Guggenheim Bilbao Guided Tour with Basque Tasting Menu, Dessert and Two Wines

The meal is the difference here. After a guided visit to the Guggenheim, the group eats at a restaurant chosen for its Basque tradition with a modern touch, which specializes in fresh seasonal grilled food. The kitchen buys from farmers and arrantzales (fishermen), some of whom also grow vegetables, citrus fruit and aromatic plants, and it mixes seasonal Basque cooking with new ideas. The menu is five dishes, dessert and two different wines.

The museum comes first, inside and outside, with skip-the-line entry. The guide explains the structure Frank Gehry designed and the outdoor sculptures, then walks through the galleries, the atrium and the terrace, with the most important works from the permanent and rotating collections.

The museum half has plenty to cover. Gehry's building opened in October 1997, and its sculpture includes Jeff Koons' Puppy (1992) and Louise Bourgeois' Maman (1999) outside and Richard Serra's The Matter of Time, made between 1994 and 2005, in Gallery 104. The format is a shared group, not a private tour, and the audio guides come after the guided part so the visit can continue alone.