Extracted from Hello Bilbao, buy yours here.

The sight of verdant hills at the end of the busy main streets is one of the joys of Bilbao, but one must look down to get a real sense of how deeply nestled into the natural landscape it is. Using this funicular is the way to do it. Across the River Nervion from the Guggenheim and accessible by two bridges, the funicular takes an ear-popping three minutes (and costs less than a euro) to reach the summit, at which is a rather scrappy little park with wonderful views showing the extent of the city, its grand, in some cases grandiose, new buildings, and tightly curling river. It’s a location suitable for a picnic, just be sure to bring it with you; there are no shops here.