Getting There By Air:Bilbao Airport Tel: (94) 486 9663/4
or 902 404 704.
Website:
www.aena.es Bilbao Airport is located some 12km (7.5 miles) away from the city, in the Loiu district, and is one of Spain’s busiest airports.
Airport facilities include a restaurant, several cafes, shops, banks, currency exchange facilities and ATMs. There are two VIP lounges. There is also a tourist information office at the departure terminal and a travel agency.
The bus that links
Bilbao and the airport is
Bizkaibus A3247, a yellow urban bus running between the bus stop outside of the arrivals terminal and Termibús, the main bus terminal in Bilbao. Buses depart every 30 minutes from early in the morning until late in the evening. There are taxis at the airport at all times - the journey into the city center takes around 15 minutes and costs around €20. Car hire is also available.
Getting There By Water:P&O Ferries (tel: (94) 423 4477; website:
www.poferries.com) links Bilbao with Portsmouth in the UK. There are two or three services weekly, departing from the Port of Santurtzi on the
Pride of Bilbao. The crossing lasts 30 hours when traveling to the UK and 33 hours when traveling to Spain.
Getting There By Road:A network of motorways and highways converges on Bilbao. The city can be reached by the A8, which is connected to Donostia-San Sebastian and the French border at Irun, and by the A68, which connects with Barcelona and the A7 along the Mediterranean coast. Bilbao is connected to Burgos by the A68 (journey time - 1 hour 30 minutes) and to Valladolid by the Autovía de Castilla (Castile Freeway) (journey time - 2 hours 30 minutes). From there the Autovia del Norte (Northern Freeway) leads to Madrid (journey time - 4 hours). Bilbao is connected to Santander (journey time - 1 hour) by the Autovía del Cantábrico (Cantabrian Freeway).
Emergency breakdown service: Real Automobile Club Espana (tel: 902 300 505; website:
www.race.es).
Bilbao’s main bus station is the bus terminal Termibús (tel: (94) 439 5077; website:
www.termibus.es), next to the exchange station of San Mamés. Termibús connects with the San Mamés metro station, the tramway and the Renfe short-distance rail lines.
Alsa (tel: 902 422 242; website:
www.alsa.es) operates routes to most of the cities in Spain, as well as routes between Bilbao and cities in Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, UK and Switzerland.
PESA (tel: 902 101 210; website:
www.pesa.net) operates the bus connection between Bilbao and San Sebastian, while
La Union (tel: (94) 427 1111; website:
www.autobuseslaunion.es) operates the routes from Vitoria, Pamplona and Logroño.
Bizkaibus (tel: 902 222 265; website:
www.bizkaia.net) is a bus road network connecting Bilbao to all the districts in Vizcaya.
Getting There By Rail:Bilbao has three railway stations, operated by three different companies.
Renfe (tel: (94) 423 8635
or 902 243 402; website:
www.renfe.es), Spain’s national railway company, operates short and long distance trains from Abando Station, which connects with Abando underground station and Bilbao’s tramway. Long-distance destinations that can be reached from Abando Station include Alicante, Barcelona, Madrid, Málaga and Valladolid-Salamanca.
Feve (Ferrocarriles Españoles de Vía Estrecha, or Spanish Narrow Gauge Railway) (tel: (94) 423 2266; website:
www.feve.es), operates from Concordia Station and connects with the city of Santander and from there, the whole of the north coast. Feve owns the longest narrow gauge line in Europe, stretching over 1,200km (745 miles). The company’s two main routes link Bilbao with Santander and León.
Euskotren (tel: (94) 433 9500
or 902 543 210; website:
www.euskotren.es) is the railway company run by the Basque government. Its trains leave from Atxuri Station, connecting with Donostia-San Sebastian and the coast of Biscay, via Gernika and Bermeo.
Getting Around:Public TransportBilbao’s public transport system is excellent, with a good
bus network in addition to the metro and tram.
Bilbobús (website:
www.bilbao.net/bilbobus) routes cover all the districts in the city with more than 30 lines. Services run from around 0600 until 2300. Buses depart every 10 to 30 minutes depending on the lines. There are six night buses. Night buses depart every 30 minutes on Friday (until 0200 or 0230) and Saturday (all night services).
Metro Bilbao (tel: (94) 425 4000/25; website:
www.metrobilbao.net), with its stylish
fosteritos (stations designed by British architect Norman Foster) has two
metro lines. Line 1 (Etxebarri-Plentzia) links Bilbao stations to the right-bank districts and will eventually reach Basauri, when construction work is completed in 2010. Line 2 (Etxebarri-Portugalete) links Bilbao stations to the left-bank districts. It stops in some of the most densely populated districts in Vizcaya, such as Barakaldo and Sestao, and will be extended to reach Kabiezes and Santurtzi. Trains run Sunday to Thursday 0600 to 2230-2300. On Friday nights they run until 0130-0200, and they run every 30 minutes all night on Saturday.
The first
tramway in Bilbao appeared in 1872, and by 1920 the city’s tramway network stretched over 109km (68 miles), with Arenal being the hub for 12 different lines. In 1964, however, the tram was replaced by electric buses, and it was only in late 2002 that trams were reintroduced. The new line, run by
Euskotran (tel: 902 543 210; website:
www.euskotran.es), has been gradually extended to cover an area linking Atxuri to Basurto. There is a central stretch across the district of Abandoibarra, with stops by some of Bilbao’s architectural landmarks, such as the Arriaga Theater
, the Guggenheim Museum and the Euskalduna Palace. Trams run Monday to Friday 0600-0630 to 2300-2330 and Saturday and Sunday 0700-0730 to 2325.
TaxisRadio Tele-Taxi (tel: (94) 410 2121
or 421 8750),
Radio Taxi Bilbao (tel: (94) 444 8888) and
Radio Taxi Nervion (tel: (94) 426 9026
or 422 2411) are some of Bilbao’s taxi companies.
Car HireYou can hire cars from
Avis (tel: (94) 427 5760; website:
www.avis.com),
Europcar (tel: (94) 442 2226; website:
www.europcar.com) and
Hertz (tel: (94) 415 3677; website:
www.hertz-europe.com).
Atesa (tel: (94) 442 3290; website:
www.atesa.es) is a Spanish operator and the company also serves Bilbao. All have desks at the airport and offices in town.
Bicycle HireYou can hire bicycles and scooters from
Alquimoto (tel: (94) 401 2563; website:
www.alquimoto.com). The Town Hall (tel: (94) 447 9206; website:
www.bilbao.net) has a regular program in the spring and autumn seasons for renting out bikes free of charge.
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