Side Trips & Housing in/near Bilbao

Well, you may want to consider the beautiful inland area around Durango, including Elorrio (with its 16 and 17th century palaces, the tombs of Argiñeta, the mountain pass of Kanpazar and the amazing valleys and rocky mountains in the Duranguesado range. It´s a 45 min drive from Bilbao and well linked by either or both train or bus. On the coast, Lekeitio would be my favorite (but parking may be a nightmare), along with Ea and Elantxobe. If you want to venture further, Oñati and the sanctuaries of Loyola and Arantzazu are outstanding visits off the beaten path (but you´ll need a car). Further south, Salinas de Añana, Vitoria-Gasteiz and its almond-shaped old quarter,..., and of course the Rioja Alavesa (the Basque part of Rioja wine region) with Laguardia as the most beautiful town.

In my original post, are 3 days and 4 nights enough to see the places in Bilbao proper? Where is a good location to stay to access metro and park a car?

Getaria is lovely. We also enjoyed a quick afternoon trip to Portuglate, which is famous for a really cool hanging bridge.

Yes, it´s a unique Hanging Bridge, the original one, designed and patented here, aka Puente Bizkaia.

For Bilbao itself you may need a couple of days. The main issue with having a car is that there´s metered parking all over the city and in some of the neighboring towns. Getxo would make a great place to stay (I live there), on the beach (although beach weather is not always an option, this is a rainy area), with three metro stations, easy bus access to Bilbao and places where you can park for free. And it´s a beautiful place, the old fishing port is worth a visit and a glass of wine in the evening. Distances are kind of irrelevant, it´s a 20min metro ride to Bilbao city center from most places on the metro system. Sopela, Berango, Urduliz are also places on the same metro line and well linked with Bilbao and other routes.

Muchas gracias, Mikel. I will see what I can find for housing in Getxo. Although, I still don't understand whether it is difficult to drive out of Getxo and visit some of your other suggested cities. I guess that it might be a wait and see sort of thing when we get there.

Absolutely easy, Getxo and Bilbao are linked by a motorway (9miles) and from Getxo you can get anywhere the easiest way. But in any case, public transport is excellent and you can also use it as a mean of transport. Roads are very good and extremely well signed.

Gracias Mikel. That adds to my confidence! We have booked a place in Getxo!

The urban area of Getxo is divided into 5 boroughs: Algorta, Romo, Andra Mari, Neguri and Las Arenas, totalizing 78,000h. The most rural and a nice place to stay would be Andra Mari, if you like less urban environment. Algorta and Las Arenas are the most populated, Neguri is one of the richest neighbourhoods in Spain with beautiful manor houses, all of them next to the coastline. Just as a side point: some areas have metered parking in Getxo (but not everywhere), so ask your host if there´s a chance of free parking nearby.