Bilbao One Day as a Local: 5-Hour Old Town and Ensanche Walk by Shops and Bars

The usual question on a city walk is what to see. This one asks where locals buy, eat and take their coffee. The shops and restaurants on the route are the ones used for everyday needs, most of them not touristic at all. The guide talks history and architecture, but the thread is daily life across both halves of Bilbao.

Five hours, a little more depending on breaks, is enough to cover the Old Town and the new city properly. The first stop is Teatro Arriaga, followed by Plaza Nueva, very old shops in the Seven Streets, the Ribera Market, which opened in 1929, and the two oldest train stations, with a walk onto the platforms to see the hidden architecture and the daily commute. In the Ensanche the walk reaches the square of the Diputacion, Azkuna Zentroa, the former Alhondiga wine warehouse now used as a culture center, and San Mames Stadium, with the Metro taken between stops. It finishes outside the Guggenheim Museum, with a quick look at the architecture and the outdoor sculptures.

Coffee and pintxos breaks are part of the rhythm.