Friday

As an amuse-gueule, we recommend art at its finest: The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao stimulates the senses for the 3-star dinner.

A good piece of advice to start with: don't be frustrated if the scale groans under more kilos after your return. Rather, enjoy a brilliant gourmet weekend that hardly any other European region has to offer in such a compressed and multifaceted way. If you also have an affinity for culture, you can draw from the full range.

Landing in San Sebastián's neighboring city of Bilbao, the first thing on the agenda is the avant-garde Guggenheim Museum. The focus there is on contemporary art of the 20th century, which is also part of the permanent exhibition. A must: For fish lovers, fresh seafood is served on the museum's rooftop terrace at Chef Josean Martínez Alija's "Nerua."

Artistically and culinary tuned, we go 40 minutes to San Sebastián, where we get into raptures because of the flair. Checked into the Grandhotel Maria Cristina, we dress up for our first three stars with celebrity chef Martín Berasategui: ten imaginative courses, including a smoked eel with foie gras. The feasting can begin.

Saturday

Jogging through the old town, fashion at the Balenciaga Museum, outrageously good tapas and a brilliant dinner at Juan Mari Arzak.

To continue enjoying the Basque delicacies, we recommend: Squeeze into your jogging gear and head out for an unforgettable jog through the delightful old town and past the Atlantic city beaches, where surfers glide over the waves even when the water temperature is 15 degrees.

The many old town alleys, which lie in the shadow of the fortress, inspire strolling and offer cafés and boutiques as well as countless bars with wide-open doors, where plates filled with pintxos (Basque tapas) smell in all directions. Hip "pintxerias" are the "Café Iruna" and the "A Fuego Negro" - or the "Siderias", where cod is served.

In addition to culinary delights, a little fashion also wafts through the air: in Getaria (about 30 minutes away by car), the Balenciaga Museum displays some 1,200 masterpieces by the star couturier, in which style icons like Grace Kelly wrapped themselves. But the highlight of the day is the dinner at Juan Mari Arzak, the figurehead of Basque cuisine. Unforgettable gourmet art is guaranteed.

Sunday

A beautiful winery and another gourmet highlight at the "Akelaŕe" sweeten the last stop of our pleasure marathon.

After breakfast in the bar of the Maria Cristina, the heart of wine connoisseurs beats faster: we visit the Ysios winery, designed by star architect Santiago Calatrava. Unfortunately, the fish market in the old town had already closed (be sure to plan for Saturdays), but we are sure to get one or two fresh fish served up to perfection at the last gourmet stop.

Five gourmet store tips from Arzak

At Arzak, only the best is good enough. When it comes to fresh fish, vegetables or cheese, Elena Arzak also personally walks to various wholesale markets to create the best regional products into extraordinary dishes for her guests. Likewise, she recommends special delicatessen stores for gourmets to taste or even take away one or another specialty from the region.

For Falstaff, the three-star chef, who recently opened the restaurant "Ametsa with Arzak Instruction" in London, gives five tips that are worth a visit:

1. Mercado de la Bretxa
   Alameda del Boulevard
   www.la-bretxa.com
2. Mercado de San Martín
   Calle de Urbieta 9
   www.msanmartin.es
3. Don Serapio
   Avenida Sancho el Sabio 22
   www.donserapio.com
4. Aitor Lasa
   Aldamar Kalea 12
   www.aitorlasa.com
5. Solbes
   Aldamar Kalea 4
   www.solbes.com

From Falstaff Magazine No. 01/2014