A day in Bilbao

I have still so much to tell you about our time in Basque Country. So today I will tell you more about our day trip to Bilbao. Since we were so close by, we decided we couldn’t pass on visiting this city.

We hadn’t planned anything on this trip, so visiting Bilbao wasn’t planned either. We were lucky to come across a lady at the campsite which had visited Bilbao that week and she was so kind to borrow us her guidebook to the city.

So the day before we looked into what the sights where in Bilbao and we asked some tips from the owners of the campsite.

One of the tips they gave us was not to take the train there, because it would take very long, but to drive up and park at the Bilbao Expedition Centre on the outskirts of the city. There is a metro station right there and when you take the metro into the city and you return to the parking lot, which is huge by the way, you insert your parking ticket along with your metro ticket in the meter and you will park an entire day for a couple of cents!

We bought metro tickets to Casco Viejo, Old Town. In Casco Viejo we started our walk around the city. First we strolled along the streets of Casco Viejo, where you will find lots of little restaurants and shops.

We continued our walk past the river towards the Guggenheim Museum, which is one of the 3 Guggenheim Museums around the world.

Bilbao is also famous for it’s bridges, which you will pass on your way to the Guggenheim.

We didn’t visit the Guggenheim museum itself, but we did wander around the outside of the building. Where you will find the famous Maman from Bourgeois. Maman is a 9 meter high sculpture of a spider. You can stand underneath the spider, since it is situated on the sidewalk in front of the museum.

Along with the art you will find on the outside of the building, the building itself is also a piece of art, because the Guggenheim is an incredible piece of architecture.

If you love to read, Dan Browns new book, Origin, takes place inside the Guggenheim in Bilbao.

After the Guggenheim we continued our walk through Bilbao Centro, which is the new area of Bilbao, where you will find lots of shops and restaurants.

As always there comes an end to the day, so we took the metro back to the parking lot. There are a lot of metro stations situated thorough Bilbao.

We liked Bilbao, but unlike Donostia/San Sebastian we didn’t fall in love with the city. Have you ever been to Bilbao?

Author: ourneverendingwanderlust

Dutch - Zeeland - photographer - 15 countries and counting - day job View all posts by ourneverendingwanderlust