142 verified spots: MICHELIN Spain 2026, Guía Repsol and the Basque press · no Eater coverage
Tap a route and it gets drawn on the map, stop by stop.
Tap a pin to see photos, rating and how to get there by metro, tram or on foot. Turn on a route to follow the numbered path.
This interactive map of Bilbao (Spain) brings together 142 hand-picked places: 48 attractions, 48 restaurants, 22 cafés and 24 shops. It also includes 5 walking routes with their stops in order. For every place you get what it is, a practical tip and how to get there by public transport. It is free, works on your phone and needs no sign-up.
· Curated by the HOLASIM team · How we make the maps
Tap a route to see it drawn on the map, stop by stop.
3.5 km along the new riverfront · 3 h with the museum · flat, with the tram alongside · 7 stops
1.8 km of medieval old town · 3 h with stops · one pintxo and one small beer per bar · 7 stops
2.6 km of Gran Vía and Indautxu · 3 h · ends on foot at San Mamés · 7 stops
Funicular and slopes · half a day · the city's two best views · 7 stops
Metro L1 and L2 to the river mouth · a full day · Portugalete and Getxo, outside Bilbao · 7 stops
Bilboko Guggenheim Museoa · Abandoibarra
Gehry's titanium wave: the 1997 building that turned a fading industrial port into a world destination.
Tip: Closed Mondays except July and August. Book online: the 11am ticket queue runs 30-40 minutes.
🚇 Tram T1 Guggenheim · metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: Guggenheim Bilbao · prensa vasca
Show on mapPuppy · Abandoibarra
A twelve-metre terrier clad in living flowers guarding the museum door, replanted every season.
Tip: No ticket needed, it stands on the open forecourt. The autumn replanting turns it ochre and burgundy.
🚇 Tram T1 Guggenheim
Featured in: Guggenheim Bilbao
Show on mapMaman · Abandoibarra
The nine-metre bronze spider with her marble egg sac, straddling the riverside as a hymn to motherhood.
Tip: Put the camera between her legs and shoot upward: the La Salve bridge fits right in the gap.
🚇 Tram T1 Guggenheim
Featured in: Guggenheim Bilbao
Show on mapTulips · Abandoibarra
A bouquet of seven mirror-steel balloons by the water, where the museum reflects back warped.
Tip: They sit on the lower terrace by the pond, outside the paid circuit: visible with no ticket.
🚇 Tram T1 Guggenheim
Featured in: Guggenheim Bilbao
Show on mapBilboko Arte Eder Museoa · Abando
Reopened on 6 October 2026 after nearly four years shut: Norman Foster's extension adds 6,000 m².
Tip: Since 14 October it charges €12 (€6 reduced), but on Tuesdays 10am-6pm the collection is free.
🚇 Tram T1 Abandoibarra · metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao · Deia · Orain.eus
Show on mapAzkuna Zentroa (Alhóndiga) · Indautxu
A 1909 wine warehouse hollowed out by Philippe Starck: 43 columns, every one different, hold it up.
Tip: It was La Alhóndiga until 2015. The column atrium is free to walk through; the glass-bottomed pool shows from below.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Indautxu
Featured in: Azkuna Zentroa · Turismo Euskadi
Show on mapArriaga Antzokia · Casco Viejo
The 1890 neo-baroque pile facing the Arenal, named for the Bilbao composer who died at nineteen.
Tip: Guided tours of the stage and boxes run on non-performance days; book on the theatre website.
🚇 Tram T1 Arriaga · metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Teatro Arriaga · Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapBegoñako Basilika · Begoña
Bizkaia's patron, the Amatxu, up on the hill: 16th-century Gothic with a baroque tower bolted on later.
Tip: The old Begoña lift has been dead since 2014: ride the metro lifts at Casco Viejo or climb the Mallona steps, over 300 of them.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo, then lift
Featured in: Barceló Guía · Hispanopedia
Show on mapDone Jakue Katedrala · Casco Viejo
The oldest Gothic church in town and a historic waypoint on the coastal Camino de Santiago.
Tip: The tourist ticket is separate from worship; if you come only to pray or for Mass, entry is free.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapEuskal Museoa · Casco Viejo
The museum of Basque culture reopened renovated in June 2026 with 5,000 m² more exhibition space.
Tip: Thursday is its Museum Day and entry is free; the cloister holds the Mikeldi, an Iron Age stone idol.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Euskal Museoa · Bizkaia.eus
Show on mapItsasmuseum · Abandoibarra
The maritime museum in the dry docks of the old Euskalduna shipyard, with cranes and boats outdoors.
Tip: Sundays from 5pm entry is free at the desk; the last Sunday of the month it hosts a design market.
🚇 Tram T1 Euskalduna
Featured in: Itsasmuseum · Euskaltel blog
Show on mapArtxandako Funikularra · Castaños, Uribarri
Three minutes and 770 m of rack railway from the river to Bilbao's natural balcony, running since 1915.
Tip: €3.50 one way, €6 return, cheaper with a Barik card. Watch out: a general strike hits the Basque Country on 11 November.
🚇 Metro L3 Matiko · Funicular square
Featured in: Funicular de Artxanda · Euskaltel blog
Show on mapArtxandako Begiratokia · Artxanda (Matiko-Ciudad Jardín)
From up here the whole city reads at once: the river snaking, the Guggenheim glinting, mountains closing the valley.
Tip: Come 40 minutes before sunset: in October the sun drops around 7:30pm and the lookout bench fills fast.
🚇 Artxanda funicular to Artxanda
Featured in: Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapLa Huella · Artxanda (Matiko-Ciudad Jardín)
A concrete hand opened to the valley, memorial to the militiamen who fell on the Iron Belt.
Tip: Five minutes on foot from the funicular exit, past the Encuentro park; open at any hour.
🚇 Artxanda funicular to Artxanda
Featured in: Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapBizkaia Zubia · Portugalete-Getxo
The world's oldest working transporter bridge, 1893, a World Heritage Site and still daily transport.
Tip: Two doors: the gondola crosses for small change and takes the Barik card; the high walkway costs €8 (€10 with audio guide, €6 reduced).
🚇 Metro L2 Areeta (Getxo side) · metro L2 Portugalete
Featured in: Puente Bizkaia · Turismo Vasco · CTB
Show on mapZubizuri · Castaños-Campo Volantín
The white tilted-arch bridge with a glass deck, the river's most photographed after the transporter.
Tip: The glass gets slippery in rain and locals know it: walk the non-slip strip down the middle.
🚇 Tram T1 Uribitarte
Featured in: Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapSalbeko Zubia · Castaños-Uribarri
The 1970s bridge Daniel Buren dressed in red arches and that the Guggenheim dared to run straight through.
Tip: The best shot is not from the bridge but from the quay below, with Maman in the foreground.
🚇 Tram T1 Guggenheim
Featured in: Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapPedro Arrupe Zubia · Abandoibarra-Deusto
A timber-and-steel footbridge linking Deusto university with the museum park across the river.
Tip: It is the shortest way from Deusto to the Guggenheim: seven flat minutes on foot.
🚇 Tram T1 Abandoibarra
Featured in: Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapEuskalduna Jauregia · Abandoibarra
A concert hall shaped like a ship under construction, raised on the last shipyard the river ever closed.
Tip: Home of the Bilbao Symphony and the ABAO opera season: check the listings, late tickets turn up.
🚇 Tram T1 Euskalduna
Featured in: Euskalduna Bilbao
Show on mapSan Mames · Basurto
Athletic's home since 2013, its louvred skin lighting up red and white on every match night.
Tip: 'The Cathedral' was the old ground, demolished in 2013; this one is new and carries no sponsor name. The guided tour starts at €10.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 San Mamés · tram T1 San Mamés
Featured in: Athletic Club · Wikipedia
Show on mapAthletic Club Museoa · Basurto
The story of the only club in Europe that still fields players raised on its own soil alone.
Tip: March to October it opens Tuesday to Sunday 10am-8pm; November to February it closes an hour earlier and on Mondays.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 San Mamés
Featured in: Athletic Club
Show on mapPlaza Barria · Casco Viejo
An 1851 neoclassical arcaded square: a continuous colonnade, the old town's best pintxos and a Sunday flea market.
Tip: The second-hand books, records, coins and minerals market runs Sundays 10am-2pm under the arcades: rain or shine.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Guía Bilbao · Salir.com
Show on mapBilboko Udaletxea · Castaños, Uribarri
An 1892 eclectic palace on the riverbank, hiding an Arab hall of gilded stucco few expect.
Tip: The Arab Hall can be seen on a free guided visit; you have to book ahead with the council.
🚇 Metro L3 Uribarri · tram T1 Arriaga
Featured in: Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapDoña Casilda Iturrizar Parkea · Abando
The Ensanche's romantic garden, with a pergola, a duck pond and a dancing cybernetic fountain.
Tip: In October the plane trees and sweetgums turn red: the best autumn walk downtown.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 San Mamés · tram T1 Sabino Arana
Featured in: Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapEtxebarria Parkea · Casco Viejo-Begoña
A flattened steelworks turned park above the old town: only the chimney was left standing.
Tip: The nearest free lookout to the old town: climb the Mallona steps from Plaza Unamuno.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo, then a climb
Featured in: Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapMallonako Hilerri Zaharra · Casco Viejo-Begoña
A 19th-century burial ground turned terraced garden, with headstones still set in the walls.
Tip: Halfway up the climb to Begoña: a compulsory stop to catch your breath over the old town roofs.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo, then the Mallona steps
Featured in: Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapSan Anton Eliza · Casco Viejo
Gothic, with a Renaissance doorway and baroque tower: the building that presides over the city's coat of arms.
Tip: Bilbao's crest shows this church and the bridge beside it: compare them standing on the far bank.
🚇 Tram T1 Ribera
Featured in: Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapSan Nikolas Eliza · Casco Viejo
A 1756 baroque octagon facing the Arenal, with Juan de Mena altarpieces and a historic organ.
Tip: The door through which the old town opens onto the Arenal: free entry and dry shelter if it pours.
🚇 Tram T1 Arriaga
Featured in: Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapBidebarrieta Liburutegia · Casco Viejo
An 1890 reading room with an iron gallery and stained glass: the prettiest interior in the old town.
Tip: Go up to the first floor and look up: the stained glass and iron stair are worth the detour, and cost nothing.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapKafe Antzokia · Abando
A 1920s cinema turned into the live venue that keeps the Basque-language music scene alive.
Tip: By day it is a café with a cheap canteen; gigs start late and a dance session follows.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Abando · tram T1 Abando
Featured in: Kafe Antzokia
Show on mapCampos Eliseos Antzokia · Abando
The 1902 art nouveau jewel box, its moulded plaster façade without equal anywhere in the city.
Tip: Even without a show, come by at night: the lit façade is one of Bilbao's least-repeated photographs.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: Teatro Campos Elíseos
Show on mapKarola Garabia · Abandoibarra
The last crane of the Euskalduna shipyards, thirty metres of iron left standing as a working-river monument.
Tip: It is called Carola after a good-looking neighbour the workers watched from up top; it stands by the Itsasmuseum.
🚇 Tram T1 Euskalduna
Featured in: Itsasmuseum
Show on mapElizbarrutiko Arte Sakratuko Museoa · Atxuri
Silverwork, carvings and vestments in a 17th-century convent with one of Bilbao's most serene cloisters.
Tip: Tuesdays are free all day; the cloister earns the visit even if sacred art is not your thing.
🚇 Tram T1 Atxuri
Featured in: Euskaltel blog
Show on mapBizkaiko Arkeologia Museoa · Casco Viejo
A hundred thousand years of Bizkaia under a tower house, from Santimamiñe's Palaeolithic to medieval ironworkers.
Tip: Cheap and almost always empty: the best old-town plan when the drizzle sets in.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Bizkaia.eus
Show on mapArte Erreprodukzioen Museoa · Bilbao La Vieja
Plaster casts of the Venus de Milo, Laocoön and Moses, inside a deconsecrated church in Bilbao la Vieja.
Tip: One of the cheapest museums in town and done in 40 minutes: a perfect pause between pintxos.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapZorrotzaurre · Zorrotzaurre, Deusto
The industrial peninsula that became a real island in 2018: today it mixes squatted sheds, art and new towers.
Tip: The western half is still fenced building site; the interest is on Ribera de Deusto, where ZAWP and Pabellón 6 opened.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Sarriko, then on foot over the Frank Gehry bridge
Featured in: Zorrotzaurre · Time Out Bilbao
Show on mapZAWP · Zorrotzaurre (Ribera de Deusto)
Industrial Bilbao's sheds taken over by artists, with workshops, gigs and murals on every wall.
Tip: Check the programme before going: outside event days the place can be shut tight.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Sarriko
Featured in: ZAWP
Show on mapDeustuko Unibertsitatea · Deusto (San Pedro)
The 1886 Jesuit building across the river, with Rafael Moneo's library raised beside it in 2009.
Tip: Cross on the Pedro Arrupe footbridge and look back: 1886 stone and Moneo's lantern in one frame.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Deustu
Featured in: Universidad de Deusto
Show on mapEuskararen Etxea · San Ignazio
The house of Basque: an interactive museum about the oldest living language in western Europe.
Tip: Ask for the Spanish or English tour on arrival: the panels are built for Basque speakers.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 San Ignazio
Featured in: Euskararen Etxea
Show on mapPortu Zaharra · Algorta, Getxo
Whitewashed fishermen's cottages clinging to the cliff, with terraces facing the Abra and open sea.
Tip: It is in Getxo, not Bilbao: 25 minutes by metro from the centre. The lanes are steep and wet-stoned.
🚇 Metro L1 Algorta, a 10-minute walk downhill
Featured in: Getxo Turismo
Show on mapEreagako hondartza · Getxo
Getxo's town beach, with a promenade, indiano mansions behind and the marina at one end.
Tip: Bilbao has no beach: the closest is this one, 25 minutes by metro. In October the water sits near 18 °C and it is a walking beach.
🚇 Metro L1 Neguri or Algorta
Featured in: Getxo Turismo
Show on mapArrigunagako hondartza · Getxo
An open stretch of sand under the La Galea cliff, the surfing beach Bilbao claims as its own.
Tip: October brings the first autumn swells and the sea means business: check the flag before going in.
🚇 Metro L1 Bidezabal
Featured in: Getxo Turismo
Show on mapPunta Begoñako Galeriak · Getxo
A 1918 concrete balcony over Ereaga, built by a millionaire mine owner and reopened as a guided visit.
Tip: No walk-ins: visits are booked online and sell out on fine weekends.
🚇 Metro L1 Neguri
Featured in: Getxo Turismo
Show on mapAixerrota errota · La Galea, Getxo
An 18th-century windmill on the cliff edge, built when a drought stopped the watermills.
Tip: It is the start of the La Galea cliff walk toward the old fort: an hour of wind and open sea.
🚇 Metro L1 Bidezabal, then the cliff path
Featured in: Getxo Turismo
Show on mapSalazar dorretxea · Portugalete
A 15th-century tower house in old Portugalete, a witness to the clan wars that tore Bizkaia apart.
Tip: It is in Portugalete, not Bilbao. Ride the escalators up from the quay: the old town is all slope.
🚇 Metro L2 Portugalete
Featured in: Portugalete Turismo
Show on mapDon Diego Lopez Haroren monumentua · Plaza Circular, Abando
The lord of Bizkaia who founded the town in 1300, standing in bronze in the middle of Plaza Circular.
Tip: It is the Ensanche's zero point: Gran Vía starts here and so does any shopping walk.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Abando
Featured in: Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapAreatzako kioskoa · Arenal, Casco Viejo
A 1923 art nouveau bandstand where the municipal band still plays on Sunday mornings.
Tip: The Sunday morning flower market sets up beside it, 10am-2pm: free to wander.
🚇 Tram T1 Arriaga
Featured in: Guía Bilbao
Show on mapAbando Indalecio Prieto geltokia · Abando
The 1948 Renfe station hides a 300 m² stained-glass window holding all of Bizkaia's iconography.
Tip: The window is visible from the concourse with no ticket. A general strike hits the Basque Country on 11 November: expect minimum service on train, metro and tram.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Abando · tram T1 Abando
Featured in: Adif · Bilbao Turismo
Show on mapNerua · Abandoibarra
Josean Alija's kitchen inside the museum: minimal plates of vegetables and Basque coastal fish.
Tip: It has its own street door: no museum ticket needed. Book three or four weeks ahead.
🚇 Tram T1 Guggenheim
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026 · Guía Repsol
Show on mapZarate · Indautxu
Obsessive grilled fish: turbot, kokotxas and the best pieces off the dock at Lekeitio, nearby.
Tip: Order the whole fish to share and let them pick by what landed that morning.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Indautxu
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026 · Guía Repsol
Show on mapMina · Ercilla, Indautxu
A tasting menu at the open counter, in the house that left the Marzana quay for the Ensanche.
Tip: Beware old guides: Mina is no longer on the Marzana quay, MICHELIN places it at Ercilla 37. Long menu only.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Indautxu
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026 · Guía Repsol
Show on mapIslares · Abando
Seasonal produce and a delicate grill in the house that earned its first star in the 2026 edition.
Tip: Bilbao's newest star and still bookable a week out: autumn brings the wild mushrooms onto the menu.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026
Show on mapOla Martín Berasategui · Erribera kalea, Casco Viejo
The Bilbao house of Spain's most-starred chef, in the Tayko hotel looking out over the river.
Tip: The weekday lunch menu is the cheapest way to eat Berasategui cooking in Bilbao.
🚇 Tram T1 Arriaga
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026 · Guía Repsol
Show on mapAL Margen · Muelle Marzana, Bilbao La Vieja
Sharp market cooking at a sane price on the Marzana quay, with the tables right beside the water.
Tip: One of Bilbao's two Bib Gourmands: red-guide cooking without red-guide prices.
🚇 Tram T1 Ribera
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026 Bib Gourmand
Show on mapKimtxu · Abando
Basque-Asian fusion built on local produce, the place that best marries wok and fish market in Bilbao.
Tip: The city's second Bib Gourmand: a tight lunch menu and a short card built for sharing.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026 Bib Gourmand
Show on mapLos Fueros · Casco Viejo
An 1878 tavern reinvented: old tiles, a short bar and a card of classics brought up to date.
Tip: The oldest tavern still open in the old town; four tables only, so book or eat standing at the bar.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026
Show on mapLasai · Abando
Contemporary chef's cooking in a tiny old-town room, built entirely on short-season produce.
Tip: Lasai means calm in Basque and the room keeps its word: few tables, unhurried service.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026
Show on mapYandiola · Azkuna Zentroa, Indautxu
Contemporary Basque cooking on the top floor of Azkuna Zentroa, with a covered rooftop terrace.
Tip: Ask for the terrace even in rain: it is covered and one of the few high views in the Ensanche.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Indautxu
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026 · Guía Repsol
Show on mapLa Despensa del Etxanobe · Abando
Fernando Canales's classic card: cod, spider crab and the cheesecake half of Bilbao copies.
Tip: It shares the building with the Atelier tasting room: the Despensa is the à la carte side, and cheaper.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026 · Guía Repsol
Show on mapLas Lías · Abando
A wine house with a small kitchen and fine produce, one of the city's best txakoli lists.
Tip: Ask for a txakoli from Bizkaiko Txakolina, the province's own appellation, and let them pour it from height.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026
Show on mapOdoloste · Abando
Offal and humble produce handled with fine-dining technique, one of the most talked-about openings.
Tip: Odoloste means blood sausage in Basque: if you arrive with prejudices, start there and let them win.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026
Show on mapTxirene · Indautxu
Basque spoon stews and grill work right on Calle Pozas, the bar-lined spine of the Ensanche.
Tip: In autumn it chalks up seasonal ceps and wild mushrooms: ask what came in that morning.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Indautxu
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026
Show on mapZortziko · Abando
Basque classicism with long tablecloths and Daniel García's cooking in an Ensanche townhouse.
Tip: One of the few Bilbao rooms where dressing up pays; the lunch menu brings the price right down.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: Guía Repsol
Show on mapPorrue · Abandoibarra
Seasonal vegetables and grill beside the Guggenheim, with their own garden behind most of the card.
Tip: The best sit-down meal two minutes from the museum without museum prices; in October, order the mushrooms.
🚇 Tram T1 Guggenheim
Featured in: Guía Repsol
Show on mapAizian · Hotel Meliá, Abandoibarra
Produce-driven Basque cooking in a calm room, one of the best-regarded hotel dining rooms in town.
Tip: It sits inside the Meliá but runs independently and is open to all; five minutes from the Euskalduna.
🚇 Tram T1 Euskalduna
Featured in: Guía Repsol
Show on mapThe Artist · Abandoibarra
Bilbao's only MICHELIN Key hotel, its restaurant and rooftop both open to non-guests.
Tip: The rooftop looks straight at the Guggenheim and you need not be a guest: just order at the bar.
🚇 Tram T1 Guggenheim
Featured in: MICHELIN Keys 2026
Show on mapGure Toki · Plaza Nueva, Casco Viejo
Chef-driven pintxos under the Plaza Nueva arcades, repeat champions of Basque competitions.
Tip: Pintxos run €2.50 to €4.50. You order, eat and pay at the end: the barman keeps the tab in his head.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Time Out Bilbao · prensa vasca
Show on mapSorginzulo · Plaza Nueva, Casco Viejo
A tiny bar under the Plaza Nueva arcades whose ham and cod croquettes are gospel in the old town.
Tip: Sorginzulo means witches' corner. Barely anyone fits: eat standing under the arches and move on.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Time Out Bilbao
Show on mapVíctor Montes · Plaza Nueva, Casco Viejo
A marble bar, a bottle wall from another century and a cheese and ham selection worth the trip alone.
Tip: The terrace under the arcades works in drizzle: one of the few places to eat outdoors and stay dry.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Time Out Bilbao
Show on mapVíctor · Plaza Nueva, Casco Viejo
A family dining room since 1940 on the first floor of Plaza Nueva: old-school cod pil-pil.
Tip: Cod pil-pil is bound with oil, garlic and the fish's own gelatine: no flour involved.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapBaster · Casco Viejo
Modern pintxos and a young bar on Calle Correo, with ferments and grill work in miniature.
Tip: The bar is short and packs out at 8:30pm: arrive before eight if you want somewhere to set your plate.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapXukela · Casco Viejo
A narrow red bar whose confit cockscomb is the signature pintxo, walls crammed with paintings.
Tip: If the cockscomb scares you, order the cheese board: one of the best-chosen in the old town.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Time Out Bilbao
Show on mapGatz · Santa María, Casco Viejo
An award-winning counter from the Basque pintxo championships, on the old town's party street.
Tip: Calle Santa María packs half a dozen good counters: walk it end to end, one pintxo per bar.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapIrrintzi · Santa María, Casco Viejo
A colourful, inventive counter where the prawn skewer is flambéed in front of you.
Tip: It has a picture menu of hot pintxos: useful if you cannot yet order at the bar like a local.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Time Out Bilbao
Show on mapBerton · Jardines, Casco Viejo
Hand-carved Iberian ham and top produce on Calle Jardines, served at tall wooden standing tables.
Tip: It has two sites facing each other on the same street: Sasibil does griddled shellfish and kokotxas.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Time Out Bilbao
Show on mapBerton Sasibil · Jardines, Casco Viejo
Griddle and kokotxas in green sauce, the seasonal pintxo that defines autumn in the old town.
Tip: A kokotxa is the throat of hake or cod: gelatinous, in green sauce, and a cold-season dish.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Time Out Bilbao
Show on mapMotrikes · Casco Viejo
The griddled mushrooms with a secret sauce that half the city tries to copy at home.
Tip: Ordered in threes or sixes, eaten on a toothpick with bread dipped in the juices: do not skip that step.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Time Out Bilbao
Show on mapBodega Joserra · Artekale, Casco Viejo
A neighbourhood wine bar serving the medio de bonito, a minimal sandwich that is local history.
Tip: Order it with a txikito of red, the house's small glass: that is how the neighbourhood has always eaten it.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Time Out Bilbao
Show on mapTaberna Basaras · Pelota, Casco Viejo
House-cured anchovies on bread, a minimal counter that only does three or four things well.
Tip: Spring Cantabrian anchovy is cured all year: order it with butter, not tomato.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Time Out Bilbao
Show on mapBacaicoa · Plaza Unamuno, Casco Viejo
The txori al infierno, a grilled chorizo that arrives still smoking, on Plaza Unamuno.
Tip: It sits at the foot of the Mallona steps: the last stop before facing the climb to Begoña.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Time Out Bilbao
Show on mapRio-Oja · Perro, Casco Viejo
Little stew casseroles at the bar since 1959: tripe, snails, Biscay-style cod and pig's ear.
Tip: This is where to try bacalao a la vizcaína, the red choricero-pepper sauce, not the pil-pil.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapCafé Bar Bilbao · Plaza Nueva, Casco Viejo
1911 tilework on Plaza Nueva and a runny potato tortilla that sells out well before noon.
Tip: A tortilla slice runs about €2.50. Here 'jugosa' means runny inside: if you want it set, say so.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Time Out Bilbao
Show on mapLa Viña del Ensanche · Diputación, Abando
Iberian ham hanging from the ceiling since 1927 and the foie-topped sirloin that the Ensanche most copies.
Tip: The foie sirloin is about €4.50. Closed Sundays and rammed Monday to Saturday at 2pm sharp.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: Time Out Bilbao
Show on mapEl Globo · Diputación, Abando
The gilda and the gratinated spider crab at Calle Diputación's benchmark pintxo counter.
Tip: A gilda is olive, anchovy and pickled pepper on a stick, eaten in one go: two bites break it.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: Time Out Bilbao
Show on mapLedesma Nº5 · Ledesma, Abando
A wide counter and charcoal cooking on Calle Ledesma, the Ensanche's busiest pintxo street.
Tip: Calle Ledesma is pedestrian and fills with terraces on Thursdays: the after-work bar crawl.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Abando
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapNashville · Licenciado Poza, Indautxu
The potato tortilla many locals defend as the best in the city, served with nothing added.
Tip: A fresh tortilla comes out every ninety minutes: ask when the next one is due and wait for it.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Indautxu
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapSingular · Lersundi, Abando
Cured beef, cod toast and tuna belly at a discreet counter on Calle Lersundi, with a serious wine list.
Tip: They pour an unusually good by-the-glass list: a fine spot to try txakoli from all three appellations.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapAsador Guetaria · Colón de Larreátegui, Abando
Classic Basque grill: aged beef chop, whole sea bream and piquillo peppers over charcoal.
Tip: The chop is ordered by weight and shared between two or three: it comes rare by default and that is how it is eaten.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapBascook · Abando
Aitor Elizegi's house in a converted warehouse: Basque cooking with an Asian wink and plenty of vegetables.
Tip: The weekday lunch menu is one of the best value plates downtown.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Abando
Featured in: Guía Repsol
Show on mapCasa Rufo · Hurtado de Amézaga, Abando
A grocery with tables at the back among shelves of tinned goods: you order the chop and you wait.
Tip: No visible menu and no loud sign: walk in through the shop and ask for a table at the back. Book ahead.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Abando
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapEl Puertito · Abando
An oyster bar and nothing else: half a dozen origins on ice, every one shucked to order at the counter.
Tip: October opens the good oyster season: order the three-origin tasting to compare.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: Time Out Bilbao
Show on mapLa Muga · María Muñoz, Casco Viejo
A pintxo bar with a solid vegetarian and vegan list, a useful rarity in the old town.
Tip: In a city of cod and beef chop, a vegetarian eats well here without asking favours: daily chalkboard.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapEl Laterío · Bilbao La Vieja
Tins opened to order and smoked sardines with salmorejo in the city's most alternative quarter.
Tip: Good tinned fish is not emergency food up north: it is expensive produce served with ceremony.
🚇 Tram T1 Ribera
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapErriberako Merkatua gastro-plaza · Casco Viejo
The market's pintxo floor: twenty stalls under the art deco glass, the river right outside.
Tip: The best rainy-day plan in the old town: eat standing, drink txakoli and never step outside.
🚇 Tram T1 Ribera
Featured in: Mercado de la Ribera
Show on mapSan Mamés Jatetxea · Basurto
The stadium restaurant, produce-led Basque cooking with a window over the San Mamés pitch.
Tip: Ask for a window table to eat looking at the pitch; on match days it does not open to the public.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 San Mamés
Featured in: MICHELIN 2026
Show on mapTxakoli Simón · Santo Domingo, Artxanda
A farmhouse grill up on Artxanda: beef chop, peppers and the whole city laid out below you.
Tip: Book a table in the glazed gallery: in drizzle you still get the view, and the farmhouse is too far to improvise.
🚇 Artxanda funicular, then a 15-minute walk
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapCafé Iruña · Jardines de Albia, Abando
A 1903 neo-Mudéjar hall of tilework and coffered ceilings, famous for its grilled lamb skewers.
Tip: Order the lamb skewer at the back tavern counter, not in the grand hall: cheaper and faster.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Abando
Featured in: Prensa vasca · El Independiente
Show on mapAitaren Boulevard (antiguo Café Boulevard, 1871) · Arenal, Casco Viejo
Bilbao's oldest café, founded 1871, shut for twelve years and reopened under a new name with its own grill.
Tip: If you are looking for the historic Café Boulevard, this is it: shut since 2018, now under its new owners' name.
🚇 Tram T1 Arriaga
Featured in: Directo al Paladar · Deia
Show on mapLa Granja · Plaza Circular, Abando
A 1926 café on Plaza Circular, marble counter and a lifelong regulars' conversation.
Tip: It is in the hostel building with the door on the square: order a cortado and a butter bun.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Abando
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapCafé del Arenal · Arenal, Casco Viejo
A terrace under the Arenal trees, the best open-air breakfast on the old town's riverbank.
Tip: On Sunday at noon the municipal band plays at the bandstand next door: coffee, sun and a free concert.
🚇 Tram T1 Arriaga
Featured in: Guía Bilbao
Show on mapMartina de Zuricalday (1830) · Abando
The oldest artisan pastry shop in the Basque Country, open since 1830: butter bun and rice cake.
Tip: The bollo de mantequilla is Bilbao's sweet by definition: a split brioche filled with buttercream.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: Rutas Bilbao · Deia
Show on mapArrese (1852) · Berástegui, Abando
An 1852 confectioner by the Albia gardens, known for truffles, bonbons and chocolate-coated palmiers.
Tip: They have half a dozen shops downtown; this one, by the Albia gardens, is the original.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Abando
Featured in: Rutas Bilbao
Show on mapChocolates de Mendaro · Licenciado Poza, Indautxu
Artisan Gipuzkoan chocolate made since 1850, sold as bars and bonbons in the Ensanche.
Tip: Ask for the txokolatada: thick drinking chocolate, the local shelter from October drizzle.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Indautxu
Featured in: Rutas Bilbao
Show on mapBizkarra · Gurutze, Casco Viejo
A Bilbao bakery known for its pastel de arroz and for butter croissants baked through the day.
Tip: The pastel de arroz has no rice: it is a milk-and-egg custard in puff pastry. Eat it warm, straight out.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Rutas Bilbao
Show on mapSuiza · Marqués del Puerto, Abando
Over sixty years of brioches, almond croissants and tarts on a quiet corner of the Ensanche.
Tip: It is an office breakfast stop: queues at 9am, calm at 11am and still well stocked.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: Rutas Bilbao
Show on mapFelipe · Gordóniz, Indautxu
Classic Bilbao cakes, artisan nougat and more than fifty kinds of tea biscuits in an Indautxu shop.
Tip: Ask for a carolina: meringue and egg yolk on puff pastry, the most Bilbao cake there is and the hardest to eat.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Indautxu
Featured in: Rutas Bilbao · Crónica Vasca
Show on mapNossi-Bé · Nafarroa kalea, Abando
A historic artisan ice-cream shop by the Arenal, one of few still churning in the back room.
Tip: Still open in October, serving frozen goxua: cream, custard and rum-soaked sponge, the Basque dessert.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Abando
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapAmama Denda · Bilbao La Vieja
A small workshop of grandmother-style Basque baking: cheesecake, goxua and farmhouse sponges.
Tip: Amama means grandmother in Basque. Basque cheesecake is eaten barely set and crustless: that is how they bake it.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapARVO · Abando
Minimalist specialty coffee with plants and daylight, the shop that put Bilbao on the coffee map.
Tip: They run two sites in town, work with European roasters and rotate origins every few weeks.
🚇 Tram T1 Guggenheim
Featured in: I Love Bilbao · ARVO
Show on mapSiembra Coffee Roasters · Henao, Abando
Their own roaster and origin traceability, the most serious house in Bilbao specialty coffee.
Tip: They sell freshly roasted beans with the date on the bag: the best edible souvenir in Bilbao.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: I Love Bilbao
Show on mapBarista's Club · Tendería, Casco Viejo
Finely calibrated espresso and filter methods on one of the old town's seven streets.
Tip: One of the few specialty counters inside the Siete Calles: the rest of the old town still pours diner coffee.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: I Love Bilbao
Show on mapEmeki · Tendería, Casco Viejo
In-house roasting and an experimental streak in a tiny coffee shop on Calle Tendería, in the old town.
Tip: Emeki means slowly in Basque and they mean it: do not come in a hurry, the pour-over takes five minutes.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: I Love Bilbao
Show on mapCokoon · Iparraguirre, Abando
An urban refuge built around filter methods, halfway between Gran Vía and the Guggenheim.
Tip: The handiest coffee stop before the museum: it is on the street that runs straight down to Puppy.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: I Love Bilbao
Show on mapNokora · Plaza del Museo, Abando
Minimalism and a teaching streak on the Fine Arts Museum square: they explain what you are drinking.
Tip: On the same square as the just-reopened Fine Arts Museum: coffee before or after the visit.
🚇 Tram T1 Abandoibarra
Featured in: I Love Bilbao
Show on mapDupla · Viuda de Epalza, Casco Viejo
Bright design, an international card and brunch by the river, on the old town's edge.
Tip: Weekend brunch fills by 11:30am: in Bilbao breakfast is late and lunch is later still.
🚇 Tram T1 Pío Baroja
Featured in: I Love Bilbao
Show on mapBrämar · Garellano, Basurto
Defined-profile blends and single origins with a food offer, next to the intermodal station.
Tip: Two minutes from the bus terminal: a good refuge if you are waiting on a long-distance coach.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 San Mamés
Featured in: I Love Bilbao
Show on mapKoffijazzona · Abandoibarra
Coffee with jazz on the speakers a hundred paces from the Guggenheim, terrace facing the footbridge.
Tip: The closest café to the museum exit that is not run by the museum: street prices, not box-office ones.
🚇 Tram T1 Abandoibarra
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapTxoko Txinbo · Plaza Nueva, Casco Viejo
A lifelong café under the Plaza Nueva arches, its tables sheltered by the stone arcades all year.
Tip: The place to sit and watch the Sunday market without getting wet, a café con leche in front of you.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapErriberako Merkatua · Casco Viejo
A 1929 art deco market on the riverbank, 10,000 m² of stalls, stained glass and a pintxo floor above.
Tip: The 1990 Guinness went to the most complete municipal food market, not the largest in Europe: that claim is unsourced.
🚇 Tram T1 Ribera
Featured in: Mercado de la Ribera · Wikipedia
Show on mapSombreros Gorostiaga (1857) · Víctor, Casco Viejo
An 1857 hat shop in the old town, the house where Bilbao locals go to buy a real Basque txapela.
Tip: The Basque beret has no protected designation, so the useful check is the label and lining: ask for waterproofed virgin wool and try two sizes.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Guía Repsol · Turismo Vasco
Show on mapParagüería Leoz · Casco Viejo
A whole shop given over to umbrellas in the country's rainiest city: pure trade craft, still working.
Tip: They repair ribs as well as sell: if the river wind wrecks your umbrella, do not bin it, bring it here.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapGuantes Varadé · Gran Vía, Abando
Gloves, scarves and hats on Gran Vía since 1910, one of the very last shops of its trade.
Tip: They measure your hand before selling: a leather glove is bought to fit and lasts twenty years.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: Guía Repsol
Show on mapLos Encajeros (1880) · Gran Vía, Indautxu
Household linen and embroidery since 1880 on Gran Vía, with the original wooden counters.
Tip: Linen is cut to size here, not sold in fixed pieces: give them the exact measurement you need.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: Guía Repsol
Show on mapTurronería Iváñez · Correo, Casco Viejo
Nougat, polvorones, glorias and marzipan made in the old town since the middle of the 19th century.
Tip: October opens the nougat season and the first batches come out: no queues until Christmas.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Guía Repsol
Show on mapGregorio Martín · Artekale, Casco Viejo
An old-town grocer specialised in salt cod, with the loins hung on the wall and cut by hand to order.
Tip: Ask them to explain desalting: three days in cold water with changes, or your pil-pil comes out salty.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Guía Repsol
Show on mapBacalao Eguino · Askao, Casco Viejo
A house specialised in Icelandic and Norwegian cod, with the salted loins hanging on open display.
Tip: Pil-pil cod needs the skin-on loin, not the flaked kind: ask for the pil-pil cut.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapConservas y Bakalaos · Casco Viejo
Cantabrian tins, northern bonito, Santoña anchovies and pickled guindilla peppers from Ibarra.
Tip: Ibarra peppers carry the Eusko Label quality seal: check for it on the jar before paying.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapLópez Oleaga (1904) · Astarloa, Abando
A 1904 wine shop and grocer, with a cellar of old Riojas and champagne in the back.
Tip: Ask for a txakoli from Bizkaiko Txakolina, the province's own appellation: the new vintage lands in autumn.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: Guía Repsol
Show on mapTomasa y Carolina (1884) · Sombrerería, Casco Viejo
Children's and ceremonial clothing since 1884 on the old town's Calle Sombrerería.
Tip: The street is called Sombrerería because the hatters worked there: the old town is still laid out by trade.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Guía Repsol
Show on mapAlpargatas · Casco Viejo
Abarcas, esparto espadrilles and house slippers: lifelong traditional Basque footwear.
Tip: Rubber abarcas are the useful souvenir: cheap, weightless and better in drizzle than a trainer.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Guía Repsol
Show on mapFrom the Basque Country with Love · Casco Viejo
Contemporary Basque design: illustration, ceramics and textiles from small Bizkaia workshops.
Tip: The alternative to the fridge magnet: almost everything is made in workshops under 50 km away.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapBuztin Artean · Casco Viejo
A ceramics workshop and shop in the Siete Calles, with every piece thrown on the premises.
Tip: Buztin means clay in Basque. Ask if the workshop is open: sometimes you can watch the wheel from the shop.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapElkar liburudenda · Casco Viejo
The reference bookshop in Basque, with records, maps and Basque literature in translation.
Tip: There is a table of Basque authors in Spanish and English: Atxaga, Uribe, Cano. A good gift to take home.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapPower Records · Abando
Rock, punk and Basque pop on vinyl, in the kind of shop that still lets you listen first.
Tip: Ask for eighties Basque radical rock: Kortatu, Hertzainak, La Polla. It is this city's soundtrack.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Abando
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapAthletic Club Denda · San Mamés, Basurto
The official store inside the stadium: red-and-white shirts, scarves and the club crest.
Tip: On match days it shuts an hour before kick-off and gets rammed: buy in the morning if there is a game.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 San Mamés
Featured in: Athletic Club
Show on mapZabalguneko Azoka · Abando
The Ensanche's covered market, smaller than La Ribera and a good deal less touristed.
Tip: In October the greengrocers put out fresh ceps and wild mushrooms: check the crates before you buy.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Eliptikoa
Featured in: Guía Bilbao
Show on mapAreatzako Lore Azoka · Arenal, Casco Viejo
Cut-flower, houseplant and herb stalls lined up beside the Arenal bandstand every Sunday morning.
Tip: It runs Sundays 10am-2pm, a hundred paces from the Plaza Nueva flea market: do both in a row.
🚇 Tram T1 Arriaga
Featured in: Guía Bilbao · Mercadillos.org
Show on mapEl Corte Inglés · Gran Vía, Abando
The Gran Vía department store, with a Basque gourmet floor and a rooftop over the Ensanche.
Tip: It has a tax-refund desk for non-EU shoppers: ask for the form at the till.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Abando
Featured in: El Corte Inglés
Show on mapZubiarte Merkataritza Gunea · Abandoibarra
Robert Stern's riverside shopping centre, between the Guggenheim and the Euskalduna.
Tip: The obvious refuge if a downpour catches you between the Guggenheim and Doña Casilda: covered access to the river.
🚇 Tram T1 Abandoibarra
Featured in: Zubiarte
Show on mapCulinarium · Ercilla, Indautxu
Serious kitchen kit: earthenware casseroles for pil-pil, grills and professional knives.
Tip: The earthenware casserole is what lets you bind a pil-pil by swirling it: no steel pan substitutes.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Indautxu
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on mapAlgortako Azoka · Algorta, Getxo
Getxo's municipal market with fish from the Abra, Bizkaia farm produce and pintxo bars inside.
Tip: It is in Getxo, not Bilbao, and sits five minutes' walk from the Old Port: chain them together.
🚇 Metro L1 Algorta
Featured in: Getxo Turismo
Show on mapVinos y Licores Ruiz · Hernani, San Francisco
A neighbourhood wine shop with Bizkaia txakolis, Alavese Riojas and little-known Basque spirits.
Tip: There are three txakoli appellations: Bizkaiko, Getariako and Arabako. The local one is Bizkaiko Txakolina.
🚇 Metro L1/L2 Abando
Featured in: Prensa vasca
Show on map