San Sebastián, Hendaye and the tram network of Vitoria-Gasteiz all sit outside Bizkaia, and all three accept the same travel pass used to enter the Bilbao metro. So do a UNESCO bridge, two funiculars, a passenger boat and four car parks.
Sixteen services, four families, one card
What the Barik covers is grouped into four categories by the Consorcio de Transportes de Bizkaia, and the list runs well past what “public transport” normally means.
Under rail sit Metro Bilbao, EuskoTren, the tram and Renfe/Feve, the last of these only with a Barik Kide title. Under buses, eight operators: Bizkaibus, Bilbobus, Etxebarri Bus, Erandio Bus, K-Bus in Barakaldo, Lejoan Busa in Leioa, Sopelbus in Sopela and Galdabusa in Galdakao.
The third family is the unexpected one. Filed under cable are the Vizcaya Bridge, the Ereaga lift in Getxo, the Artxanda funicular and the Larreineta funicular. The same card that opens a metro gate crosses a UNESCO World Heritage monument and climbs two mountains.
The fourth, other services, holds the Portugalete passenger boats and the park-and-ride car parks at Leioa, Etxebarri, Ibarbengoa and BEC.
What do I need to get around Bilbao and Bizkaia? A Barik card, which costs €3, holds up to €90 and works across sixteen services in Bizkaia. With it Bilbobus costs €0.73, the tram €0.74, the metro from €1.02 and Bizkaibus €1.02 in zone 1 rising to €2.45 in zone 5. An anonymous card covers ten people at once.
The card picks the cheaper title for you
A Barik holds the stored-value title and one additional period pass at the same time, and it applies whichever suits each journey best, according to the Consorcio de Transportes de Bizkaia. There is nothing to select at the gate.
The stored-value ceiling is €90. More useful for a returning visitor: the balance lasts as long as the card, with a four-year minimum, and cards sold now carry a seven-year validity. Money left on a card after one trip is still there for the next.
Thirty-day period passes exist but almost never suit a visit: they are priced for commuters and need dozens of journeys to repay. For a short stay the stored-value title is the only sensible option, and the sums are small.
Work a typical three-day trip and it comes to this. Six city bus rides at €0.73 and two metro trips to the coast at €1.30 total €7.00, against €12.80 paying singles. Add the €3 card and you are still €2.80 ahead before the funicular, which alone saves €2.77 a ride.
Five zones, and the operator sets the price
Bizkaia divides into five fare zones, and what a journey costs depends on two things at once: how many zones you cross and which operator carries you. Treating those as one thing is where budgets go wrong.
Bilbao is zone 1. Zone 2 takes in the immediate metropolitan ring, with Getxo, Barakaldo, Portugalete, Santurtzi, Erandio, Basauri and Galdakao. Zone 3 reaches the coast at Sopela, Plentzia and Gorliz, plus Muskiz, Mungia and Balmaseda. Zone 4 covers Urdaibai and Durangaldea, with Bermeo, Mundaka, Gernika-Lumo, Bakio and Durango. Zone 5 runs out to Lekeitio, Ondarroa and the eastern coast.
On top of those zones each operator applies its own ladder. The metro charges €1.02, €1.19 and €1.30 for one, two or three zones. Bizkaibus, leaving Bilbao, charges €1.02 within zone 1 and €2.45 out to zone 5. The tram and the six municipal buses use no zones at all.
| Service | Pricing system | With Creditrans on Barik |
|---|---|---|
| Metro Bilbao | By zones crossed | €1.02 / €1.19 / €1.30 |
| Bizkaibus from Bilbao | Origin-destination matrix | €1.02 to €2.45 |
| Bilbobus city bus | Single municipal zone | €0.73 |
| Bilbao tram | Flat fare | €0.74 |
| Artxanda funicular | Flat fare | €0.73 |
| Municipal buses | Flat fare per town | €0.50 to €0.75 |
How much the card saves against a single ticket on each operator is worked through in the guide to the Barik card.
Six municipal buses share the same system
Six of the eight bus operators belong to individual town councils, each with its own flat fare inside its own municipality. They are the missing piece when the question is how to cover the last kilometre from a station.
Their Creditrans fares, as published by the Consorcio de Transportes de Bizkaia, run Etxebarri Bus at €0.50, Erandio Bus from €0.50 on its first band to €1.02 on its fourth, K-Bus in Barakaldo at €0.75, Lejoan Busa in Leioa at €0.61, Sopelbus in Sopela at €0.60 and Galdabusa in Galdakao at €0.60.
Five of the six undercut Bilbobus itself, at €0.73. For a visitor they matter in one specific situation: the final stretch from a metro station to a destination, such as the Sopelbus link between Larrabasterra and the sand, covered in the guide to Sopelana beach.
How far the card works outside Bizkaia
The Barik does not stop at the provincial boundary, and this is its least advertised advantage. Six uses outside Bizkaia turn an urban transport card into an inter-provincial one.
It is valid on the Euskotren main line between Bilbao, San Sebastián and Hendaye, meaning it crosses the whole of Gipuzkoa and reaches the French border. It also works on the Vitoria-Gasteiz tram, on that city’s urban buses, on the Alavabus regional network, on DBUS in San Sebastián and on the Bilbao to Vitoria coach operated by La Unión.
Put plainly: a card bought for €3 from a machine in the Bilbao metro pays for a city bus in San Sebastián and a tram in Vitoria. Three provinces on one piece of plastic.
Anonymous or personalised
The choice between the two card types decides more than it appears to. The anonymous card is white, carries no name or photo, is transferable, and allows up to ten people to travel together. It can be registered at a customer office so the balance survives loss or theft.
The personalised card carries a photo and is usable only by its holder. It is required for monthly passes and for the special profiles: large family discounts of 20 % or 50 %, the Bilbotrans profile belonging to Bilbao City Council, the Giza profile for over-65s and people with a disability of 65 % or more, and the Gazte profile for under-26s registered in Bizkaia.
Anonymous cards come from ticket machines in metro, Renfe, Euskotren and tram stations, from the tourist office at Plaza Circular, from the Vizcaya Bridge and Larreineta funicular installations, from Bilbobus and Bizkaibus ticket booths, and from over 450 shops displaying the Barik sign. Personalised cards require a visit to a customer office; in Bilbao there are four, at San Mamés, Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo, Bilbobus and Renfe.
Frequently asked questions about getting around Bizkaia
Can two people share one Barik card?
Yes, if it is the anonymous version. The Consorcio de Transportes de Bizkaia states the anonymous card is transferable and allows up to 10 people travelling together to validate one after another. The personalised card, which carries a photo, is for its holder only.
Does the Barik card work outside Bizkaia?
In two neighbouring provinces. It is valid on the Euskotren main line to San Sebastián and Hendaye, on the Vitoria-Gasteiz tram and city buses, on Alavabus, on San Sebastián’s DBUS network and on the Bilbao to Vitoria coach run by La Unión.
How long does credit on a Barik card last?
As long as the card itself, with a minimum of four years. The Consorcio de Transportes de Bizkaia notes that cards sold now carry a seven-year validity, so any balance left over survives comfortably between two trips to Bilbao.
Do I need a different ticket for the bus, the metro and the funicular?
No. One Barik card covers sixteen services across four families, including the metro, eight bus operators, the Vizcaya Bridge gondola, both funiculars, the Portugalete boats and the park-and-ride car parks at Leioa, Etxebarri, Ibarbengoa and BEC.
Is the card worth it for a two-day trip?
Usually yes. Six city bus rides and two metro trips to the coast cost about €7.00 on the card against €12.80 in single tickets, so the €3 card repays itself within the first day and the balance stays valid for years afterwards.
Where can I buy a Barik card on arrival?
At ticket machines in metro, Renfe, Euskotren and tram stations, at the Vizcaya Bridge and the Larreineta funicular, at the tourist office on Plaza Circular, at Bilbobus and Bizkaibus ticket booths, and at over 450 shops carrying the Barik sign.
Sixteen services, three provinces, one piece of plastic. The system is complicated; using it is not.