Green Spain: the Cantabrian Coast

Bold architecture and age-old Basque traditions come together in Bilbao, the liveliest city of the Basque Country, once an industrial heartland and today a symbol of urban rebirth and creativity. Its transformation wears the gleaming face of the Guggenheim Museum, Frank Gehry's titanium-clad masterpiece reflected in the river's waters and now an icon of contemporary art worldwide. Along the banks unwinds an elegant promenade dotted with landmark bridges and signature architecture. On the other side beats the Casco Viejo, the historic centre of the "seven streets", a weave of lanes guarding the Catedral de Santiago, the Ribera market and historic shops. Bilbao is above all a gastronomic capital, home of the pintxos served in lively bars and of a Basque cuisine among the most celebrated in Spain. A short distance away await the beaches and villages of the coast, and the Vizcaya transporter bridge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Among bold art, authentic flavours and Basque spirit, Bilbao invites you to be surprised.

Golden light and the scent of sea salt greet you in Santander, an elegant seaside city set on a broad Cantabrian bay and reborn after the great fire of 1941 that reshaped its face. Along the waterfront stands the Centro Botín, an art museum designed by Renzo Piano, facing the Pereda gardens. To the east stretches the Sardinero beach, the city's seaside heart, while the Magdalena peninsula, with its royal palace and park, offers views over the ocean. Between seafood cuisine, a refined atmosphere and the Atlantic breeze, Santander invites you to experience the northern coast with elegance.

Capital of Asturias, in Spain's green north, Oviedo is an elegant and intimate city where pre-Romanesque history coexists with a lively, refined centre. Its jewel is the 9th-century Asturian architecture, a UNESCO World Heritage Site: on the nearby Monte Naranco rise the churches of Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo, while in the city stand San Julián de los Prados and the Cámara Santa housed within the majestic Gothic Catedral de San Salvador, the city's spiritual heart. The historic centre is a weave of pedestrian streets, squares and mansions, enlivened by sidrerías where you can taste the famous Asturian cider poured from a great height. Oviedo is also the starting point of the Camino Primitivo to Santiago and a gateway to the mountain and coastal landscapes of Asturias. Between ancient art, gastronomy and a genteel atmosphere, Oviedo invites you to discover the authentic soul of the Spanish north.

A lively seaside resort on the north-western tip of Galicia, where the Atlantic shapes a wind-swept peninsula, La Coruña is a port city famous for the Tower of Hercules, the only Roman-era lighthouse still in operation in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its most distinctive feature is the glassed-in galleries of the buildings facing the harbour, which have earned it the nickname "city of glass". The Ciudad Vieja, the old town, holds intimate squares and Romanesque churches such as Santiago and Santa María del Campo. Along the shore stretch the broad urban beaches of Riazor and Orzán, the heart of city life. Renowned for its seafood cuisine and Atlantic atmosphere, La Coruña invites you to wander between ocean, history and light.