Photo spot in Bilbao
The Guggenheim and the riverside
A titanium building that changed a city, with walkways along the Nervión on both sides of it.
About The Guggenheim and the riverside
Get directionsFrank Gehry's museum opened in 1997 on a derelict industrial riverbank and turned Bilbao from a post-industrial city into a destination. The titanium panels curve in every direction and change colour with the weather — silver in cloud, gold at sunset, and almost white at midday.
For a photographer the building is a machine for making backgrounds. Every angle gives a different set of curves, and the riverside walkways on both banks mean you can circle it and never repeat a frame. Puppy, the giant flower-covered sculpture at the entrance, gives colour that the metal does not.
Bilbao's weather is Atlantic and often overcast, which suits this location better than sun does: flat light makes the titanium subtle rather than blinding, and softens faces at the same time.
Best time to shoot
Overcast suits it; otherwise the last hour, when the titanium goes gold
Tips
The exterior and the riverside are free and open at all hours. Rain is common — this is one of the few locations in the catalogue that is arguably better in it.
Other spots in Bilbao
Mirador de Artxanda at sunset
A hilltop terrace three minutes above the city by funicular, with the whole river bend and the Guggenheim laid out below.
Casco Viejo — Plaza Nueva and the Siete Calles
A neoclassical square of sixty-four arches with bars under the arcades, and the seven original streets of the city behind it.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know The Guggenheim and the riverside — free of charge.
