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At the mouth of the estuary of the Nervión, twenty-odd kilometres from Bilbao, the fashionable barrio of Getxo is linked by the improbably massive Puente Vizcaya with the grittier town of Portugalete, in its day a flourishing medieval port. Not far from Getxo stretch the languid beach suburbs of Sopelana, Plentzia and Gorliz; great stopovers, with plenty of restaurants and good hotels and campsites.

Metro stops: Areeta, Gobela, Neguri, Aiboa, Algorta and Bidezabal; Buses 3411 and 3413 run from Plaza Moyúa every half-hour.

Very much a separate town rather than a suburb of Bilbao, Getxo is a wealthy, sprawling district encompassing the eastern side of the rivermouth, a couple of beaches, and a petite old harbour. It’s home to a good set of attractive stately mansions as well as a tiny but oh-so-pretty whitewashed old village around the now disused fishing port-ette. There’s a very relaxed feel about the place, perhaps born from a combination of the relaxed seaside air and a lack of anxiety about where the next meal’s coming from.

Metro: Neguri.

Ereagat is Getxo’s principal stretch of sand, and the location of the town’s finer hotels and general seaside life. In truth, it’s an inferior beach; most of the view is taken up by the dockyards across the estuary while the distinctly black-tinged sand keeps many people back on the promenade. Still, it’s an important social scene, and you haven’t been to Getxo if you haven’t strolled along its length, taking a coffee at one of the hotels.

Metro: Algorta.

The tiny harbour, now silted up, is a reminder of the days when Getxo made its living from fish. The solemn statues of a fisherman and a sardinera stand on the stairs that look over it, perhaps mystified at the lack of boats. Perching above, a densely packed knot of white houses and narrow lanes gives the little village a very Mediterranean feel, unless the sirimiri, the Bilbao drizzle, has put in an appearance. There are a couple of restaurants and bars to soak up the ambience of this area, which is Getxo’s prettiest quarter.

Metro: Algorta.

At the top of the old port stands this attractive church. The stone is warm and rough-cut making it a building that you want to touch. A cool verandah runs around it, while the porch facing the square is used for impromptu pelota games by young locals. The church was built in the mid-19th century and is one of the friendlier examples of neo-classicism in the Basque Country.

Metro: Bidezabal

Far more inviting than Getxo’s main beach, this faces out to sea and hence avoids the estuary’s pollution. Flanked by crumbly cliffs, it’s got a more secluded feel too (except at weekends). Atop the cliff to the right is a surprising sight – an attractive 18th-century windmill in tip-top condition. Less protected than Ereaga, on some days the windmill has a better time of it than the shivering bathers.

Metro: Algorta

Sturdy shoes fitted (Getxo’s languid stretch is quite a distance), start from San Nicolás de Bari downhill along the pedestrian street Calle Basagoiti, making a detour (if you’re in the mood) to the shopping areas to your left around Calle Telletxe. After briefly joining the main road, the pedestrian downhill stretch continues – a pretty avenue lined with what were once very swish mansions; a couple still are. One of the most striking is Casa Rosada (’pink house’), which no doubt won more accolades for its architecture than its name. At the end is the pointy Iglesia de San Ignacio, behind which stands the sturdier Ayuntamiento (town hall), built of Berango sandstone and featuring spirited arabesque ornamentation under its eaves. Descending the main road, Algortako Etorbidea, take the steep right down Calle Ereagako Jaispidea, turn left when you reach the beach. Rounding the headland past the marina, is Casa de Náufragos, built over the sea on arches, while on the landward side is an ostentatious series of 20th-century palacios.

Following the water along a lengthy promenade you’ll reach the monument to Churruca, and a gardened mole stretching into the estuary. Churruca was the engineer who channelled out this part of the waterway in the 19th century, making Bilbao accessible to large vessels; a vital step in its growth. The monument is in classic heroism-of-the-workers style; the man serenely watches two figures seemingly trying to crush each other under a slab of stone, symbolizing the struggle between earth and water.

Passing the hulking modern Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes (which contains highly-regarded frescoes) will bring you to the unmistakeable form of the Puente Vizcaya and the trendy shopping area of Las Arenas (Areeta).

T 944-638854, http://www.puente-colgante.com 1000-sunset. Crossings €0.24 per person,€1 per car, walkway €3. Metro: Areeta.

A bizarre cross between a bridge and a ferry, the Puente Vizcaya, or Puente Colgante, (hanging bridge), was opened in 1893, a time when large steel structures were à la mode in Europe. Wanting to connect the estuary towns of Getxo and Portugalete by road, but not wanting to block the ría to shipping, the solution involved a ‘gondola’ suspended by cables from a high steel span. It’s a fascinating piece of engineering – the modern gondola zooms back and forth with six cars plus foot passengers aboard. You can also ascend to the walkway 50 metres above. While it’s not the Eiffel Tower experience the brochure suggests, it does provide good views.

Euskotren from Abando (Santurtzi line) every 12 mins weekdays, 20 mins at weekends; Metro: Areeta (across bridge); Bus 3152 from the Arenal bus station (Mon-Sat).

On the other side of the Puente Vizcaya from Getxo is Portugalete, a solid working-class town with a significant seafaring history. In former times, before Churruca did his channelling work, the Nervión estuary was a silty minefield of shoals, meanders and sandbars – a nightmare to navigate in anything larger than a rowing boat. Thus Bilbao was still a good few hours’ journey by boat, and Portugalete’s situation at the mouth of the ría gave it great importance as a port. Given its charter by Doña María Díaz de Haro, ‘the Kind’, it flourished as a whaling town and commercial port. Nowadays, although it looks thoroughly functional, it preserves a characterful old town and attractive waterfront strollway.

Above the waterside the old Casco is dominated by the Iglesia of Santa María, commissioned by Doña María the Kind at the time of the town’s beginnings, although the current building, in Gothic style, dates from the early 16th century. There’s a small museum inside. Next to it, the Torre de Salazar is what remains of the formidable compound built by Juan López de Salazar, a major landowner, in about 1380. The main living area was originally on the second floor – the first was a prison – and the tower was occupied until 1934; when a fire evicted the last residents. One of the Salazar family who lived here, Luís García, was one of the first chroniclers of Vizcaya. He had plenty of time to devote to his writings, as he spent the last few years of his life locked up by his loving sons.

On the other side of the Puente de Colgante, the Muelle de Hierro, built by Churruca, stretches north into the estuary.

Metro Larrabasterra, Sopelana, Plentzia

Beyond Getxo a series of beaches, accessible by Metro, offer less crowded sunseeking and a variety of watersports and other activities . Gorrondatxe and Barinatxe, reached by walking from Larrabasterra metro, can feature some fairly have- a-go waves, and are the best surfing options on this stretch; the latter is nicknamed ‘the wild beach’.

Further along, the strands of Sopelana and Plentzia/Gorliz, both with their own metro stops not far away, are more sedate, and good for escaping the crowds. Beyond the beach at Gorliz is some good walking along the jagged coastline.

Barrio Gatika s/n, T 94-6151110, F 94-6151525. 1030-2000 daily in summer, ring for winter opening.

In the hinterlands behind Plentzia is a bizarre sight: the imposing bulk of a castle that would seem more at home in the Scottish Highlands or a Hollywood studio. Although the castle was the family home of the Butróns as far back as the 13th century, today’s impressive structure was effectively constructed in medieval style in the late 1800s. Bristling with turrets and castellated beyond belief, it sits in a woody park signposted off the road between Getxo and Plentzia. Inside, a series of dummies reconstruct medieval life but it doesn’t seem dank enough to really call the period to mind.

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