WHAT TO SEE IN URIBE NEAR BILBAO

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Butrón Castle in the Uribe region near Bilbao

Until a few decades ago it was hard to imagine that the Bilbao city, in Basque Country, could become a point of tourist attraction.

The commitment to the construction of Guggenheim museum, and the simultaneous recovery of the surroundings of the estuary, until then an industrial zone that is the focus of great pollution, has led to this substantial change.

But the city of Bilbao also has a face rural that you can discover on your trip to the capital of Bizkaia.

Baquio from Mount Jata in the Uribe region of Bizkaia

Indeed, from the center of Bilbao, in a few minutes by car, even by subway, you can discover beautiful rural corners that are distributed through the mountains and valleys that surround the capital.

What to see in the Uribe region

Specifically in the Uribe region, which I had the opportunity to visit recently, and which extends through the northeast of Bilbao From the right bank of your estuary, you will find beautiful mountain landscapes, but also from the coast.

Yes you climb Mount Jatawell in one 4 × 4 excursion Through the paths of its forests, or in your own car on a dirt and cement track that is born between Baquio and Arminza, you will have the best panoramic views of the aforementioned region.

Berango in the Uribe region of Bilbao

From a height of about 600 meters you have views of the coast, with beautiful panoramic views of Baquio and the nearby hermitage of Gaztelugatxe, as well as the valleys inside. And if you like the Active turism, you will also have the possibility of descend from Jata in paragliding.

If you don't have a car, stopget to the coast from Bilbao you can use metro line 1 that ends in Plentzia, where you will be in little more than half an hour.

You will pass by Berango, where you can make a very curious and interesting visit, the Iron Belt Memorial, which takes you to the time of the defense of the city of Bilbao during the Civil war.

Cliffs of Meñakoz in the Uribe region near Bilbao

The visit is completed by climbing to a nearby hill to see the trenches of the old defensive belt and enter a old machine gun nest or in a shelter.

If you are looking to enjoy a family beach, it is worth approaching the renovated Gorliz beach, where after the launch of a major urban development project just four years ago, a road has been removed and buildings demolished to, in turn, bend the sandy surface and, above all, recover a natural area of dunes.

And if you feel like walking along cliffs, I advise you to go hiking in the area of Meñakoz, between Sopela Y Barrika.

Medieval tower of Martiartu in the Uribe region near Bilbao

During that walk you will see how it surf in the huge waves that reach the coast of Sopela, or discover the curious geological formations of the area, such as the so-called Dragon's Tail.

But the Uribe region there are other surprises, such as Butrón Castle.

It’s the only one Bizkaia Castle, which actually has its origins in a 15th-century tower house, which in the 19th century became the property of Marquis of Cubas, who turned it into a European-style castle.

Surf in Sopela in the Uribe region near Bilbao

Nearby you can see what is perhaps the original tower house of the Middle Ages best preserved in Bizkaia, the Martiartu Tower.

In Bizkaia there are no castles (except for the exception of Butrón), but in your visit of the Uribe region you will find many rural hamlets, manor houses, like those of Larrabetzu, or mansions, like the urgoiti palace, which now houses a hotel in Mungia.

Finally, a visit for this region around Bilbao must also have as protagonist the gastronomy.

Beans in Aurrekoetxe restaurant in the Uribe region near Bilbao

In Uribe you can taste the most traditional dishes, such as alubiada with their sacraments, the possibility of participating in a workshop talo from the hand of Aitor Aurrekoetxea, to the three star kitchen Michelin of the Azurmendi restaurant from Eneko Atxa.