Bilbao (Guggenheim) weather by month

The best time to visit Bilbao (Guggenheim) is May to July — 91/100 in June, 25°C and 10 rainy days. The best season is summer, June to August (88/100 on average).

The worst month is January at 59/100 — cool, soaked, clean air. See January →

Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis

Planning the wider trip? Best time to visit Spain →

Bilbao🇪🇸 Spain · Green Spain & Northern Portugal · City91
  1. 59Jan
  2. 68Feb
  3. 74Mar
  4. 82Apr
  5. 90May
  6. 91Jun
  7. 88Jul
  8. 84Aug
  9. 86Sep
  10. 81Oct
  11. 63Nov
  12. 64Dec

Best season: June to August (88/100 on average) · worst January (59/100)

Days
25°C
Nights
15°C
Wet days
10
Sun
10.7 h
Humidity
83%
Daylight
15 h
Bilbao, Spain
Photo: Enrique · Pexels

Bilbao, month by month

Comfort score out of 100 for the kind of trip Bilbao is best for, the average high, rainy days and hours of sun a day from the climate normals, and how busy it tends to be.

MonthScoreTierHighRainSunCrowdsOn
Jan59D14°C14 d6 hPeak1
Feb68C16°C12 d7 hShoulder1
Mar74B17°C12 d9 hPeak3
Apr82A19°C11 d10 hPeak2
May90S22°C11 d11 hBusy1
Jun91S25°C10 d11 hBusy1
Jul88A26°C8 d11 hPeak1
Aug84A27°C8 d11 hPeak1
Sep86A26°C10 d10 hBusy1
Oct81A23°C10 d8 hShoulder1
Nov63C18°C15 d6 hQuiet—
Dec64C16°C13 d6 hPeak1

What's on in Bilbao through the year

Festivals, natural spectacles, holidays and the seasons to watch out for — curated and sourced. The month pages carry the detail.

January
  • Cabalgata de Reyes5 JanFestival
February
  • Aratuste carnival14–17 FebFestival
March
  • Cantabrian anchovy season15 Mar – 15 Jun (usually)Nature
  • Semana Santa29 Mar – 6 AprHoliday
July
  • Bilbao BBK Live5–15 Jul (usually)Festival
August
  • Aste Nagusia22–30 AugFestival
September
  • Txakoli harvest5 Sep – 15 Oct (usually)Nature
December
  • Santo Tomas fair21 DecFestival

Everything on in Bilbao through the year →

Crowds in Bilbao in June

How busy the place itself is — school and mass holidays, the months an editor tagged, and how sought-after the weather makes them. Never part of the comfort score.

BusySummer holidays in Spain, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it(estimated)

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet

Good to know before you go to Bilbao

Real experiences from travellers' own write-ups, quoted with a link to the original.

Visas & entry

A practical guide to visiting Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum stresses booking timed tickets online as soon as your dates are set, and grabbing the earliest slot of the day possible, since it's consistently the city's number one draw and fills up. Their weather reminder for the wider trip: Bilbao has an oceanic climate where rain is possible in any season, so packing a light waterproof layer is worth doing even for a spring or early-autumn visit when the forecast looks clear.
Best Traveling Guide · Read the original ↗

Traveller notes on Bilbao

What people who have been say about the place — the year-round notes first, then month by month.

Forum posters put January at roughly half rain, half sun rather than a washout - Bilbao and the Bay of Biscay coast are simply wetter than Mediterranean Spain, and visitors shouldn't expect continuous rain so much as a real chance of it most days. The recurring advice: bring an umbrella wherever you go regardless of forecast, and keep a museum or two in reserve for the wetter stretches. Temperatures themselves aren't singled out as a complaint - the rain, not the cold, is what regulars warn newcomers about.
Tripadvisor community · January · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
Bilbao forum threads describe February as genuinely wintry and noticeably cooler and wetter than Spain's more southern regions, with posters consistent that real rain is a normal feature of the month rather than an exception. Northern Spain's Atlantic-facing Basque Country was described by posters as a genuinely rainy region overall, with no clearly dry month and rain a real possibility on any given day of the year, not just in winter. Real snow was called uncommon but not impossible, typically limited to a week or two around late January or February when it does show up. Posters were still positive about a February visit despite the weather, framing it as workable with proper rain gear and layers rather than a month to actively avoid.
CascoViejoRegular · February · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
Regulars rate June above May here and give the reason as instability rather than cold: May swings, and when it rains it can be the sirimiri - the slow, fine, long-lasting drizzle this coast is named for - or ordinary showers, or a thunderstorm, and they say plainly that it is hard to call. Our row reads 21.6C days over 11.3C nights with 74.8mm across 11.2 days, and a sea at 16.6C that matches their 16 to 18C and rules out swimming for most. They add a note on the long view: the month-long unbroken rains this region was known for no longer happen. The record: humidity 81 percent, 10.8 hours of sun inside 14.7 of daylight, and AQI 42.
SirimiriOrShowersOrNeither · May · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
June in Bilbao is sunny and warm and a raincoat is still advisable, which regulars explain with a local figure rather than an average: the city records rain on something like 185 days a year and has no dry month at all, though June itself takes only about five of those wet days. Our row gives 78.2mm across 10.2 precipitation days under 24.5C, and the 83 percent humidity is the Basque coast showing through. The word to know is sirimiri - a slow, fine, long-lasting drizzle rather than a downpour, the same thing San Sebastian regulars warn about - and it is why a hood beats an umbrella here. The record: 15C nights, feels-like 26C, 10.7 hours of sun, a 20.4C sea and AQI 43.
SirimiriNotADownpour · June · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
Bilbao's forum calls July the hottest month, typically 25-35°C by day but cooling enough at night that a light jacket after 9pm is standard advice. Regulars are consistent that northern Spain's Basque coast is a genuinely rainy region even in summer, so an umbrella is worth carrying regardless of how the day starts.
Tripadvisor community · July · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
Regulars call this normally the driest month of the year here on paper, warm and agreeable in the mid-to-late 20s Celsius, while being honest that the Atlantic coast setting means rain can still arrive any time regardless of the seasonal odds. Our row backs that warm, genuinely humid read, 27.4C reading as a hot 29C, over 16.9C nights, with 54mm of rain across 7.5 days and humidity at 80 percent. Regulars are consistent that a rain layer belongs in the bag even on what looks like a reliably warm week, since the region's unpredictability doesn't fully disappear even in its best month. The sea sits at a swimmable 22.9C, a real highlight for anyone splitting time with San Sebastian's beaches. The record: 11.1 hours of sun, a 15.8 kph wind and AQI 41.
DriestMonthOnPaperButRainAnyTime · August · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
Regulars call this a warm, not especially rainy month by local standards, with nights cool enough by evening that a light jacket comes out from around nine o'clock. Our row backs the warmth, 25.5C reading as 26C over 14.5C nights, though rain is a real presence at 93.4mm across 10.1 days - clashing winds off the Atlantic make this coast's weather genuinely hard to predict even in a normally dry month. Their honest local habit is the useful detail: people are out in rain gear regardless, and the streets stay packed whatever the sky is doing, so a shower here is rarely a reason to change plans. Inland spots like Rioja and Laguardia can run warmer and drier than the coast on the same day. The sea holds 22.2C. The record: humidity 79 percent, 9.6 hours of sun, a 16.1 kph wind and AQI 39.
WarmDaysStreetsStayFullEvenInRain · September · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗

Add your own note from Bilbao's card on the map.