Home > Destinations > Europe > Spain > Basque Country > Bilbao > Attractions > Guggenheim Museum
Bookstore Community Tips and Tools Book a Trip Deals and News Trip Ideas, Activities, Lifestyles Hotels Destinations Frommers.com Home
Frommer's - The best trips start here. Frommer's - The best trips start here.
Sign up for our FREE Newsletters! Win a FREE Trip
Most Active Bilbao Discussions
Most Recommended Articles
Most Commented Articles
  Print This Article Print Get Frommer's RSS Feed RSS

Bilbao Map: Guggenheim MuseumGuggenheim Museum Frommer's Exceptional

Hours Sept-June Tues-Sun 10am-8pm; July-Aug daily 10am-8pm
Address Calle Abandoibarra 2
Transportation Bus: 1, 10, 13, or 18
Phone 94-435-90-80
Web site www.guggenheim-bilbao.es
Prices Admission 13€ ($16) adults, 7.50€ ($9.75) seniors and students, free for children under 12
Season Closed Jan 1 and Dec 25

Frommer's Review

The biggest attraction in Bilbao is the Guggenheim Museum, at the intersection of the bridge called Puente de la Salve and the Nervión River. The 104,700-sq.-m (1,126,980-sq.-ft.) colossus is the focal point of a $1.5-billion redevelopment plan for the city. The internationally acclaimed Frank Gehry design features a 50m-high (165-ft.) atrium -- more than 1 1/2 times the height of the rotunda of Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum in New York. Stretching under the aforementioned bridge and incorporating it in its design, the museum reanimates the promenade with a towering roof reminiscent of a blossoming metallic flower.

The Guggenheim isn't an encyclopedic museum, such as the Met in New York City. This museum features the works of some of the most towering artists of the latter half of the 20th century -- including Picasso, Robert Motherwell, Robert Rauschenberg, Clyfford Still, Antoni Tàpies, Andy Warhol, Ives Klein, and Willem de Koonig. The beginning of the collection is marked by a 1952 Mark Rothko work, "Untitled." Recent European art is also exhibited along with an array of works by young Basque and Spanish artists. Artwork lent by the Guggenheims in New York and Venice rotates, and Bilbao hosts temporary exhibits traveling here from New York.

Although some disgruntled Basque locals still call the museum "the colossal Californian cauliflower" or "a cheese factory," many architectural critics from around the world, including Paul Goldberger of the New York Times, have hailed Frank Gehry's unique structure as the first great building of the 21st century. The structure is said to have been inspired by the Fritz Lang film classic Metropolis and is viewed as a homage to Bilbao's industrial past and commitment to its future. The massive museum is clad in shimmering titanium, which many observers find sexy and unmistakably elegant. The building takes up 24,000 sq. m (258,300 sq. ft.) in the former dockyards beside the Nervión River; about half of that space is devoted to the exhibition halls. The museum has virtually abolished right angles and flat walls. As one critic put it, "It was as if Gehry were working in pastry rather than concrete or steel."

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.


Back to Top


  Print This Article Print Get Frommer's RSS Feed RSS


Frommer's Spain 2009 Frommer's Spain 2009

Author: Danforth Prince
Pub Date: October 06, 2008
Price: $24.99

Buy Now!
Related Titles:
Frommer's Barcelona Day by Day, 1st Edition
Frommer's Barcelona, 2nd Edition
Frommer's Madrid, 2nd Edition
Sponsored Links: What's This?
$775 -- Best of Spain: Combine Madrid & Barcelona 6-Nt Combo w/Air
Add Frommers.com RSS Feed  Add Frommers.com RSS Feed (What's This?)
Add Frommers.com Deals & News to Your Web Site
Add to My Yahoo!     Add to My MSN     More RSS Readers
Add Frommers.com Podcast Add Frommers.com Podcast (What's This?)
Home > Destinations > Europe > Spain > Basque Country > Bilbao > Attractions > Guggenheim Museum