This Sunday's (23 September) New York Times Travel section had a lengthy article about the impact of the Guggenheim Museum on Bilbao over the past ten years. I haven't been to Bilbao (it is on my list of places to see in Spain), so I can't say whether or not I agree with the author's views, but I thought the article was interesting and it made me want to visit even more. Click here to read the article. Also, be sure to look at the fine photos on the slide show portion of the article.

My personal opinion:
The building is fantastic. We were staying at the Miro so we had a view of the museum at all hours of the day and night and the play of light and colour on it was fascinating. I thought the display inside was disappointing - they don't seem to have any permanent exhibitions so you're taking pot luck with what's on. The bar staff in the Guggenheim were the snottiest that we encountered anywhere in Spain, so bad that we walked out and drank in a friendly local bar instead.

And driving in Bilbao is a nightmare, I fervently hope I never have to do it again. I'd rather drive in Madrid, so that will tell you how bad I thought Bilbao was!

it quite true the Guggenheim made Bilbao on the map for tourists, and it has help made the city better. Still once in a while i find folks asking me to go there is worth it. Well, as to see the real Spain ,you need to go there. Spain itsnot just the costa del sol.

As driving, well i have driven in major cities like NY,Paris,Madrid, lived or lived near them,it all depends your driving experiences,if city driving exp you have then Bilbao is nothing to it.

There are reasons why I said what I did. It's not lack of experience of cities - I lived and worked in Manchester and Liverpool for many years. I've driven in London, Madrid, Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt and Munich and many smaller cities all over Europe. I've had to drive through Bilbao 4 times and I thought it was worse than any of them. It's not that the volume of traffic is significantly heavier (Madrid is worse for a start) as the poorly designed road layouts, unhelpful signing and the fact that they seemed to be digging up a large part of the city without warning signs or marked diversions. The fact that all the place names on the road signs around it are in Basque isn't exactly helpful either. I said it was a personal opinion. If I never go to Bilbao again it will be too soon.

i just put my personal opinion too Pete.
the original poster is right ,you should put it in your list to see. I drive there almost every year for upteems times.
Now of course, I rather drive n Madrid too, I lived there.

We had a great time in Bilbao when we went about eight years ago. The Guggenheim building was absolutely terrific although we were not very impressed by the modern art(?) inside. Also, we liked the town and the people. We only drove into and out of the city and used public transportation (mostly walking).

Bilbao, for me, is a traffic cop wearing a red boina directing traffic as you come into the city; it's the Plaza Nueva in the Casco Viejo {old Bilbao actually shaped like a helmet by the rio Nervion); it's the 3-story Mercado Central on the riverbank just across from the Casco viejo; and it's Frank Gehry's Masterwork (the Guggenheim) on the riverfront just past the bridge.

Like illinois mike, I'm not much of a Modern art fan; but my first visit to the Guggenheim was to see 'The Art of the Motorcycle,' and I was very impressed. I have been back to Bilbao several times since then.

I love the Basque cuisine and Bilbao has the best

I loved Bilbao once I got to know it a little but I agree about it being a difficult place to drive. Still, I think it was my own fault that I ended up driving the wrong way up the Grand Via!