5 Best Sights in Bilbao and the Basque Country, Spain

Across Virgen Blanca, past the monument and the handsome Victoria Café stands this arcaded neoclassical square with the austere elegance typical of 19th-century municipal architecture.

In the southwest corner of old Vitoria, this plaza—the nerve center of the Casco Viejo—is ringed by noble houses with covered arches and white-trim glass galleries. The monument in the center commemorates the Duke of Wellington's victory over Napoleon's army here in 1813.

One of Pamplona's greatest charms is the warren of narrow streets near the Plaza del Castillo (especially Calle San Nicolás) filled with restaurants and bars.

This roomy square at the upper edge of the Casco Viejo honors Bilbao's greatest intellectual, Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936), the philosopher, novelist, professor, and public figure. Unamuno wrote some of Spain's most seminal works including Del sentimiento trágico de la vida en los hombres y los pueblos (The Tragic Sense of Life in Men and Nations). His Niebla (Mist) is generally accepted as the first existentialist novel, published in 1914 when Jean-Paul Sartre was but nine years old.

This 64-arch neoclassical plaza, built in 1851, is known for its Sunday-morning flea market, December 21 Santo Tomás festivities, and tapas bars and restaurants. Note the size of the houses' balconies (the bigger the balcony, the richer the original proprietor) and the tiny windows near the top of the facades, where servants' quarters would've been. The building behind the coat of arms at the head of the square was once a government office but is now the Euskaltzaindia (Academy of the Basque Language). The coat of arms shows the tree of Gernika, a symbol of Basque autonomy. The bars and shops around the arcades include two Victor Montes establishments, one for pintxos at Plaza Nueva 8 and the other for sit-down dining at No. 2. Café Bar Bilbao (No. 6), aka Casa Pedro, has Belle Époque interiors accented by photos of early Bilbao, while Argoitia (No. 15), across the square, has a nice angle on the midday sun.