Cheapest€11.88
- Grimaldi G736614:432h 52m17:35Santander Estacion MaritimaBilbao Terminal de Getxo
Door to door 4h 22mCO2 9.0 kgChanges 0Changeable for a fee
Santander to Bilbao ferry
Ferries from Santander to Bilbao start at €11.88 and take 4h 22m at their fastest.
The Ferries from Santander to Bilbao starts at €11.88 and takes 4h 22m door to door, run by 1 operator over 78 km, with around 3 departures a day. Fares bottom out about 90 days before departure.
- 4h 22mDoor to door
- 2h 52mMoving
- €11.88From
- 9.0 kgCO2
The cheapest and the fastest on September 13, 2026
Two journeys we can sell today, with the service number each operator files them under.
Ferry operators
Speed, flexibility and what is on board. Nothing here is a rating, because we have not earned one.
| Operator | From | Fastest | Typical speed | Flexibility | On board |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Grimaldi | €11.88 | 4h 2m | 33 km/h | Changeable | Bar, , Cabins, Cafe, Restaurant, Restrooms |
The trip ends at Bilbao Abando. Everything past the gates belongs to somebody else, the rooms included.
A room in Bilbao for the night the ferry gets in
Hotels and apartments near downtown, most of them with free cancellation, on a map that shows what is walkable.
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 Santander to Bilbao
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €11.8890 days
- €11.8860 days
- €11.8845 days
- €11.8830 days
- €11.8821 days
- €11.8814 days
- €11.887 days
- €11.883 days
- €12.991 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 90 days ahead, at €11.88.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 9 percent. The most expensive point is €12.99, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits outside the cheap window, which opens around 90 days before departure. There is no advantage to booking this minute.
Which departure day costs least
Median cheapest fare for each weekday, taken across the next three weeks of real prices.
- €11.88Sun
- €11.88Mon
- €11.88Tue
- €11.88Wed
- €11.88Thu
- €11.88Fri
- €11.88Sat
Where you leave from and where you arrive
The stations, airports and ports each mode on this corridor actually uses.
Santander
Ferry
- Santander Estacion Maritima
- Embarcadero de Santander
Bilbao
Ferry
- Bilbao Terminal de Getxo
- Pío Baroja plaza
What the journey actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 60% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 40% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 78 km against 75 km in a straight line, a detour of 4 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Bermeo, Donostia / San Sebastián, Gasteiz / Vitoria, Burgos. The gap between arriving and leaving is 61 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 16 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
- First and last departure
- The first service of the day leaves Santander at 06:30 and the last at 14:43, across 3 departures. The return direction keeps its own timetable, so the times back are not these times reversed.
Ferries 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 | 1h 22m | 38m | 44m | €11.89 | 2.6 kg | 7 |
| Ferry | 4h 22m | 2h 52m | 1h 30m | €11.88 | 9.0 kg | 3 |
Questions about Santander 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 Ferry from Santander to Bilbao take?
The Ferry from Santander to Bilbao takes 4h 22m door to door, of which 2h 52m is spent moving. The route runs 78 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 Ferry from Santander to Bilbao cost?
The Ferry from Santander to Bilbao starts at €11.88 for one passenger, checked on September 13, 2026. A typical fare is €11.89. Both are the total including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so the price here is the price at checkout.
Who runs the Ferry from Santander to Bilbao?
1 operators run the Ferry from Santander to Bilbao: Grimaldi. Between them they file around 3 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 Ferry from Santander to Bilbao use?
The Ferry from Santander to Bilbao leaves from Santander Estacion Maritima and arrives at Bilbao Terminal de Getxo. Allow about 1h 30m 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 Ferry the best way from Santander to Bilbao?
Traveling from Santander to Bilbao by Train costs €11.89 and takes 1h 22m door to door, against 4h 22m by Ferry. 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 Ferry from Santander to Bilbao?
Fares for the Ferry from Santander to Bilbao bottom out around 90 days ahead, at €11.88. The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time across the window is 9 percent, measured on September 13, 2026. Booking inside the final week has consistently cost more.
How much CO2 does the Ferry from Santander to Bilbao produce?
The Ferry from Santander to Bilbao produces about 9.0 kg of CO2 per passenger over 78 km, which works out at roughly 115 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 Ferry from Santander to Bilbao?
Operators on the Ferry from Santander to Bilbao publish Bar, , Cabins, Cafe, Restaurant, Restrooms. That is what 1 carriers on this corridor state about their own fleets, across a journey of 4h 22m door to door. Where a carrier publishes nothing, this page lists nothing for it.
Where these numbers come from
Derived from service area No carrier record names this exact pair. The operators listed publish a service area covering both places at a distance their mode plausibly carries people, which is evidence that the corridor is served and not evidence of a specific service. Pages state which, because presenting the two as the same thing would be dishonest.
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 Santander to Bilbao on September 10, 2026: 78 km of route against 75 km in a straight line, 3 services a day, 1 operators, a cheapest fare of €11.88, and 4h 22m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Related journeys
Bilbao to Santander ferryCompare every mode from Santander to BilbaoSantander to Bilbao trainAlcúdia to Bilbao ferryAlgeciras to Bilbao ferryAlgiers to Bilbao ferryAlicante to Bilbao ferryAlmería to Bilbao ferryAltea to Bilbao ferryBarcelona to Bilbao ferryBermeo to Bilbao ferryAlcúdia to Bilbao ferryAlgeciras to Bilbao ferryAlgiers to Bilbao ferryAlicante to Bilbao ferry
Being on the water gives Bilbao a set of days out that do not start at a station. We do not sell those either.
Day trips out of Bilbao and across Spain
Timed entry, guided walks and half-day trips out of Bilbao, with free cancellation on most of it.
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.