Discover the best time of year, based on historical climate, temperature, and precipitation.
The best weather in Bilbao is from May, July, August, but considering flight prices and crowds, the best months to visit are May, June, October. — consistent weather climate
☀️Pleasant
| Score | 27 | 39 | 55 | 71 | 80 | 80 | 83 | 82 | 80 | 77 | 49 | 41 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climate | Cold | Cold | Cold | Mild | Mild | Pleasant | Pleasant | Pleasant | Pleasant | Cool & rainy | Cool & rainy | Cold |
| Temperature | 6–12°C | 6–14°C | 7–15°C | 9–17°C | 11–20°C | 15–23°C | 17–25°C | 17–26°C | 15–24°C | 13–21°C | 9–16°C | 8–14°C |
| Feels like | 3–10°C | 4–12°C | 5–13°C | 7–16°C | 11–20°C | 15–24°C | 18–27°C | 18–28°C | 15–24°C | 12–21°C | 8–15°C | 5–12°C |
| Precipitation | 141mm 18 days | 129mm 18 days | 106mm 19 days | 83mm 15 days | 78mm 15 days | 72mm 13 days | 44mm 11 days | 54mm 11 days | 79mm 14 days | 102mm 13 days | 159mm 19 days | 120mm 16 days |
| Sunshine | 4.6h ☀︎ 49% | 5.7h ☀︎ 54% | 7.1h ☀︎ 59% | 8.5h ☀︎ 63% | 9.2h ☀︎ 62% | 9.4h ☀︎ 62% | 10.8h ☀︎ 72% | 10.5h ☀︎ 75% | 9.7h ☀︎ 77% | 7.1h ☀︎ 64% | 5.3h ☀︎ 55% | 4.7h ☀︎ 53% |
| Wind | SW · 17 km/h | SW · 18 km/h | W · 18 km/h | NW · 16 km/h | NW · 16 km/h | N · 15 km/h | N · 15 km/h | N · 15 km/h | NW · 15 km/h | SW · 16 km/h | SW · 17 km/h | SW · 18 km/h |
| Humidity (%) | 81% | 79% | 76% | 76% | 79% | 81% | 79% | 78% | 79% | 77% | 80% | 80% |
| Day length | 9.4h | 10.5h | 12.0h | 13.4h | 14.7h | 15.3h | 15.0h | 13.9h | 12.5h | 11.0h | 9.7h | 9.0h |
| Tourist Crowds | Low season | Low season | Low season | Shoulder season | Shoulder season | Shoulder season | High season | High season | High season | Shoulder season | Low season | Low season |
Bilbao's biggest festival, Aste Nagusia, transforms the city into a vibrant party zone for nine days in August. Traveler…
Bilbao BBK Live is one of Spain's premier music festivals, attracting international artists and thousands of fans to the…
Held annually on December 21st, the Santo Tomás Fair is a traditional Basque agricultural market that fills Bilbao's str…
Bilbao Bizkaia Design Week, held in November, celebrates design, creativity, and innovation across various disciplines.…
The Bilbao Marathon typically takes place in October, offering runners a scenic route through the city's iconic landmark…
The Bilbao Triathlon takes place in May, drawing athletes and spectators to the city's waterfront and surrounding areas.…
Bilbao's Carnival brings a burst of color and festivity to the city in February, despite the often chilly and damp weath…
Bilbao observes Semana Santa with solemn processions and religious fervor, typically in late March or early April. While…
ZINEBI, held in November, is a prestigious international festival dedicated to documentary and short films. While the we…
Conventional travel wisdom points toward midsummer on the Bay of Biscay, but Bilbao reaches its true prime in May, when luminous spring energy and fresh mountain air trump July's humid tourist rush.
Framed by twin emerald mountain ridges and split by the tidal curves of the Estuary of Bilbao, the Basque Country's largest city behaves nothing like the sun-baked towns of southern Spain. This is Atlantic territory: moody, dramatic, intensely green, and powered by a fiercely proud street culture that refuses to hibernate. While fair-weather tourists wait for July to deliver guaranteed sunshine, they miss the essential spirit of the valley. Bilbao is built for cool Atlantic breezes and sudden shifts in light, and its real sweet spot arrives weeks before the summer crowds descend.
Standard holiday logic demands July, pointing to maximum sunshine hours and dry pavements. That logic fails in Bilbao. In July, coastal travelers clog the river promenade and pack the narrow lanes, while the humid warmth turns the mountain basin into a slow, sticky bowl. May is the connoisseur's month. Temperatures sit right around twenty degrees, the twin ridgelines behind the city glow electric green from spring rain, and the city hums with local pride rather than tour groups.
May brings the Bilbao Triathlon along the waterfront, showcasing a city that lives outdoors without suffocating under midsummer heat. Evenings across the stone arcades of Plaza Nueva feel communal and effortless. You get the full pulse of Basque dining and long twilight strolls without queueing for a pintxo counter or competing for space on the riverfront footpaths. The slight trade-off in rainfall compared to midsummer is negligible—you trade a few afternoon showers for a city that belongs entirely to itself.
By July and August, the Atlantic low-pressure systems pull back, bringing the longest, warmest days of the year. When the weather settles, crowds gather on the slopes of Mount Cobetas for the Bilbao BBK Live music festival, where international bands perform against panoramic views of the glittering skyline below. It is exhilarating, loud, and undeniably congested.
August reaches a cultural fever pitch with Aste Nagusia, the nine-day Big Week that completely takes over the downtown core. Streets along the estuary erupt with brass bands, wood-chopping contests, giant puppets, and nightly fireworks that echo against the surrounding valley walls. If you thrive on relentless sensory immersion, this is the Basque Country at its most theatrical. If you want to stroll leisurely through Abando or admire the ironwork balconies in quiet contemplation, high summer will test your patience.
September carries the warmth of summer into a far calmer rhythm. The air stays mild, the sea breeze softens, and the pace of the city slows into an agreeable hum. It is prime walking season, when you can ride the funicular up to Mount Artxanda to look down over the red-tiled roofs and river curves bathed in soft, golden light.
October holds onto pleasant daytime temperatures before the Atlantic rains mount their full return. Runners take over the city for the Bilbao Marathon, threading past modern bridges and historic quays in crisp, clean air. By late October, the drizzle begins to set in more frequently, but the tavern bars remain warm havens of salted cod, grilled mushrooms, and crisp cider.
From November through February, northern Spain delivers its signature weather: the fine, persistent mist known locally as *sirimiri*. November is the wettest month of the year, bringing heavy cloud cover and gray skies. Yet Bilbao was built for wet weather, channeling its energy indoors into creative showcases like Bilbao Bizkaia Design Week and the ZINEBI documentary film festival.
Winter reaches a joyful peak just before the holidays on December 21st, when the Santo Tomás Fair transforms the Casco Viejo into a sprawling open-air agricultural market perfumed with roasted txistorra sausages and hot cider. February continues the gray chill, though Bilbao Carnival cuts through the damp gloom with satirical street performances and flamboyant costume parades. Expect to carry an umbrella every afternoon, keep your coat buttoned, and spend your evenings hopping between crowded, steaming bars.
March and April mark an erratic thaw. Days swing between bright Atlantic sunshine and biting showers within the span of an hour. The valley air begins to warm, pushing past fifteen degrees, though the stone streets of the old quarter retain the chill of winter until well past noon.
During Semana Santa, solemn brotherhoods carry antique wooden floats through the medieval alleys of the Casco Viejo, an intense counterpoint to the city's modern art and glass architecture. It is an atmospheric time to visit if you pack layers, as the riverside terraces start setting out their first outdoor tables the moment the clouds part.