ToursByBasques Private Guided Tours
ToursByBasques Private Guided Tours
ToursByBasques Private Guided Tours
5
City ToursHistorical & Heritage ToursSightseeing ToursFood ToursWine Tours & Tastings
8:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Full view
About
Private premium tours for those that look for something unique and different in their visit to the Basque Country, based on an Off-The-Beaten-Path philosophy (but of course, the "can't miss places" as well). Focused on private tours for visitors interested in our particular culture and way of life, I love to show the Basque way of life and my favorite places as a local insider.
Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain
Awards
Travelers' Choice
2024
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
5.0
276 reviews
Excellent
272
Very good
4
Average
0
Poor
0
Terrible
0
Susan G
San Antonio, TX11 contributions
Apr 2020
In searching for a great private tour experience for Bilbao, we came across Tours By Basques. Mikel responded quickly to each and every inquiry we had, and exhibited great flexibility and promptness. We had a most wonderful private day trip planned, and Mikel also was very responsive to our request for separate billing, only requiring a deposit rather than full payment at booking. When we determined we needed to cancel, Mikel responded quickly and our deposit refund was provided with no issues whatsoever. I certainly look forward to and hope our future travels will allow us the opportunity to meet Mikel in person and take our planned tour!
Written April 15, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
djh1
Melbourne, Australia16,459 contributions
Nov 2022
We were lucky enough to use Tours by Basques for our transfer from Bilbao to San Sebastian. Although we could have gone by bus for lots less money, we wanted to see some sights along the way, particularly the town of Guernica. We didn’t want to hire a car, so decided to hire a driver guide for the half day trip.
From the very beginning of my contact with Mikel, from Tours by Basques, he was nothing but unfailingly helpful, even suggesting that I would save lots of money booking some other tours from local San Sebastian companies rather than through him.
After many months of email communication, we had our trip worked out. As well as assisting us with the transfer and the itinerary for it, he was also very happy to give us lots of advice about other things that we were interested in doing and seeing while in the Basque region.
On the day itself, he picked us up bang on time, and the day went exactly as expected. Everything that we had worked out happened like clockwork, along with extra things that we hadn’t even thought about. His car was perfect, and extremely comfortable.
It was one of the best days of our holiday and we both thank Mikel so much for his time and care that made a routine journey into something fantastic.
Mikel dropped us at our hotel in San Sebastian, again giving us more hints and tips to help us enjoy our stay.
If anyone is planning to travel anywhere in the Basque area, contact Tours by Basques. You will not find a better guide anywhere.
Thank you, Mikel.
From the very beginning of my contact with Mikel, from Tours by Basques, he was nothing but unfailingly helpful, even suggesting that I would save lots of money booking some other tours from local San Sebastian companies rather than through him.
After many months of email communication, we had our trip worked out. As well as assisting us with the transfer and the itinerary for it, he was also very happy to give us lots of advice about other things that we were interested in doing and seeing while in the Basque region.
On the day itself, he picked us up bang on time, and the day went exactly as expected. Everything that we had worked out happened like clockwork, along with extra things that we hadn’t even thought about. His car was perfect, and extremely comfortable.
It was one of the best days of our holiday and we both thank Mikel so much for his time and care that made a routine journey into something fantastic.
Mikel dropped us at our hotel in San Sebastian, again giving us more hints and tips to help us enjoy our stay.
If anyone is planning to travel anywhere in the Basque area, contact Tours by Basques. You will not find a better guide anywhere.
Thank you, Mikel.
Written January 16, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
rialtogrl
San Diego, CA58 contributions
May 2022
Mikel guided a group of 20 (!) of us on a pintxos/bar/town tour in Bilbao and a few days later, friends in the group used him to do a tour of the north coast on the way to San Sebastian. Both tours were fantastic (relying on my friends words, and my personal experience in Bilbao.) This guy knows his city, his region, and the food and wine of the area well - I cannot imagine too many know it better than him.
He was able to navigate our large group in and out of these small bars easily and with smaller groups I imagine he has a gazillion more pintxos options - my advice, do as many as you can! Mikel can help you with that. He is extremely well organized, answers emails super fast, and his prices are reasonable.
For the tour he did from Bilbao to San Sebastian with my friends - this is a great way to get from point a to point b and see some sights on the way. They raved about it and also his suggestions on where to eat in San Sebastian were spot on.
I would not hesitate to use Mikel again and certainly will when I go back to Bilbao.
He was able to navigate our large group in and out of these small bars easily and with smaller groups I imagine he has a gazillion more pintxos options - my advice, do as many as you can! Mikel can help you with that. He is extremely well organized, answers emails super fast, and his prices are reasonable.
For the tour he did from Bilbao to San Sebastian with my friends - this is a great way to get from point a to point b and see some sights on the way. They raved about it and also his suggestions on where to eat in San Sebastian were spot on.
I would not hesitate to use Mikel again and certainly will when I go back to Bilbao.
Written June 26, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Haner K
Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany4 contributions
Aug 2022
Mikel was the perfect guide for our one day trip in Bilbao.
Although it was extremely hot and unusual weather condition for Bilbao, that does not scare Mikel to show us the best around the city and some of his favorite pintxos bars.
Mikel is a very friendly person and it’s very easy to talk with him.
He explained us very aspects of the Basque culture and architecture. It felt like the tour was made specially for us, because I am an "architect" :)
We recommend Mikel 100% and are very excited to come back in other time of the year and meet him again.
Time management of him was perfect!
Although it was extremely hot and unusual weather condition for Bilbao, that does not scare Mikel to show us the best around the city and some of his favorite pintxos bars.
Mikel is a very friendly person and it’s very easy to talk with him.
He explained us very aspects of the Basque culture and architecture. It felt like the tour was made specially for us, because I am an "architect" :)
We recommend Mikel 100% and are very excited to come back in other time of the year and meet him again.
Time management of him was perfect!
Written August 10, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dave C
Martlesham Heath, UK2 contributions
Mar 2023 • Couples
Mikel was a fabulous host, going above and beyond to make is feel welcome in Bilbao, show us the lay of the land, advise us on the local culture and places to see and generally being good company. We booked the excellent Pintxos Tour for the day of our arrival and our whole 4 day visit was greatly enhanced as a result. On request, Mikel gave is a list of recommended restaurants for a birthday celebration later in our stay, the one we chose was superb. His explanation of the bar culture gave us the confidence to experience more of the local food and wine than we would otherwise have done. All in all I would not hesitate to recommend Tours By Basques to anyone planning a visit to Bilbao.
Written March 30, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Big D McD
Palmetto Bay, FL269 contributions
Jun 2023 • Couples
We toured Bilbao and the surrounding region over two days with Mikel in early June 2023. Mikel is an excellent tour guide in the Basque country. Prior to leaving the US, I reached out to Mikel about tours and his ideas and thoughts on our itinerary. He was more than gracious responding and offering many ideas and recommendations, and this was even before we booked a tour with him. Mikel's love and passion for the Basque country was so apparent. He was most interested that we experience the region the way a Basque would want us to see it. He offered us ideas on driving from Bordeaux through the French and Spanish Basque regions with recommendations for stops along the way and offered us ideas on pintxo stops to make in San Sebastian while we were there and before getting to Bilbao. We scheduled two days of tours with Mikel in Bilbao and the surrounding region. We met Mikel at our hotel in Bilbao and he took us on a walking/Pintxo tour of Bilbao on a Sunday afternoon ending with a tour of the Guggenheim museum. Mikel is a Bilbao local and brought us to the neighborhood he grew up in so we could experience his favorite pintxo's, vinos and vermouth drinks. So much fun. We then took a beautiful Sunday stroll along the river approaching the Guggenheim from the back(it's most beautiful side). Mikel's tour of the Guggenheim, including it's history, was excellent and to the point. He then left us to further explore the museum by ourselves. We then met him the next morning and began a full day tour of the beautiful and dramatic coastline around Bilbao including stopping in the fascinating Basque capital of Guernica. We also stopped for lunch at a traditional Basque restaurant, Bolina El viejo, with locals and enjoying a delicious traditional Basque lunch with wine. Mikel is a fun guide with a passion for all things Basque. He is a great Ambassador for the Basque people and someone I'd encourage you to schedule a tour with if you are in this area. Great job Mikel. Hope to see you again someday.
Written September 10, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
chooms
Barhamsville, VA16 contributions
Mar 2020 • Couples
We booked an exceptional ( by description) tour from Bilbao with Tours by Basques ...Mikel set up our tour to cover our desires and added his recommendations to enhance our visIt. He described the costs and down payment requirements as well as cancellation options. Unfortunately, we had to take advantage of ‘‘this process due to the Covid 19 shutdowns. Mikel was very gracious in refunding our down payment promptly. We look forward to the possibility of visiting Bilbao in the future and certainly use Tours by Basques to enhance our visit
Written April 15, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Julie B
Johannesburg South, South Africa21 contributions
Sep 2022
Mikel hosted our group of 6 and took us on a tour of Bilbao during September. Mikel effortlessly managed to engage our whole group for the full duration. He was knowledgeable, animated and absolutely passionate about the Basque Country. We were very fortunate that when we visited the Guggenheim our timing was immaculate, and we had the pleasure of seeing an exhibition of unique cars. However, Mikel was able to give us information on each and every exhibit. He quite obviously spends hours researching to ensure he can give his guests the ultimate experience. He is also completely fluent in English, has an incredible sense of humour and was simply a pleasure to be with during our visits to the pintxos bars. I only wish we had gone ahead with our tour to San Sebastian with Mikel as well. I would highly recommend Tours by Basque. Having the history of a city on hand along with the sights can never be underrated,
Written October 8, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ChooKS
Singapore, Singapore7 contributions
May 2022
We went on a winery tour with Mikel back in May to the Rioja Alavesa wine region. It was a full day tour to 3 wineries and with lunch and a short visit to the quaint old town of Laguardia.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time there and with Mikel's knowledge of the region, we were in good hands!
The wineries we went to were all differing in styles and size so that gave us a great variety and taste profiles. My family of 5 (3 adult kids), greatly enjoyed this day trip to the wineries.
If you come by the Bilbao/Rioja region, we highly recommend Mikel if you are looking for a friendly and experienced guide!
We thoroughly enjoyed our time there and with Mikel's knowledge of the region, we were in good hands!
The wineries we went to were all differing in styles and size so that gave us a great variety and taste profiles. My family of 5 (3 adult kids), greatly enjoyed this day trip to the wineries.
If you come by the Bilbao/Rioja region, we highly recommend Mikel if you are looking for a friendly and experienced guide!
Written September 12, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Gail M
Toronto, Canada10 contributions
Aug 2023 • Friends
Fantastic tour. Mikel picked us up from the cruise ship port and we began our tour at the Guggenheim Museum. As our time was limited in Bilbao, Mikel as an authorized Guggenheim guide was able to provide us with a great overview of the museum and ensure we saw the highlights. From the museum we walked to the old town where we visited 3 very different bars and experienced the wonderful pintxos and Rioja and Txakoli wines. Mikel introduced us to the history and culture of the region. A very enjoyable day.
Written September 2, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Recommendation and cost of private driver in northern Spain
Written August 10, 2018
Hi!! Thanks for contacting! What are your plans and when are you planning to come? There´s so much to do and to see! You may want to contact me through my email on my web page (TripAdvisor does not allow me to send this kind of info)
Written August 10, 2018
Hi, TripAdvisor does not allow me to send you may email or my web page, so please google "Toursbybasques" (one word) and most probably I´ll be on the first page. Thanks!
Written August 7, 2018
We will be visiting the Bilbao area the week of September 22 and are interested in a private tour, (6 adults) of the wine region.
Can you organize a trip for us?
Lou Ambrogio
Written May 19, 2018
Hi Lou, thanks very much! Yes, that´s my kind of tour, I love the Rioja wine region. Can you please send me an email to my web address (TripAdvisor does not allow me to send you my email or web, it´s ToursByBasques on the web), so I can send you a proposal? Thanks!
Written May 20, 2018
My wife and I will be visiting Bilbao and San Sebastian from 7th July until 10th July. We would like to experience a wine tasting and food experience in the Rioja region for a day on Saturday 7th, from Bilbao.
Do you have any tours you could offer or recommend.
thank you,
Phill
0413608011
Written March 19, 2018
Hi Phill, thanks for contacting. I offer a private tour to Rioja based on visiting two family wineries where they´ve been producing wine for generations, as well as the walled medieval town of Laguardia. Could you send my your email or contact me through my email so I can send you some tour proposals? Thanks!
Written March 20, 2018
arrussell84
Brooklyn, New York
How do I book a tour with ToursByBasques? Interested in March 29 tour focusing on art.
Written March 6, 2018
Hi, thanks so much for contacting, but unfortunately I´ll be away on Easter vacation that same day. I´m available on March 28, not sure if it´d fit you...but thanks so much in any case for contacting!
Written March 6, 2018
My husband&I planning trip to Northern Spain,we would like to rent a car & drive as much as possible while visiting towns,villages,wineries,etc.In my research,found ideas,however not certain if we should begin in Barcelona.Flying from Florida,USA. Like to spend 2-3 nights in Barcelona.....maybe on our return back home??
Written July 18, 2016
Weather is highly unpredictable, northern Spain is a rainy area, while Barcelona and the mediterranean is mostly dry. What areas of northern Spain you plan to visit? You may want to contact me at my direct email.
Written July 19, 2016
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