💰 This page covers the street-level details of spending money in Bilbao: how the bill works in a pintxo bar, the Barik card and the metro, the Guggenheim and other tickets, day trips along the Basque coast, and which machines to use. For Spain-wide ATM tips, DCC warnings, tipping norms, and exchange rate advice:
Read the Spain Money Guide →🎧 Order Euros Before You Fly
Land with euros for the txikiteo round. Insured delivery, 2–5 days.
Order EUR → CEI Currency ExchangeDo You Need Cash in Bilbao?
A little, mostly for the evening round of bars. Bilbao is a prosperous, card-friendly city, and the Guggenheim, the restaurants, the shops of Gran Vía and the whole transport network take cards. The Basque habit of txikiteo, a pintxo and a small glass in one bar after another, is where a few coins or a quick tap keep things simple. Carry €30 to €50. The Spain money guide covers the rest of the country.
Where You Will Need Cash
The pintxo round, for single orders in the busiest bars. La Ribera market stalls, some of them. Small bakeries and txoko-style bars in the old town. The transporter bridge gondola, if you do not have a Barik card. Tips.
Where Cards Work Fine
The Guggenheim and the Fine Arts Museum. Restaurants and most pintxo bars. Metro, tram and bus ticket machines. Shops on Gran Vía. Taxis. San Mamés stadium tours and tickets.
How Paying Works in a Pintxo Bar
Pintxos are Bilbao's social ritual. In the Casco Viejo, the old town's Siete Calles, and around Plaza Nueva, bars cover their counters with small bites on bread, and the evening is spent moving from one to the next. The system is simple and runs on trust.
Help yourself, remember, pay at the end. Take a plate and help yourself to cold pintxos from the counter, or order the hot ones listed on the board, which are cooked to order. Keep track of what you had. When you are ready to leave, tell the bartender, who adds it up. Toothpicks or skewers on your plate help with the count in some bars.
What it costs. Most pintxos cost €2.50 to €4, hot specialities more. A zurito, a small beer, or a txakoli, the local white wine poured from a height, is cheap. Most bars now take cards, including contactless, but when a bar is three deep on a Friday night, paying cash for a single round is quicker for everyone.
The menu of the day. At lunch, many Bilbao restaurants offer a menú del día, three courses with wine or water for a fixed price, one of the best-value meals in Spain.
The Guggenheim, the Transporter Bridge and the Funicular
The Guggenheim. Frank Gehry's titanium building on the Nervión transformed the city. Entry costs around €18 to €20, with an audio guide included, and tickets are sold online and at the museum by card. Puppy, the flower-covered dog by the entrance, and Maman, the giant spider on the riverside, are free to see. The Fine Arts Museum nearby is cheaper and has free hours.
The Artxanda funicular climbs from the city to a hilltop park and restaurants with a view over Bilbao. It takes the Barik card or a single ticket from the machine.
The Vizcaya Bridge at Portugalete and Getxo, reached by metro, is the world's oldest transporter bridge and a UNESCO site. A gondola carries people and cars across the river for a small fare, payable by Barik or card, and a separate ticket lets you walk across the top.
Paying by Card in Bilbao
Bilbao is card-friendly from the old town to the new business districts. The only real distinction is between a sit-down meal and the fast-moving pintxo round.
Casco Viejo and Plaza Nueva
The old town's seven streets and the arcaded square. Pintxo bars, shops and restaurants mostly take cards; small bars welcome cash on busy nights.
La Ribera market
Europe's largest covered market, on the river. Many stalls take cards, and the ground floor has a food hall of pintxo bars. Smaller stalls may prefer cash.
Abando and Gran Vía
The 19th-century commercial district. Shops, department stores and restaurants are card-first, and bank branches cluster here.
Abandoibarra and the Guggenheim
The riverside museum district. Card everywhere, including the museum restaurants.
Indautxu and Poza
Local neighbourhoods with a pintxo street, Licenciado Poza, where Bilbainos go. Most bars take cards; some older ones prefer cash.
Getxo and Las Arenas
The seaside suburbs at the river mouth, by metro. Card-friendly, with the transporter bridge and beaches.
ATMs in Bilbao
Look for these logos. Kutxabank is the Basque savings bank; BBVA was born here.
Kutxabank
BBVA
Santander
CaixaBankATM Locations
Kutxabank, formed from the Basque savings banks, has the densest network in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. BBVA, founded in Bilbao, has branches across the city, including on Gran Vía near its old headquarters. Santander and CaixaBank machines are common in Abando and the Casco Viejo. Each shows its fee for a foreign card on screen. Spain has no Bank of America Global ATM Alliance partner.
⚠ Read the Fee Screen, Then Choose Euros
A Basque cash machine, like any in Spain, must tell you its foreign-card charge before dispensing, which leaves you free to cancel and walk to the next bank. Watch the following screen too: it may offer a dollar conversion. Say no, and take euros. Our DCC explainer shows what that offer costs.
Paying for the Metro, Trams and Buses
The Barik card. Bizkaia's rechargeable transport card works on Metro Bilbao, the tram, Bilbobus city buses, Bizkaibus regional buses, Euskotren, the Artxanda funicular and the transporter bridge, and fares on it are much cheaper than single tickets. Buy it for a small fee at any metro station machine and top it up with a card or cash. For two or three days of sightseeing it pays for itself quickly.
The metro. Norman Foster's metro, with its glass entrance canopies known as fosteritos, runs along both banks of the river to the coast at Getxo and Plentzia. Single tickets from the machines are priced by zone and take cards.
From the airport. The Bizkaibus A3247 runs from outside arrivals to the centre and the Termibus bus station in around 20 minutes for about €3. Taxis cost roughly €25 to €35. Direct buses also run from the airport to San Sebastián.
Taxis. Metered, and most take cards. Taxi ranks are at Abando station, Plaza Moyua and the Guggenheim.
Tipping in Bilbao
Spanish norms apply, covered in the Spain guide. In pintxo bars, leave the small change or nothing. At a sit-down dinner, 5 to 10 percent for good service is generous, and more than most locals leave. Card terminals rarely prompt for a tip, so leave coins.
Prices in Bilbao
Bilbao is one of the pricier Spanish cities for eating out, and still cheaper than most of northern Europe.
| Item | Price (EUR) | Price (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Café con leche | €1.60–2.50 | $1.85–2.90 |
| Cold pintxo | €2.50–3.50 | $2.90–4 |
| Hot pintxo from the board | €3.50–5 | $4–5.75 |
| Zurito (small beer) or txakoli | €1.80–3 | $2–3.45 |
| Menú del día at lunch | €15–22 | $17–25 |
| Guggenheim entry | €18–20 | $21–23 |
| Metro single, one zone | around €1.70–2 | around $2–2.30 |
| Airport bus A3247 | around €3 | around $3.45 |
| Taxi, airport to centre | €25–35 | $29–40 |
| Artxanda funicular | around €2–3 | around $2.30–3.45 |
| Athletic Club stadium tour | €15–20 | $17–23 |
| Mid-range hotel night | €100–170 | $115–196 |
USD estimates use approximately €1 = $1.15. Rates fluctuate. Barik fares are lower than the single-ticket prices shown.
Day Trips from Bilbao
San Sebastián (about 1.25 hours)
The bus from Termibus or the airport is the quick way; Euskotren is slower and cheaper. See our San Sebastián money guide for the pintxo and cider-house prices there.
San Juan de Gaztelugatxe (about 1 hour)
Free, but book a time slot online in summer. Paid parking at the top, and the bars in Bermeo take cards.
Getxo and the transporter bridge (25 minutes by metro)
Barik covers the metro and the gondola. The seafront walk from Las Arenas to Algorta's old port has pintxo bars that are cheaper than the city's.
Gernika and Urdaibai (about 45 minutes)
Euskotren runs to the town at the heart of Basque history. The Peace Museum charges a small fee; the Monday market is cash for most stalls.
Bilbao Quick Reference
| Destination | Cards? | Cash Needed? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pintxo bars | ✅ Mostly | Coins for single rounds | Pay at the end |
| Menú del día | ✅ Yes | €15–22 | Lunch on weekdays |
| Guggenheim | ✅ Yes | €18–20 | Puppy and Maman free |
| Metro, tram, buses | ✅ Barik or card | Barik is cheapest | Small card fee |
| Airport bus | ✅ Yes | Around €3 | 20 minutes to the centre |
| La Ribera market | ✅ Mostly | Cash for small stalls | Pintxo bars downstairs |
| ATMs | Kutxabank, BBVA, Santander, CaixaBank | Read the fee screen | Choose euros |
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you pay in a pintxo bar in Bilbao?
Usually at the end. Take pintxos from the counter or order hot ones from the board, keep track of what you had, and tell the bartender when you are ready to pay. Most bars take cards, but for one pintxo and a drink during the evening round, cash or a quick tap is easiest. Honesty is expected.
What is the Barik card in Bilbao?
The rechargeable transport card for Bizkaia. It works on Metro Bilbao, the tram, Bilbobus, Bizkaibus, Euskotren, the Artxanda funicular and the transporter bridge, with cheaper fares than single tickets. Buy it for a small fee at metro machines and top it up with a card or cash.
How much is the Guggenheim Bilbao?
General admission is around 18 to 20 euros for an adult, with discounts for students and seniors, and tickets can be bought online or at the museum by card. The outdoor sculptures, including Jeff Koons's Puppy and Louise Bourgeois's Maman, are free to see.
How do I get from Bilbao airport to the city?
The Bizkaibus A3247 runs from outside arrivals to the city centre and Termibus in about 20 minutes for around 3 euros, payable by card or the Barik card. Taxis cost roughly 25 to 35 euros. Direct buses also run from the airport to San Sebastian.
Do I need to pay to visit San Juan de Gaztelugatxe?
Access is free, but in the busiest months you must book a free time slot online in advance, and checks are made at the path. The walk down and the 241 steps up to the hermitage take a couple of hours. Bizkaibus runs to Bermeo, and parking at the top is paid.
Which ATMs should I use in Bilbao?
Kutxabank, the Basque savings bank, BBVA, which was founded in Bilbao, Santander and CaixaBank all have machines across the city. Spanish machines show any fee for a foreign card before you confirm, so compare and cancel if needed, and always choose euros.
Pay Smart in Bilbao
The Wise card converts at the real mid-market rate, pays pintxo bills and Guggenheim tickets by tap, and withdraws at Kutxabank and other machines without a markup.
Get the Wise Card →Hero photo: the Guggenheim Museum and the Nervión river, Bilbao, by Tim Adams, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.