Bilbao with Guggenheim Entry or the French Basque Coast: Private Tours from San Sebastián

A private guide, and a choice of route: the operator, Basque Guides, offers three itineraries, so the day is picked rather than fixed. The guides are native and multilingual, and the focus is the Basque Country as the people who live there know it.

One itinerary is San Sebastián on foot, with the best lookouts for photos and talk of local traditions, food and wine. Another goes to Bilbao for a private walk through the old quarter and then the Guggenheim, with admission tickets included. The third crosses to the French Basque coast: Biarritz, where the guide explains why Victor Hugo fell for the place, with its food markets and views of the coast, and Saint-Jean-de-Luz, a small coastal town.

The choice is made with the operator before the tour date, so the booking works best for a traveler who already knows which of the three suits the trip. Of the three, the Bilbao day is the only one built around the Guggenheim, which opened in 1997 and is covered in titanium.