Things to Do at Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Thirty-three thousand titanium panels catch the Basque rain and sun like fish scales, shifting from silver to gold to copper as clouds move overhead. Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum Bilbao opened in 1997 and single-handedly transformed a declining industrial port into one of Europe's most visited cultural destinations. The building wraps along the Nervion River in curves that look organic from every angle - no two photographs are the same because the surface changes constantly with the light. Outside, Jeff Koons' "Puppy" (a 12-meter dog covered in 70,000 living flowers) guards the entrance, and Louise Bourgeois' giant spider "Maman" lurks beneath the rear terrace. Inside, the central atrium rises 50 meters and the galleries range from intimate rooms to the 130-meter Fish Gallery, the largest in any Guggenheim. Exhibitions rotate every few months and tend toward large-scale contemporary work that uses the building's dramatic spaces. Richard Serra's "The Matter of Time" occupies the Fish Gallery permanently - eight massive steel sculptures you walk through, each curving differently around your body.

The museum sits right in central Bilbao, about a 15-minute walk from the Casco Viejo (Old Town). Take the Bizkaibus A3247 from the airport to reach the city center. Direct route there. The closest metro stop is Moyua on lines 1 and 2, though walking along the river from most parts of the city is quite pleasant. Taxis are easy to find. Parking exists nearby if you're driving-but those narrow streets will test your nerves.