantabrian sea bass & turbot

• Seaside dining

• Txakoli wineries

Don’t miss

• Cantabrian cured anchovies, the world’s best

• Urdaibai UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

The Basque Interior

What to expect

• Green, green and more green

• World class steak restaurants. Numbers 6 and 37 on The World’s Best Steak Restaurants 2026

• Smoked Idiazabal sheep’s milk cheese made from Basque Latxa y Carranzana breeds

• Tiny villages

Don’t miss

• Orio and Tolosa weekly markets

• Basque caserío farmhouses producing charcuterie

• Seafood feasts

Basque Country Trips