Bilbao Transport Guide

Bilbao's public transport mostly hasn't reached the contactless age yet, but their Barik public transport card offers great discounts compared to cash fares. The city has various different transport operators but this card works on all of them throughout the region. Each operator has its own definition of zones and fares with their prices listed in the below chart. I would recommend all visitors to get this card as it pays off the 3 euro charge very quickly. You can get it at the airport arrivals hall at the manned counter next to the vending machines, charge it in increments of 5 euros, and pay for everything with a credit card. If you need to charge your card after leaving the airport, you can do so at a vending machine in a metro station or use their app. You might wonder given Bilbao is a small city and the attractions are quite close to each other, you won't need to use public transport much. After all, the Guggenheim is just a short walk along the riverfront promenade from the old town. For my 2 night trip, I ended up spending about 7 euros total on public transport. This includes my day trip out to Bermeo, limited use in the city, and a roundtrip airport bus journey. Since the Barik card offers significant discounts to cash fares, I saved a lot more than the 3 euros to buy the card even though public transport in Bilbao is really cheap! Below is an analysis of popular tourist routes based on prices as of September 2026.
	Airport Bus The airport A3247 bus is operated by Bizkaibus. They're in green livery and you need to tap on and tap off to correctly calculate the zone fare. This route does accept contactless but it costs 5 euros as opposed to 71 cents if using the Barik card. So the 3 euro charge for the card pays off from one single trip out of the airport alone.
	City Bus Within the city, the main bus routes are operated by Bilbobus, whose vehicles are red. You only need to tap on because there is only 1 standard fare of 44 cents for any trip with the Barik card.
	Funicular The view from Artxandako is a must-see. Just a short uphill funicular ride from the city centre, the views are beautiful and it costs only 44 cents for a one-way journey on the Barik card. You only need to tap on. If you don't have a card, it's 3.5 euros for a one-way trip or 6 euros roundtrip.
	Metro Ride Bilbao's metro is clean and easy to use. You tap on to enter a station and tap off when you exit. For a trip out to Getxo to see the historic Bizkaia Bridge, you can take either Line 1 to Areeta or Line 2 to Portugalete from the city centre. These 2 stations are in zone 2 while the old town is in zone 1. From either station, you need to walk a number of blocks to get to the waterfront. I decided to go to Portugalete first, cross the bridge, then leave from Areeta. This was a good route because from Portugalete, it's a long downhill walk to the water, while it is a flat walk to Areeta. A single journey for this trip across 2 zones was only 71 cents.
	Euskotren Train Gernika, Mundaka, and Bermeo are a good three-town day trip out of Bilbao. These towns are all on Euskotren Line E4 and in zone 4. Similar to the metro, you tap on to enter the station and tap off to exit. The fare from the old town in zone 1 to zone 4 costs 1.14 euros on the Barik card or 3.4 euros otherwise. Since these towns are all within zone 4, travelling between them counts as a 1 zone fare, which is only 61 cents each on the Barik card or 2 euros otherwise.