Breathe in the Landscape Green Bizkaia getaway • Surrounded by nature reserves • Tramping routes and the Northern Pilgrim’s Way: always going the right way • Cultural and historic heritage in every town, in every farmstead • Culinary arts on the cutting edge and steeped in tradition You will be delighted Nature Reserves You will be enchanted by Coexisting with the surroundings TO VISIT Natural cathedrals WALKING Meeting points A bird's eye view Belt Green of Bilbao Where rivers are born Oma, the painted forest Where the species live The inland Northern Pilgrim’s Way Gernika, symbol of peace The Ring of Steel 6 Cultural heritage 24 Away from the coast water surrounded by green Mining and the cultural heritage The pathway of history You will be charmed You will be thrilled You will love TO ATTEND TO TAKE PART SHOPPING “Herriz herri”, from village to village First hand Products that mean identity Fairs agricultural and livestock Of competitions and tastings Traditions in the 21st century On the ground or in the sky With authentic Passion 30 Basque pelota, ten to one 36 40 Work is a game This card is your passport to savings and convenience when planning your stay in Bilbao; You will adore to use it for public transport, museum and theatre TOP GREEN Bilbao/BIZKAIA from tickets, restaurants, shops and other leisure activities. Request one in any Tourism Office THE FOOD Everything you can't miss in 10 or at: proposals What we call some things around www.bilbaoturismo.net You eat what you grow here Home cooking goes restaurant 48 50 Slow Food Version: January 2016. Second edition Stars outside the city Published by: Bilbao Bizkaia be Basque The “pintxos” BIZKAIAMAP USEFULINFO Content: Bell Communication 42 To keep track without Addresses, telephone numbers, Photography: Archives of Bilbao Turismo, Bizkaia Turismo, Basquetour, Hazi, missing a thing links... be in the know Bell, Gonzalo Azumendi, Pedro Muñoz, Quintas Fotógrafos, Gemma Arrugaeta, Mitxi, Martín Fotógrafo, CC by-3.0-ES 2012/EJ-GV/Irekia-Gobierno Vasco/ Mikel Arrazola 52 54 Printers: Grafilur/D.L. BI-34-2016/1,000 izkaia cannot be understood without the meeting of the coast with the green of the interior. These pages will take you into the heart of this green Bworld with its landscape of majestic mountains that seem to touch the sky and deep tranquil valleys with their farmsteads and orchards... nothing you see will leave you indifferent.You will wander the Greenways with their routes that lead through unbelievable settings. To explore the nature reserves is to immerse yourself in an often untamed natural environment. You will be charmed to attend the fairs and games where tradition is lived with authentic passion. Don't miss the chance to take part with your senses when you can make cheese or join a wine tasting course. Dining on home-made dishes in some local restaurant is not a bad idea either. And before you return home don't forget to go shopping for the delicacies that will Gernika Assembly House bring all your memories flooding back. 4 5 The way we are, naturally Gorbeia Nature Reserve You will be delighted TO VISIT URKIOLA An essentially Basque landscape: abrupt, green and rocky, with the profile of Anboto etched against the sky with its 1,330 m. This is a land of myths and legends, especially about Mari, the queen of faeries, who lives on the sheer flank of the outcrop. The park is a series of rocky outcrops, valleys and gullies that are a paradise for mountaineers and trampers. The Urkiola Sanctuary is a place of pilgrimage for single people looking for a partner. All you have to do is take three turns around the stone. www.urkiola.net www.basquemountains.com Armañón Nature Reserve 6 7 ARMAÑON This mountain range forms the border with Cantabria and belongs to the region of Las Encartaciones where the peak of Armañon, at 854 m, is the highest point. There are more than 200 caves and potholes including the outstanding Pozalagua Caves, (Best Spot in Spain 2013, according Repsol Guide) home to the largest number of eccentric stalactites in the world. www.visitenkarterri.com NATURE RESERVES www.basquemountains.com Landscapes with personality where a backpack full of pure air nature seems to imitate the art GORBEIA of the great landscape painters. Visiting Bizkaia's nature reserves is Gorbeia, where Bizkaia and Araba-Alava meet and an awesome experience. They are share the nature reserve, is another essentially accessible to all. The only prerequisite Basque location. At 1,482 m, the summit of is to fine-tune all five senses and let Mount Gorbeia is the highest point in Bizkaia. The them seduce you. On the way, you will surrounding area combines gentle pastures, beech meet people and places that enhance and oak forests and rocky precipices peppered with your insight into their way of life. An caves. The Mairulegorreta Cave, all 12 km of it and unforgettable experience. A Urkiola Nature Reserve Gorbeia Nature Reserve the Itxina karst are the outstanding features. Both GOOD form part of the Itxina Protected Biotope. IDEA! www.gorbeiaeuskadi.com You will be delighted TO VISIT A GOOD IDEA! It tastes of authentic, absolutely traditional methods. A great many autochthonous products are still handmade in the farmsteads, especially cheese and curds. If you are doing rural tourism you will get the chance to meet the people who make them, to share their secrets and gain insight into their Coexisting traditions. www.nekatur.net with the surroundings A Gorbeia shepherd You cannot say you've been in Bizkaia until you have immersed yourself in the rural environment of the farmsteads and their idyllic surroundings. Taking the ancestral home of the Basque people as the basis of your holiday is an excellent option. Today there are excellent facilities to make your experience not only authentic, but also 8 9 extremely comfortable. he mountains nature of inland Bizkaia calls out to those who enjoy a landscape Tof sharp contrasts: towering mountains, gentle hillsides and deep valleys located in a genuinely rural environment. The Duranguesado is one of the outstanding districts, the gateway to the Atxondo Valley, the Urkiola Nature Reserve and towns like Durango and the aristocratic Elorrio. The Arratia and Orduña valleys are full of rural charm. The latter is the only locality in Bizkaia entitled to call itself “Ciudad“ (City), Western Bizkaia, on the other hand, is marked by centuries of mining and industry where the high quality iron ore has been exploited since ancient times. The Peñas Negras Environmental Interpretation Centre can inform you of the various options for exploring this fascinating area. Atxondo Source of the Nervión River (Orduña) You will be delighted TO VISIT Natural CATHEDRALS he works in a nearby quarry uncovered Pozalagua, a 125 m cavity that houses the world's biggest concentration of eccentric 10 Tstalactites. A spectacular natural formation 11 that can be seen in the Karrantza Valley. Santimamiñe, in Kortezubi, is another cave of great interest due to the prehistoric rock paintings of various animals (brown bears, bison, deer...) and rich geological deposits in the form of beautiful columns formed by the union of stalagmites and stalactites. Another cave, the Balzola, is located in the Arratia Valley,a place known for its spectacular scenery and mythology. Here, among the rocks and in surroundings that run the full gamut of greens, various easy routes through the galleries have been conditioned and now make up one of the most singular landscapes in the entire region. A The Pozalagua Caves recently won GOOD the 2013 Repsol Guidebook Best IDEA! Tourist Spot award. Don't miss them. Pozalagua You will be delighted TO VISIT A bird's eye view 12 Meeting points 13 Anboto Delika ou only have to check the names of the Besaide is a very special place A They are indispensable lookouts to take in landscapes members of leading mountaineering teams because it brings together certain GOOD the spectacular scenery of which takes the breath all over the world to ascertain that many of features that confer it a special IDEA! away. The source of the Nervión, in Delika, is absolutely them are, naturally, Basques. The numerous symbolic significance: the borders of Y stunning and can be viewed from a balcony suspended natural paradises scattered across our geography the three provinces that make up the over the abyss. The lookout near the monument to the cry out to be climbed and enjoyed. Moreover, the Basque Country meet at its summit. It Virgen del Buen Suceso, the patron saint of the area, cultural significance of many of these places means hosts the monument to the unknown is the ideal spot to appreciate the Karrantza Valley in that they have become the focal point of various mountaineer and, just below the all its dramatic beauty. Artxanda borders on Bilbao activities related to mountain climbing, trekking, summit there is another monument itself offers a superb panorama of the city. TheSerantes potholing, mountain biking, hiking, orienteering, known as the "Fountain of Life". The lookout dominates both banks of the Nervión and was a multi-adventure, etc. All natural surrounding invite views from this strategic eyrie are strategic strongpoint in various historic conflicts. And in you to free your spirit and enjoy. simply breathtaking. It is no wonder the vicinity of Mount Atxabal in the Peñas de Oro you get that it is a cult spot for mountain a magnificent view of various peaks and visit theVirgen Besaide lovers. de Oro Sanctuary. You will be delighted TO VISIT Brown Bear Natural Reserves A GOOD Where the IDEA! You can spend a full day with the family in Karpin Abentura.