Cheap Flights to Bilbao

Bilbao climate

Courtesy of the winds wafting off the Bay of Biscay, Bilbao experiences an oceanic climate that doesn’t suffer from extreme heat or cold. The humidity in Bilbao can be tough to deal with during the summer when temperatures can rise as high as 27 degrees C. Winters in Bilbao are rainy with little snow and temperatures huddling close to 5 degrees C, on average. The transitional seasons of spring and fall are ideal times to visit due to the comfortable weather and infrequent precipitation.

Getting around Bilbao

Bilbao has a very efficient public transportation system. The bus system, Bilbobus, has night buses on Fridays until 2:30am and all night Saturday. The tramway, Euskotran, stops running around 11pm each night. If you’re just passing through, continue your Spanish adventure to Madrid, Barcelona or Burgos by hopping aboard Renfe, Spain’s national rail line, or any number of buses.    

Getting from the Airport to the City

Shuttle buses outside the arrivals terminal at Bilbao Airport (BIO) can take you to Termibús, the main bus terminal in the city centre. From there you can take a bus, tram or train to anywhere you want to go.

Bilbao insider information

Though Castilian Spanish is the official language of Spain, Basque, or Euskara, is prominently spoken in Bilbao, especially in the more remote regions. The language has been a mystery to linguistic scholars for hundreds of years, as it shares no common characteristics with other modern spoken languages. Unless you’re a language wiz, don’t expect to become proficient in Basque before your trip. If you’re feeling adventurous and want to try out the local language, here are a few stock phrases that’ll help you out in a pinch: 

Hello: Kaixo 

Please: Mesedez 

Thank you: Eserrik asko 

Excuse me: Barkatu 

Do you speak English?: Inork ba al daki ingelesez?

The savings don’t have to stop once you’ve booked your cheap flight to Bilbao: The BilbaoCard, which is available at all Bilbao Tourism Bureaus throughout the city, offers discounted fares for public transportation, the best museums in town and even performances and other cultural events.

Casco Viejo, Bilbao’s medieval neighbourhood, is a great first stop to hit after you land. Stretch your legs and mosey through the narrow cobblestone streets to scope out the Ribera Market, or take a breather and feed the pigeons gathering in Plaza Nueva.

The curvaceous, reflective exterior of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao may be the city’s most recognisable landmark, but the educational programs and activities for children taking place at the museum are often overlooked by families hoping to keep the kids entertained. Several artists, authors and performance groups pass through the museum during the year, and hands-on workshops are open to children throughout the week so that they can cultivate their budding creativity after walking through the museum’s imaginative exhibits.

Looking to head outside the city for a few days before you return home? Plan a trip to Guernica, a monumental city for Basques and a melancholy reminder of the persecution they endured throughout Francisco Franco’s regime. Guernica was bombed in 1937 and Picasso’s iconic mural of the same name is an angry, painful work of protest that has received international attention for its violent imagery depicting the city’s destruction. Today, Guernica is still the cultural capital city of the Basque people and is where the parliament for the region is seated.