Home › Food tours › Bilbao
Food tours in Bilbao: what to eat and which tour to book
Bilbao eats standing up. Bar counters in the old town (Casco Viejo) and the Ensanche are covered with pintxos, small bites on bread or skewers, and the local habit is to move from bar to bar with a small glass of txakoli (the slightly sparkling Basque white), wine or beer. Behind the counters are serious Basque staples: salt cod in pil-pil sauce, tuna and potato stew, anchovies from the Cantabrian coast, grilled beef chops and Idiazabal sheep's cheese. The Ribera Market on the river is Europe's largest covered food market by floor area.
Use this page to decide what to order and where. The dishes and areas below say what each part of the city does well and when to go. The tours are real listings on GetYourGuide with prices as seen in search results when we checked (often shown in US dollars); prices and group sizes change, so confirm on the booking page before you pay.
What to eat in Bilbao
| Dish | What it is | Where to eat it | Typical price* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pintxos | Small bites set out on the bar (cold) or cooked to order from a chalkboard (hot): anchovies, peppers, croquettes, mushroom, foie, octopus. You take one or two per bar with a drink and move on. | Plaza Nueva and the Siete Calles of the Casco Viejo, and Calle Ledesma and Indautxu in the Ensanche. | roughly €2.50–4 for a cold pintxo, €3.50–6 for a hot one cooked to order |
| Gilda | Skewer of a salted anchovy, a green olive and pickled guindilla chilli peppers; the original Basque pintxo. | Almost every bar in the old town; best with a glass of txakoli. | about €2–3 |
| Salt cod in pil-pil bacalao al pil-pil | Desalted cod cooked slowly in olive oil with garlic and chilli, shaken until the gelatine from the fish turns the oil into a pale emulsion. Also served 'a la vizcaína' in a red dried-pepper sauce. | Traditional restaurants in the Casco Viejo and as a pintxo in many bars. | roughly €4–6 as a pintxo, €18–25 a main course |
| Tuna and potato stew marmitako | Fishermen's stew of bonito tuna, potato, peppers and onion; a summer dish, when bonito is in season (roughly June to September). | Traditional restaurants and as part of a weekday menú del día. | roughly €12–18 a bowl, less as part of a menú del día |
| Fried squid strips rabas | Strips of squid in light batter, fried and served with lemon; a weekend aperitivo habit. | Bars in the Casco Viejo and Ensanche, especially at Sunday midday. | roughly €7–12 a ración |
| Spanish omelette pintxo pintxo de tortilla | A wedge of potato omelette, often runny in the middle; some bars are known locally for it. | Bars all over the city, mostly in the morning and at aperitivo time. | about €2.50–4 |
| Grilled beef chop txuleta | Thick bone-in rib steak from older cattle, grilled over charcoal and served rare with salt; shared between two or more. | Asadores and grill restaurants in the city and in the hills around it. | roughly €45–70 per kilo; a chop for two is often 1–1.2 kg |
| Bilbao rice cake pastel de arroz | Small tart of puff pastry filled with a custard set with rice flour; the city's everyday pastry, despite the name there is no rice grain in it. | Pastry shops (pastelerías) across the city, especially in the Casco Viejo and Ensanche. | about €2–3 |
Where to eat: markets and neighbourhoods
Mercado de la Ribera
Covered riverside market from 1929 next to the San Antón church, with over 60 stalls for fish, meat, cheese, produce and mushrooms, plus a ground-floor food hall with pintxo bars.
Plaza Nueva
Arcaded 19th-century square in the Casco Viejo lined with pintxo bars; a Sunday morning flea market brings locals out for an aperitivo afterwards.
Casco Viejo (Siete Calles)
The seven original medieval streets around the cathedral, packed with small bars doing classic pintxos, txakoli and cider. Good for a pintxo crawl on foot.
Ensanche and Indautxu (Calle Ledesma, Calle García Rivero)
The 19th-century expansion district where office workers go after work; Calle Ledesma is lined with bars and terraces, and Indautxu has more polished, modern pintxo bars.
Bilbao La Vieja and San Francisco
Across the river from the old town, a mixed, younger area with cheaper bars, international food and newer places. Rougher around the edges than the Casco Viejo.
Food tours in Bilbao compared
Every tour below is a real listing on GetYourGuide or Viator, checked on 2 Oct 2026. Prices move with season and group size, so treat them as a guide and confirm on the booking page.
| Tour | Length | Price* | Group | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilbao Food Tour with Pintxos & Drinks with a Local | 3.5 hours | about €90–100 per adult (seen as $104–115) | max 12 | First-timers who want the tour to replace dinner and learn how to order in a pintxo bar. | Check dates |
| Bilbao: Exclusive Food & Wine Tasting Tour with Local Guide | 3 hours | from €96 per person | max 6 | Wine drinkers and travellers who want a very small group. | Check dates |
| The Original Bilbao Food Tour with Wine Pairings | 3 hours | from €103 per person | — | Hungry travellers who want the most food and drink in one evening. | Check dates |
| Bilbao: Historic Sightseeing Tour where Poteo, Cod, and Txakoli Take Center Stage | 2 hours | from €40 per person | max 10 | Budget travellers who want history first and a taste of the bar culture, not a full meal. | Check dates |
| Bilbao: Traditional Basque Pintxos Cooking Class | 2.5 hours | from €80 per person | — | Couples and families, rainy days, and anyone who wants to make pintxos at home. | Check dates |
Bilbao Food Tour with Pintxos & Drinks with a Local
On GetYourGuide · run by Do Eat Better Experience
- Length
- 3.5 hours
- Price
- about €90–100 per adult (seen as $104–115)
- Rating
- 4.7 ★ from 60 reviews (on 2 Oct 2026)
- Group size
- max 12
- Included
- A full meal of pintxos across 4+ stops, such as croquetas, anchovies, cod and tortilla, with local drinks including cider.
- Suits
- First-timers who want the tour to replace dinner and learn how to order in a pintxo bar.
- Starts
- San Nikolas eliza
Bilbao: Exclusive Food & Wine Tasting Tour with Local Guide
On GetYourGuide · run by Tourné Bilbao
- Length
- 3 hours
- Price
- from €96 per person
- Rating
- 4.9 ★ from 380 reviews (on 2 Oct 2026)
- Group size
- max 6
- Included
- 6 pintxos and 4 drinks, including txakoli and Rioja, with traditional and modern pintxos.
- Suits
- Wine drinkers and travellers who want a very small group.
- Starts
- Meet at the local partners store (Tourne Bilbao) at Villarías street, 1, 48001, Bilbao
The Original Bilbao Food Tour with Wine Pairings
On GetYourGuide · run by The Best of Basque
- Length
- 3 hours
- Price
- from €103 per person
- Rating
- 4.9 ★ from 227 reviews (on 2 Oct 2026)
- Included
- 5 bars with 8–9 pintxos and 5 drinks.
- Suits
- Hungry travellers who want the most food and drink in one evening.
- Starts
- KFC
Bilbao: Historic Sightseeing Tour where Poteo, Cod, and Txakoli Take Center Stage
On GetYourGuide · run by GTH TRAVEL
- Length
- 2 hours
- Price
- from €40 per person
- Rating
- 5.0 ★ from 5 reviews (on 2 Oct 2026)
- Group size
- max 10
- Included
- A sightseeing walk built around poteo (the bar-hopping habit), cod and txakoli; check the listing for how many tastings are included.
- Suits
- Budget travellers who want history first and a taste of the bar culture, not a full meal.
- Starts
- Casco Viejo (check listing)
Bilbao: Traditional Basque Pintxos Cooking Class
On GetYourGuide · run by Gastronomía Bilbao
- Length
- 2.5 hours
- Price
- from €80 per person
- Rating
- 4.8 ★ from 70 reviews (on 2 Oct 2026)
- Included
- Hands-on class in a cooking school making traditional and modern pintxos, tasting 4 pintxos you cook plus Idiazabal cheese, with 3 drinks per person.
- Suits
- Couples and families, rainy days, and anyone who wants to make pintxos at home.
- Starts
- Please meet us by the small gourmet shop we have in our venue where the check-in for the experience will take place!
Some links on this page are partner links. If you book through them TonyPlan earns a small commission — the price you pay is exactly the same.
Street food, sit-down or a cooking class?
Street food
Bilbao has almost no street food; the pintxo bar fills that role. Cold pintxos sit on the counter and you help yourself or point; hot ones are listed on a board and cooked to order. Eat one or two per bar with a small drink (a 'zurito' of beer or a txakoli) and move on.
Sit-down meals
For a sit-down meal, the weekday menú del día (roughly €14–20 with wine) is the best value. Asadores serve txuleta and grilled fish for a long lunch, and old-town restaurants do bacalao and marmitako. Lunch is from about 13:30 and dinner from 21:00; book at weekends.
Cooking classes
Classes focus on pintxos, with longer options covering Basque dishes such as bacalao, served as a meal with wine. They run about 2.5–3.5 hours in modern cooking schools in the centre. Good for learning which pintxos are classic before you go bar-hopping.
How much to budget for food
| Style | Per person, per day* |
|---|---|
| Budget (street food, markets) | €30–40 (café breakfast, menú del día lunch, a few pintxos in the evening) |
| Mid-range (one sit-down meal a day) | €55–75 (a pintxo crawl and a sit-down dinner with wine) |
| Splurge (tasting menus, wine) | €150+ (tasting menu or an asador with txuleta and good wine) |
Vegetarian, halal and gluten-free
Vegetarian & vegan: Possible but needs care. Pintxos of peppers, mushrooms, tortilla, cheese and pisto (vegetable stew) are common, but many vegetable pintxos have anchovy, tuna or ham on them, and croquettes are often ham or cod. Vegan is hard in traditional bars; Bilbao La Vieja has more options.
Halal: Halal butchers and kebab shops exist, mainly in San Francisco and Bilbao La Vieja; halal pintxo bars are rare. Ham and chorizo are common on pintxos, so ask. Fish-based pintxos (cod, anchovy, tuna) are the easy route.
Gluten-free: Many pintxos sit on bread, but bars can often serve the topping without it, and a growing number mark gluten-free pintxos. Fried items (croquettes, rabas) are risky because of flour and shared fryers. Spain's coeliac association lists accredited places.
Food scams and tourist traps to avoid
- Bilbao has few food scams; the main trap is losing track of what you ate and drank at a busy counter, then being charged a rough estimate. Keep your toothpicks and plates, tell the bartender what you had, and pay as you go at each bar rather than running up a tab.
- Cold pintxos that have been sitting on the counter for hours in tourist-heavy bars around Plaza Nueva. Go at the start of aperitivo (about 12:30 or 19:30) when trays are fresh, and order hot pintxos from the board, cooked to order.
- Txuleta and fish priced per kilo, giving a much bigger bill than expected. Ask the weight of the chop or fish and the total before it goes on the grill.
- Terrace surcharges on Plaza Nueva and by the Guggenheim, where drinks cost more outside than at the bar. Check the menu for terrace prices, or eat standing at the counter as locals do.
Top tours & activities in Bilbao
Rent a car in Bilbao
Compare rental cars from local and international companies, with free cancellation on most bookings.
Compare car rentals in BilbaoPlan the rest of your Bilbao trip
Staying near the markets saves time and taxi money — most food tours start in the old centre.
Common questions
How do I order pintxos in Bilbao?
Ask for a drink first, then take a plate and help yourself to cold pintxos from the counter, or ask the bartender. Hot pintxos are written on a board and cooked to order, so ask for them by name. Keep track of what you had and pay at each bar before moving on. One or two pintxos per bar is normal.
Do I need to tip in Bilbao?
Tipping is not expected the way it is in the US. In bars, people leave small change or nothing. After a good sit-down meal, rounding up or leaving roughly 5–10% is common. Service is not usually added to the bill. On food tours, guides appreciate €5–10 per person if you enjoyed it.
What is pintxo-pote?
A weekly evening when bars in a neighbourhood offer a drink and a pintxo together at a low fixed price, roughly €2–3.50. In Bilbao it is usually on Thursday evenings in areas such as Indautxu and the Ensanche, with other neighbourhoods on different days. Ask at your hotel which streets take part, as it changes.
When is the Ribera Market open?
The market stalls open Monday to Saturday mornings, roughly 8:00 to 14:30, with some stalls opening again on weekday afternoons. The food hall with pintxo bars on the ground floor keeps longer hours. The market is closed on Sunday; go on a weekday morning to see the fish stalls at their best.
How much should I budget for food per day?
Around €30–40 covers a café breakfast, a weekday menú del día lunch with wine and a few pintxos in the evening. A mid-range day with a pintxo crawl and a sit-down dinner is about €55–75. Michelin-starred tasting menus in and around Bilbao usually start well above €100 before wine.
Which food tour is best for a first visit?
Book an evening pintxo tour early in your stay; it teaches you how to order and which bars to return to. Choose a small group (6–12) if you want time to talk to the guide. If you prefer to learn by cooking, the pintxos cooking class covers the classic bites and suits a rainy day, which Bilbao has plenty of.
* Prices are approximate, gathered on 2 Oct 2026 from menus, markets and the booking pages linked above. They change with season and exchange rates.