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Until this trip, Bilbao was a city that I’d vaguely heard about, usually mentioned only for its proximity to San Sebastián or the surf on its northern coast. But somehow, no one ever talked about how special it really is.

It wasn’t until an unexpected Instagram giveaway from Vueling brought two of my close friends and I to Bilbao that I discovered the little gem that is this city.

We packed our backpacks the first weekend of October for a cute little weekend trip, and were taken by surprise with the beautiful architecture, incredible history, and the kindest people.

We also had the chance to taste amazing Spanish and Basque food, along with the white wine that was voted the best in the world in 2024.

I think my favorite part of the weekend was the day trip we took to the coast on our last day!

In this guide, I’m going to share with you our top spots that you must try when in Bilbao to taste Basque cuisine, along with other must-do activities to complement your trip!

At a glance:

Day 1 : Pintxos tasting & tour of Bilbao

Arriving in Bilbao : How to reach the city center
Where to stay in Bilbao?
Lunch at the century old Café Iruña
Free walking tour of Bilbao
Pintxos Dinner Hop : Michelin Guide Gure Toki + Basque Cheesecake Tasting Part 1

Day 2 : Exploring the art scene of Bilbao & cheesecake tasting

Starting the day at Arvo Coffee
The Guggenheim Museum
The Best Tacos I’ve had in Europe
Shopping in Casco Viejo
Basque Cheesecake Tasting : Part 2
Optional : funicular & view of Bilbao
Pintxos Dinner Hop Night 2 : Wine Voted the Best in the World

Day 3: Day trip to the coast near Bilbao

Breakfast at Dupla Café
How to get to the beach?
Arrigunagako Hondartza Beach near Bilbao
Heading back to the airport

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Day 1 : Pintxos tasting & tour of Bilbao

Arriving in Bilbao: How to reach the city center

Reaching the city center from the airport in Bilbao is quite easy.

As you exit the airport, look for signs with the bus symbol, and bus number A3247 will take you straight to the center of the city.

The ticket costs 4.50 euros, and you can either pay with credit card or cash at the booth in the airport, or directly on the bus.

The trip will take around 30 minutes, and you don’t even need to switch buses.

Where to stay in Bilbao?

In the theme of a budget backpacking trip, we decided to stay in a hostel for our two nights in Bilbao. I always book my hostel through Hostel World because I love using their application and group chat to meet other travelers and see what events are going on. This time, however, I wasn’t solo traveling so didn’t necessarily need this feature!

We stayed at Latroupe la Granja at Plaza Biribila, which is a very central location and as mostly everything was within 15 minutes of walking! For me personally, I thought that the rooms were quite nice and updated with charging ports in the bed area, and there was a large café and bar where you could hangout, relax, or meet other travelers if you wish.

For the type of trip we made, this hostel was perfect. If you’re looking for other options, I think staying near Plaza Biribila, the Guggenheim, or Casco Viejo are great areas.

Once we landed, we first checked in here in order to drop our bags off so that we wouldn’t have to carry them around before our room was ready.

Lunch at the century old Café Iruña

After we dropped off our bags at the hostel, we were quite hungry so we decided to sit down for lunch before going out and exploring.

Having done prior research online, Café Iruña seemed to be a traditional and quite popular spot, and since it was right next to our hostel we decided to give it a try.

What I loved about this restaurant was its’ very traditional interior and classic options for pintxos, which is the basque region’s version of tapas.

As the café has been around for over 100 years, you can really feel all of the history and significance within its’ antique walls. I also loved that the place felt very local, it seemed that most of the other people were native Spanish speakers around us!

We arrived at the café at around 1pm, and it seemed that their lunch service started around 1:30. When we had first arrived, there were people around the bar all having a drink and sharing pintxos, yet it was still possible to find a seat.

Not even 40 minutes later, the place was completely full!

It definitely seems that the lunch hour is much later here in Spain, so definitely take this into consideration when planning out your meal times.

We tried the croquetas, tortilla, salmon, jamón, and goat cheese pintxos. I think collectively, our favorite was the pintxos with the goat cheese and ham! With the croquetas coming up in a close second.

For me, the pintxos with just diced jamón had a very very strong flavor. Even though I love charcuterie meat normally, I think it was too bold for me.

Overall, definitely a great spot to try as the food is delicious and the restaurant has so much history.

Free Walking Tour of Bilbao

Once we were satisfied with our pintxos, we explored the city a bit before our free walking tour later in the day. We walked to Mercado de la Ribera to see what used to be the biggest covered market in the world. On the weekends you can come here for fresh fish and other foods, and they also have some pintxos restaurants for more of a sit down style to enjoy the Basque cuisine.

We then headed to Arriaga Plaza to meet up with our tour guide for the free walking tour, which was organized with our hostel. I’m sure there are other ways to sign up for the free walking tour, but we signed up when we had checked in to the hostel! Though it seemed that there were many groups that probably weren’t staying in a hostel.

I really loved the tour we had of Bilbao with our tour guide Guilliam, despite all the rain that came down on us! As it turns out, Bilbao actually receives on average 220 days of rain each year. I was so shocked learning this, especially as a Spanish city I figured it would be mostly sunny year round!

Nonetheless, our tour guide was very entertaining and taught us a lot about Bilbao and Spain’s history, along with some tips on places to eat and other things to check out.

Doing a tour on your first day in a city is always a great way to get a feel of what the city is actually like!

Pintxos Dinner Hop : Michelin Guide Gure Toki

During our stroll earlier in the day before the walking tour, we walked past this cute restaurant called Gure Toki in Nueva Plaza, or the New Place, and decided to make a reservation for that night for dinner. I had actually heard about this restaurant before when I was doing some research, so I was excited to have stumbled upon it.

Turns out, Gure Toki is actually on the Michelin Guide, but it is extremely affordable!

This restaurant quickly became a coup de cœur for us, and we had actually wanted to come back the next night on Sunday but it was closed.

From the service to the abundance of choice for the pintxos, to the quality of the food and the delicious wine, we felt like we were in heaven while dining here.

Whether you have a table or are standing outside in Nueva Plaza, you pretty much order the same by going up to the counter and picking out which pintxos you want to try! If you have a table, you can also order off of the slightly larger menu for dishes made to order. To have a table, it seems that you need a reservation in advance.

We made multiple rounds up to the bar to try out many different pintxos. I think my favorite pintxos that I had are actually the two pictured above! It was an empanada filled with salmon, and a sliced baguette topped with a mushroom and a delicious homemade aioli. The burgers they had were also a favorite of ours, we each had a half!

To drink, we all had a glass of their red wine, which was also delicious. Glasses were only 2.90 euros each, yet the wine was clearly a top quality.

We decided to try out another pintxos bar at Nueva Plaza for another drink, and afterwards decided to end our night with the Basque cheesecake back at Gure Toki.

The Basque cheesecake was so incredible, that as we shared the first one standing at the bar, we immediately ordered a second. This was my first time trying Basque cheesecake, but I think I actually prefer it over New York Cheesecake! And that says a lot as a born and raised New Yorker.

Basque cheesecake, originally from San Sebastion, is a lot lighter, fluffier, and a bit more runny than a typical New York Cheesecake, and it is also typically slightly burned on the top and with no bottom crust. On the other hand, New York Cheesecake is quite dense and also has sour cream as one of its’ main ingredients.

Out of the two places I tried on my trip, Gure Toki’s cheesecake was my favorite! It’s all I am craving at the moment as I’m writing this blog.

Day 2 : Exploring the art scene of Bilbao & cheesecake tasting

Starting the day at Arvo Coffee

To start off our second day in Bilbao, we decided to try out Arvo Specialty Coffee right by the Guggenheim. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had an açai bowl on their menu, and since I hadn’t had one in so long I knew I needed to get it.

My açai bowl was topped with blueberries, banana, granola, and peanut butter, and was more on the side of a smoothie bowl. It was so fresh and everything I was craving, and the perfect breakfast for me before the museum.

My friends had ordered the avocado toast and burrata salad, and were super happy what they ordered!

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

The Guggenheim Bilbao is arguably one of the top things to see and do in Bilbao, and I definitely can see why. This museum is a relatively new build, built in 1997, and heavily contributed to the reformation of the city of Bilbao during an industrial economic decline. Today, it is an iconic landmark and will definitely catch your eye even as you are landing at the airport.

Despite the Guggenheim’s large size, it is not compactly filled with art, and so I recommend taking between 1.5 and 2 hours to enjoy the museum.

Personally, I really loved the exhibition for Barbara Kruger. Her work was very provocative and made me question and reflect on known pieces of écriture.

Be sure to take some time to stroll around the museum as well, as many pieces of work have been placed around it for the public to enjoy for free!

The Best Tacos I’ve had in Europe

After we enjoyed the Guggenheim Museum, we were a bit hungry and decided to find some tacos for lunch. We figured that since we were in Spain, we would be able to find a good spot! On the contrary in Paris, good tacos are very hard to come by. And after working in an authentic family owned Mexican restaurant for 6 years, I am always craving a good taco.

We found this spot, Txokomex par hasard and I cannot recommend it enough. It is on a cute and narrow street made just for walking, and filled with other bars and lots of people hanging out for a drink midday.

The restaurant itself is very small and only has counter seating inside, and two small tables on the outside. However, definitely don’t judge this book by its’ size!

These were easily the best tacos I’ve had in all of Europe. I ordered one taco with their chipotle chicken tinga, along with one sopes with their pastor. The flavors of the sopes and tinga brought me back to the restaurant where I worked and were so comforting and mouthwatering.

Not only is the food amazing, but the man who owns the restaurant was also the sweetest, even as we didn’t speak the same language.

Txokomex is definitely a must-visit spot for me when in Bilbao!

Shopping in Casco Viejo

Once we were satisfied with our tacos, we strolled through the streets of Casco Viejo, the old town in Bilbao, and hopped in and out of the shops they had.

There were the classic souvenir stores, yet also local brands that were super fun to browse through.

Basque Cheesecake Tasting : Part 2

In Casco Viejo, you’ll also find Bassk Cheesecakers, home to the famous Basque cheesecake. This is arguably the most famous spot to try the original Basque cheesecake from San Sebastion, and when we had first walked by there was a huge line outside!

They offer two flavors, the original and a chocolate version. We only tried the original as my friends aren’t chocolate lovers like myself, but of course had two of them anyways.

Personally, and I think my friends agreed, we preferred the Basque cheesecake from Gure Toki the night before because it was a bit lighter and creamier. Nonetheless, the cheesecake was still heavenly.

Optional : Funicular & view of Bilbao

One activity we didn’t get to fit into the day but would be a perfect addition, would be taking the funicular to the top of Bilbao to have a view of the whole city.

For us, the opportunity didn’t present itself since the first day was super rainy, and then by the time we had wanted to go on Day 2, we decided to take a rest before we headed out for dinner.

But, I do believe this would be absolutely worth seeing!

Pintxos Dinner Hop : Night 2

For our second night, we kept the Basque way and hopped around a few more Pintxos bars. This night, we tried out El Globo and Ledesma N°5.

Starting at El Globo, it was a really fun and lively atmosphere with people sitting and standing throughout, going up and getting more glasses of wine and picking out more pintxos. We went on a Sunday night, and by nearly 9pm they were almost sold out of all of their pintxos!

We had wanted to spend more time here, but really we only stayed for one glass of wine and a pintxos each because even though they were open until 11pm, they had started to clean up since the pintxos were running low.

One thing I loved about El Globo is that they had Txakolis, which is a white wine that comes from the Basque region and was voted the best white wine in the world in 2024! Our tour guide had mentioned this the day before, and so we knew we wanted to try a glass.

We tried the Lapazaran Txakolis which was their house version, and personally, I loved it. It was on the drier side but felt super fresh and light, a perfect combination to go with the pintxos which can be on the heavier side.

We then decided to Ledesma N°5, which as it turns out, some people we had seen at El Globo had the same idea. I think the pintxos options were better at El Globo, and I liked the atmosphere more as well, but this spot was still tasty!

We ended our night here, chatting until they were closing down.

Day 3 : Day trip to the coast near Bilbao

Breakfast at Dupla Café

For our last day in Bilbao, we decided to take a little day trip to the coast near Getxo to see the ocean. Before we headed out, we had breakfast at Dupla Café, which is a café started by five friends from Hungary!

It had a very mellow vibe on the interior, and their music playlist was top as so many of the songs on my playlists were being played.

I decided to go for another açai bowl since I never have them, and this time with a croissant on the side and a matcha. I think I preferred this açai bowl as opposed to the one the day before at Arvo, only because this one was more on the sorbet side, and the one at Arvo was more of a smoothie bowl. I also loved the assortment of fruit that they topped this one with at Dupla! They changed it up from just the classic banana topping.

My croissant on the side was actually perfect as well. Coming from Paris where we have the best croissants on every corner, it can be a risk trying them in other places if you don’t want to be disappointed! But i have to say, this one was top quality, especially with the glaze they have on top.

How to get to the beach?

To reach the town of Getxo, it’s super simple! All you need to do is take the main metro in Bilbao north towards Plentzia, and get off at the stop for Algorta.

The metro ride should take about 30 minutes, and then once you get off, it’s a straight, 10 minute walk to the beach of Arrigunagako Hondartza.

Arrigunagako Hondartza Beach near Bilbao

As we walked up to the beach, I was simply in awe at where we were.

We had no expectations because we hadn’t seen anything online or on TikTok about making a day trip here. My friend Ellie simply just chose randomly Getxo on the map, and we realized there’s also a beach that we could possibly see.

It probably has to do with the fact that it was a Monday in October, but it felt like we basically had the beach to ourselves. As I walked along the beach, there were some dogs chasing sticks from their owners, and some people scattered throughout, but overall the beach was pretty calm.

We ended up sitting down at Txiringuito Playa Arrigunaga, a little beachside bar with a direct view of the beach, and ended up spending the rest of our day there because the music and atmosphere was so relaxing. It eventually filled up with people as the day went on and was quite lively, and it was really the perfect spot to spend the whole day.

At one point, I even took a nap on the beach in the sun, which gave me all of the Vitamin D I was missing from Paris! Even though I had left the beach burnt, it was so worth it because it was extremely relaxing, and the perfect way to soak up the Spanish sun before heading back.

You can even go on a little cliff side hike here towards Galea lurmuturreko iparraldeko begiratokia, which is what Monica decided to do while I took my nap! I would’ve loved to join on the little hike, but I just wanted to rest on the beach. Nonetheless, the pictures from her hike were gorgeous, and it’s the perfect opportunity to explore the coast a bit more on foot.

For me, this beach is really a coup de cœur, and is already one of the best days I’ve had.

Heading back to the airport

Since our flight was at 8:30pm, we left the beach around 4:45 to head back to our hostel, pick up our bags, and take the bus to the airport.

We ended up having plenty of time before we had to board our plane, as the security area at the Bilbao airport is quite small and there wasn’t a huge flux of people at the time. But also, I imagine there are times where it’s high flux as well!

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I hope you enjoyed this detailed foodie guide to exploring Bilbao, Spain! This city is absolutely gorgeous and full of so many great spots for foodies to try out, as well as lots of different activities to do.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below!

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Xx,
Carmela