July is a decent shoulder option for Bilbao: fewer crowds, some trade-offs. Expect daytime highs around 25°C, nights near 16°C and roughly 8 rainy days across the month. Warm rather than hot at around 25C, with the coast and the beaches at Getxo an easy metro ride away. The huge BBK Live festival fills the city for a few days, so rooms spike around it; otherwise it is a fine, lively month.
Day high
25°C
Night low
16°C
Rainy days
≈ 8
Verdict
Fair
July is quieter, which makes it the right month to afford the splurge picks.
Special occasions€€€Design hotel facing the Guggenheim · Abando and the Ensanche
A playful design hotel by Javier Mariscal set directly opposite the Guggenheim, its atrium built around a tall column of stacked pebbles. The rooftop terrace and many of the front rooms look straight across at Gehry's titanium museum.
from ~220 EUR/night
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First visit€€Grand belle-epoque hotel · Abando and the Ensanche
The historic 1926 grand hotel on the circular Plaza Moyua, crowned by a stained-glass domed lobby and once home to visiting artists and heads of state. It sits central to everything, a flat walk from both the Guggenheim and the old town.
from ~150 EUR/night
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Couples€€Old town design hotel · Casco Viejo (Old Town)
A design hotel carved out of a restored heritage building in the Casco Viejo, near the cathedral and the Ribera market. Exposed old stone and beams meet contemporary rooms, with the pintxos bars a step from the door.
from ~130 EUR/night
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Budget€Riverside design hostel · Bilbao la Vieja (San Francisco)
A bright, design-led hostel in the arty Bilbao la Vieja district by the river, mixing dorms with private rooms. The location puts the cheap ethnic restaurants and music bars of San Francisco on the doorstep and the old town over the bridge.
from ~24 EUR/night
Check pricesReal hotel photos · prices are indicative from-rates, not live quotes · booking links support the site at no extra cost
With highs around 25°C, July is outdoor weather: prioritize viewpoints, parks and long walks.
Artxanda Funicular and Viewpoint
TipThe little funicular has climbed Mount Artxanda since 1915 and lifts you to a hilltop park with the best panorama over the whole city and the river bowl. The bottom station is a short walk north of the Zubizuri bridge, the ride takes about three minutes, and a return ticket is a few euros; go up an hour before sunset for the light, and there are restaurants at the top if you want to linger.
Plaza Nueva
TipPlaza Nueva is the grand arcaded neoclassical square in the old town, ringed with pintxos bars under its colonnades and busy every evening. It is free and always open; come on a Sunday morning for the flea market of coins, stamps, books and plants, and try the arcade bars for classic Bilbao pintxos like the gilda skewer, cheaper just off the square than on it.
Azkuna Zentroa (Alhondiga)
TipThis former wine warehouse was gutted and reborn as a culture centre by Philippe Starck, who filled the entrance atrium with 43 columns each carved in a different style and topped the building with a glass-bottomed rooftop pool. The ground-floor atrium, cafe and exhibition spaces are free to wander during opening hours; the rooftop pool is for gym members, but you can see its glass base lit up from the atrium below.
Vizcaya Bridge (Puente Colgante)
TipThe Vizcaya Bridge of 1893, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is the world's oldest transporter bridge, shuttling a hanging gondola of cars and people across the river mouth between Getxo and Portugalete. Crossing on the gondola costs small change and runs every few minutes; for a few euros more you can ride the lift and walk the high 45-metre-up walkway for the view, weather permitting. Reach it on the metro to Areeta.
Ready to plan the full trip? Start from the 2-day Bilbao itinerary.
July is a decent shoulder option for Bilbao: fewer crowds, some trade-offs. Expect daytime highs around 25°C, nights near 16°C and roughly 8 rainy days across the month. Warm rather than hot at around 25C, with the coast and the beaches at Getxo an easy metro ride away. The huge BBK Live festival fills the city for a few days, so rooms spike around it; otherwise it is a fine, lively month.
Typical July days in Bilbao reach about 25°C, dropping to around 16°C at night. Layers work best.
Count on roughly 8 days with rain in July. Rain rarely lasts all day, so plans hold up well.