Bilbao

General information about Bilbao

From the airport there is a very cheap regular bus service and of course taxis into the city. The bus goes to the Termibus where you can connect with metro, tram or coach services. A travel card called Barik can be purchased from metro stations and used on bus and metro and can be re-charged, it gives travel at almost half price and is great for going out along the river to Gexto and the lovely old port of Algorta.

The city is in two distinct parts with the river in the middle but the whole city is ringed by amazing hills at the foot of every street. The Old Part, the Casco Viejo contains the ‘Siete Calles’ seven streets lined with bars, the market which has recently had a facelift, the cathedral and the famous Arriaga theatre.

The other side of the river, the Ensanche, the extension, has the impressive avenues, upmarket hotels and shopping, lovely cafes, old established restaurants, the Museo de Bellas Artes and of course the Guggenheim. There are also superb snail like new metro entrances for the Norman Foster designed metro, these are known as Fosteros by the locals.

Opposite the Mercado de Ribeira across the bridge is the area called Bilbao Vieja and this has recently become the cool area of the city with some great places to eat and drink.

There has been a huge amount of city re-generation since the arrival of the Guggenheim in 1997 and every visit sees new building projects and re-furbishment of some of the older buildings.

Hotels in Bilbao

Check out the usual booking sites such as www.booking.com or www.hotels.com. We choose to stay in the old part called the Casco Viejo but there many places including the most upmarket in the new part pf the city.

Hotel Iturrienea Ostatua, C/Santa Maria 14, www.iturrieneaostatua.com  is an excellent place to stay.  It has recently changed hands but the new owners have kept the original style while updating amenities like the bathrooms. The rooms at the front with balconies can be noisy during the day and evening but are fine at night. This is definitely the place to stay in the old part for great value and super hospitality.

AliciaZzz B&B, C/Sombreria 1, is in the heart of the old quarter, the rooms are cute and the staff friendly & helpful. There are comments about noise, midweek we were not disturbed but are night owls and they supply earplugs if needed.

An alternative is an apartment, there are short let apartments available in the old town at www.arrigasuites.com they are owned by people who have an excellent pension in San Sebastian. The apartments look very smart and are in an great location.

Restaurants & Tapas Bars

Restaurants

Basque cooking is renowned as the best in Spain and while San Sebastian may have more Michelin star restaurants, Bilbao is catching up on fine dining places. Lunch is normally excellent value and a good way to try places, leaving you free to try pintxos in the evening. A small selection of recommendations is below.

Mina, Muelle Manzana, is opposite the Ribera Market and has one Michelin star, we were recommended to try it by a chef friend in Madrid and we had a excellent experience. We sat at the bar which looks onto the kitchen area as recommended and had the 14 course tasting menu. The whole evening from start to finish was fabulous, great service, amazing food and a lovely relaxed atmosphere.

Dando La Brasa, C/Arechaga 7, is in Bilbao Vieja and specialises in South American, in particular Peruvian, food. The food when we went for the lunchtime menu del dia was excellent, loved the menu choices, quality and presentation. One that is one the list for a return visit.

Peso Neto, C/San Francisco 1, is also in Bilbao Vieja and offers a menu del dia which gets great reports. We popped in for a drink and loved the feel of the bar and the atmosphere so one to try.

Pablo Urzay, C/Reina Maria Christina 5, Gexto we found by chance after a long walk from Algorta to Gexto. and what a find. The Slow Food mention in the window enticed us inside, the restaurant is small and we waited in the bar area for a table. We had a lovely menu del dia at an incredible price for the quality and delightful service. this is very much a locals secret we were lucky enough to find. Just opposite was lovely bar with pinxtos called Bar Gurea.

Amarena, C/Santa Maria 18, is a stylish modern restaurant in the Casco Viejo and the set lunch is incredible value. There is a large choice for all courses and the current price of 13€ includes a half bottle of wine. Good cooking and excellent service make this a good choice but booking is advisable as it is very popular.

The Guggenheim has two restaurants, one very upmarket and a bistro which has an excellent set lunch menu. In both places the décor, as you would expect being part of the museum, is spectacular.

Lurrina, Barrenkale Barrena 16, is another new addition and the creative pinxtos are excellent. Friendly service and a good selection of wines, also a very good looking lunch menu served in the upstairs restaurant which unfortunately we did not get a chance to try on this occasion. The reviews indicate it is well worth visiting.

Tapas – Pintxos in Basque

Here even the tapas (pintxos) are works of art. As places vary in their specialities and some change what is on offer, the best advice is pop in and have a look and I am sure there will be something for all tastes from traditional to new style. Many bars also have hot pinxtos cooked to order either on a board or on a menu.

Casco Viejo

Mercado de Ribeira is the largest covered market in Europe and was well worth a visit even before it’s latest update which has added an eating area with many different bars serving food and drink. There are seafood bars, vermut bars and of course one with various types of Jamon. It is open every day and has a lovely outside terrace, the prices are very reasonable the inside decor could be better but well worth a visit. The lower ground floor now has a bar and restaurant and has live music events.

Gure Toki, Plaza Nueva 12, won the 2010 pintxo award and has won many awards since as the quality and the variety of different pintxos on offer is fantastic and the service very friendly. This is now a must on the tapas circuit in Bilbao, on our most recent visit we popped in twice and thought the food & service was as good as ever.

Sorginzulo, Plaza Nueva 12, is next door to Gure Toki, a newcomer since our last visit it was a must try this time and did not disappoint. Great selection of pinxtos on the counter and also many that are cooked to order. Very popular but worth battling through the crowds to try the food.

Victor Montes, Plaza Nueva 8, an original bar & restaurant which has been around for more than 100 years. With the choice of bars in the square we had not been for some time but this visit returned on several occasions and were impressed by the pinxtos & wines. The restaurant is as popluar as ever and booking is advised.

La Olla, Plaza Nueva 2, a new addition since our last visit and definitely one to try. A wide range of pinxtos on the counter and others that are cooked to order. Very popular, good service and we visited on a couple of occasions, they also have a place in the Ensanche at C/Diputacion 12.

Anxtoa, Plaza Nueva 1, a new addition to the square and as you may have guessed specialising in anchovies,  well run bar and worth a visit.

Baster, C/Posta 22, a new opening in the old part which I had read about in a newspaper article. A great place, lovely owners and staff, mini tortillas cooked to order and other excellent pinxtos and a great atmosphere, a welcome addition to the area. Great to return & find it as good as ever.

Rio Oja, Calle Perro 6, this specialises in different types of casseroles (cazuelas) but also has a variety of other dishes mainly available as raciones, bigger portions than tapas.

Saltagorri Taberna, C/ La Merced, this lovely bar is in a small street just off C/Santa Maria. There is only room for a handful of people plus some benches outside but this gem of a bar was a great discovery. Really unusual pinxtos, fresh oysters, great service and a good mix of customers, this was a real winner.

Gatz, C/Santa Maria 10, is a more modern bar with a fantastic selection of pintxos, this has been around for a few years now and is still as good as when it first opened. It also has a selection of larger sized dishes.

Bar Irintzi, C/ Santa Maria 8, another modern bar with lots of different pintxos all fully explained in Spanish and also English. Returned on our most recent visit and still good and reasonably priced some excellent pinxtos.

Berton, C/Jardines, they have a couple of places in the same street and are very popular both with locals and visitors. One of their places specialises in Chuleton, a large steak shared by two people. There is also a wide range of pinxtos and other dishes.

Bar Xukela, C/Perro 2, one of the first bars we tried in Bilbao many years ago, still one to visit and great to see it is still going strong, Really good staff and relaxed atmosphere.

Cafe Bizitza, C/Torre 1, is more of a late night bar and cafe with nice staff and a relaxed atmosphere, very welcome at the weekends when the Siete Calles can be rather lively.

Marzana 16, C/Marzana 16, is in Bilbao Viejo opposite the market and is a very cool bar for a drink, great views from the outside seats it is very popular. they also have an interesting menu of snacks to order.

Txiriboga, C/Santa Maria 13, was another of our first local bars, it is a simple bar with pleasant staff and a decent selection of food.

Zazpi Bide, C/Barrenkalle 18, a new find with a good wine selection and good comments about the pinxtos which we didn’t try.

Kapikua, C/Correo 12, was a new find on a previous visit and when we returned recently we were impressed by the pinxto selection and the modern style of the bar. They have another place in the new part of the city at Euskadi Plaza.

Enstanche

In the Estanche there is a vast array of bars with an older crowd than the Casco Viejo. Start at the area past the end of Gran Via and Plaza Moyua around the junction of C/ Licenciado Poza, C/Gregorio de la Revilla and C/Maestro Garcia Rivero, all have wall to wall bars with many differing styles on offer.

C/Ledesma which runs along the back of the Gran Via is also worth exploring with a wide variety of bars and C/Diputacion nearby is another street packed with top class bars.

Promenade at 32 C/Ledesma, a tiny bar which specialises in vermut, there is lots of outdoor seating.

Taberna Magnum, is almost next door with an entrance on C/Ledesma and we were impressed by the friendly service, the food & drinks on offer.

La Vina del Ensanche, C/Diputacion 10, is a Bilbao institution, always packed and with a large range of exciting pinxtos and bigger dishes. The staff are very professional and the screen behind the bar featuring photographs of many of the dishes will have you ordering in minutes. El Globo, almost next door is also worth trying.

Bar Okela, C/Maestro Garcia Rivero is another award winning bar with great pinxtos so worth a special mention but there really are so many to try.

Huevo Frito, C/Maestro Garcia Rivero 1, one of the first bars we tried in this area and still as good as ever when we returned on our most recent visit.

El Puertito, C/Licenciado Poza, has it’s entrance in C/Garcia Rivero and specialises in oysters and seafood.

Corinto y Oro, C/Garcia Rivero 3, is another new bar in this street packed with so many options. The selection of pinxtos and wines by the glass is impressive.

Bilabo Berria, C/Ledesma 26 is a very smart restaurant and bar with some top notch pinxtos cooked to order.  Still very good but service can be slightly chaotic but the food makes it worth the effort.

Cafe Iruna, Jardines de Albia, a lovely tiled bar with a speciality of meat kebabs freshly cooked on a charcoal grill in the corner.

Deusto

This is a good local area to explore with some great bars along C/Blas de Otero. Take the metro to Deusto, and away from the areas that most visitors reach. Oriotarra at number 30 has fantastic pinxtos and as you would expect a real local crowd, also recommended Txindoki at number 7 C/Blas de Otero.

Cafes

There is a new cafe group in the city called Bertiz, the bakery items on offer are great making this an excellent breakfast stop, a selection of 5 mini pastries cost €1.50. They also have sandwiches on sale, the one we visited was at C/Artekale 45 but spotted others around the city.

Drink

If you are used to ordering a small beer in other parts of Spain by asking for a cana then it is worth using the Basque word as this goes down better in a lot of bars, this is a zurrito.

For local wines try Txakoli, a young, slightly acidic white wine, which has a low alcohol content, it is often poured from a height to keep the bubbles. Red drinkers should of course try the famous Rioja from the area south of Bilbao.

Culture

The Guggenheim is probably the reason a large number of visitors visit the city and while the exhibitions may not be to your specific taste you cannot fail to be stunned at your first view of the building or to enjoy exploring the inside. Art fans should also visit Museo de Bella Artes.

For some great views take the Funicular de Archanda from the Casco Viejo side, heading from the theatre towards the Guggenheim.This takes you high above the city and gives you the chance to admire the fantastic setting.

Visit the coast by taking the Metro, stop at Getxo to see the hanging bridge ‘Puente Colgado’ then visit Alogorta, walk down hill from the station towards the old port, a beautiful little village with some great bars. Head out further to the lovely fishing town of Plenxtia and the total journey from the Centre to Plenxtia is only about 40 minutes.

If you have time try and visit San Sebastian get the bus from Bilbao Bus Station, take the Metro to San Mames or the Tram. Alsa run the service and it takes just over an hour. It is a fabulous seaside city with a magnificent setting and an old part that has some of the best tapas in Spain and top notch restaurants.

Have a good TXIKITEO – Basque for bar hopping !

Seven day forecast for Bilbao

Bilbao
ES
2.53 m/s 62 %
sky is clear
17.9°C
1.83 m/s 65 %
overcast clouds
16.2°C
3.02 m/s 48 %
overcast clouds
18.8°C
3.34 m/s 47 %
scattered clouds
19°C
3.28 m/s 57 %
overcast clouds
17.6°C

Last Visited 2023 & Last Updated 2023