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The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao beside the Nervión river

No. 59 Top 100 Most Visited Art Museums 2025 · 1,305,003 visitors in 2025

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Bilbao, Spain · City guide: Bilbao

Frank Gehry's titanium masterpiece on the Bilbao waterfront.

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Photo: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Overview

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is No. 59 in The Art Newspaper's survey of the world's most visited art museums, with 1,305,003 visitors in 2025, unchanged on 2024. Designed by Frank Gehry and opened in 1997, it stands beside the Nervión River in the Basque Country.

Its curving, titanium-clad forms helped transform the city and made it a landmark of contemporary architecture. Inside are modern and contemporary art and changing exhibitions.

The titanium-clad Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
The titanium-clad Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Photo: Basotxerri, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Best time to visit

Weekday mornings are the quietest. The museum is usually closed on Mondays outside the summer; check the official website for hours.

Highlights & collections

  • 1

    The building

    Walk around the outside and along the river to see the titanium curves from every angle.

  • 2

    The Matter of Time

    Richard Serra's monumental steel sculptures, which you can walk through, in the largest gallery.

  • 3

    Puppy

    Jeff Koons's giant terrier covered in flowering plants, at the entrance.

  • 4

    Maman

    Louise Bourgeois's giant bronze spider on the riverside.

  • 5

    The atrium

    A soaring, light-filled central space.

Getting there

The museum is on Abandoibarra Etorbidea, in the centre of Bilbao. The nearest metro station is Moyúa, about 10 minutes' walk, and the tram stops at Guggenheim.

Visiting tips

Tickets & hours
Buy tickets online for a lower price. Check the official website for prices and hours.
Time needed
Two to three hours.
Currency
Euro (EUR). Cards, including contactless, are accepted almost everywhere.
Visa & entry
Spain is in the Schengen Area. Many visitors, including citizens of the US, Canada, the UK and Australia, can stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa. The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) now records non-EU travellers' entries and exits at the border, and the ETIAS travel authorisation is due to follow. Check the official EU site travel-europe.europa.eu and your own government's travel advice before you go.

Official information: Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (official website). Check opening hours, prices and entry rules there before you go.

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