Bilbao

Frank Gehry's spectacular twisting titanium-clad modern art museum is perhaps the most celebrated building of the 1990s. The graceful, sensuous curves, evocative of the ships that used to be ubiquitous along the docks of Bilbao, are covered in titanium squares, which resemble the scales of a fish and shimmer in the sunlight. In keeping with the maritime theme, appropriate for the setting, the skylights of the largest gallery formerly known as the Fish gallery are designed to look like the fins of fish. Many parts of the building are purely decorative, and don't serve any purpose. The permanent collection is not particularly impressive, but the museum always hosts at least one interesting temporary exhibit, frequently comprised of masterpieces from the other Guggenheim collections.

The Museum of Fine Art's remarkable collection currently boasts more than six thousand works dating from the 12th century to the present day, and includes paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings and decorative objects.

Established in 1921 to focus on the prehistory, archaeology, ethnography and history of Euskadi Basque homeland. Not a particularly well laid out museum. It will be of passing interest to people who study Basque culture.