Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao runs about 17 times a day, with the first departure around 06:17 and the last around 17:23. One passenger pays €11.88, every fee included. The fastest door to door is 1h 22m over 81 km, on services run by 6 operators across 2 modes.
What one seat costs
Every operator we hold on this corridor starts at €11.88, so there is no spread to show.
Typical fares
€11.88
When it runs, leaving Donostia / San Sebastian
No operator has filed a timetable for this direction yet, so the first and last departure below follow the pattern of the corridor. Read them as the shape of the service day rather than as times to turn up for.
- 06:17First departure
- 17:23Last departure
- 17Services per day
- 88%Run direct
Eusko Trenbideak - Ferrocarriles Vascos runs this service and does not sell it here. Bookaway takes the payment.
Buying this trip
Bookaway lists departures for Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao on your date, and you pay on their side.
See Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao on Bookaway
Or compare on TrainlineOr compare on 12Go
Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and we earn nothing from this one.
Grimaldi runs this service and does not sell it here. AFerry takes the payment.
Buying this trip
AFerry holds the sailings between these two ports, with the crossing times and the fares.
See Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao on AFerry
Or compare on BookawayOr compare on Direct Ferries
Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and we earn nothing from this one.
Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €11.88Tue15
- about €12.99Wed16
- about €11.88Thu17
- about €12.44Fri18
- about €11.88Sat19
- about €11.88Sun20
- about €11.88Mon21
- about €11.88Tue22
- about €11.88Wed23
- about €11.88Thu24
- about €11.88Fri25
- about €11.88Sat26
- about €11.88Sun27
- about €11.88Mon28
- about €11.88Tue29
- about €11.88Wed30
- about €11.88Thu1
- about €11.88Fri2
- about €11.88Sat3
- about €11.88Sun4
- about €11.88Mon5
Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.
The ferry gets you into Bilbao. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in Bilbao for the night the ferry gets in
Sort by distance from Bilbao Abando and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
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 Donostia / San Sebastian 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
- €11.881 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 0 percent. The most expensive point is €11.88, 90 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.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 1 days ahead, so there is no rush yet.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.
The shape of it
81 km
77 km as the crow flies, 5% further by the route services actually take. The bearing runs west.
Who lives at each end
185,357 → 347,342
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
How we know
0/4
4 of these connections were inferred from service-area overlap rather than observed in a timetable. We would rather say so.
The route
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
- 82% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 18% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 81 km against 77 km in a straight line, a detour of 5 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Irun, Pamplona, Gasteiz / Vitoria, Bermeo. The gap between arriving and leaving is 54 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 17 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is ours to fix and you are rebooked at no charge.
The fare from BIO into Bilbao is the one price on this trip we cannot show you, because it is not ours.
A car waiting when you land in Bilbao
Settled in advance, so the ride into Bilbao costs what it said it would rather than what the cab stand says.
Book a ride from BIO with Welcome PickupsOr check Daytrip
Partner links. We do not operate transfers. We earn a commission on a booking, and the fare is the same as going direct.
Who runs this route
The ferry gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Baggage storage near Bilbao Abando
Most of the points near Bilbao Abando open before the first train and close after the last one.
Check Bilbao on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Donostia / San Sebastian 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 it take to get from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao?
The fastest journey from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao takes 1h 22m door to door, of which 38m is spent moving, on the train. Most services take around 1h 54m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao?
The cheapest fare from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao is €11.88, as of September 14, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €14.64. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao?
The cheapest way from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao is by ferry, at €11.88 for one passenger on September 15, 2026. That journey takes 4h 7m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
What is the fastest way to get from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao?
The fastest way from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao is by train, at 1h 22m door to door. Only 38m of that is spent moving; the remaining 44m is reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end. The cheapest fare on that mode is €11.88.
When should I book Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao?
Fares from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao bottom out around 90 days before departure, at €11.88. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 0 percent, measured on September 14, 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao?
Sunday is the cheapest day to depart from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao, at €11.88. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of September 14, 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao?
September is the cheapest of the next 6 months to travel from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao, at €11.88 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs service from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao?
6 operators sell services from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao across 2 modes: Eusko Trenbideak - Ferrocarriles Vascos, Euskotren, Grimaldi, Renfe, Renfe Feve, SNCF. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.
Is there a direct service from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao?
82 percent of the services we sell from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao are direct. The rest connect at Irun, Pamplona, Gasteiz / Vitoria, Bermeo, with about 54 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
How much CO2 does the journey from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao produce?
Traveling from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao by train produces about 2.7 kg of CO2 per passenger, the lowest of any mode on this corridor. The same journey by Ferry produces about 9.3 kg, roughly 3 times as much for one passenger.
Which station or terminal do services from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao use?
Services from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao by train leave from Hernani and arrive at Bilbao Abando. Allow about 44m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao?
6 of the 6 operators we sell from Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
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.
Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Donostia / San Sebastian to Bilbao on September 14, 2026: 81 km of route against 77 km in a straight line, 22 services a day, 6 operators a cheapest fare of €11.88, and 1h 22m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
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
Day trips that leave Bilbao in the morning and cover a good part of Spain by evening.
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.
The two ends, compared
Donostia / San Sebastian reaches 98 places in 4 countries on services we hold, over distances from 15 to 874 km. Bilbao reaches 148 places in 24 countries, from 24 to 3,759 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Donostia / San Sebastian
- 98Places you can leave for
- 4Countries
- 8Operators
Arriving in Bilbao
Leaving Bilbao
- 148Places you can leave for
- 24Countries
- 45Operators