Before you read on
- When you race
- 6–7 February 2027
- How many nights to book
- 3 nights
- Who this race suits
- The mildest European race of the winter, in the best eating region in Spain.
- Nearest airport to the venue
- Bilbao airport (BIO), About 53 min by Bizkaibus to the Intermodal, then Line 2 to Ansio
- Cost for the weekend
- EUR 361 (USD 392) per person, Flights and race entry.
On this page
Should you race here?
The mildest European race of the winter, with a metro stop at the door and pintxos fourteen minutes away.
Reasons to
- 14.3°C (58°F) by day, warmer than any other European race in this window.
- Ansio station is at the north entrance and the centre is fourteen minutes away.
- Rooms by the venue from about EUR 72, the cheapest near-venue rate in western Europe here.
- The Casco Viejo, the Guggenheim and San Sebastian an hour down the road.
Reasons not to
- Eighty-six millimetres of rain across eleven days. The Biscay coast is green for a reason.
- Barakaldo is a rebuilt steel town, so the evening is a metro ride away.
- No direct airport link: it is a bus and a metro, about 53 minutes.
Conditions on the day
HYROX Bilbao runs February 6th, 2027 to February 7th, 2027 at Bilbao Exhibition Centre. Here is what that specific window is like on the ground.
The catch
Mild for the month, and wet
14°C (58°F) by day, 5°C (41°F) at night
Bilbao in early February
- The February average reaches 14.3°C (58°F) by day and falls to 5.1°C (41°F) at night.
- That daytime figure is warmer than any other European race in this window.
- It is also one of the wettest: 86mm across eleven days, off the Bay of Biscay.
- Daylight runs 08:22 to 18:30, just over ten hours.
- Daylight
- Dark
- Bar height is temperature
What racing here is like
Your race is here
Bilbao Exhibition Centre
February 6th, 2027
HYROX Bilbao
- Everything below describes this building first, and the other for comparison
The venue at a glance
- Address
- Ronda de Azkue 1, Barakaldo, Bizkaia
- Nearest station
- Ansio station, Metro Line 2, at the north entrance (at the venue)
- Parking
- Four thousand spaces on site, capped at EUR 21 a day.
- From the nearest hotel
- 5 to 15 min from Hotels in Barakaldo
- Altitude
- 19m above sea level, low enough to make no difference to your race.
- Bag drop
- Hyrox has not published the bag drop arrangement for Bilbao.
- Supporters
- Hyrox has not published spectator ticketing for Bilbao.
Bilbao has moved building, moved season, and grown from a single day into the best part of a week. Where you race, and when, changes the day more than most people expect.
Bilbao Exhibition Centre, your race is in this building
Six halls on reclaimed steelworks land at Barakaldo, downstream from the city, with a metro station at the north entrance.
Known for. The industrial and machine-tool fairs that followed the steel industry it was built on top of.
The building. Opened in 2004 on the site of the Altos Hornos de Vizcaya steelworks, part of the same regeneration that built the Guggenheim upstream.
Race day and start times
The thing that shapes your travel is not the race date. It is when you find out what time you are racing on it.
Hyrox links individual start times on the event page about three days before the race. A provisional schedule goes up earlier.
What to bring
At the BEC, and only on the day you compete. Registration opens 90 minutes before the first wave of your division.
You do not bring a chip. You collect the ankle strap at check-in, wear it for the race, and hand it back after the line.
What your wristband does not cover
You are given a wristband at check-in. Hyrox has not published what the Bilbao one admits you to. Check-in is open only on the day you race, so do not assume it covers a second day.
Getting there on the morning
Metro Line 2 to Ansio, fourteen minutes from the centre, arriving at the north entrance.
What you need to book
Before you book
Book flights and the last night around the provisional schedule, not around a wave you have not been given.
If Hyrox cancels or postpones the event, its terms do not cover your flights or your room. Check the cancellation deadline on both before you pay for either.
Flying into the city
San Sebastian and Santander are both about an hour away by road if the fares are better.
Search flights to BilbaoBy train
Check train times and faresSomewhere to stay
The closest beds go first, and those are the ones that matter on race morning.
Compare hotels near the venueSomething to do with the rest of the weekend
Most people fly in for one race and see nothing. The day before is dead time if you do not plan it.
Tours and tickets in BilbaoSomewhere to put your bag
Flying out the same evening? This is the difference between a good afternoon and hauling a kit bag around a city.
Left luggage in BilbaoYour entry
Sold by Hyrox, one ticket per division per day. We earn nothing from this link and include it because you need it.
Official Hyrox entriesEstimate weekend cost
| Item | Local currency | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Three nights Nights near the venue | EUR 216 | $234 |
| Travel, airport and around the city | EUR 35 | $38 |
| Eating, three days | EUR 110 | $120 |
| One athlete plus one supporter | EUR 361 | $392 |
Getting to Bilbao
Bilbao airport is about 53 minutes from the BEC: a Bizkaibus to the Intermodal, then Line 2 to Ansio.
Bizkaibus then Line 2
The A3247 from the airport to the Intermodal, then the metro to Ansio. About 53 minutes and three or four euros in total.
Taxi to the centre
A fixed EUR 27 on weekdays from the airport into Bilbao, and then fourteen minutes on the metro out to Ansio.
Entry requirements
Quick tip
A taxi to the city centre is a fixed EUR 27 on weekdays. From there the metro to Ansio is fourteen minutes.
Getting to the venue
Barakaldo is a working town with hotels from EUR 72 and little else. The old city is fourteen minutes away on the metro and is the reason to come.
Ansio is on Line 2 and the BEC north entrance is beside it, fourteen minutes from Abando in the centre. From the airport there is no direct link: a Bizkaibus to the Intermodal and then the metro takes about 53 minutes for three or four euros.
Where to stay
Barakaldo has the venue and cheap rooms. The old city is fourteen minutes away on Line 2 and is where you want to spend the evening.
Open in Google Maps · Get directions
1. Hotels in Barakaldo
From about EUR 72 a night, the cheapest near-venue rate in western Europe on this calendar. Not a destination.
2. Hotels in Abando
The mainline station, the Guggenheim and the broad avenues. On Line 2 and the easiest central base.
3. Hotels in the Casco Viejo
Seven medieval streets packed with pintxo bars. The best evening in the city and a short metro ride further.
Nothing large is in the BEC that weekend. The Athletic home game lifts central rooms on the Sunday rather than the Saturday.
Neighbourhoods worth the commute
Bilbao runs along its estuary and Line 2 runs with it, so everything below is twenty minutes or less from the BEC.
| Area | To the venue | Why | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barakaldo | 5 to 15 min on foot | A former steel town rebuilt around the exhibition centre. Cheap, practical, and nothing to see. | |
| Abando | about 14 min by metro | The nineteenth-century grid with the station, the Guggenheim and the Fine Arts museum. The central choice. | |
| Casco Viejo | about 18 min by metro | Seven streets of medieval old town, wall to wall with pintxo bars. The best few hours in Bilbao. | |
| Indautxu | about 16 min by metro | Residential and well fed, around Dona Casilda park, with fewer visitors than the old town. | |
| Deusto | about 20 min by metro | Across the river, the university district, quiet and cheap, with the Guggenheim on the far bank. |
Eating before and after
The night before a race is not the night for the best meal of your trip, which is harder discipline than it sounds in a city this good at food.
Barakaldo, by the venue
Ordinary Spanish restaurants near the BEC that serve from eight, which is early by local standards. Convenient and nothing more.
Indautxu
Sixteen minutes on the metro, residential, and full of places doing a plate of rice or fish without a queue of visitors.
The Basque country eats better than anywhere else in Spain and does most of it standing up.
Pintxos at Plaza Nueva
Gure Toki and its neighbours around the arcaded square in the old town, each with a counter of small plates. Three or four euros a go and you move between bars.
Bacalao a la vizcaina
Salt cod in a sauce of dried choricero peppers. It is the Biscay dish and nothing like the tomato version people expect. On most old-town menus.
Race day supplies
The practical failures that spoil a race weekend are almost never the training. They are forgetting the gels, or carrying a kit bag around a city for six hours.
Pack list
- A proper waterproof. Eighty-six millimetres across eleven February days, straight off the Atlantic.
- Lighter layers than most of this calendar needs. It is 14.3°C (58°F) by day, the mildest European race in the window.
- Patience with Spanish hours. Kitchens open at eight thirty and fill at ten.
Quick tips
- Buy a Barik card if you are riding more than twice. Single fares are EUR 2 and the card is cheaper per trip.
- Eat early on the night before. Spanish restaurants will serve you at eight; most locals arrive at ten.
Barakaldo has a large shopping centre next to the BEC with a supermarket in it, which covers everything.
The last race in Bilbao
The Bilbao Exhibition Centre is a recent addition to the Hyrox calendar, so there is little previous form here to pass on.
What happened
The last edition, in short.
- Ansio station on Line 2 is next to the north entrance, fourteen minutes from Abando in the centre.
- The site has six halls and four thousand parking spaces, so check your hall before you pick an entrance.
What it means for you
How your race differs from that one.
- Athletic Club are at home to Osasuna on the Sunday, which fills the city and the metro.
- February here is wet: 86mm across eleven days on the Biscay coast.
What else is on that weekend
A full sporting weekend in the city, with nothing at the exhibition centre.
| What | When | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athletic Club against Osasuna | 7 February | San Mames, in the city | Sunday evening, 53,000 people, and Athletic is a religion here. The metro and the pintxo bars will be full from mid-afternoon. |
| Bilbao Basket against Obradoiro | 6 February | Bilbao Arena, Miribilla | Saturday evening across the river from the centre. Smaller, and a good thing to do after a morning wave. |
| Sho-Hai | 6 February | Kafe Antzokia, Abando | A late Saturday gig in the centre. Nothing that affects the race or the rooms. |
| Carnival season | Mid-February | The old town | Bilbao's carnival falls later in the month, after racing. Worth knowing if you are extending. |
What to see
Written for someone racing tomorrow, not a tourist with a week. Each entry says how far it is, because some of these are worth a longer trip and some are not.
The Guggenheim
Gehry's titanium building on the riverbank, which turned a dying steel city into a destination and gave urban planning a word for it. The building outranks the collection.
The Casco Viejo
Seven original streets, a covered market on the river and more pintxo bars per metre than anywhere in Spain. Free to walk and the actual city.
The Fine Arts Museum
An older and quieter collection than the Guggenheim, with El Greco, Goya and the Basque painters, in a park ten minutes from it.
The Vizcaya Bridge
A transporter bridge from 1893 that still carries a gondola across the estuary, downstream from the venue. A world heritage site and still a working crossing.
What to do
A pintxo crawl
Stand at a bar, point at something on bread, pay about three euros, move on. Plaza Nueva in the Casco Viejo has eight bars around one square.
The estuary path
A flat, paved riverside walk running from Barakaldo all the way into the centre past the Guggenheim. The best shake-out here, and it starts at the venue.
San Juan de Gaztelugatxe
An islet with a hermitage on top, reached by a stone causeway and 241 steps, an hour east along the coast. February is cold, empty and the right time.
San Sebastian for the day
An hour east by bus, and the best eating city per head in Europe. If you are flying this far for a race, this is the day to add.
Raced here? Tell us about it.
Anything you wish you had known. It goes into this guide for the next person, and most of them have never done a Hyrox.
Things people find useful
- How early you really needed to arrive
- What caught you out
- What the hall was like inside
- Where your supporters watched from
- Anything good you did in the city
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Last updated November 7th, 2026.