Bilbao nightlife starts at the bar, not the club. Locals do the txikiteo, moving between pintxo bars with a zurito or a small glass of wine, in the Casco Viejo, on Calle Ledesma and along Pozas. The late part is smaller than in Madrid or Barcelona: a handful of live rooms that turn into clubs after midnight, such as Kafe Antzokia, Back&Stage and Cotton Club, plus Fever in an industrial estate at Bolueta. Most close around 06:00 on Friday and Saturday, and gig tickets usually cost €10–35. Worth knowing: the metro runs all night from Saturday into Sunday, but on Friday it stops around 02:00.
Ranked by popularity. Tap a card for opening hours, door tips, getting there and tickets.
For the drinks before and after. Hours, prices and the best nights are on each page.
The night starts with pintxos, and for many people it ends there. The txikiteo is the local way out: a small drink and a pintxo in one bar, then the next. Plaza Nueva, the Siete Calles and Calle Ledesma are busiest between 19:00 and 23:00 from Thursday to Saturday.
The clubs are mostly live rooms that stay open late. Kafe Antzokia, Back&Stage, Sala Azkena and Cotton Club put on gigs in the evening and stay open long after the band. We did not find a weekly techno club in the centre that we could verify for 2026; the Friday electronic nights at Kafe Antzokia are the nearest thing.
Saturday is the big night, partly because of the metro. Trains run all night from Saturday into Sunday, so you can stay until closing and ride home. On Friday the metro stops around 02:00, and after that it is a Gautxori night bus or a taxi.
The best part of a Bilbao night costs a few euros a stop. Plaza Nueva alone has enough bars for a full evening.
Kafe Antzokia, Bilborock, Sala Azkena, Stage Live and Santana 27 have gigs most weeks, from touring indie bands to Basque punk.
Basquery brews on site, Penguin pours from 16 taps and La Ley Seca stocks cans and bottles from across the Basque Country.
Tardeo is big here. Back&Stage starts on Saturday at 18:00, and Moma runs a Saturday afternoon party from 18:00 to midnight.
On Athletic Club match days Pozas fills with fans in red and white before and after the game at San Mamés.
BBK Live in July and Aste Nagusia in August are the two weeks when the whole city stays out late.
Not for you if you want a big techno weekend. The late scene is small, built on live rooms and commercial nights, and much of the best of it happens before midnight.
Pintxos and zuritos in the Casco Viejo or on Calle Ledesma. The bars stay busy until about 23:00.
Gigs start at Kafe Antzokia, Sala Azkena, Stage Live and Bilborock.
Late bars in Bilbao La Vieja, Abando and Indautxu. Cotton Club has been open since 20:30.
Club nights start at Kafe Antzokia, Back&Stage and Fever.
Last metro on a Friday. On Saturday the trains keep running all night.
Closing at most clubs. Cotton Club goes on until 06:30.
Gure Toki, Sorginzulo and Antxoa Taberna share the arcaded square. One pintxo and one small drink per bar, then move on.
A former cinema on San Vicente, run as a Basque cultural centre. Concerts in the evening, DJs from midnight until 06:00 at the weekend.
Bilborock is the old La Merced church on the river, turned into a music venue by the city in the 1990s.
A 1,500-capacity venue in an industrial estate at Bolueta, with a club night until 06:00 on Saturday. The metro runs all night from Saturday into Sunday.
Nine days from the first Saturday after 15 August. The konpartsak run txosna bars and stages in El Arenal, with a fireworks contest every night. In 2026 it ran from 22 to 30 August.
Three days on Kobetamendi, the hill above the city, with up to 12 stages. The 2027 edition is on 8–10 July.
The Siete Calles, the original seven streets of the old town, plus Plaza Nueva. Pintxo bars under the arcades, rowdier bars on Calle Somera and Barrenkale. Metro Casco Viejo serves all three lines.
Across the river from the old town, with San Francisco next door. Bilborock, Bihotz Café and small bars with a younger, alternative crowd. San Francisco is one of the more run-down parts of the city, so stick to the busy streets late at night.
The centre of the 19th-century Ensanche: Kafe Antzokia and Sala Azkena for gigs, Basquery and Morrocotuda for beer, and the pintxo bars of Calle Ledesma. Metro Abando is minutes away.
Cotton Club has been on Gregorio de la Revilla since 1994 and stays open until 06:30 at the weekend. Sala Moma and Penguin are close by.
Licenciado Poza, on the way to San Mamés, has bars from one end to the other. It fills with Athletic fans on match days and with younger locals the rest of the week.
A riverside street on the Abando side of the estuary. Back&Stage runs two rooms here, Stage Live for gigs and BACKroom for DJ nights, until 06:00 on Friday and Saturday.
An industrial estate in the east of the city, home to Santana 27 and Fever. It is a metro ride from the centre, and the venue is the only reason to go.
Most late venues are live rooms with a relaxed door. Back&Stage says it has no strict dress code but recommends smart-casual, and some of its nights are 23+. Bring original ID everywhere. Loud, very drunk groups get a cold welcome: the city is still getting used to stag parties.
Pintxo bars are free to enter, and so is Sala Azkena when there is no concert. Gig tickets cost about €10–35: from €10 for some nights at Sala Azkena, €15–27 at Stage Live, and up to €45 for bigger names at Santana 27. Club-night prices are rarely published, so check the venue's ticket page before you go.
The metro runs from about 06:00 until around 23:15 Sunday to Thursday, and until about 02:00 on Friday. From Saturday into Sunday it runs all night, with fewer trains after 02:00. Bilbobus runs eight Gautxori night lines, G1 to G8, from Plaza Circular on Friday and Saturday nights; they take the Barik card only, not cash. During Aste Nagusia the metro runs around the clock for all nine days.
| Club or gig ticket | €10–35 |
| Beer in a club | €4–6 |
| Cocktail | €9–12 |
| Cloakroom | €2 |
| Metro, one zone | €1.70 (€0.48 with Barik) |
| Taxi across town | €10–15 |
| Pintxo | €2–4 |
| Hostel bed, weekend | €30–50 |
A pintxo crawl on Plaza Nueva, a free night at Sala Azkena and the Saturday metro home with a Barik card.
Pintxos, a €15–20 gig, a few drinks at the club afterwards and a metro or night bus home.
Dinner, a headline gig at Santana 27 or Kafe Antzokia, drinks until 06:00 and a taxi back.
The metro runs all night from Saturday into Sunday. On Friday the last trains leave around 02:00.
It costs €3, cuts a one-zone metro trip from €1.70 to €0.48, and it is the only way to pay on the Gautxori night buses.
The txikiteo works because you keep moving. Order a pintxo and a small drink, then try the next bar.
At Kafe Antzokia and Back&Stage the club night starts after the concert. If you only want to dance, arrive after midnight.
BBK Live and Aste Nagusia are the busiest weeks of the year, and beds go first.
Bilbao is still getting used to stag groups, and very drunk crowds are not welcome in most bars.
Bilbao received its town charter on 15 June 1300. The old town grew from three streets, Somera, Artekale and Tendería, into the Siete Calles by the 15th century.
Marijaia, a figure with her arms raised, has been the symbol of Aste Nagusia since 1978. Mari Puri Herrero built the first one in five days.
On 26 August 1983, in the middle of Aste Nagusia, the estuary rose by up to five metres in places and flooded the old town.
Bilborock occupies La Merced, a 17th-century church. The city turned it into a music venue in the 1990s.
Most close at 06:00 on Friday and Saturday. Kafe Antzokia and Back&Stage run to 06:00, Sala Azkena to 05:30 and Cotton Club to 06:30. On Thursday, Back&Stage closes at 04:30.
For pintxos, the Casco Viejo and Plaza Nueva. For gigs and late bars, Abando and Indautxu. For an alternative crowd, Bilbao La Vieja. Pozas is the street for football nights.
Only from Saturday into Sunday, with fewer trains after 02:00. On Friday it stops around 02:00, and from Sunday to Thursday around 23:15. During Aste Nagusia it runs around the clock for nine days.
Pintxo bars are free to enter and a pintxo costs a few euros. Gig tickets are usually €10–35, and a metro trip costs €1.70, or €0.48 with a Barik card.
Going from bar to bar for small glasses of wine, txikitos, with a pintxo at each stop. It is how most Bilbao nights start.
Rarely a strict one. Back&Stage recommends smart-casual and keeps the right to refuse entry. We found no published dress code at the live rooms.
See which clubs and bars are open right now, who is playing and where to get tickets. Live in four cities, with more on the way.
