Things to do in Bilbao
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Bilbao
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Spring is the connoisseur's pick, greenest hills, coast walks at their best, terraces open, crowds below summer, Easter spikes aside.
Summer peak, warmest and driest and the sea swimmable, but the coast and Gaztelugatxe are busiest and reservation tightest.
Autumn is arguably the best all round window, warmest sea, best surf swell, Rioja harvest and softer prices, September especially.
Winter is the food and museums season, short grey wet days but uncrowded sights, lowest hotel prices and hearty Basque cooking.
What's on
- Bilbao BBK Live Usually early to mid July
Major indie, rock and electronic festival on Kobetamendi hill above the city; book hotels early.
- Aste Nagusia 22-30 August
Bilbao's nine day Semana Grande of street bars, concerts, fireworks and Basque sports centred on Casco Viejo and the river.
- San Sebastian International Film Festival late September
San Sebastian's film festival, a bus ride away as part of the autumn window.
- Santo Tomas Day 21 December
A huge street food and farm market around the Arenal and Casco Viejo, winter's one festival scale day.
Best things to do in Bilbao
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Gehry's titanium museum earns the trip for the building, the river sculptures and Serra's huge steel installation.
Casco Viejo
Bilbao's old town of seven streets, with the cathedral, Plaza Nueva and lived in pintxos bars in one compact wander.
Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao
The deeper art collection locals rate, from El Greco and Goya to Bacon and Chillida, in a calmer building.
Mercado de la Ribera
A working riverfront market hall and gastro plaza, the cheapest reliable introduction to Basque ingredients.
Artxanda Funicular
A short steep funicular ride to the one viewpoint that explains Bilbao packed into its green river valley.
Txikiteo pintxos crawl
Bilbao's social ritual as an activity: one bar, one house speciality, one small drink, then move to the next.
Azkuna Zentroa
A former wine warehouse turned cultural centre, free to wander and famous for its glass bottom rooftop pool.
San Mames
Athletic Club's riverside stadium and museum, where football explains Basque identity like nothing else in the city.
Where to stay in Bilbao
Abando / Abandoibarra
first trip, all-round base
Widest hotel spread at every tier, metro and tram at hand, museums walkable and Casco Viejo a river walk away.
Casco Viejo
food-first trips and atmosphere
Sleep inside the Seven Streets with pintxos on the doorstep, at the cost of late noise and cobbles with luggage.
Indautxu
repeat visitors and the local city
Residential and bar filled west of Moyua, cheaper than Abando and still a short walk from the centre.
Deusto
budget and university-side base
Noticeably cheaper rooms across the river with good metro links, trading doorstep sights for price and quiet.
Getxo
seaside add-on, not a first Bilbao base
Mansions, beaches and Algorta's port bars 25 minutes by metro, lovely for a summer night at a trip's end.
Think twice about
- San Francisco / Bilbao La Vieja
The one central area locals debate for safety, with a rougher feel and more visible street drug use. Fine to eat and drink in, easier first trip bases exist at similar prices.
- Immediate station and Cortes fringe at night
Streets south west of Abando station have the city's adult entertainment strip and a thin, empty feel late at night. A route note, not a place to base.
- Barakaldo, Sestao and the left-bank industrial towns
Safe ordinary towns with cheaper rooms, but every sight, meal and night out becomes a metro commute from places with little of what you came for.
- Casco Viejo bar streets during Aste Nagusia
Not safety, noise: festival street bars and crowds run all night for nine days in late August. Sleep in Abando or Indautxu that week.
Best restaurants in Bilbao
Azurmendi
Eneko Atxa's three star pilgrimage outside the city, a sustainability led tasting staged as a journey.
Nerua Guggenheim Bilbao
Josean Alija's one star inside the Guggenheim, spare ingredient led tasting menus in a calm minimal room.
Restaurante Mina
A small intimate one star facing Ribera Market, building its counter tasting menu from that market's produce.
Ola Martin Berasategui
Berasategui's accessible one star in the Tayko hotel, with an a la carte escape from full tasting menus.
Los Fueros
The traditional great-value sit down for bacalao al pil pil, hake and seasonal mushrooms, done properly.
Gure Toki
The modern pintxos benchmark on Plaza Nueva, known for its quail egg, mushroom and Idiazabal bowl.
El Globo
The classic Diputacion pintxos bar famous for its gratin spider crab pintxo, busy with locals.
Cafe Bar Bilbao
A belle epoque Plaza Nueva institution for classic pintxos and vermouth hour, reinventing nothing on purpose.
Outdoor things to do in Bilbao
San Juan de Gaztelugatxe
A hermitage on a rock islet reached by a stone bridge and 241 steps, the essential Basque coast pilgrimage.
Bizkaia Bridge
The world's oldest transporter bridge, still carrying cars and people across the estuary mouth since 1893.
Arrietara Beach
Bilbao's learn to surf beach, with surf schools, forgiving beach break waves and full wetsuits provided.
Mundaka
One of Europe's famous left hand river mouth waves, emphatically for watching unless you are an expert surfer.
Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve
A UNESCO estuary reserve of marshes and tidal flats, best explored by guided kayak or from the bird centre.
Gorbeia Natural Park
The Basque Country's largest natural park, with beech forest, limestone scenery and a cross crowned summit.
Meaztegi Golf
The accessible visitor golf course, a Ballesteros design on reclaimed mining land with sea views.
Real Sociedad de Golf de Neguri
The prestige private members' course by the sea in Getxo, playable only through a member or packager.
Best hotels in Bilbao
The Artist Grand Hotel of Art
The five star splurge directly opposite the Guggenheim, where a museum facing room and rooftop are the product.
Hotel Carlton
Bilbao's 1919 grand hotel classic on Moyua square, formal and central, an institution rather than a design pick.
Radisson Collection Hotel, Gran Via Bilbao
A contemporary five star on Gran Via with rooftop and gym, a short walk from Moyua and the museums.
Hotel Ercilla de Bilbao, Autograph Collection
A reborn Autograph hotel with rooftop bar and strong breakfast, suiting business and leisure equally.
Hotel Tayko Bilbao
A stylish restored hotel at the old town gate, home to the starred Ola restaurant and full of character.
Mercure Bilbao Jardines de Albia
A sensible well run four star by the Albia gardens, often better priced than the Gran Via five stars.
Hotel Bilbao Plaza
A practical small mid range hotel in the old town, with character, smaller rooms and pintxos on the doorstep.
Petit Palace Arana Bilbao
An old town mid range option around the Arenal and Plaza Nueva, practical for a food first trip.
Is Bilbao expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €70 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €140 a person |
| Splurge | €350 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Guggenheim Museum Bilbao: a few days ahead
- San Juan de Gaztelugatxe: weeks ahead
- Arrietara Beach: a few days ahead
- Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve: a few days ahead
- Meaztegi Golf: a few days ahead
- Real Sociedad de Golf de Neguri: weeks ahead
- Laguardia: weeks ahead
- The Artist Grand Hotel of Art: weeks ahead
- Guggenheim timed tickets online, especially weekends and holidays, and never plan it for a Monday when it is typically closed.
- Gaztelugatxe free timed reservation is compulsory in season and on busy weekends, book weeks ahead in summer on the official platform.
- Azurmendi, Nerua and Mina need weeks ahead for weekends, lunch is easier than dinner at all three.
- Athletic matches only via official channels, big fixtures sell out, stadium tours are walk up friendly by comparison.
- For Aste Nagusia and BBK Live, lock central hotels first, before flights.
- Many traditional restaurants close Sunday night and Monday, schedule a pintxos crawl Thursday to Saturday.
Is Bilbao safe?
- Bilbao is safe and orderly, the real risk is phone and bag theft in crowded pintxos bars, around the Guggenheim and in Casco Viejo.
- Keep phones off bar counters on a crawl.
- Apply big city awareness in San Francisco and Bilbao La Vieja late at night.
- Emergency number is 112.
Bilbao travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- A full sit down tourist menu lunch on Plaza Nueva instead of crawling the square's bars.
- Bars immediately around the Guggenheim for pintxos, pricier and tourist oriented, walk to Diputacion or Casco Viejo.
- Reseller premiums for Guggenheim or Gaztelugatxe tickets, Gaztelugatxe entry itself is free.
- The combined Gaztelugatxe and San Sebastian mega day tour, hours in a vehicle and minutes at each sight.
- Expecting a beach holiday, Bilbao itself has no beach and the Atlantic water is cold.
- Ordering a plate of pintxos in one bar or calling them tapas, one speciality per bar, standing, then move.
Getting around Bilbao: public transport and more
- Walk the flat riverside spine, about 2.5 km from the museum quarter to Casco Viejo.
- Metro Bilbao is the way to Getxo, Sopela, the Bizkaia Bridge and Deusto, the tram runs the river spine.
- Buy a Barik card at any metro station, it cuts fares and works across metro, tram, bus, Euskotren and the Artxanda funicular.
- Airport bus A3247 reaches the centre in about 25 minutes, a taxi is roughly 25 to 35 EUR.
- Do not drive in the centre, steep one way streets, expensive parking and a low emission zone. Rent only for Rioja or Gorbeia days.
Who Bilbao suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Bilbao your trip
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