Cheapest€16.13
- Alsa A650019:544h 27m00:21Madrid Estacion SurBilbao Termibus
Door to door 5h 11mCO2 8.7 kgChanges 0Changeable for a fee
Madrid to Bilbao bus
Buses from Madrid to Bilbao start at €18.88 and take 5h at their fastest.
The Buses from Madrid to Bilbao starts at €18.88 and takes 5h door to door, run by 3 operators over 323 km, with around 36 departures a day. Fares bottom out about 60 days before departure.
- 5hDoor to door
- 4h 16mMoving
- €18.88From
- 8.7 kgCO2
The cheapest and the fastest on September 28, 2026
Two journeys we can sell today, with the service number each operator files them under.
Bus operators
Speed, flexibility and what is on board. Nothing here is a rating, because we have not earned one.
| Operator | Fastest |
|---|---|
 Alsa | 5h |
 BlaBlaCar | 4h 59m |
| Buses in Cantabria | 4h 59m |
The bus gets you into Bilbao. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
Where to stay in Bilbao
Filter by neighborhood and by nightly price, and the map tells you what is a walk and what is a cab.
Search Bilbao on Booking.comOr compare on Expedia
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Madrid to Bilbao
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €15.5890 days
- €14.4860 days
- €16.1345 days
- €16.1330 days
- €17.2321 days
- €19.9814 days
- €23.837 days
- €33.183 days
- €40.331 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €14.48.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 179 percent. The most expensive point is €40.33, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 60 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Which departure day costs least
Median cheapest fare for each weekday, taken across the next three weeks of real prices.
- €21.63Sun
- €18.88Mon
- €18.88Tue
- €19.98Wed
- €23.83Thu
- €22.18Fri
- €23.28Sat
Where you leave from and where you arrive
The stations, airports and ports each mode on this corridor actually uses.
Madrid
Bus
- Madrid Estacion Sur
- Madrid South
Bilbao
Bus
- Bilbao Termibus
- Bilbao Intermodal
What the journey actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 323 km against 323 km in a straight line, a detour of 1 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- First and last departure
- The first service of the day leaves Madrid at 06:02 and the last at 21:28, across 36 departures. The return direction keeps its own timetable, so the times back are not these times reversed.
Buses against the other ways to make this journey
The same corridor, door to door, with every mode that runs it.
| Mode | Door to door | Moving | At the ends | From | CO2 | Per day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Train | 2h 59m | 2h 15m | 44m | €41.59 | 10.7 kg | 24 |
| Flight | 4h | 50m | 3h 10m | €39.67 | 81.9 kg | 40 |
| Coach | 5h | 4h 16m | 44m | €18.88 | 8.7 kg | 36 |
Questions about Madrid to Bilbao
The questions people actually ask about this trip, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does the Coach from Madrid to Bilbao take?
The Coach from Madrid to Bilbao takes 5h door to door, of which 4h 16m is spent moving. The route runs 323 km. The difference between the two times is reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end, which every time on this page includes.
How much does the Coach from Madrid to Bilbao cost?
The Coach from Madrid to Bilbao starts at €18.88 for one passenger, checked on September 28, 2026. A typical fare is €19.16. Both are the total including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so the price here is the price at checkout.
Who runs the Coach from Madrid to Bilbao?
3 operators run the Coach from Madrid to Bilbao: Alsa, BlaBlaCar, Buses in Cantabria. Between them they file around 36 departures a day. The operator table on this page compares them on fare, journey time, cruising speed, fare conditions and what is provided on board.
Which terminal does the Coach from Madrid to Bilbao use?
The Coach from Madrid to Bilbao leaves from Madrid Estacion Sur and arrives at Bilbao Termibus. Allow about 44m for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one. That time is already inside every door to door figure quoted on this page.
Is the Coach the best way from Madrid to Bilbao?
Traveling from Madrid to Bilbao by Train costs €41.59 and takes 2h 59m door to door, against 5h by Coach. Which is better depends on whether the money or the hours matter more on this trip. The comparison table on this page shows every mode side by side.
When should I book the Coach from Madrid to Bilbao?
Fares for the Coach from Madrid to Bilbao bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €14.48. The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time across the window is 179 percent, measured on September 28, 2026. Booking inside the final week has consistently cost more.
How much CO2 does the Coach from Madrid to Bilbao produce?
The Coach from Madrid to Bilbao produces about 8.7 kg of CO2 per passenger over 323 km, which works out at roughly 27 grams per passenger kilometer. That figure is for the whole journey and for one traveler, not for the vehicle.
What is provided on board the Coach from Madrid to Bilbao?
Operators on the Coach from Madrid to Bilbao publish Power outlets, Restrooms, Wi-Fi. That is what 3 carriers on this corridor state about their own fleets, across a journey of 5h door to door. Where a carrier publishes nothing, this page lists nothing for it.
Where these numbers come from
Observed service A carrier record shows this named operator serving this named pair, and we carry that through unchanged.
Schedules, seat counts and fares are generated by our own model until the supplier contracts are signed. Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance are real. We would rather say that on every page than let a modeled number pass for a filed one.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Madrid to Bilbao on September 9, 2026: 323 km of route against 323 km in a straight line, 36 services a day, 3 operators, a cheapest fare of €18.88, and 5h door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
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Being on the water gives Bilbao a set of days out that do not start at a station. We do not sell those either.
Things to do in Bilbao
The tickets worth having in advance, because the line at the door is usually the whole morning.
See Bilbao on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.