Bilbao, Spain

October 23, 2025 Lisa Comments 0 Comment

I stayed in another Ibis, the Ibis Budget Bilbao. I had booked Hotel Bilbi. Despite paying in advance, about a week or so prior to leaving I got a WhatsApp from them to “verify” my CC. I tried their link. Tried on my phone, iPad, and computer. I tried with 2 different CCs. They all failed. They said if I couldn’t/wouldn’t verify they would have to cancel. I told them of my problems, got no help whatsoever, so cancelled and booked another very quickly. I didn’t pay as much attention to location, unfortunately, so was quite a way from Old Town and all the important sites. And, like most Ibis’ hotels, it was a very small room, and definitely not “budget” either. Bilbi was a much better location and I was disappointed by the last minute change.

I arrived late in the day, after my Altamira Cave visit. Despite the rain, I set out to go to Old Town. It was a long walk from my hotel. I made it to Plaza Nueva and walked along the river before returning to my hotel.

The next day I started with the famous Guggenheim-Bilbao, I basically came to town just to visit this museum. I had purchased tickets in advance for my second day, @1000 when they first opened.

The building is as amazing as it looks in all the photos. I walked all around to enjoy the various angles and views of the building. I also enjoyed seeing the art displayed outside.

The art? Well. An entire floor was dedicated to Barbara Kruger, who uses words in her “art”. I didn’t find any of her art interesting. There was an installation of Richard Serra’s sculpture, Torqued Ellipses, on the first floor that I really liked. There was also a great piece, Rising Sea, by El Anatsui. I was only here about 2 hours.

I had walked across the Puente de la Salve for pictures of the Guggenheim before my visit. So when I left, I walked down to Zubizuri, a beautiful curved pedestrian bridge, designed by Frank Gehry.

I walked along the Nervion riverfront until I reached Pedro Arrupe Zubia. I visited Ibarra Parkea then Parque Casilda Iturrizar. Both are beautiful parks. Despite calling for rain all day, I got lucky and had mostly clear skies to enjoy my walk and the city.

After the parks, I took a shortcut and walked across town to get to Casco Viejo, Old Town. I visited Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Begoña or the Begoñako Basilika. Mass was going on, so I sat for a while, enjoying the music despite not understanding a word.

After church I wandered through this great area by chance, seeing Arco del Triunfo de Mallonako and Mallona Parkea. The hill offers great views of town and the river.

I visited San Nikolas Eliza on the large busy San Nikolas Plaza. There is a large park, Areatzako Parkea, that is a beautiful area along the river. I returned to Old Town and Plaza Nuevo again.

I stopped on the way back to the hotel for dinner and drinks. I didn’t have much time in Bilbao. I don’t know whether I just didn’t see enough, or the inconvenient location of my hotel, the bad weather, or what, but I really wasn’t as impressed with the city as I was with San Sebastián or Leon. It was my least favorite stop on my entire road trip.

Restaurants

Pintxos at Bar Santamaria

Bar Santamaria – like most cities in Spain, restaurants didn’t open until around 2000-2100, so on the lookout for a place with good pintxos. I enjoyed several here and a tried a couple of the local beers, from La Salve.
Basquery Brewery – found this Sunday afternoon and tried several of ther beers and had some more pintxos. Besides their own beers they had a huge selection of other Spanish beers in their cooler and I bought some to go, bringing them home with me.