The Basque Country is located in the north of Spain on the southeastern coast of the Bay of Biscay. The autonomous region is home to three historic provinces: Álava, where the largest city is Vitoria-Gasteiz; Biscay, where the largest city is Bilbao; and Gipuzkoa, where the largest city is Donostia/San Sebastián. The Basque Country shares borders with Cantabria to the west; Castile and León to the southwest; La Rioja to the south; Navarre to the east; and to the northeast, across from the city of Hondarribia, you will find the French region called Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

Visitors flying into the Basque Country will arrive at Bilbao Airport (IATA code BIO), about 5.5 miles north of Bilbao's city center. To Bilbao, you will exit the airport and get on the N-633 motorway, and join the BI-631 at exit 11. Drive approximately 3 miles until you reach Zumalacárregui Etorbide, when you will turn right toward the city center. To Donostia/San Sebastián, get off at exit 9 on the BI-631, which will put you on the AP-8 motorway. Take exit 9A after approximately 48 miles to enter the downtown area. To Vitoria-Gasteiz, take the BI-631 motorway to Bilbao, and join the AP-68 motorway at exit 116C. Stay on this road for approximately 22 miles until exit 22. You will be joining the N-622 motorway which will take you the final 14 or so miles into the center of town. There are Alvia trains which arrive multiple times daily from Madrid Chamartín and Barcelona-Sants train stations to Bilbao-Abando, and there is also an Intercity service from Vigo-Guixar.

The three cities of the Basque Country offer their own extensive bus services. The main bus services are Álavabus in Vitoria-Gasteiz (www.alavabus.eus/es/inicio); Bilbobus in Bilbao (www.bilbao.eus/cs/Satellite/bilbobus/es/inicio); and Dbus in Donostia/San Sebastián (www.dbus.eus). (All pages will be displayed in Spanish; only Dbus offers an English alternative.)

Bilbao is the only one of the three cities in the Basque Country with their own subway service. The Bilbao Metro (www.metrobilbao.com) can be paid for by buying a "Barik card" for €3 from either the Renfe station as you enter town via train, or at any Bilbao Metro station. Load money to the card as needed and simply tap upon entering a city bus or entering/exiting Bilbao Metro stations.

ALSA (www.alsa.com/en) operates intercity buses between the three major cities with journeys taking approximately 60-90 minutes each, costing roughly €10-€20 each way. The intercity bus stations are different from the local buses and require going to specific intercity bus stations. In Vitoria-Gasteiz, their bus station can be found at Plaza Euskaltzaindia. In Donostia/San Sebastián, their bus station is located just to the east of Centro, at Pasadizo de Egia. The Bilbao Intermodal bus station is situated adjacent to San Mamés Stadium.

Taxis are also an option; these are typically white sedans and minivans (in Bilbao they will have a red stripe down the side of the driver/passenger doors). Expect to pay at least €50-€100 between Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz and over €100 each way for any other combination of the three cities. For more information, click here.

Due to the isolation and individuality of the Basque people, they have created their own microculture inside Spain (and southwestern France). Basque literature has been documented since the 16th century, and from the 20th century writers such as Gabriel Aresti and Txillardegi imprinted the Basque experience onto paper in both Basque and Spanish.

Basque folk music still features homegrown instruments such as the woodwinds txistu and xirula, as well as the accordion-keyboard hybrid trikitixa. The Francoist era brought many folk and rock music groups to the public consciousness, many of which incorporated these instruments with the guitar and drums. Groups such as Mocedades and Oskorri led the path as Basque received parity with Castilian Spanish on an official level, preceding groups that have received worldwide popularity for their songs in Basque such as Gatibu, Berri Txarrak, and La Oreja de Van Gogh, just to name a few.

July and August are the most popular months for traditional Basque festivals, including the Festival de San Fermín (Basque in origin but held in Pamplona, Navarre, each July); the Virgin Blanca Festival (first week in August in Vitoria-Gasteiz); and the most popular events of the year, the Aste Nagusia (Basque for "the Big Week", held in Donostia/San Sebastián the third week in August and then in Bilbao the following week).

We recommend visiting during the summertime, as you will get the most sunshine and the least precipitation during your trip. Temperatures in the Basque Country warm up to the upper 70s, especially toward the coast, making it a great place to visit if you want fun without the scorching heat of the south. Keep in mind that many of the beach towns more or less shut down after September, so if a beach getaway is what you want, don't wait until October for your trip.

Spanish and Basque are official languages in the Basque Country autonomous community. Spanish is understood and spoken everywhere, and approximately 30% of the Basque Country's population speaks Basque (Euskara) as either a first or second language. Don't feel discouraged if you find Basque to be too difficult; you will be able to function just fine by speaking in Spanish. You will find many people, particularly in the three major cities, will also speak English. Here are some basic words and phrases in Basque that will impress locals who are no doubt used to visitors speaking either English or Spanish:

-Hello: Kaixo (pronounced kai-sho)
-Goodbye: Agur
-Thank you: Eskerrik asko (pronounced esh-ke-reek ah-shko)
-Excuse me: Barkatu
-Cheers: Topa!
-Numbers from 1-10: Bat, bi, hiru, lau, bost, sei, zazpi, zortzi, bederatzi, hamar

To ask someone if they speak English, the phrase in Spanish is ¿Habla inglés? In Basque, it is Ingelesez hitz egiten al duzu?

You will eat well in the Basque Country, particularly in Donostia/San Sebastián which boasts the second-highest number of Michelin-starred restaurants per capita in the world. New Basque cuisine is very popular and incorporates many stylistic features of French haute cuisine. Popular Basque dishes that you must try include bacalao al pil-pil, salt cod cooked and served in an olive oil infused with garlic and chilies; piperrada (onions, peppers, and tomatoes cooked with red espelette pepper, with the colors of the ingredients meant to evoke the colors of the Basque flag); and seafood dishes such as txipirones (baby squid served in its ink) and txangurro (spider crabs). Can't decide what you want? Order some pintxos (the Basque version of tapas) for the whole table and sample the delicacies. For dessert, especially if you are in Donostia/San Sebastián, you should try the burnt cheesecake (gazta tarta).