Northern Spain Complete Guide 2026: Basque Country, Rioja, Asturias and Cantabria
Browse more guides: Spain travel | Europe destinations Northern Spain Complete Guide 2026: Basque Country, Rioja, Asturias and Cantabria TL;DR I planned a three-week loop through Spain's green north and came away convinced this is the country's most underrated corner. Northern Spain trades the postcard heat of Andalucia for misty cliffs, Atlantic surf beaches, cider houses, and the densest concentration of Michelin stars per capita on the planet. My route covered Bilbao with Frank Gehry's 1997 titanium Guggenheim that still rewires what a museum can look like 29 years on, San Sebastian for La Concha bay and pintxos crawls through Parte Vieja, Vitoria-Gasteiz as European Green Capital, the Rioja wine country around Logrono and Haro with more than 500 bodegas and the Marques de Riscal Gehry hotel, Asturias for Picos de Europa peaks and Oviedo's UNESCO-listed Pre-Romanesque churches (inscribed 1985, extended 1998), Cantabria with Santillana del Mar and the Altamira ca...