Getting to the Guggenheim in New York, Bilbao and Venice

To reach the Guggenheim in New York, take the 4, 5, 6 or Q subway or an M1, M2, M3 or M4 bus to Fifth Avenue or Madison Avenue at 88th Street. In Bilbao, take the metro to Moyua and use the exit marked "Ercilla-Guggenheim", or ride the tram to the stop called Guggenheim. In Venice, take vaporetto 1 or 2 to Accademia, or line 1 to Salute. All of that comes from the museums' own directions, which we read on 3 November 2026.

This guide sticks to facts that are published by the museums, transport operators or airports, or that do not change from year to year. It leaves out the walking minutes, taxi fares and door-to-door times that guidebooks like to state, because none of the three museums publishes them and we will not invent one. Where we give a number from a schedule, we date it. This site is independent and not affiliated with the museums; prices live on our tickets page.

The museum is on the Nervión estuary, and the museum's own directions list five ways in. By metro, get off at Moyua and take the exit named Ercilla-Guggenheim. By tram, the stop is called Guggenheim. By bus, Bilbobus routes 1, 10, 13, 18 and A7 stop at "Museo 1 / Henao"; routes 13, 27, 38 and 48 stop at two points on Alameda Recalde; routes 11 and 71 stop at La Salve. The museum describes the city's public transport as accessible and adapted.

The airport is in Loiu, about 15 km from the city centre according to the museum. The Bizkaibus line A3247 connects the airport with the Bilbao bus terminal, which Aena calls Termibus, with stops at Gran Vía 79, Plaza Moyua (Osaguna/Hacienda) and Alameda Recalde 11. On the arrivals floor there is a customer-service desk and ticket office. Plaza Moyua is also where the metro stop for the museum is, so the bus and the metro join up. Aena's page gives no travel time and no fare, and we will not borrow one from a blog.

The museum lists two rail stations: Renfe's Bilbao-Abando and the Euskotren station at Atxuri. Long-distance coaches arrive at the Intermodal bus station beside the San Mamés stadium. None of the three is next to the museum, and the museum gives no walking time from any of them. The practical route from any station is the metro or tram.

Driving is possible but not simple: the museum has no car park for visitors. There is metered street parking and two underground car parks in nearby squares, Plaza Pío Baroja and Plaza Euskadi. Coming from the A-8 or A-68, the museum's directions tell you to take the Bilbao San Mamés exit and follow the museum signs.

We looked for official durations and found fewer than you would expect. Renfe, Alsa and Euskotren publish live timetables, not static ones, so the figures below are orders of magnitude from the operators' own pages or, where marked, from third-party guides. Check the operator on the day you travel.

The comparison that matters for a day trip:

From San Sebastián, the bus or the car takes about half the time of the train.

The museum sits on the Grand Canal between the Accademia Bridge and the church of Santa Maria della Salute. Its own directions are all by vaporetto, the public waterbus. This table reproduces them.

The museum does not publish a walking time from either stop. One independent guide says about five minutes from Accademia; treat that as a single reader's estimate. Zattere, a quayside on the Giudecca Canal, is also named by the museum as a nearby stop. For ticket prices on the waterbus, see the tickets page.

From Marco Polo airport we can say little. The airport's site returned an access-denied message when we tried it. Alilaguna, the airport boat operator, lists its Blue Line stopping at Zattere, and its Orange Line at Cà Rezzonico, which is neither Accademia nor Salute. Its Red Line is seasonal, April to November. We could not read an official source for the airport bus, so check the operators.

When the tide passes +95 cm above sea level, the water-transport operator AVM changes its service under a plan agreed with the City. Fog does the same. AVM publishes notices through the @muoversivenezia account, on panels at the landing stages and through a call centre at +39 041 041. We found no published policy from the museum about high water, so if the tide is high on your day, check the AVM notices and the museum's site. Our best-time page covers when high water is likely.

The museum is due to open on 11 December 2026 in the Saadiyat Cultural District. Abu Dhabi's tourism site places it on Saadiyat Island but gives no directions. We found no published drive times, parking terms or public-transport directions. After the opening we will rewrite this section with the real directions, and our Abu Dhabi page shows what is known so far.

It is worth saying plainly where the gaps are, because the same gaps are filled with confident numbers elsewhere. We looked on all three museums' pages and the operator pages above.