Bilbao Suggestions

It's just a day, right? Please clarify how much time you have and if you are limited to the cruise excursions. Are you choosing between Bilbao and SS?
I would peruse the Guggenheim website to gauge your interest.
Unfortunately, my brief visit to Bilbao did not leave a positive impression--as can so often happen when you visit somewhere on a Sunday or whatever vagaries affect the day--but most who post here love it. And while I adored San Sebastian, many here say it has become somewhat a victim of its popularity and lost some charm. So, personal impressions are not that helpful I guess. But when there is limited time anyway, I always find just choosing what calls to you the most won't lead you wrong.

I will be in Bilbao about 8 / 9 hours.

The excursion that includes the Guggenheim is about 5.5 hours long and the one to SS is about 7 hours long.

I love museums but I also love churches, palaces and just sightseeing.

Due to age and health, I prefer a ship excursion but there are other excursions as well which I have not listed.

What do you have in mind as. place of interest

(For a Bilbao native like me and a linguist, it´s so funny the extremely frequent misspelling of this so easy name...I believe it´s got to do with the English pronunciation of the "o" and the "a") The cruise port (I live just a mile off it) is actually in Getxo, 9 miles from Bilbao. Apart from the Guggenheim museum, it has a beautiful old quarter, very lively, and a great food market, a funicular train to the hills surrounding the city, Azkuna Zentroa and how a former wine warehouse has been transformed into a cultural center.... Great architecture all over the city too, centuries-old churches in both. Donostia-San Sebastian is around one hour and a half coach drive from the cruise port, it´s considered one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and it´s small, it can be easily seen in half a day. It has a very nice old town and a beautiful bay, and three beaches (but just take into account that this area is quite rainy). Both cities offer great food and atmosphere, both will be great visits. If time is an issue, I´d choose Bilbao, for its proximity to the cruise port. If you want to visit a postcard city, then it´s Donostia-San Sebastian (the city has one name in our two official languages, one in Basque and the other in Spanish)

MikelBasqueGuide

I actually wrote it as Bilbao originally but then went back and did a search on R S. I found it written as Bilboa and so I went and edited all my Bilbao's to Bilboa.

To be continued

I am back MikelBasqueGuide

I checked with NCL ports and it is spelled Bilbao. I am now going back to editing again.

to be continued

Thank you for your input MikelBasqueGuide.

I can only pick one excursion and it will be difficult. I am going to watch some youtube videos.

And thank you also valadelphia. And yes, I have to choose between The Guggenheim / Balbao or Balbao / SS

I really preferred Bilbao. It has a larger historic district, which has not been turned into one restaurant or pintxo bar after another. Bilbao is very non-touristy except for the Guggenheim itself. There's also a Museum of Fine Arts, which wasn't open at the time of my 2016 trip to Northern Spain, and some other museums. There's public transportation that would cover most if the distance between the Guggenheim and the historic district (the Casco Viejo).

In San Sebastian, the San Telmo Museum is probably the most important.

That´s right, bostonphil7, as I mentioned in my post, the name of this city (which there´s no doubt it´s named Bilbao, I was born and live here and I should know better :)) is very frequently misspelled as Balboa, Balbao or Bilboa by English speakers. I think it´s got to do with the way these vowels are pronounced in your language (if I´m not wrong, there are 15 different vowel sounds in English for just 5 vowels). Just a funny fact for such an easy word!

Thank you all for your suggestions. I have some research to do.

In Balbao, I think that I will be doing the tour that includes Bilbao plus the Guggenheim. I love museums.

However, I am also going to port in La Coruna and Vigo.

I have already decided to take the excursion to Santiago de Compostela from Vigo. Ever since I saw the movie The Way with Martin Sheen, I have wanted to walk The Way even if it is only a block to St James Church.

I can take a guided tour plus free time of Santiago de Compostela or an excursion of all free time. once we get to Santiago de Compostela

What are opinions about both La Coruna and Vigo?

MikelBasqueGuide. I have a very strong working class Boston Mass accent. You might like it being a linguist.

Hahaha, no doubt I'd love to hear your accent!! Just as info, there are around 18 different "Caminos de Santiago" (,Way of St James) and one of them -the northern, primitive one- runs through the old quarter of Bilbao!! All end in Santiago de Compostela.

La Coruna (A Coruna) is a city I enjoyed, though it doesn't have as many sights as Santiago de Compostela--not even close. You could spend an enjoyable day there. Alternatively, during the A Coruna port call you could take a train (probably faster) or a bus (probably cheaper) to the nearby city of Betanzos; you could do either easily, without the expense of a cruise-ship excursion. Betanzos is very picturesque, but beware--it is also quite hilly. You could spend some time in Betanzos and then return to A Coruna for some sightseeing there.

Vigo, I think, is comparatively dull; I would recommend that all cruise passengers head out of Vigo for the day. I'm glad you've chosen Santiago de Compostela; it's the No. 1 destination in Galicia.

I agree with the description of Vigo...it´s a major destination because it´s the departing port for the Cíes Islands, a marvellous, protected group of islands. But Vigo is on a hill, you have to walk all the time up and down, and nothing much of interest with the exception of the food market, as real as it can be.

acraven

Norwegian offers this excursion LA CORUÑA & BETANZOS which I will consider

I am old and have health issues which makes some walking challenging. I think that I would have real problems walking up and down hills. I better stick with shore excursions offered by Norwegian. However there are some cautions about doing moderate walking but it says nothing about going up and down hills.

I went back to NCL and reread the descriptions of the shore excursions. It does caution that moderate walking is required along cobblestones but even surfaces so I should be ok.

This excursion is listed as accessible (open to those with walkers or wheelchairs).

So, I have booked Bilbao and The Guggenheim as well as Santiago on Your Own. With amenities and discounts, total cost for both came to about $97.00.

Thanks for the suggestions and the information.