TOURISM

You can find lots of touristic information in the Bilbao Turismo official website.

Bilbao is the Capital of the Historical region called Bizkaia/Vizcaya. For touristic information about Bizkaia, visit the official website.

Bizkaia is part of a territory called País Vasco which includes Bizkaia/Vizcaya, Gipuzkoa/Guipúzcoa and Araba/Álava. For touristic information about País Vasco, visit the official website.

País Vasco is part of an historical territory divided in both northern Spain and Southern France which includes the three historical territories named before, Nafarroa/Navarra, Lapurdi/Labourd, Zuberoa/Soule and Nafarroa Beherea/Basse-Navarre.

For alternative views of the city and surroundings, you can ask in the Bilbao CS group.

CULTURE

Basque culture / basque language / Euskera is one of the most old European languages. It's an official language, like the Spanish. Half of the population knows basque language in Bilbao.

You can know more about the statistic here.

You can also know what is the situation of the language rights in Basque Country here.

There are a lot of associations working for the language normalization. Here you have a map with most of them.

EVENTS

Official cultural events Calendar

TRANSPORTS

How to get from the airport

Bilbao Airport is 12 kilometres away from the city, in a town called Loiu. There is a bus line that links Bilbao and the airport: Bizkaibus A3247, a yellow (next will be green) urban bus whose departure point in Bilbao is Termibús, a bus terminal providing connections with San Mamés station of Metro Bilbao, Tramway, and RENFE short-distance trains.

Buses also stop at Gran Vía, 79; Plaza Moyúa and Alameda Recalde, the only three other stops in their way to the airport.

At the airport, the departure point is the stop in front of the Arrivals Terminal, and the stops in Bilbao are at Alameda Recalde, 14; Gran Vía (Government Regional Office); Gran Vía, 74. Then it reaches Termibús, where the route ends.

The single ticket costs around 1,30€ and the trip takes around 20 minutes.

Timetable: (Orientative)

Departures from the airport:

In winter, daily from 6.15am to 23.15pm every 30 minutes and at 24.00pm. Summer: daily from 6.20am to 24.00pm every 20 minutes.

Departures from Bilbao (Termibús):

in winter, daily from 5.25am to 21.55pm every 30 minutes. Summer: daily from 5.20am to 22.00pm every 20 minutes.

If you decide to take a taxi, it will cost you around 20,00-25,00€ to the city centre.

Local public transports

Buses: Local buses called Bilbobus (red-coloured) and regional urban buses called Bizkaibus (yellow-coloured, next will be green)

Metro: Metro Bilbao

Tramway: Euskotran

Bicycle: Free bicycle lending service (Info only available in spanish)

It's easy to get almost everywhere in Bilbao walking, unless you carry big luggage. For all local transportations (Buses, Metro & Tramway) there is a top-up card called Creditrans (info only available in Spanish and Basque) which is much cheaper than buying single tickets. Two or more people can use the same card, available from 5€ in metro & tramway stations and most of press shops.

Long distance public transports

Buses: Movelia searches and sells tickets for buses in all the companies operating in spain.

Train: Renfe; FEVE; Euskotren

WHERE TO EAT

There are lots of restaurants in both the old quarter and the city centre of Bilbao, you can find some of them here. Bars and restaurants usually close on Sundays, take it into account for making your plans.

Restaurants for people suffering celiac sprue/coeliac disease:

Hotel Aisia - Orduña

Hotel Aisia - Laia

Andra Mari - Galdakao

Ariatza - c/somera, Bilbao

El farol - c/ amistad, Bilbao

El mapamundi de Bilbao - c/Juan de Garay, Bilbao

Etxanobe - Palacio euskalduna, Bilbao

Goizeko kabi - c/ particular de estraunza, Bilbao

Horma ondo - Larrabetzu

Ikea – Megapark, Barakaldo

La citronela – Sendeja, Bilbao