Bilbao is the capital of Bizkaia. As such, it has the largest number of museums in the region, including the Guggenheim and the Fine Arts Museums. But the city has a lot more to offer culture vultures beyond these buildings.

Since it opened in 1997, the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum has become the centrepiece of the city’s art and cultural scene. Inside the spectacular titanium, glass and stone building designed by Frank Gehry, it exhibits works by influential contemporary artists like Richard Serra, Eduardo Chillida, Anselm Kiefer, Andy Warhol or Antonio Saura.

Before 1997, the most visited gallery in Bilbao was the Museum of Fine Arts. It holds an unrivalled collection of over 10,000 pieces of modern, contemporary and ancient art. You will see works by El Greco, Francisco de Zurbarán, Henri Matisse or Pablo Picasso, and a comprehensive set of works by the best-known Basque artists, including Ignacio Zuloaga or the Arrúe brothers.

The Museum of Archaeology houses artefacts made by prehistoric peoples in the region more than 10,000 years ago. Bizkaia’s culture, customs and traditions are well-represented and accurately described at the Basque Museum, housed in the old building of San Andrés School. It contains objects that belonged to the fishing, farming and industrial past of Euskadi.

In Abandoibarra, the area where the Guggenheim Museum stands, there is also the Ría de Bilbao Maritime Museum. In it, the relevance of the river estuary in the city’s history becomes fully apparent. The Athletic Club Museum and the Art Reproductions Museum are just two of the many smaller yet equally interesting exhibition centres you can visit in Bilbao.

Museums in Bizkaia

Bizkaia is home to many museums, so here we are mentioning only the most relevant. In Galdames, inside the Loizaga Tower (an impressive medieval fort), there is the Antique and Classic Car Museum, where you will see a vast collection of Rolls-Royce cars. In El Pobal (Muskiz) you can visit the Ironwork Museum, a workshop that shows how the mineral is transformed into metal to be forged and welded. A thorough description of Bizkaia’s industrial past is found a few kilometres away at the Basque Country Mining Museum.

One of Bizkaia’s most important fishing villages, Bermeo, is home to the Fishermen’s Museum, dedicated to Basque arrantzales (fishermen) and showing everything you want to see about sailing techniques. Nearby, in Bakio, the Txakoli Museum - Txakolingunea is waiting for you, a whole museum dedicated to our traditional txakoli, where you can learn more about its history and enjoy a delicious tasting. In Portugalete, close to the Bizkaia Bridge, there is the Rialia Museum of Industry, where you can learn about Bizkaia’s industries against the background of the river estuary.

Finally, the Peace Museum stands situated in the most suitable location for a museum focusing on peace: Gernika-Lumo, the target of the atrocious aerial attack of 1937. The museum is aimed at promoting peace and human rights. In the medieval district of Balmaseda lies La Encartada, today a museum and in the past a manufacturer of txapelas (berets), a very popular clothing item in Euskadi.

How To Get There

  • We have mentioned some of the most relevant museums in Bizkaia. There are many more, though. Follow the link below for a full list of Bizkaia’s museums.

  • Possibly the best way to save money in Bizkaia’s museums is getting yourself the Bilbao Bizkaia Card. You can also use it in public transport, shops and other establishments across Bizkaia. Some museums, like the Guggenheim or the Fine Arts Museums, offer discount tickets to our card holders, who can also skip the lines at most sights.