Lady’s Guide to a Weekend in Bilbao, San Sebastian, and Biarritz

Today I want to share my guide to spending a weekend in Bilbao, San Sebastian, and Biarritz. Basque Country in Spain and France is a great part of Europe to visit for food, culture, and beaches, with an emphasis on food.

Weekend in Bilbao, San Sebastian, and Biarritz

I love to travel. I love to eat. Anyone who’s read more than a few posts on this blog will have noticed that my main obsessions in life are food and travel.

Anything that combines those two is my own personal heaven on Earth (note the Jesus statue).

Enter Basque Country. One part separatist movement. One part world-famous art museum. Two parts most-Michelin-stars-per-capita-of-any-city-in-the-world (aka San Sebastian).

A sprinkling of France, because when the point of one’s journey is to eat, who could resist going to the culinary capital of the world? Add water (Atlantic beaches, anyone?). Mix for two-and-a-half days.

The result: my weekend in Bilbao, San Sebastian, and Biarritz, or heaven on earth.

Friday in Bilbao and San Sebastian

– Very late lunch at the Guggenheim Bilbao restaurant. Menu included tender and wonderfully salted calamari, perfectly prepared sea bass, and a lemony ice cream concoction for dessert.

– Drove to San Sebastian and checked into the Maria Cristina hotel. Got upgraded to a suite. Win.

– Very late dinner of pintxos at three great bars in San Sebastian’s old town: La Cuchara de San Telmo, Gandarias, and La Cepa.

My boyfriend and I feasted on little bites of long-grain rice risotto, beer-battered bakalau tempura, tiny prosciutto sandwiches, golden ham croquetas, mushroom toasts, and sizzling pork skewers.

It was all washed down with some vino tinto and a Kalimotxo (which is red wine plus Coke…sounded sketchy, tasted like Cherry Coke. When in Rome…).

Saturday in San Sebastian

– Stared the day off right with a cappuccino and a racion of patatas bravas.

– Late lunch of more pintxos at Gandarias. We couldn’t get the little prosciutto sandwiches from the night before out of our heads, and our decided lack of willpower forced us to go back for more.

Dessert of chocolate gelato. Simple yet delicious.

– Dinner at Akelarre, one of San Sebastian’s three-Michelin-starred restaurants. If Basque Country is heaven, Akelarre is where you eat when you get there.

Molecular gastronomy plus great wine pairings and gorgeous ocean views. A few of the courses on the tasting menu:

– Bonbon, Egg with Caviar; Lamb in a Potato Cloud; Squid, Onion Soup with Parmesan; Rice Venere and “Camaron” Little Tortilla; Little Pearls of Foie Gras and Sour Salad; Wild Mushrooms and “Egg Pasta”; Squid in Warm Salt, Broth, and Ink Sand; Sole in a Sea of Coral; Apple Tart (with edible paper…it was chocolate!).

The post-dessert was chocolate sausage, brioche, anis chips, and “wine” with the alcohol removed. It was a delicious meal.

Sunday in San Sebastian and Biarritz

– Continued the weekend in Bilbao, San Sebastian, and Biarritz with a giant foam-topped cappuccino to guarantee caffeine buzz all day. Paired nicely with a giant tortilla de patatas.

– Lunch in Biarritz. In an effort to dispel French stereotypes about American eating habits, my boyfriend had the assiette geante (giant plate). I went for the daintier but no less artery-clogging croque monsieur.

– Dinner of pintxos from La Cuchara de San Telmo, Gandarias (couldn’t get enough of those prosciutto sandwiches), and Casa Alcalde.

The best pintxo? A tiny Kobe beef burger on a teeny ketchup-flavored bun served with banana txips (chips). We ate one and immediately ordered another.

Weekend in Bilbao, San Sebastian, and Biarritz

We checked out of the Maria Cristina, rolled ourselves home from our weekend in Bilbao, San Sebastian, and Biarritz, and are now in the process of sorting through our closets for clothes with elastic waistbands.

Good thing we can see the gym out our kitchen window. This will be a good week for exercise.

But (there’s always an excuse!). First we’re going out for an Argentine steak dinner at Gaucho with some friends in Hampstead. As my mother always says, the diet starts tomorrow…

This post appeared in the Lonely Planet Blogsherpa Carnival “Food Around the World” on Tye Dye Travels.

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