Visitors arrive in Bilbao asking which day the Guggenheim is free. The answer is none of them. The question worth asking instead is when the current exhibition ends, because the final day of every show carries a 50% discount between 4pm and 7pm.
How much is a ticket to the Guggenheim Bilbao? An adult ticket to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao costs €18 and the reduced rate €9, audio guide included. It opens Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 7pm, and to 8pm from 15 June to 13 September. There is no free day: the last day of each exhibition takes 50% off from 4pm to 7pm.
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is the city’s modern and contemporary art museum, standing on the Abandoibarra riverfront.
The discount that follows the exhibition calendar
The one recurring reduction on the standard fare comes, according to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, on the last day of each exhibition, from 4pm to 7pm, at 50% off. Three hours in which an adult ticket drops to half price.
That changes how a visit is planned. It is not a weekday rule you can look up once; it depends on when the show you want to see closes, which means checking the exhibition calendar before fixing the date rather than after.
There is an honest counterweight. A closing day is also among the busiest, so the saving is paid for in queueing and in crowded rooms. For a tight budget it is worth it; for seeing the work in peace it is not.
Who pays what
Four price bands and two free categories, as published by the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. An adult ticket is €18. Students aged 18 to 26 and over-65s or pensioners pay €9. Under-18s and Friends of the Museum go in free.
Two conditions are worth reading before buying. Every ticket includes the audio guide, so there is no need to add it or book a guided tour to get commentary. And issued tickets are not refundable, with no exception for changed plans.
Reduced group rates start at 20 people and are arranged by phone on (+34) 944 35 90 80, between 9am and 2pm.
The museum itself advises buying through its official website to avoid ticket fraud. That is an institutional warning about resale, not a sales pitch.
| Visitor type | Price | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | €18 | None |
| Student aged 18 to 26 | €9 | Student ID |
| Over-65 or pensioner | €9 | Proof of age or pension |
| Under-18 | Free | None |
| Friend of the Museum | Free | Membership card |
| Group | Reduced | Minimum 20 people, phone booking |
The Mondays it does open
The base timetable is Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 7pm. Two windows push closing back to 8pm: Holy Week, from 30 March to 12 April, and summer, from 15 June to 13 September.
The rule that it shuts on Mondays carries a long list of exceptions, published date by date: every Monday from 15 June to 7 September, plus 30 March, 6 April, 12 October, and 7 and 28 December. Across most of the summer it therefore runs seven days a week.
Only two days are full closures, 25 December and 1 January, and two more close early at 5pm, on 24 and 31 December.
Anyone visiting in August gets the best combination in the calendar: open daily and closing an hour later than usual.
What the building itself costs you
The Guggenheim is one of the few museums where a large part of the experience is outdoors and free. The titanium exterior, Jeff Koons’s flower sculpture on the river side, Louise Bourgeois’s spider and the walk along Abandoibarra all sit outside the ticket line.
For a traveller on a tight day that matters: the exterior can be seen at any hour, in any season, at no cost, and the €18 buys the collection and the temporary exhibitions rather than the landmark itself.
Getting there without stairs
The museum sits on Abandoibarra, right on the estuary. The nearest station on Metro Bilbao is Moyua, on Lines 1 and 2, but the tram has a stop named Guggenheim and another at Abandoibarra a little further along.
That distinction matters in rain or with a pushchair. The tram runs at street level and stops at the door; from Moyua there is a walk downhill towards the water. Fares and routes for both are set out in the guide to Bilbao metro lines and the tram.
The natural pairing is the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, a walk away through Doña Casilda park, which is in the middle of changing both its building and its programme, as covered in the guide to the Fine Arts Museum reopening.
On travel cards, the Bilbao Bizkaia Card sold by Bilbao Turismo bundles transport with cultural admissions from €10 for 24 hours. Whether it beats a Barik card depends on how many paid admissions you use in a day, a calculation set out in the guide to the Barik card.
Frequently asked questions about the Guggenheim Bilbao
How much is a ticket to the Guggenheim Bilbao?
An adult ticket costs €18. Students aged 18 to 26, over-65s and pensioners pay €9, and under-18s and Friends of the Museum enter free. Every ticket includes the audio guide, and issued tickets cannot be refunded.
Is the Guggenheim Bilbao free on any day?
There is no weekly free day for general visitors. What the museum does publish is a 50% discount from 4pm to 7pm on the final day of each exhibition, alongside permanent free entry for under-18s and Friends of the Museum.
Is the Guggenheim Bilbao open on Mondays?
It closes on Mondays except on dates the museum lists individually: every Monday from 15 June to 7 September, plus 30 March, 6 April, 12 October, and 7 and 28 December. Through the summer it therefore opens seven days a week.
What time does the Guggenheim Bilbao close?
At 7pm for most of the year, extending to 8pm during Holy Week and from 15 June to 13 September. It shuts entirely on 25 December and 1 January, and closes early at 5pm on 24 and 31 December.
A museum with no free day still hands back half the fare. The date is on the exhibition calendar, not the timetable.