Museo Marítimo Itsasmuseum Bilbao
Maritime museum on the Bilbao estuary (ría) in the former Euskalduna shipyards, with galleries on the port and shipbuilding and historic boats outdoors.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
For many years the museum was known as the Museo Marítimo Ría de Bilbao, and it adopted its current name, Itsasmuseum Bilbao, in 2019 on the occasion of its fifteenth anniversary. It was founded in 2003 and opened on 20 November that year in the Indautxu district, on the site of the former Euskalduna shipyards, next to the bridge and the Palacio Euskalduna. The complex covers around 27,000 m² across the interior and an outdoor esplanade with the dry docks of the old shipyard.
The permanent route presents the sea as part of the Basque heritage and is organised into thematic galleries: the territory and the estuary, the commercial and industrial port, wooden and steel shipbuilding, navigation and merchant ships, and leisure and water sports, with spaces dedicated to rowing and surfing. Other galleries deal with maritime rescue and the health of the oceans, and there is an educational room and a stained-glass window.
The museum's emblem is the Carola crane, a stork crane built between 1954 and 1957 that became the most powerful lifting machine in Spain; it stopped working in 1984, when the shipyards closed. Historic vessels are preserved outside, including the bonitera (tuna boat) Nuevo Antxustegi, donated in 1998 and restored. In 2024 the museum received 77,954 visitors.
Highlights
- The Carola crane, emblem of the museum and of the shipyards
- Dry docks of the former Euskalduna shipyard
- The bonitera Nuevo Antxustegi and other historic vessels
- Galleries on wooden and steel shipbuilding
- Spaces dedicated to rowing and surfing
Permanent exhibitions
- Exposición permanente – A tour of Bizkaia's maritime history: the estuary, the port, wooden and steel shipbuilding, navigation, water sports and the health of the oceans.
- Zona exterior y diques secos – Outdoor esplanade with the dry docks of the former shipyard and historic vessels.
- Founded
- 2003
- Visitors per year
- approx. 77,954 (2024)
Admission & discounts
| Adults | €10 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | €5People over 65, students, people with a certified disability of 33% or more, and parents of large families visiting the museum with their family |
| Children & teens | freefree up to age 17 · Children under 18 have free admission (at the ticket office only). |
| Seniors | €5People over 65. |
| Visitors with disabilities | €5companion free · With a certified disability of 33% or more; the companion enters free. |
| Students & apprentices | €5 |
| Groups (15+ people) | –Groups of at least 15 people: school groups on a self-guided visit €2 per person; educational workshops €3.50; associations and other groups €3; self-guided visits without advance booking €3.50. |
Free admission: Tuesdays for people registered in Bizkaia (with DNI, Spanish identity card); Sundays from 17:00 for all visitors. Ticket office only.
Free admission at the ticket office also applies to unemployed people, local teachers, official local guides and journalists on work visits, with the relevant documentation. The audio guide can be downloaded for free from the website.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair accessible
- Elevator
- Accessible restroom
- Accessible parking: no information
- Service dogs welcome: no information
- Tactile models & exhibits
- Sign language tours
- Easy-to-read materials
- Audio description: no information
Accessible entrance from the street and wide circulation spaces. Two lifts link the floors, suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs and with audible announcements. Accessible toilets on both floors, with a baby-changing table in the ground-floor toilets. Free wheelchairs and several folding chairs are lent at the ticket office; there is also a tactile plan of the main floor and an accessible self-guided visit in easy-read format. Induction loops at the ticket office and in the auditorium. Guided tours can be given with a Spanish Sign Language interpreter.
Kids & families
Great for kids & families
| Kids’ admission | free up to age 17 |
|---|
- Family tours & workshops
- Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
- Stroller-friendly
- Baby changing facilities
- Kids’ birthday parties
Workshops and guided tours for children and families, the games folder “Un mar de retos” (free at the ticket office, with a personalised diploma) and a fold-out map with six highlighted pieces. Maritime-themed birthday parties for children aged 6 to 9 on Saturdays or Sundays from 17:00 to 19:30, €10 per child (€15 with a snack); bookings on 946 085 512.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Euskalduna (tranvía)
Metro: San Mamés station, Sabino Arana exit. Tram: Euskalduna stop. Bus: Sagrado Corazón stop, lines 56, 62 and A3.
By car
Parking available · 50 m to the entrance
Parking Euskalduna, about 50 metres from the museum.
Bilbao airport is about 15 minutes from the city centre, with a bus service.
Get directionsAmenities & dining
The website links to the museum's online shop.
Events & venue rental
- Spaces for rent
The museum rents its spaces for events and congresses, for example the multipurpose room.
Inquiries & detailsPlan your visit
| Guided tours | yes |
|---|---|
| Audio guide | yes |
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | Free audio guide, downloadable from the website, with 25 sections. Guided tours and workshops are available for groups and schools, and there is an escape room activity, “Bilbao 1803” (for people over 16), which requires advance booking. |
