Pick up insights into Bilbao's shipbuilding trade and industrial heritage at a fascinating museum located on the site of a former shipyard.
Discover the history of the Bilbao Estuary and its importance to the development of the city at the Maritime Museum. See ships, boats and navigational tools that are spread across indoor and outdoor exhibition spaces.
Start off your visit inside the museum, which has three large areas dedicated to the evolution of the Bilbao Estuary and the trading and industrial activities that went on there. Learn about wooden shipbuilding and the subsequent transition from traditional to modern shipbuilding. Look at displays that show how technology led to the building of sturdier and faster ships.
View models of boats that have navigated the city’s waterways in recent centuries. They include oil tankers, galleons and barges. Study the reproduction of a medieval rowing galley. Browse the collection of navigational instruments and displays that cover maritime merchant activity from the 16th century onward. See if there are any temporary exhibitions to peruse.
Explore the outdoor exhibition space located on the site of the old Euskalduna shipyard docks. Study the collection of vessels including a rescue ship and a tug-boat that was built in 1928. See the competition sailboat that took part in the Vendee Globe regatta, a single-handed non-stop yacht race around the world.
Go over to the old pump house which used to house the pumps that drained water from the docks. Stare at the impressive looking 197-foot (60-meter) tall Carola Crane that was used for shipbuilding.
The museum is located under the Euskalduna Bridge and is served by metro, tram and three city bus lines. If you are driving, park for a fee in the nearby underground garage.
The Maritime Museum is open every day except Mondays and a few days around Christmas and New Year. There is admisison fee, with discounts for pensioners, disabled persons, students and the unemployed. There is no charge for children under the age of 6. During the school year, from September to June, there is free admission to everyone on Tuesdays.
