Bizkaiko Arkeologia Museoa image

Bizkaiko Arkeologia Museoa

Tourist attraction Archaeological museum

Small archaeological museum documenting the history of Vizcaya, or Basque Country. People often mention museum, English, Spanish, Basque, interesting, history, guide, local, exhibits, audio,


Address

Mallona Galtzada, 2, Ibaiondo, 48006 Bilbo, Bizkaia, Spain

Website

www.bizkaikoa.bizkaia.net

Contact

+34 944 04 09 90

Rating on Google Maps

4.50 (645 reviews)

Open on Google Maps

Working Hours

  • Friday: 10 AM to 2 PM, 4 to 7:30 PM
  • Saturday: 10 AM to 2 PM, 4 to 7:30 PM
  • Sunday: 10:30 AM to 2 PM
  • Monday: Closed
  • Tuesday: (Father's Day), 10 AM to 2 PM, 4 to 7:30 PM, Hours might differ
  • Wednesday: 10 AM to 2 PM, 4 to 7:30 PM
  • Thursday: 10 AM to 2 PM, 4 to 7:30 PM

Featured Reviews


Frequently mentioned in reviews: museum (24) English (19) Spanish (12) Basque (10) interesting (9) history (8) guide (7) local (6) exhibits (6) audio (6)
Reviews are sorted by relevance, prioritizing the most helpful and insightful feedback at the top for easier reference.
  • 4/5 Yozzer H. 4 years ago on Google
    FREE entry on Fridays! An interesting museum, covering paleolithic - neolithic local history through exhibits and interactive events. There are three floors detailing the different periods and you can get a book in various languages as the only written languages are Baskian and Spanish. The VR exhibit shows you around the caves in the area with paintings on walls of animals that were hunted for food. The entire museum takes about an hour to get around. There are (clean) toilets on every floor, a lift and free lockers for bags. Staff were friendly and accommodating.
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 4/5 Maly P. 4 years ago on Google
    The museum is very near the metro. The descriptions are all in Castellano and Euskera but they offer an English book for non-spanish speakers. The line to try the VR experience is very long though, we were not able to try it. Tiger exhibit includes English explainations.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 JoeyBFromKT 4 years ago on Google
    Very interesting and well kept museum. Cheap and takes around one hour. The exhibition signs/labels aren't in English but you're given a guide book for free to take around. Very cool virtual reality section that lets you explore the caves where paintings were done.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 4/5 Mette K. 4 years ago on Google
    Interesting museum from 2009 about the local history from palæoloticum until today. Texts in Spanish and Basque, but you can borrow the texts in English. Three good virtual reality tours of caves.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Molly L. 5 months ago on Google
    A hidden gem! I really enjoyed my visit. Of course, I'm a sucker for history, archeology and the like. I thought they had some really interesting exhibits and relics from the Roman Empire, a partially restored boat and videos about the first cave drawings discovered in the Basque region. Highly recommend!
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Samir A. S. 1 year ago on Google
    An extraordinary museum! It's a travel in the time from Neanderthals to present. Congrats!
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Bruno F. 1 year ago on Google
    Lovely museum! It's quite small, but highly organized and with a number of cool features (informative panels, miniature models, VR sessions, videos etc.). Loads of interest information, and not only a bunch of apparently meaningless items scattered across different displays (as often times happen in museums). The galleries are very well-organized and lead the visitor through a clear and joyful journey across prehistory, bronze age, iron age, roman era, Middle and Modern Ages, with a greater focus on antiquity (i.e., pre middle ages). It has a focus on Basque Country / Cantábria regions, but you can also learn a lot about general western European prehistory and history, since glances into their relationship with the rest of the continent are also shown and explained. It's amazing value for the ticket price (€3,50 by this date, and even cheaper for teachers, students etc.). All contents are presented in both Euskera and Spanish, with some of them in English as well. If you can't understand Spanish or Euskera, your experience will be much less interesting, I suppose, so be aware of that.

  • 4/5 Maeve R. 4 months ago on Google
    Small but interesting little museum. English audio guide available but not every interactive part of the exhibit was available in English. But definitely very interesting and was quite cheap to enter!

  • 5/5 Ryan 4 months ago on Google
    This was a hidden gem. It was only €3.50 entry for adults and free for children. There were a decent amount of exhibits to look at. The only critism: you download the audio guide on your phone. If you don't have a smartphone, you can't get a guide in your language. Nothing was described in English on each exhibit.

  • 4/5 Frans W. 4 months ago on Google
    Small but fine local archeologocal museum. Free entry. English audio tour via an app, lots of interactive stuff, but that is not in English

  • 5/5 Giacomo P. 6 months ago on Google
    Nice choice for families, very good quality price ratio

  • 5/5 Tue F. 6 months ago on Google
    Lovely, smallish museum. All text is in Spanish and Basque (I think) but there is a free audio guide via QR code so keep your phone charged.

  • 4/5 shanti m. 8 months ago on Google
    Interesting collection of archeological treasures related to local history from the paleolithic through the middle ages. I appreciated that real artefacts were on display, not just reproductions. This is a working institute so much happens behind the scenes. Placards are in Spanish and Basque but there is an audio guide in other languages as well as a catalog you can borrow which provides information about many of the objects on display.

  • 5/5 Laurens 8 months ago on Google
    Nice museum about the history of the area. Interesting archaeological finds help make the story clearer. Great tip from the receptionist to start from the top floor, this way you walk through the museum in chronological order.

  • 5/5 Alexander L. 11 months ago on Google
    Good museum with lots of information about the area. Well worth a visit.

  • 4/5 Robert C. 11 months ago on Google
    Cool museum with some beautiful artefacts and lots of great info, plus some cool VR exhibits. Would be great if they had signage in English as well and Spanish and Basque given the number of international tourists but not a disaster. They have an audioguide in English and a book which translates SOME of the information in the museum but not all of it so I resorted to using Google translate camera which was a bit easier.

  • 4/5 Roger in A. 1 year ago on Google
    This is a small but excellent archaeological museum. Modern and well laid out and with a range of interesting exhibits over two levels. The only limitation is that signs and explanations are in Spanish and basque only. No English. However, they do provide an English booklet which helps but is quite limiting. There are a couple of video presentations. which also include English which are excellent and the best feature which is also in English is a 3-D exploration of the interior of a cave with cave paintings. All in all this is an underrated museum. Highly recommended. It is also cheap to get into.

  • 4/5 Ronja R. 1 year ago on Google
    Small nice museum for local history. Bring you smartphone and headphones if you don't speak Spanisch or Bask, the signs are only in Bask and Spanisch. There is an Englisch book at the reception that you can lent and you can listen to an english audio guide online.

  • 4/5 dusty 2 years ago on Google
    detailed ancient scripted rock carvings like rosetta stone, and an ancient ship planks

  • 5/5 Olivia D. 1 year ago on Google
    I thought this was a really well thought out museum. It took us 45 minutes- quite small. The interpretation is only in the Basque language and Spanish, but my Spanish was good enough to understand it. It told a clear narrative of the people of the local region in prehisric times,from hunter gatherers,through bronze and iron ages and finally up to Roman times in the region. Well explained, clear text,pictures and plenty of interesting artefacts.

  • 4/5 Mela 2 years ago on Google
    Very interesting.. in depth history of the ppl in the area from the Paleolithic era moving forward.

  • 5/5 Sam K. 2 years ago on Google
    Despite it's small size, this museum tells a complete story of the hominid occupation of this region of the Iberian Peninsula. You'll see prehistoric stone tools just a few feet away from a Latin-engraved Roman altar. Definitely worth checking out.

  • 5/5 Jacob D. 1 year ago on Google
    Interesting and informative museum! Check it out on your visit. Helpful staff, great exhibits. It’s smaller but really worth an hour or so

  • 4/5 Tyler R. 5 years ago on Google
    Very nice and inexpensive museum. A little small and won't take more than an hour to get through it; however, it's worth the visit and it's in a nice part of the "Old Town" of Bilbao. Everything is in Spanish or Basque, but there are English books that accompany the tour and they help explain everything.

  • 5/5 Max S. 2 years ago on Google
    Small but awesome museum with some cool artefacts. No English though so you should be able to speak Spanish

  • 5/5 Evgeni B. 2 years ago on Google
    Very well organised interactive museum showing the major steps of the Basque country development. Really recommend for foreigners. All information is given in Basque or Catalan, but don't be shy to ask for a free English journal with explanation of the main objects of the exposition at the reception! Then it will be amazing 2-4 hours of your life!


Call +34 944 04 09 90 Open on Google Maps

Amenities


  • Accessibility
    • ✓️ Wheelchair accessible entrance
    • ✓️ Wheelchair accessible restroom
    • ✗ Wheelchair accessible parking lot

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