Quality of life in Bilbao

Situated on the banks of the Nervión, Bilbao is the largest city in Spain's Basque Country. Milder and rainier than most other parts of Spain (temperatures here rarely fall below freezing in winter nor rise much above 25°C even in the height of summer), the greenery of Bilbao is both a blessing and a curse: the climate here is as much a welcome relief from the heat of the dry plains in the south as a thorn in the side of those hoping for a day at the beach. But the shore of the Bay of Biscay isn't really the main attraction—instead, Bilbao is perhaps the best place in the world to experience the ancient culture and language of the Basque people, which has stubbornly held its own over thousands of years and is now completely unlike any modern-day culture in Europe.

All buses to other provinces leave from the TermiBus terminal. There are regular connections to Santander (75 minutes) San Sebastian (60 minutes) and Madrid (arriving at Avenida de América bus station, 4–5 hours) among others.

The bus companies connect Bilbao with many cities in Spain more cheaply and frequently than the rail companies.