Where to go Bilbao or Berlin?

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Trying to plan a special birthday trip for DH at the end of next May. It's going to be a surprise trip. I had my heart set on a trip to Andalucia as he has always wanted to see the Alhambra and Seville, Cordoba and Ronda. But this would be involve me driving and I'm not confident to do this. Don't want to ask him to do it. So I have been looking at trips to Berlin or Bilbao, both of which are similar price wise but I have no experience of either. Any ideas which would be the best option? The Bilbao one is a foodie trip and cultural visit to the Gugenheim etc but Berlin big on history which he'd also like. Any advice greatly received.

Both Cordoba and Ronda can be visited by train from Seville and that would be worth doing if you did not fancy driving.

Berlin is also a good option at that time of year.

Bilbao

When you get there you will see why

I really liked Berlin. Fascinating city, loads to see and do. Great food, great people, easy to get around.

No idea about bilbao but hated Berlin both times I went.

Berlin is amazing, but it’s all about the history, which is everywhere. It’s a place everyone who grew up during the Cold War should visit.

Bilbao is an amazing foodie destination. I absolutely loved going round the bars and sampling all the amazing pintxos. For a celebration there are also fantastic Michelin starred restaurants, I would also recommend a trip to San Sebastián / Donostia which is a lovely, upmarket seaside city with a beautiful beach. You could easily get the train. The foodie scene is, if anything, even better than Bilbao.

Thanks for all your comments, much appreciated. Still undecided as yet but think we might have to plan 2 trips as they sound so good!

We loved Bilbao, but did not love Berlin (although I know some people love Berlin). But Bilbao was just lovely - not too touristy, fantastic food, the Guggenheim is great, just a really interesting and fun destination. Even our kids loved it!

As a pp said you can very easily get around Andalusia by public transport including by high speed train for the longest part of the journey from Seville to Granada, through the mountains. If you go malaga-ronda-cordoba-seville-granada you'd only be travelling for a couple of hours maximum on each leg.