Vitoria-Gasteiz Old Town

Vitoria's old town, the Almendra, takes its name from its shape: an almond-shaped grid of streets running concentrically around a hill, laid out from the twelfth century, with the streets named after the trades that occupied them. The old cathedral of Santa Maria has been under restoration since 1994, and rather than closing it the city opened the works to visitors under the slogan open by works, taking them through the crypt, the foundations and the scaffolding to see the structural problems and their repair, an approach that won a Europa Nostra prize and inspired a Ken Follett novel. Around the city runs the Anillo Verde, a green belt of restored wetland, park and woodland, and Vitoria was European Green Capital in 2012.

What you actually see

• The almond grid - concentric medieval streets named for trades.
• The open restoration - cathedral works visited with hard hats and guides.
• The green belt - restored parks and wetland encircling the city.
• The painted murals - a series of large works on old town gable ends.

When to go

April to June and September to November; Vitoria sits high on the Alava plain and winters are cold. The cathedral tour must be booked and runs at set times. The city holds the Virgen Blanca festival in early August.

Honest expectations

The cathedral is a working restoration site visited in hard hats, not a finished monument, which is the point but surprises some. Tours book out. Vitoria sees far fewer visitors than San Sebastian or Bilbao and services reflect that.

Nearby

The Salinas de Anana lie west; Laguardia and the Rioja Alavesa are south.