Notes on Bilbao, Basque Country

We started and ended our trip to Basque Country in Bilbao. It’s a fascinating city with plenty to explore, look at and eat, as well as making a great base for exploring the Basque region more broadly with great bus connections.

We were in Bilbao in Basque Country as part of a week-long trip, so all my notes are based around my experiences at that time. Please do check any dates/opening times/locations etc. if you’re planning your own trip – things change! Links are to websites if I can find useful ones, or Google Maps locations if not, so you can see where they are. Please also note this post contains some affiliate links, indicated with a ‘*’ – if you click them and decide to buy something I may receive a small cut of the payment, but it won’t cost you more. Thank you!

Instax photograph of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, with 'Maman' by Louise Bourgeois, a giant spider-shaped sculpture in front. The Instax print is on a grey background.

Pictures, please!
Top recommendations in Bilbao, Basque Country
Top recommendations on a map
Full notes on Bilbao: how we spent 2.5ish days in Bilbao

Pictures, please!

If you’d prefer just to look through my photos for now I’ve made a gallery of the photographs in this post here, but if you’d like to read my notes you can find them all below.

Top recommendations in Bilbao, Basque Country

You can read my notes on what we got up to below, but if you are short on time here are my top recommendations on what to do in Bilbao, plus you can take a look at my more general Notes on travelling in Basque Country: Bilbao, San Sebastian and Pamplona, too:

–Click here to show top recommendations in Bilbao–

Travel:

Bus: it’s really easy to get the bus from the airport to the city centre. The ticket booth is in departures and the buses are frequent. There are great connections to other cities, too.
We bought tickets at the bus station just before travelling but one of the buses we wanted to take was sold out and we had to wait for the next one, so you might want to plan ahead if you’re on a tight schedule.

Do/see/visit:

Guggenheim Bilbao: the building itself is incredible inside and out and the extensive collections are well worth seeing. We even finally got into a Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror Room having been trying and failing in London for ages. Book tickets online for a slightly cheaper price and bring headphones so you can use the free audioguide via a QR on your phone.

Azkuna Zentroa: a sort of arts centre with 54 decorative pillars and interesting exhibitions.

Drink:

Rockade: craft beer and vintage arcade games!

Oskaici: delicious coffee and plenty of seating.

Penguin Bar: relaxed craft beer bar.

GARBY: lovely café/bar showing football near the stadium/bus station. The food looked great, too.

Ekain: nice bar in Plaza Nueva that showed the World Cup, too.

Eat:

Coppola: great pizza place/bar/live music venue not far from the Guggenheim.

Pastelería Arrese 1852: recommended in Anthony Bourdain’s Perfect Day in Bilbao, there are several branches in Bilbao and we tried 3 of them – the one on Foru Kalea (handy for the Old Town), Alameda de Recalde (handy for the Guggenheim) and Ledesma Musikariaren Kalea, which has some seating.

Rio-Oja: food so good we broke the ‘rule’ and stayed for a few different things!

Xukela: lovely sit down pintxos place in the Old Town, with really interesting decor.

Mercado de la Ribera: the covered market sells delicious-looking produce and has pintxos on the ground floor, though we just wandered about for a look.

Stay:

Amari by Pillow*: located right by the bus stop from the airport this simple, contemporary hotel is in a handy position for the Guggenheim with plenty of space for putting things, a good shower and comfy bed.

Conde Duque Bilbao*: located near the Zubizuri bridge, a simple hotel with lots of little touches to make things easier for people, like signs saying which bus to get to the airport, weighing scales in reception so you can check the weight of your bag and vending machines for drinks.

Useful to have/know:

Rick Steves’ Snapshot – Basque Country: Spain & France*: Great for planning your trips and for self-guided walks.

Eyewitness Travel Phrase Book Spanish*: I bought this at the airport. There is probably a book better suited to Basque but this served me well for getting by here and when we went to Cuba.

Anthony Bourdain’s Perfect Day in Bilbao: great suggestions of places to visit and things to eat.

Flash Invaders: a fun app from street artist Invader – get points for finding pieces of his work. We used this map to look for some and it took us to new areas of the city as we played.

–Click here to hide top recommendations–

Top recommendations on a map

You can expand the section above to read about all these places, or keep reading below for my more detailed notes.

Full notes on Bilbao: how we spent 2.5ish days in Bilbao

I say 2.5ish because we spent 1.5 days there at the beginning of the week and then an afternoon and morning at the end.

Photograph of part of the Guggenheim Bilbao, by Frank Gehry, Basque Country with cloudy sky above.

Terminology: a few key words

I won’t provide a full list of translations as I’m not an expert in Spanish or Basque but there are a few words I’ll keep using throughout this blog so I thought it might be helpful to explain them!

Donostia-San Sebastián: Donostia is the Basque name for San Sebastián and is what is written as the destination for the bus.
Pintxos: (pinchos) small snacks usually eaten in bars, often displayed on the counter for you to point at to order.
Txikiteo: the Basque word for hopping from bar to bar enjoying pintxos and drinks.
Kalimotxo: red wine and coke (surprisingly delicious!)
Txakoli: effervescent white wine
Vino tinto: red wine

Travelling to Bilbao

We flew to Bilbao from Gatwick Airport in the UK. It made a nice change to have an afternoon flight so we could get the train at a reasonable time. The flight was only 2 hours, though I don’t particularly recommend the airline we used.

The airport in Bilbao is really nice and it’s easy to find the ticket desk for buses into the city (it’s in departures and is clearly signposted), which are frequent.

First evening: a picture in real life and a pizza with whiskey as an ingredient

We stayed at Amari by Pillow* and it couldn’t have been more convenient for arriving from the airport – it’s right next to the bus stop! It’s also really close to the Guggenheim Museum, a place I’ve wanted to see in real life for a very long time. We dropped our things off (good to see plenty of storage space!) and headed out to get our bearings (and some cash).

We went straight to have a look at the Guggenheim. One of many jobs I’ve had was digitising slides for lecturers and the Guggenheim Bilbao was an image I saw many times as part of various lectures and couldn’t wait to see for myself. It really is incredible!

Fog Sculpture #08025 (F.O.G.) by Fujiko Nakaya and Fire Fountain by Yves Klein both started as we arrived which was very atmospheric and Maman by Louise Bourgeois looks pretty incredible in the dark too!

We managed to find cash and it’s worth noting that you should check what works best for you before committing. We were using a Chase card and the Santander ATM we tried first had a €7 fee for withdrawals while Deutsche Bank had no fee at all.

Although excited about pintxos, we decided to go somewhere we could sit down and order a full meal as we were quite tired. We found a pizza place called Coppola, which was more of a cool pub with lots of random photos stuck on the walls and often live music (not that night). We had a couple of beers and pizza – mine had bacon, leek, Gorgonzola and a whiskey reduction and was delicious!

It turned out we were right by our hotel (we’d walked round in loops and zigzags on our explorations) so we headed back in anticipation of lots of exploring to follow tomorrow.

Tall Tree & The Eye by Anish Kapoor, on display outside The Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Basque Country. The installation, made from steel in the centre with a window and part of the Guggenheim visible to the right, and Arcos Rojos. by Daniel Buren and bridge in the background to the left. The scene is reflected in water in the lower half of the image and mist from Fog Sculpture #08025 (F.O.G.) by Fujiko Nakaya is visible on the surface. — Tall Tree & The Eye by Anish Kapoor, on display outside The Guggenheim Bilbao

The bar in Coppola, Bilbao, Basque Country, with a neon sign top right, drinks and coffee machine behind the bar, with a black stool in front. — Coppola

Full day: hunting for a bakery, experiencing art and eating and drinking around the city

When we went to Vietnam I started Googling ‘Where did Anthony Bourdain eat in…’ and found some great meals as a result, so we did that here too. We struck gold using this method as the Explore Parts Unknown website has The Perfect Day in Bilbao and we used that quite a lot today!

It was a bit of a rocky start as the branch of Pastelería Arrese 1852 (the recommended bakery), that we headed to first was closed, so we had a slightly longer walk than intended but eventually had success at Foru Kalea. We had the recommended Bollo de Mantequilla, a sort of brioche bun that’s halved and sandwiched together with butter cream – delicious and quite light! We ate it in the park across the road watching the world go by.

We were near the Old Town now, so we visited Mercado de la Ribera, the covered market, which was the most spotless market I have ever seen, with delicious-looking produce and a huge queue at one particular fish counter.

We just wandered around for a bit then, looking at the shops and interesting streets and reading about key places in Rick Steves’ Snapshot – Basque Country: Spain & France*.

Tree-lined path through Areatzako parkea, Bilbao, Basque Country, with an ornate street lamp to the left and a few people in the distance.

Window of Pastelería Arrese 1852, Foru Kalea, Bilbao, Basque Country, with a red sign saying 'Arrese' above and cakes in a display case below. — Pastelería Arrese 1852, Foru Kalea

A bollo de mantequilla from Arrese bakery, Bilbao, Basque Country. A bun sliced through the centre and filled with buttercream, topped with sugar. Shown here held on a paper napkin on a person's hand. — Bollo de mantequilla from Pastelería Arrese 1852

Stained glass window in the Erribera merkatua, Bilbao, Basque Country, with pink and blue buildings visible across the road outside. — Stained glass window in the Erribera merkatua

Butcher's stall in the Erribera merkatua, Bilbao, Basque Country, with people walking along the walkway to the left and meat on display in the cabinets and hanging above. — Bilbao, Basque Country

Photograph of the facade of Euskaltzaindia, Plaza Nueva, Bilbao, Basque Country, with shuttered windows, and clock in the top centre of the facade, arched walkway below, tiled square in the lower portion and a metal railing in the front. — Euskaltzaindia in Plaza Nueva, Bilbao

Street in Old Town, Bilbao, Basque Country, with an undulated paved path in the middle, ornate lanterns on the walls either side and a green neon pharmacy sign towards the centre. — Bilbao, Basque Country

Txakurraren iturria, Bilbao, Basque Country. Three drinking fountains in a stone structure with arches above and an ornate street sign to the left. — Txakurraren iturria

Fuente Plaza Santiago, historic drinking fountain with ornate buildings behind and paved path in front, Bilbao, Basque Country

Photograph of a building with windows that look a bit balcony-like to the left, an ornate lantern to the right with yellow and blue bunting bunched up around it and an ornate sign saying 'Calle Carniceria Vieja' at the bottom of the frame. — Leftovers

Looking across the Nervión River at ornate buildings including the Bilbao La Concordia Station to the left, and a Space Invader street art on the wall leading down to the river, Bilbao, Basque Country

Next we visited Azkuna Zentroa, a sort of arts centre with 54 decorative pillars and a swimming pool high up above where you could blurrily see people swimming. We visited ‘Somewhere from here to heaven’, a free exhibition of work by and with reference to Bruce Bailey, an experimental film maker. It was very interesting and very bizarre!

We then went for really delicious coffee at nearby Oskaici before buying chorizo, cheese, bread and apples from a nearby supermarket, which we took back to our hotel to make into sandwiches. We ate them whilst booking our Guggenheim tickets online (it’s a bit cheaper if you do that).

Photograph of the exterior of Azkuna Zentroa Alhóndiga Bilbao, with 'Azkuna Zentroa Alhóndiga Bilbao' spelt out on the roof, Bilbao, Basque Country — Azkuna Zentroa Alhóndiga Bilbao

Installation photograph of 'Somewhere from her to heaven' at Azkuna Zentroa Alhóndiga Bilbao, Bilbao, Basque Country. Showing a wooden structure holding images, in the middle of a white-walled gallery. — Somewhere from here to heaven

We headed to the Guggenheim just before 4pm, via a quick detour to get a photo from the bridge. I had to leave my bag at the reception, which isn’t something I like to do but it was okay and I was able to take my camera separately. We used the QR code to use the free audio guide, which was really good (make sure you have headphones with you for that!). 4pm seemed a good time as it wasn’t that busy.

The building is incredible and wonderful to walk around and just look at! It was great having the audio to tell us more about the work and we enjoyed walking through Jenny Hozer’s ‘Installation for Bilbao’ (Bilbaorako instalazioa) and ‘Matter of Time’ by Richard Serra, which was very disorienting! We were really pleased to see there was a Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror Room too and really lucky that we got in the queue before they stopped letting people join (so don’t leave that too late if you go in the afternoon!) It was wonderful!

Puppy by Jeff Koons, Bilbao, Basque Country. The installation is a huge West Highland Terrier dog, covered in flowers that grow on the surface. A sky-scraper is visible in the background. — Puppy by Jeff Koons

The Guggenheim Bilbao, by Frank Gehry, on the Nervión River, with Arcos Rojos by Daniel Buren over the river to the left, Basque Country — The Guggenheim Bilbao, by Frank Gehry

Photograph of the sculpture Besarkada XI by Eduardo Chillida at The Guggenheim Bilbao, with a tiled floor in the foreground, the exterior metal wall of the museum and a low metal railing behind. — Besarkada XI by Eduardo Chillida

Handprints on the metal wall of the Guggenheim Bilbao, Basque Country. — Handprints on the metal wall of the Guggenheim Bilbao (the audio guide encourages touching the wall here!)

Looking across the Nervíon River from the Guggenheim Bilbao, with Fog Sculpture #08025 (F.O.G.) by Fujiko Nakaya visible in the foreground, four people walking across a bridge in the centre and buildings an a hill in the background. Basque Country. — Fog Sculpture #08025 (F.O.G.) by Fujiko Nakaya at The Guggenheim Bilbao, Basque Country

Coins in the pond outsdie The Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Basque Country — Coins in the pond outside The Guggenheim Bilbao

Looking across the Nervión River from the Guggenheim Bilbao, with Maman by Louise Bourgeois visible in the foreground and buildings and a hill in the background. Basque Country. — Maman by Louise Bourgeois

Detail of Matter of Time by Richard Serra, Guggenheim Bilbao, Basque Country — Detail of Matter of Time by Richard Serra

Photograph of a white woman and man in Infinity Mirrored Room – A Wish for Human Happiness Calling from Beyond the Universe (2020) by Yayoi Kusama, looking at a phone (taking a selfie) surrounded by lights and mirrors — Infinity Mirrored Room – A Wish for Human Happiness Calling from Beyond the Universe (2020) by Yayoi Kusama

Having walked 10 miles already we decided against going to the Old Town and tried to find pintxo places nearby instead. We went to Penguin Bar first for a drink as they were supposed to have 16 craft beers on tap but most of the ones we picked were out that day unfortunately! We still had a good drink and sit down and looked up a nearby street that had lots of pintxo places (around here I think).

You can basically just go in anywhere and point at what takes your fancy. We went in one place, had something with ham, Brie and a sort of jam and another that looked like ham and cheese but turned out to be a sort of fish-both lovely. We went across the street and had tortilla, croquette and pork belly, all of which were delicious.

We headed to a bar near our hotel called Rockade that looked quite cool (I miss-remembered it’s name as ‘Barcade’, which is possibly more fitting). It had a selection of beers and some arcade games too, so we had a go on a Star Trek pinball machine that seemed to go a bit crazy and kept going for ages, but was fun. A poor guy at another table completely face planted when trying to stand up from his stool and all I heard him say was ‘La cerveza…’ but he seemed to be okay. Bar hop responsibly, people!

Photograph of two pintxos on a white plate, Bilbao, Basque Country, showing two pieces of bread topped with cheese and meat.

Second morning: more photos of the Guggenheim, another branch of the same bakery and a bus to Bilbao

We got up around 9am, started to get organised to leave and headed out for breakfast. We went for a brief walk over the bridge at the end of our road to take some photos of the Guggenheim from that angle (honestly I could look at that building for a week), then set off for the branch of Pastelería Arrese 1852 that was near our hotel (Alameda de Recalde) for some breakfast.

It was hard to choose which pastry to have as everything looked so delicious, so I opted for a chocolate topped brioche bun that turned out to be stuffed full of liquid chocolate and Tim had a chocolate and marmalade croissant.

We popped to a very posh supermarket for juice, bread and apples for lunch, then sat on a bench back near the Guggenheim to eat. When I say my bun was stuffed full I mean it was really, really packed with chocolate and I struggled to finish it – it may be the first time a chocolate bun has defeated me!

The Guggenheim Bilbao, by Frank Gehry, on the Nervíon River, with Arcos Rojos by Daniel Buren slightly visible to the left, Basque Country.

Photograph looking down Salbeko Zubia road, Bilbao, Basque Country. A sign to the right says 'Reboot and select... Insert Boot Media'. — Accidental art

Photograph looking across the road to Pastelería Arrese 1852, Alameda de Recalde, Bilbao, a bakery painted red, with people on the pavement by the road to the left and a blue sign saying'TAXI' to the right. — Pastelería Arrese 1852, Alameda de Recalde, Bilbao

Photograph of a red paper package with 'Arrese' branding on it, tied with a white riboon, on a brown surface, Bilbao, Basque Country

Photograph of a red paper package with 'Arrese' branding on it, opened to show a croissant and chocolate bun inside, with a hand to the left and plaid fabric underneath, Bilbao, Basque Country

After making some sandwiches with the rest of our chorizo and cheese from yesterday we checked out and walked across town to the bus station. Our phone maps seemed to think it was further on that it was, but it was the big red building that looked like a bus station, it’s just that the buses are all underground! Skip down to find out about getting the bus to Donostia San Sebastián or if you’d like to read about what we did when we came back to Bilbao keep reading on from here.

An afternoon back in Bilbao after San Sebastián: World Cup, rainy Invader hunting and Old Town pintxos

We got the 12:30 bus from Donostia/San Sebastián (the 11:30 was sold out but there was an excellent café to wait in at the bus station) and when we arrived back in Bilbao it was pouring with rain. We ate our homemade sandwiches under cover before looking for somewhere to watch England v Iran in the World Cup. We’re not massive followers of football but we like watching World Cup and the Euros. The bus is near the stadium so it wasn’t long before we saw a nice looking café/pub, Garby, and settled in with a coffee and coke watching the match and the people coming and going, dropping in for a bite to eat, collecting bags, having a quick wine. The match was eventful too!

We headed off into the rain in the direction of our new hotel, Conde Duque Bilbao*.

This hotel was right by Zubizuri bridge, near the statue of a man with a tiny head trying to lift something heavy. We checked in and enjoyed the little touches to make things easier for people, like signs saying which bus to get to the airport, weighing scales in reception so you can check the weight of your bag, that sort of thing.

We headed back out again despite the rain and had a bit of a wander round looking for street art by Invader, using his app Flash Invaders to get points for each one logged. It’s a fun thing to do! Tim found a map that had them marked on, so it was a good way to discover different areas of the city while we looked for them. The first two we tried to find seemed to have been removed (though when I got home and processed my photos I could see one of them clear as day in this image) but we did eventually get a few in the Old Town.

We just wandered really, looking in a couple of shops and pondering what to have for dinner. We looked at Rick Steves’ recommendations (in Rick Steves’ Snapshot – Basque Country: Spain & France* and went to Txakur Kalea where there were a few. First we went to Xukela where we had tiny bowls of slightly spicy tomato sauce with a pepper stuffed with squid and another stuffed with crab. Tasty, and the restaurant had interesting pictures and books around too.

We decided to move on and went to Rio-Oja a couple of doors down. Very understated decor-wise with more of a chippy counter but the meatballs were absolutely delicious! So much so that we ordered some cod in pilpil sauce too and although it must have been simply salted cod, butter and olive oil the taste was incredible! It was also possible to get wine for 90c but we splurged on the €2 instead.

Realising that Wales were playing USA we headed to Ekain, a bar in the Plaza Nuevo, awkwardly discovering it was full of USA fans when they scored. Wales pulled it back with a penalty though, so that was good to see!

Cafeteria Garby, Bilbao, Basque Country. Showing the interior with pintxos on the bar under a glass case, drinks on the wall behind, football on the TV above and three stools in front. — Cafeteria Garby

Zubizuri bridge over the Nervión River, Bilbao, Basque Country, with buildings across the river and lamposts to the right. — Zubizuri bridge over the Nervión River, Bilbao

Exterior of Rio Oja, Bilbao, Basque Country, showing a bit of the tiled interior and a rainy street outside. — Rio-Oja

Bowl of steaming hot meatballs and potatoes in Rio Oja, Bilbao, Basque Country

Final (proper) morning in Bilbao: more pastries, wandering and Invaders

Our flight was late afternoon so it was nice not having to rush in the morning. We packed up our bags, left them with the super friendly and helpful reception guy and headed out. We navigated to another branch of Pastelería Arrese 1852 (of course) on Ledesma Musikariaren Kalea and were pleased to find this one had seats so we could sit and enjoy our chocolate orange croissants and coffee – so, so good!

We headed to the Old Town and just sort of wandered about again really. We saw a couple of protest marches that we tried to look up but couldn’t find out more information about and had a last walk along the river to the Guggenheim to catch a few more Invaders before going to get our bags and then the bus to the airport.

Areatzako Kioskoa, Bilbao, Basque Country, an art nouveau structure with an ornate lamppost in front.

Photograph of grasses and plants growing in bicked balconies, Bilbao, Basque Country, with a street light in the foreground.

'The Key' mural, Bilbao, Basque Country, looking from The Guggenheim across the river. — ‘The Key’ mural

Looking across the Nervíon River in Bilbao, Basque Country, with buildings behind and an Invader tiled street art on the edge leading down to the river. — Spot the Invader

Why did I title this ‘Final (proper) morning in Bilbao…’? Well as we arrived at the airport we were confused not to see our flight on the board and after some hushed phone calls at the check in desk it emerged that our flight had been cancelled due to strike action and we should have been told but we hadn’t had anything at all. Read all the details (if you want) in ‘Leaving Bilbao for the UK‘, below.

Leaving Bilbao for Donostia/San Sebastián

(This is what we did in the middle of the trip, to get to San Sebastián. Skip ahead if you want to know about leaving Bilbao for the airport)

Having navigated to the bus station we went in, down the escalator to the ticket desks and googled what the company was called to make sure we went to the right desk (Alsa, in our case). Tickets secured we waited for the update on the screen to see which platform to go to and headed down to platform 11 when it told us. It was all very organised and neat! The bus was clean and comfortable and we enjoyed a scenic drive through the hills to Donostia San Sebastián. The bus station there was also underground and we emerged to energetic music from a busker and wide clean streets for the walk to our hotel in the Old Town. We stopped to eat our sarnies and perfect apples on a bench overlooking the river before walking on, marvelling at the huge waves where the river and the sea met. To continue this trip read my Notes on San Sebastián here.

Photograph of a modern building with red facade to the front, windows along the side and a sign below saying 'Bilbao Intermodal', with people walking in front. — Bilbao Intermodal, bus station

Leaving Bilbao for the UK

As mentioned above, we took the bus from central Bilbao to the airport, which was easy, and as we arrived discovered that our flight had been cancelled and we hadn’t been informed. We asked for a copy of our rights, as is the thing to do, checked the Money Saving Expert info and waited as they checked us in to a flight at 7am the next day and tried to find us a hotel. Eventually we were directed to wait for a shuttle bus that picked us up and took us to a slightly bleak hotel near the airport, but it was very clean and spacious. We had a voucher for dinner but the restaurant (in a different hotel) wasn’t open until 7:30pm, so we hung about waiting until we could eat. Although we had to order from a special menu for voucher people the food was really tasty – it’s hard to get a bad meal in this town! We had a final Kalimotxo to ease the discomfort (reassuring them we knew we’d have to pay extra for that).

We headed back to the hotel, got everything ready for the morning and set our alarms for 4:45am.

We headed for the shuttle bus at 5:25, went through security and had a nice almond croissant and amazing fresh orange juice in the nice looking little airport before going to the gate. Oddly there isn’t a toilet when you go through the gate so make sure you go before then if you think you might need it! Before long we were on the plane, which was probably only half full, and on our way back.

Maman by Louise Bourgeois in front of the Guggenheim Bilbao, Basque Country, with people underneath photographing it, and the Nervión River in the foreground.

I loved Bilbao! I loved soaking in all the art, architecture food and drink. It’s definitely a great place to explore and would make a great weekend break in Europe or base for exploring the Basque Region.

Next stop: San Sebastián

If you’d like to have a look through my photos without all the notes I’ve made gallery of the photographs in this post here.

Notes on Travel is a blog by photographer Jayne Lloyd, noting the things I found useful to know when I was visiting Bilbao in the Basque Region as part of a week long trip. I’ve tried to be accurate but please do check for up-to-date information before going as things are always changing! I apologise for any mistakes, please do let me know if you have more recent info.

* This post contains some affiliate links, indicated with a ‘*’ – if you click them and decide to buy something I may receive a small cut of the payment, but it won’t cost you more. Thank you!

Notes on Bilbao, Basque Country

Contents

Pictures, please!