Akademy/2013/Public transport

This page explains how to arrive in Bilbao and how to move throughout it.

Arriving by plane

The airport of Bilbao-Loiu is 15Km far from the city centre and it is connected via a bus line. The service A3247 of the company Bizkaibus leaves the airport every 20 minutes from 6:20a.m. to 12:00 midnight (hh:20-hh:40-hh:00). The tickets are for sale in the bus at 1.4€. It has four stops in Bilbao and the last one is in Termibus, the central bus station, beside the Faculty of Engineering.

Another way of moving to Bilbao is taking a taxi, what costs around 30€. There always are in arrival terminal, however, here are the telephone numbers:

AIRPORT: (+0034) 944 530 991
RADIO TAXI Bilbao: (+0034) 944 448 888
RADIO TAXI Nervion: (+0034) 944 269 026
LAGUN TAXI (for handicapped people): (+0034) 907 478 064
TELE TAXI: (+0034) 944 102 121
WIFI-TAXI: (+0034) 693 777 774 . Providing wifi and other amenities for 28€.

It is important to keep in mind that the airport's opening hours go from 5:30a.m. to 12:00 midnight.

For further information:

Arriving by train

There are three different train stations in Bilbao, each one belonging to a different company. Nevertheless, the most important is Abando-Indalecio Prieto which has connections to all major cities of Spain, including Barcelona and Madrid. It is located in the very Centre of Bilbao, next to the main street (Gran Via), besides, it is connected with the subway, called in Spanish “metro” and 50 metres far from the tram station, both named “Abando”. Moreover, most of the city buses Bilbobus stop outside Abando-Indalecio Prieto.

The other train stations are run by FEVE which is adjacent to Abando and connects with Santander; and by Euskotren, whose station “Atxuri” is the end point of the tram.

Moving inside Bilbao

Bilbao is quite a small city where all the important sites are rather close, so visitors could go all over them in less than an hour walk. However, it also has a good public transport network, consisting of the underground, Bilbobus buses and the tram.

Underground Metro

Important: Metro Bilbao as the sponsor transport company, will provide all attendees with a card valid for days of Akademy, free of charge.

The metro in Bilbao is formed by two lines that have a common route in the city centre. In regard to the venues of Akademy, the most important stations are:

San Mames corresponding to the University and Termibus bus station. Once in the station pay attention because there are two exits. In San Mames choose “c/Luis Briñas”.
Moyua, the nearest stop to Bizkaia Aretoa. In Moyua take the “Ercilla-Guggenheim” exit.

The following link shows in the map how to get to Bizkaia Aretoa from Moyua [1].

The Metro is a good way for going sightseeing as well, since it leads to the coast (maybe a so long trip is not included for free. Check it with the organizers).

It is relevant that on weekdays last services are about 11pm. On friday at 2 am. Night from saturday to sunday: every 30 min.

All information about lines, timetable and tickets is available in their webpage [2]

Tram and Bus

Apart from metro, you can also take tram and bus. For these and in case of doing many journeys in a day or a card called Barik. This costs 5€ and then must be replenished in order to use it. The good point of this option is that it can be shared by many passengers and can be used in both bus, tram, and also the underground and the train. All of them are sold in the machines located in every station. Until recently there used to be Creditrans, a card with 5€, 10€ or 15€ to spend in any public transport.

One trip by bus costs 1.25 €. With Barik 0.62 €. One trip by metro 1.50 €. With Barik 0.80 €.

This prices are to move inside bilbao. Metro subway has differents zones. If you plan to go to (for example) getxo for the jazz festival:

metro zone 2: One trip by metro 1.65 €. With Barik 0.97 €.

Or if you want to go to splash reggae (metro to plentzia and after that you may need to take a bus): metro zone 3: One trip by metro 1.75 €. With Barik 1.08 €.