Visiting Bilbao in Basque Country, Spain, for just a day and looking for an itinerary that covers all the top places and things not to miss on a first visit? This itinerary is based on our recent trip, exactly as we did it. It includes the main highlights and our experience-based tips to help you make the most out of your day in Bilbao. Find out!
Bilbao is the biggest city in the Basque Country and a must-see in Northern Spain. It’s a truly unique place that effortlessly blends the old with the new, offering a wide variety of experiences for all interests.
Needless to say, Bilbao has a lot more to offer than you could see in a day. That said, the main landmarks are located rather close to each other and if you plan your time well, you can easily get a good taste of the city and experience the very best of Bilbao in one day.
From the iconic Guggenheim Museum to the historic charm of the Casco Viejo (Old Town), and from industrial heritage to the vibrant culinary scene, let’s take a look at how to spend a truly memorable day in Bilbao.
Good to know: This itinerary is based exactly on what we did in Bilbao in a day, so it also includes the approximate hours and tips on how to plan your time. In addition, we share some alternative suggestions in case you have different interests and would rather do something other than what we chose. To help you plan your day, we also created a map indicating all the places mentioned in this article.
READ ALSO: Best Things to Do in Bilbao
Bilbao 1-Day Itinerary & Map
Below is an overview of our recommended itinerary for one day in Bilbao. This is just a short overview, but further below, you can find all the details and photos from all these places, what to expect, etc.
Here’s our recommended 1-day itinerary for Bilbao:
- Morning: Old town, (breakfast at) La Ribera Market.
- 10 AM – 12: City highlights bike tour.
- 12 – 12.30 PM: Quick lunch.
- 1 – 2.15 PM: San Mamés Museum and Stadium (alternative: Sightseeing Boat Tour).
- 2.30 – 3.30 PM: Guggenheim Museum.
- 3.30 – 5.30 PM: Sightseeing/shopping in the Gran Vía area.
- 5.30 – 8.30 PM: Basque food tour.
- Evening: Sunset views from Artxanda viewpoint and/or Guggenheim Museum in the dark.
We stayed in Bibao for two nights which gave us one full day in the city, so this itinerary starts quite early and has enough suggestions to fill an entire day. But you can easily adjust it if your trip is longer or shorter as well.
How to use this map: Use your computer mouse (or fingers) to zoom in or out. Click on the icons to get more information about each place. Click the arrow on the top left corner for the index. Click the star next to the map’s title to add it to your Google Maps account. To view the saved map on your smartphone or PC, open Google Maps, click the menu and go to ‘Your Places’/’Maps’. If you want to print the map or see it in a bigger window, click on ‘View larger map’ in the top right corner.
Where to Stay
There are tons of really nice hotels in Bilbao, so you won’t have difficulty finding something that suits your needs and budget.
We stayed at Hotel Gran Bilbao, which is a very nice hotel but a 20-minute walk from the old town and 40 minutes from Guggenheim (or 10-15 minutes by taxi or bus). We chose this hotel because it was the best hotel in Bilbao with EV chargers that could accommodate a large car. But if you are traveling by train or are driving a smaller car, I would stay closer to the city center.
Here are some of the best-rated hotels in Bilbao center for all budgets:
- €€€€ Vincci Consulado de Bilbao (near Guggenheim).
- €€€ Radisson Collection Bilbao (very central).
- €€ Petit Palace Arana Bilbao (in the old town, very central).
- € Quartier Bilbao Hostel (in the old town).
And now, let’s take a look at the detailed itinerary for a day in Bilbao. See below!
This is what your day in Bilbao could look like:
Old Town & Mercado de La Ribera
EARLY MORNING
Start your day in Bilbao with a short walk through its old town, Casco Viejo. We indicated Bilbao Cathedral on the map – it’s pretty much in the center of the old town. But don’t worry if you are not an early riser and don’t have much time to explore here in the morning; this itinerary ends in the old town, so you can explore deeper in the evening as well (it will be much livelier too).
Bilbao’s old town is such a charming part of the city! Its architecture looks somewhat like a mix of Barcelona and Seville, and its narrow streets lined with tall buildings reminded us of Naples in Italy…
You will find lots of bakeries and little cafes here, so there are plenty of nice spots for breakfast.
TIP: Don’t miss Mercado de La Ribera, a covered market by the Nervión River. There has been a market in this area since the 14th century, but the current building dates from 1929. It has several floors and houses a food market on one side and a food court on the other.
Good to know: La Ribera Market is open daily from 8 AM (Sundays from 11 AM), so it could also be a good spot for breakfast. But it’s worth a quick stop either way.
Bilbao City Highlights Bike Tour
10 AM – NOON.
Since we only had a day in Bilbao and wanted to get a good idea of what the city is like in a short time, we decided to book a bike tour with a local guide. We love bike tours! It’s such a great way to get a quick introduction to a new city.
Our guide took us past many of Bilbao’s must-see spots, starting at the Guggenheim Museum and the famous Puppy sculpture, biking next to the river and past the Shipyard Museum, several parks, and on to the old town and the main landmarks there, etc.
She also shared some history about Bilbao’s incredible transformation from a grey, industrial town to the lively vibrant city it is today. The tour had a good mix of sights, plenty of stops to take photos, and just enough information to keep everyone interested without overwhelming anyone with too much information.
There are several bike tours to choose from in Bilbao. They offer similar itineraries and most have excellent reviews. We chose this highly-rated city highlights tour, mainly because of its starting/ending location and the timing which was the most convenient when planning our Bilbao day trip.
Good to know: Bilbao is very bike-friendly! For the biggest part of our tour, we followed amazing bike paths close to the river, but the tour also involved some biking (on bike paths) on the streets.
The route we did was mainly flat so e-bikes were not necessary (although there is a possibility to upgrade to them if you prefer to). We did this tour with our teenagers (ages 13-15) and they truly enjoyed it as well.
TIP: We always recommend doing any sightseeing tours at the start of your visit. It gives you a better idea of where everything is located, avoids backtracking, and you can get some additional tips from local guides for places to visit, or where to eat, etc. That’s why we opted for the earliest bike tour we could find.
However, if your schedule is somewhat different and you want to make the most of your visit, you can also find bike tours that start around noon or at 3-4 PM. Check here for an overview of bike tours in Bilbao).
Lunch
12 – 12.30 PM.
With just a day in Bilbao and an amazing food tour planned at the end of the day, we recommend not wasting too much time for lunch. That said, food is really a big part of any visit to Bilbao, so even a quick lunch can be amazing.
We stumbled upon a little sandwich café “Prest” right next to where our bike tour ended and had a fabulous lunch. In fact, their sandwiches were so good that I would even go out of my way to have lunch here!
Good to know: Most locals have lunch in the late afternoon, so many restaurants don’t even open before 1-1.30 PM. The good thing is that the places that are open around noon are usually not too busy yet. So you shouldn’t have difficulties finding a table or having a quick lunch without a long wait.
San Mamés Museum & Stadium… OR
1 – 2.15 PM.
Home to the Athletic Club, San Mamés Football Stadium is one of the must-sees in Bilbao. When our oldest son heard that we would be visiting Bilbao for a day, his one wish was to see this stadium. I’m not a football fan, but Athletic is a unique club and one of the most famous in Spain, so I was intrigued as well.
Their philosophy is that they only hire local, Basque players, so Athletic Club is so much more than a football club. Locals told us that San Mamés Stadium is their ‘Cathedral’, and the city stands behind their club like nowhere else in the world.
When Athletic Bilbao wins a big championship, hundreds of thousands of people line the river shores to cheer the team as they travel through the city by boat. We saw video footage of a recent trophy parade in Bilbao when over a million people gathered to cheer the team. It’s very impressive!
Anyway, if you want to visit, the stadium is located about 15-20 minutes walk from where the bike tour ends. It’s a pleasant walk through Doña Casilda Iturrizar Park. We also passed here by bike in the morning, but this time, we had more time to take pictures.
We booked tickets for the San Mamés Museum and Stadium Tour. But a guided tour was starting just as we arrived, so we paid the price difference and joined the tour. We had a great visit, but we found it not worth going with a guide. We visited all the same places that you can see on a self-guided visit and our tour took forever since the guide was explaining everything three times in three different languages. So I recommend simply getting the tickets and going on your own. One hour should be more than plenty for a visit.
The stadium itself is absolutely impressive. In addition, you get to see the changing rooms and visit the VIP area. At the museum, you can learn more about the club’s history, see the trophies, etc.
OR… Sightseeing Boat Tour
1 – 2 PM.
Alternative: If you are not a football fan and are not interested in visiting San Mamés Stadium and Museum, you could opt for this sightseeing boat tour instead.
There is a 1-hour tour starting at 1 PM, so it could fit this itinerary quite well.
Otherwise, you can also visit the Guggenheim Museum right after lunch and do a boat tour later.
Guggenheim Bilbao Museum
2.30 – 3.30 PM.
Next, it’s time to visit the most famous landmark of Bilbao, the Guggenheim Museum.
Opened in 1997, this unique museum is one of the most groundbreaking examples of 20th-century architecture. It’s also incredible to see how a museum can have so much impact on the entire city. Guggenheim Museum was the main motor in Bilbao’s transformation from its industrial past to a culture- and tourism-driven economy.
In all honesty, Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum is much more impressive from the outside than it is on the inside. And many people will tell you that visiting it is not an absolute must. However, it is one of the best modern art museums in the world, and the most famous landmark in the city. So we decided that no trip to Bilbao – even if just for a day – would be complete without a short visit to the Guggenheim Museum.
The museum has three floors, but there is a lot of open space and the exhibition areas are rather small. We saw the main collection and all the temporary exhibits in an hour. If you are an art lover, you may spend a bit more time, but otherwise, an hour is plenty.
As for the exhibits, as they say, art is in the eye of the beholder. I liked it and I’m glad we went. Our teenagers frowned, shook their heads, and shrugged their shoulders, but they were also interested and intrigued. So I’m sure they won’t quickly forget it, and that in itself makes the Guggenheim Museum totally worth it for me.
Good to know: Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is open daily except on Mondays. You can book tickets online in advance, but it’s not an absolute must. If there is a queue at the entrance, you can just buy tickets online at that moment as well.
We booked our tickets on our smartphones while walking from the stadium toward the museum, but it wasn’t even necessary – there was no wait at all. For practical information, see the official website of the museum.
TIP: If you want to learn more about the museum and the art inside, you may want to consider booking a guided tour. This popular guided tour takes 2 hours and has several starting times every day, so you could easily fit it into your Bilbao day trip itinerary (potentially skipping a visit to the football stadium).
Sightseeing & Shopping
3.30 – 5.30 PM.
After all the biking and slow walking through museums, it’s time to take a break and enjoy some free time in Bilbao.
You could do some more sightseeing and check out some beautiful architectural gems in the city center, do some shopping, or simply get a drink and do some people-watching.
Either way, don’t miss the Gran Vía (Gran Vía Don Diego López de Haro), the main shopping street of Bilbao. Here, you will see impressive buildings of various banks, the beautiful square Plaza de Federico Moyúa with the Chávarri Palace, El Corte Inglés department store, and Biscay Council Hall (which can be visited inside).
If you feel like walking around a bit more, check out the architecture of the Azkuna Zentroa. It’s located inside a former wine warehouse that has been transformed into a modern multi-purpose events venue.
Basque Food Tour
5.30 – 8.30 PM.
No visit to Bilbao would be complete without enjoying the exceptional Basque cuisine and its most famous bite-sized dishes, pintxos. They are typically served on a slice of bread topped with various ingredients, such as cured meats, cheeses, vegetables, seafood, etc.
Since there is so much variety and thousands of places serving pintxos all over Bilbao, there is really no better way to experience this unique tradition than by taking a food tour with a local guide who knows all the best spots!
There are many food tours to choose from in Bilbao and frankly, they all look great. We looked and compared, and in the end, settled on this highly-rated Basque food tour. We chose this tour because it visits several neighborhoods and various local establishments and includes enough food and drinks for a full dinner. Another deciding factor was its convenient starting location on the main shopping street which suits this itinerary really well.
We couldn’t have found a better way to end our day in Bilbao than this food tour! We had such a great guide and a wonderful small group of food- and travel-lovers from all over the world. The food was delicious, the drink pairings were great, and the guide did his best to accommodate everyone’s dietary (and our kids’ picky) preferences.
We ate our way through the city, visiting various neighborhoods in central Bilbao, including the old town. But what made it even more special were the people! We have been on many food tours all over the world and I can’t remember ever having such a nice group. It was truly like spending an evening with friends! When the guide left us at the last restaurant at the end of the tour, everyone stayed for quite a while longer.
By the way, our group had people from all over the world and of all ages. There were two families (ours with three teenagers and a Canadian family with two younger children), there was also a couple from Poland and a young woman from the UK, and everyone truly enjoyed it. So whether you are visiting Bilbao on your own, as a couple, with a group of friends, or with a family, don’t hesitate to book a food tour – it’s a great experience.
I can’t imagine a better way to end a day in Bilbao than with a food tour! Just going to a restaurant and getting a few pintxos can’t compare to this in any way!
Artxanda Viewpoint and/or Guggenheim in the Dark
LATE EVENING.
Depending on how much energy you have, but also on the time of the year when you are visiting (and when the sun goes down), you can call it a day after the food tour, or do some more sightseeing.
There are several options to consider:
One, you could stay in the old town and explore it deeper. Two, take a funicular to the Artxanda viewpoint and enjoy (sunset) views of Bilbao.
The third option is the one we chose was to walk back to the Guggenheim Museum to see it in the dark. The building is really impressive and it’s nicely lit at night.
If you haven’t had the chance to see it during the day, you can see the Maman Sculpture, the giant spider at the back of the museum, by the river. Also, don’t miss the Fog Sculpture (F.O.G.). This one is not really a sculpture, but an art installation that creates smoke/fog at the back of the museum for a few minutes on the hour, every hour.
We also heard that you can see another art installation called the Fire Fountain after it gets dark (and sometimes during the day too). But there is no reliable information about the timing of this anywhere online. We waited for it between 9.50 – 10.30 PM (together with quite a few other people), the fog started at 10 PM, but there was no fire show to be seen. Some people we met on the bike tour told us they saw it around 9 PM the evening before and our guide said it’s normally on every evening. So maybe you’ll get luckier than we were.
Instead, we also got the ‘light show’ on the nearby bridge. It’s not much of a show, just the lights start to flicker on the hour, every hour after dark. Either way, it was nice to just sit down and enjoy the views of the city in the dark. By now, we were exhausted and took a taxi to get back to our hotel.
So, this is what our day in Bilbao looked like. I have to add that it was quite packed but we never felt really rushed. However, we did feel our legs the next morning…
But we also left with the feeling that we truly experienced the very best of Bilbao in the limited time that we had on our 2-day trip to the Basque Country.
I hope that our experience and tips help you plan a fun and memorable day as well. Have a great trip to the Basque Country!
READ ALSO: How to Visit Gaztelugatxe (a must-see near Bilbao!) and Visitors Guide to Getaria (a true hidden gem on the coast!)
More travel inspiration & tips for Spain:
- Spain Bucket List
- Barcelona:
- Madrid:
- Seville:
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