Bilbao Airport to San Sebastián: Bus, Taxi and Costs

Getting from Bilbao Airport to San Sebastián is easiest by direct bus, and at under €14 for a journey of about an hour and fifteen it’s the option I’d point almost anyone towards. My guide covers where to find it, what it costs, the timetable in both directions and when paying for a car is the right call instead. I ended up doing it the expensive way, because a delayed flight and a full bus left us with no alternative.

The short answer

Get the bus. It’s miles cheaper than everything else, and it’s what I always recommend. The exception is if money genuinely isn’t the issue and door to door matters more, in which case pre-book a car rather than sorting one at the airport.

The bit people get wrong is treating the bus like an airport shuttle you can hop on at will. Your ticket is valid for one departure only, so a missed bus means buying again for the next one.

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Taking the direct bus from Bilbao Airport

The bus is line DO04, run by Pesa Lurraldebus, and it runs directly to San Sebastián’s main bus station with no change. Look for Donostia rather than San Sebastián on the signs and the machines, because that’s the Basque name and it’s what the local transport system uses throughout.

Finding it is simple:

1. Collect your bags and clear customs.
2. Turn right. You’ll see a manned ticket desk.
3. Facing that desk, the self-service ticket machine is to its left.
4. Head straight out through the doors by the desk and you will see the stop on the left.

Time 1 hr 15–1 hr 20 • Cost about €13.65 (£11.60)

If you’ve seen €17 quoted for this journey, that was the old fare. It changed when the airport buses joined the regional Mugi fare system, and €13.65 is what you’ll pay at the machine now.

Buses leave hourly. From the airport the first is at 07:45 on weekdays and 06:45 at weekends, then hourly through to 22:45, with a final departure at 00:00. Times do change, so it’s worth a look at the Lurraldebus timetable before you travel.

If you have a Mugi card, which is the local Gipuzkoa transport card, the same journey drops to €5.46 on an anonymous card or €4.16 on a personalised one. Worth doing if you’ll be using local buses across your trip, not worth the errand purely for the airport run.

You can buy tickets online up to a month ahead, or at the desk and machine on arrival. Watch out for pre-booking a fixed time when your flight could be delayed, because the ticket only covers that departure and you’d be paying twice.

Book ahead for the last services of the day, where a seat is worth guaranteeing, and buy on arrival for anything in the middle of the day.

Landing late or very early

This is the part nobody else covers, and it’s the part that caught us out.

Our flight was delayed and we assumed we’d missed the last bus. We hadn’t. We got there with a few minutes to spare, and at the ticket desk we were told it was already full. They suggested asking the driver just in case. The driver said the same: full, no more space. So we opened Uber, waited about ten minutes for a car, and paid £160.

The last departures from the airport are 22:45 and then 00:00, and the first is 07:45 on weekdays or 06:45 at weekends.

Time 1 hr 15–1 hr 20 • Cost about €13.65 (£11.60)

My Top Tip! The last bus of the day can sell out before it leaves, and turning up on time isn’t enough. If your flight lands anywhere near the final departure, book that seat in advance or plan on paying for a taxi.

Uber worked fine and I’d use it again in the same spot. But the cost is a stinger next to a bus fare, and it only saved us a little time. Had we known we’d be cutting it that fine, we’d have pre-booked a taxi before flying.

Taxis, Uber and private transfers

The taxi rank is directly outside the terminal and works around the clock. Expect around €190 to San Sebastián, which is the indicative fare published by the San Sebastián taxi association and matches what other local operators quote.

Time About 1 hr 15 • Cost about €190 (£160)

Uber and Cabify both operate at Bilbao Airport officially. The pickup isn’t at the terminal kerb: you request the car on arrival and walk to the P1 general car park to meet your driver. Worth knowing before you’re standing outside with cases wondering where it is. The £160 I paid was in line with what a taxi would have cost.

Larger vehicles for groups or a lot of luggage are worth arranging before you fly rather than hoping one is sitting at the rank.

Hiring a car

All the main rental desks are at the airport, so there’s no separate journey to collect one. It’s about 100 km on the AP-8, which is a toll road, and takes roughly the same time as the bus.

Hire a car for the coast, not for the transfer. If your plan is airport to hotel, you’ll pay for city parking to leave it standing still, and central San Sebastián parking is both paid and limited. It becomes a good decision the moment you want to stop at somewhere like Getaria or Zumaia on the way through, which is a lovely drive and the one genuine argument for it.

Is the train an option from Bilbao airport?

There’s no railway station at Bilbao Airport, so a train is never a direct option. You’d first have to get into Bilbao, find the right station, then sit through about two and a half hours on the Euskotren, which is the regional narrow-gauge line rather than a fast intercity service.

There’s a further catch. The Euskotren doesn’t leave from Bilbao’s main Abando station, which is where most people head by default. Coming off a flight with bags, the train adds two changes and well over an hour for no saving at all.

The route via Bilbao city

This only makes sense if you’re spending time in Bilbao before heading east.

The Bizkaibus A3247 connects the airport with central Bilbao, stopping at Gran Vía, Plaza Moyua and Alameda Recalde before finishing at Bilbao Intermodal, the city’s main bus station. It leaves the airport every 15 minutes from 06:10 until 23:40, far more frequent than the San Sebastián service.

Time 20–30 minutes • Cost about €5 (£4.25)

Buy the San Sebastián leg at the same time as the airport one. That second ticket is still tied to a single departure.

Where the bus drops you in San Sebastián

The DO04 terminates at San Sebastián’s main bus station on Federico García Lorca Pasealekua, beside the Renfe railway station, on the east side of the river.

From there it’s a walk to the Old Town, flat the whole way. You cross the river and follow it round to the Boulevard. Manageable with a case, but takes around 16 minutes. There’s a taxi rank at the station if you’d rather not walk it.

If you haven’t booked yet, it’s worth reading where to stay in San Sebastián before you pick an area, because the walk changes a fair bit depending on which area you’ve booked. Once you’re settled, things to do in San Sebastián covers what’s worth your time.

Getting back to Bilbao Airport

Departure day isn’t a mirror image of the way in, and that’s where people come unstuck.

Buses leave San Sebastián for the airport hourly from 05:00, and the last one goes at 21:00. That’s far earlier than the last inbound service. If your flight home is an evening one, the bus won’t get you there and you’ll be paying for a taxi.

Going this direction the bus sets you down at the Departures level rather than Arrivals, which saves you a walk.

Services are hourly, so a missed bus costs you a full hour and there’s nothing after 21:00. After what happened to us on the way in, I’d book the specific departure I intended to take rather than turn up and hope. It only takes one full bus to turn a relaxed morning into an expensive taxi ride.

FAQ on Bilbao to San Sebastián

Can I pay for the bus by card?

Use the ticket machine and pay by card. There’s a cash machine in the terminal but it charges for withdrawals, which makes the ticket machine the easier option.

Do I need to book the bus in advance?

Not usually. Tickets are sold at the desk and the machine on arrival, and buying online up to a month ahead makes no difference to the price. Book ahead for the last services of the day, when a seat is worth locking down, and buy on arrival otherwise.

Does the bus stop anywhere between the airport and San Sebastián?

Yes, at Zarautz, a coastal town about 20 minutes before San Sebastián. It’s a scheduled stop, so don’t take it as a sign you’ve arrived. Stay on until Donostia bus station, which is the end of the line and where everyone else will be getting off.

What happens if my flight is delayed and I miss my bus?

Your ticket covers one specific departure only, so you’d need to buy again for the next one. Buses leave hourly. That’s manageable in the middle of the day and a real problem near the last service, which is why booking ahead only makes sense for late arrivals.

Would it be easier to fly into San Sebastián Airport instead?

San Sebastián’s own airport at Hondarribia is far closer, and a taxi from there costs around €55 rather than €190 from Bilbao. The catch is that it handles very few international flights, so most people flying in from outside Spain end up at Bilbao anyway.