Bilbao Museums

(Bilbao, Biscay, Basque Country, Spain)

Bilbao is a historic city and is home to a number of truly unique and unusual museums, as well as a good selection of art museums and galleries. Museum highlights in the Bilbao area include the popular Bullfighting Museum, known locally as the Museo Taurino, and the Maritime Museum, containing a wealth of nautical artefacts and magnificent sailing ships.

Also of interest, Bilbao's Medicine and Sciences Museum is full of vintage medical equipment, whilst the nearby Simón Bolivar Museum celebrates the life of this historic independence leader.

Museo Taurino (Bullfighting Museum)

Address: Plaza de Toros de Vista Alegre, Martin Agüero,1, Bilbao, 48012, Spain
Tel: +34 94 444 8698
Standing in the Zabálburu area of Bilbao, the Museo Taurino contains an extensive collection about the city's bullfighting history. With outfits and capes from some of Spain's most notable matadors, the museum also features bullfighting memorabilia and regular guided tours of the bullring itself.
Open hours: Monday to Friday - 10:30 to 13:00, 16:00 to 18:00
Admission: charge

Museo Vasco de Historia de la Medicina y de las Ciencias (Medicine and Sciences Museum)

Address: Universidad del Pais Vasco, Campus de Leioa, Leioa, 48940, Spain
Dedicated to the history of medicine, this fascinating museum stands in the vast campus of the University of the Basque Country. Containing almost 10,000 old medical tools, many of which are now antiques in their own right, the museum also features over 7,000 specialist medical books, a reconstruction of a historic operating theatre and a number of interactive displays.
Open hours: Monday to Friday - 12:00 to 14:00
Admission: free

Ria de Bilbao Maritime Museum

Address: Muelle Ramón de la Sota, 1, Abandoibarra, Bilbao, Spain
Tel: +34 902 131 000
Standing in the Abandoibarra area of Bilbao, in the docks of the historic Euskalduna shipyard, the Ria de Bilbao Maritime Museum contains many important local nautical artefacts and maritime memorabilia, including the Urbieta Shipwreck. The large collections are displayed both indoors and outdoors, around the renovated docks, which has become a particularly trendy and vibrant area of the city. The museum's docks contain a number of spectacular restored sailing ships.
Open hours: Tuesday to Sunday - 10:00 to 20:00
Admission: charge, discounts for seniors, students and children, children under six free

Museo Arqueológico, Ethnográfico e Histórico Vasco (Museum of Basque Archaeology, Ethnography and History)

Address: Calle de La Cruz, Bilbao, Spain
Situated in the former Colegio de San Andrés, Bilbao's outstanding Museum of Basque Archaeology, Ethnography and History was founded in 1921 and has been greatly expanded since its doors first opened. Located in the Old Quarter of Bilbao, the museum occupies a vast space and offers a eclectic collection of Basque artefacts and memorabilia.
Open hours: Tuesday to Saturday - 11:00 to 19:00, Sunday - 11:00 to 14:00
Admission: charge, free on Thursdays

Museo Simón Bolivar (Simón Bolivar Museum)

Address: Caserio Errementarikua, Markina-Xemein, 48279, Spain
Tel: +34 94 616 4114
Close to Bilbao, this museum celebrates the life of the Latin America's famous head of the independence movement, Simón Bolivar. Housed in a grand country residence which was once owned by the Bolivar family, this museum offers an insight into the life of this historical leader, and also features many changing exhibits, a bookstore, a library and local artefacts.
Open hours: Tuesday to Friday - 10:00 to 13:00, Saturday - 12:00 to 14:00
Admission: free