Getxo and Algorta Fishing Village Near Bilbao

We take the Euskotren from Bilbao to the town of Getxo, 12 km (7.5 miles) away, and explore the old fishing village and port of Algorta within Getxo.  Getting off at the Neguri station in Getxo, we walk through the village of grand old houses on our way to the beach.  The Euskotren system is modern, efficient, and a joy to ride (we'll be riding it to San Sebastian later in the day).

Euskotren train and station

 Grand houses in Getxo

The beach and promenade are quiet on this cold, rainy day, but we walk and enjoy the view.  The beach is fabulous in the storm, with high winds and occasional showers.  A truly fun experience!

 Along the beachfront

The city is up the hill, accessible either by stairs or by funicular.

 Walk or ride to the beach

As we approach the fishing village of Algorta at the entrance to the Abra Bay, we spot the fishing boats pulled up on the pier and the coast gets more rugged as we approach, heading away from the center of Getxo and the water passage into Bilbao.

 Fishing boats

 Rugged coastline after Algorta

We climb the stairs up to Algorta and wander the narrow streets of this old fishing town.  The villagers are going about their day as we walk past their yards, courtyards, and homes.  Good cooking smells are emerging from the windows and, for a while, we feel a part of the community.

Algorta was prohibited from trading by the charters of the towns of Bilbao and Portugalete, so the town focused on fishing and piloting (guiding ships into Bilbao harbor).  The experienced seafarers of Algorta also provided a large supply of crew members and officers for all kinds of ships, in addition to expert shipwreck rescue teams.

 Streets of Algorta

Descending back to the water, we walk back along the beach back to Getxo, a city with more modern port facilities, a cruise terminal, an aquarium, and a sheltered harbor.

 Back along the beach to Getxo, Algorta in the distance

 Getxo harbor and cruise terminal (no cruise boats)

From the harbor, we see more grand houses of Getxo overlooking the harbor and the great views out into the Atlantic, with the moored fishing boat fleet and rescue boat station featuring prominently in the harbor.

 Grand houses overlooking the harbor

 View of the harbor entrance

Larger fishing boats

Rescue boat station

We walk back (up the stairs from the beach) to the Euskotren station and head back into Bilbao to grab our luggage and catch the train to San Sebastian.

Dinners in Bilbao

For dinner in Bilbao, we head to Old Town for pintxos, tapas offered in the restaurants and bars.  The pintxos cover the counters of each location and we first pick a place to eat, then pick some dishes (and wine), then (often) move on to another place to try something else.

We're not sure what to expect and find our way to Plaza Nueva in Old Town.  We enter and see a grand plaza, with tables and umbrellas (important for the occasional downpour) lining the edges, people playing soccer in the middle, and lot of small shops, restaurants, and bars in the buildings.

 Plaza Nueva

As we walk along covered passageway, we start to see the great offerings on the bars and tables and wonder how we will select one of the many and choose a spot to stop.

 Many choices!

We start our pinxtos crawl at the spot that calls to us the most (the top picture above, where the guys pose for our photo), choose some pintxos from the counter, and settle in for the great tastes and views of the plaza.  Our first choices are duck, ahi on pasta, albacore tuna (with balsamic, olive oil, onion, red/green bell pepper), and a mini hamburger with cheese on a roasted red pepper bun.  Accompanied by local Basque white wine.

 Duck, ahi on pasta

 Albacore tuna, mini hamburger

We stroll across the plaza to our next pinxtos bar, where we have a chicken taco and serrano ham (and a little more of the great Basque white wine).

Chicken taco, serrano ham

The next night, we head back to Plaza Nuevo and choose jambon (Iberian ham) and cheese, shrimp on baguette, cod with squid ink rice, and tuna.  Followed by goat cheese with zucchini and pesto and cod in a pastry shell.  More local white wine.

 First choice

Next choice

As night falls, the crowd grows and the plaza fills with great sounds and smells. One German couple, also dining in the bar, wanders over and asks if we are Swiss.  We're not quite sure what about us might make them choose Swiss, but we tell them no and have a great conversation for a while, before we each move on to our respective next stops.  One of the great things about travel is such random interactions with strangers, where we meet, enjoy time together, and make new friends.

 Night falls

Returning to our hotel, it's only appropriate for a nightcap in the bar.

 Winding up

While we're on the subject of food/dining, we should mention the breakfast buffet in our hotel, the Hotel Barcelo Bilbao Nervion, on the Nervion river between the Guggenheim Museum and Old Town.  The buffet is huge and filling, with lots of regional dishes to get us going every morning.

 Great start to the day

We've found a lot more in Bilbao than we expected and are really glad that we stopped here.  We have a little more exploration in the morning, then on to San Sebastian.