Palace in Vitoria-Gasteiz
Also known as Palacio de Montehermoso
Partly free, partly paidSome of it costs nothing, some of it charges.
Renaissance palace at the top of the medieval old town, now the city’s municipal cultural centre for exhibitions and events. It started as an aristocratic residence linked to the Marquises of Montehermoso and later served as an ecclesiastical seat before becoming the Centro Cultural Montehermoso, with a program leaning toward contemporary art and photography.
For budget travelers, the palace is an easy free stop on the old-town walking circuit. The building and most of its exhibitions cost nothing to enter, which makes it a useful indoor option on a hot or rainy afternoon. Fold it into a loop with the quarter’s other Renaissance houses, the Escoriaza-Esquivel Palace, Casa del Cordon, and the Palace of Villa-Suso, and the rest of the free old town: Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, the Painted City Murals, the Los Arquillos arcades, the Church of San Miguel, and the Old Cathedral of Santa Maria at the top of the hill. Some temporary shows can charge a small fee, so treat any paid exhibition as the exception, not the norm.
Practical
Nearby
Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
Early 20th-century palace ringed by gardens in the south of Vitoria-Gasteiz, serving as the official residence of the Lehendakari, the president of the Basque Country. The interior is closed to the public, but the building and its grounds are free to view from outside, which is the whole appeal for a budget traveler passing through.
15th-century Gothic townhouse named for the carved Franciscan cord that frames its main doorway, and one of the oldest civil buildings in the old town of Vitoria-Gasteiz. Free to admire from the street, so it costs nothing to add to a walk through the medieval quarter.
National memorial museum in Vitoria-Gasteiz honouring the victims of terrorism in Spain, with a focus on dignity, memory, and reconciliation. Free to enter and housed in a restored early-twentieth-century former Bank of Spain building, it is one of the most serious and rewarding stops in the Basque capital.
14th-century Gothic church at the edge of the old town, housing the niche of the Virgen Blanca, patron of the city, and the launch point of Vitoria's biggest festival. Free to enter.
15th-century timber-framed merchant house on Zapatari kalea, now a traditional restaurant. The street-facing facade is free to admire and ranks among the best-preserved medieval commercial buildings in the Basque Country.
Renaissance palace with an Italianate courtyard, built in the 1530s and 1540s by Fernan Lopez de Escoriaza, a physician who served at the court of Henry VIII of England before returning to his home city. Free to view the facade and exterior; the courtyard opens occasionally during heritage events.
Working out what Vitoria-Gasteiz costs?
The whole of Vitoria-Gasteiz