Things to Do at Casco Viejo (Seven Streets)

Seven streets laid out in the 14th century, still carrying their original names: Somera, Artekale, Tenderia, Belostikale, Carniceria Vieja, Barrenkale, and Barrenkale Barrena. The cobblestones are slick with Basque rain and the buildings lean toward each other overhead, narrowing the sky to a strip. This is where Bilbao started, and it still feels like the city's heart - every ground floor is a pintxos bar, a txakoli wine shop, or a family bakery that has not changed its sign in 50 years. The pintxos culture here is the best in the Basque Country outside San Sebastian. Bars stack their counters with small plates - salt cod croquettes, grilled prawns on toast, peppers stuffed with spider crab - and you eat standing up, dropping your toothpicks on the floor (it is clean, it is the custom). A pintxo and a small beer (zurito) costs EUR 3-5. Walk from bar to bar along Calle del Perro and Calle Santa Maria, eating one thing at each. This is how locals dine, and by the fifth stop you will understand why nobody books restaurants in the old town.

Casco Viejo has its own metro station. Lines 1 and 2 drop you directly in central the old town-probably your easiest option. From the Guggenheim area, you can walk along the river in 15-20 minutes and see how the city connects. Several bus lines stop nearby. Taxis know the area well, and the core streets ban cars anyway-you'll walk once you arrive.