Basque Country

城市概覽

History The oldest remains discovered in the Basque Country are made of stone, dating from the Paleotlithic period (150,000 before Christ). The Neolithic period (4,500 to 2,500 BC) brought about a major change in people's lifestyle: the inhabitants built settlements and began to farm the land and raise livestock. In ancient times, today's Euskal Herria and adjacent areas were inhabited by ancestors of Basques who the Greek historian Strabon considered savages and warriors. The land of Vascones became a kingdom in the ninth century when the nobles chose Iñigo (824-852) from the Aritza dynasty as king. The kingdom underwent many changes over the next few centuries under Castilian King Ferninand the Catholic invaded and subdued by arms peninsular Navarre Kingdom in 1512. From the 12th to the 15th centuries villas (towns) and cities emerged, also with their own local fueros or charters and rights granted by kings. It was during this period that the so-called "foral territories" were created and agreements reached with the king, by which he would have authority over the land in exchange for respecting the territorial self-governments or fueros and rights. The 19th century is characterised by a gradual loss of rights for the Basque people. The Kingdom of Navarre was incorporated as another province in Spain and the other three provinces of the south refused to become a single province, and therefore retained provisional status. In the late 19th century new ideologies and political movements came into existence, such as socialism but especially Basque nationalism for the restoration of the rights and privileges of the Basque people, as did labour unions. The first 3 decades of the 20th century came a flurry of political activity, followed by the military uprising led by Franco and a long civil war (1936–1939). In 1936 the Spanish Parliament passed the Basque Statute of Autonomy and Euskadi reestablished its self-government that had been demanding since the abolition of t

如何抵達

By plane Bilbao-Bilbo: Airport is the largest in Basque Country, with a stunning terminal building designed by Santiago Calatrava. It has cheap flights with Easyjet from London and with Vueling from Barcelona and Malaga. There are many connections from other European cities with other companies as Iberia, Lufthansa or Bruxelles Airlines. San Sebastián-Donostia: Regular flights from Madrid, Barcelona, and London-City. Vitoria-Gasteiz: (VIT IATA) The smallest of the three Basque airports, served by a few Ryanair routes Biarritz: has flights with Ryanair, easyJet, and several major airlines.

By train There are a handful of daily frequencies from Madrid and Barcelona to all three cities, with Vitoria getting more places since they are along a mainline. None of the trains are high-speed, but the times are similar to driving. All those trains are operated by Renfe. You can also reach the Hendaye station, in the French-Spanish border, through SNCF trains from Paris or Bordeaux. All trains, except for the Renfe Media Distancia ones (slow but cheap), change prices as the travel date gets closer.

By bus Daily connections with Madrid and Barcelona from Bilbo/Bilbao, Donostia/San Sebastian, Gasteiz/Vitoria and Iruña/Pamplona.

By car The motorway between Paris and Madrid goes through Baiona/Bayonne, Donostia/San Sebastian and Vitoria/Gasteiz. The tolls between Baiona and Donostia are pretty expensive. Another motorway links Iruña/Pamplona with Barcelona. There are motorways between all the main cities: Bilbo-Gasteiz, Bilbo-Donostia, Donostia-Iruña, Gasteiz-Iruña.

By thumb Sooner or later people usually stop. It's better to hitchhike at the exits of the towns where the traffic is calmer than on the motorways. So many long-distance truck routes cross the Basque Country it should be quite easy to find someone to take you directly from Madrid.

當地交通

By train For trips between capitals, the train is very inconvenient by train: the Bilbao-San Sebastián one is frequent, cheap (4€), and has good views, but it takes 3 hours whereas the bus completes the route in just over 1 hour. The San Sebastián-Vitoria train exists, but it is infrequent, it takes 2 hours and for around 15€, which the bus usually beats. They might be convenient if you are staying in a town along those routes, but not for city-to-city trips. There is no Bilbao-Vitoria train.

Inside each province, the situation varies. There is an extensive train and bus network in Biscay (Cercanías Bilbao and Euskotren), although often radial around Bilbao. The same happens in Gipuzkoa, although the train network is not so extensive (Cercanías San Sebastián and Euskotren). Araba has only one infrequent train line with only five stops (whose services you can look up at renfe.com), but the tram in the city and the buses in the province are reliable. You can pay for all services with Barik, BAT or Mugi. Each card corresponds to a territory, but they can be used in all other services, except the Renfe ones, which only admit Barik in Biscay and Mugi in Gipuzkoa. The San Sebastián-Vitoria train and the Araba train need to be booked beforehand at Renfe's website).

By bus There are frequent and cheap buses to move between the three capitals. Inside each territory, the situation varies, but they are overall good. They are Bizkaibus, Álava Bus and Lurraldebus, and many big towns have their local services too. Be on the lookout for "autopista" routes (highway) that can be faster. You can pay for all services with Barik, BAT or Mugi.

By car The roads are well signposted, but watch out for occasional monolingual signs in Basque.

必看景點

Guggenheim Museum. in Bilbao is world-renowned for its contemporary architecture and modern art. It was designed by Frank Gehry, and opened in 1997. (updated May 2024) Visit the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves in Basque Country Urdaibai

Alava

Alava, along with its neighbor La Rioja, on the other bank of the Ebro River, produces world-class wines and is especially famous for its robust reds. Situated in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains, Alava offers an easy rolling landscape, mild climate and vineyards everywhere. It is an ideal place for wineries to multiply, spread, consolidate and, in the process, amass large quantities of money for their owners. As these fortunes grow, new brands need to be created and fresh images must be marketed. One way some wineries achieve this is by using avant-garde architecture for the construction of their buildings. In the little town of Elciego, the Marques de Riscal winery has one of these futuristic buildings designed by world-famous architect Frank Gehry (he also designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, a hundred miles or so to the north). This time, however, he "pushed the envelope" (so to speak) of the Guggenheim style. He made the Guggenheim convoluted shapes flow more freely as if a storm were blowing on the outer surfaces and making them flap like flags in the wind. The result is absolutel