• Comprehensive Advising and Support
• Tuition at the Host University
• Official Transcript from Host University with ISA Cover Letter
• Housing
• Meals and Laundry Services
• Bridging Cultures Program
• Full-Time Resident Staff
• On-Site ISA Offices
• Computer and Internet Access
• Excursions
• The ISA Discovery Model
• Cultural Activities
• Medical Insurance
• Comprehensive Health, Safety and Security Support
• Airport Reception
• Visa Support
• Tutoring
• The Professional Development Toolbox
• Scholarship Opportunities

Last Updated: Feb 08, 2024

Last Reviewed: Feb 07, 2024

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About Program

Bilbao, Spain (pop. 354,000) is located in the northern part of the country, within País Vasco. This capital of the Biscay Province provides you with an opportunity for an amazing adventure abroad. Smart, cosmopolitan, and just minutes from the coast, Bilbao is an ideal place to study. As a cultural epicenter, you will delve not only into Spanish culture, but Basque and French cultures as well. Bilbao is a contemporary city with access to mother nature in all directions. Its combination of cosmopolitan and outdoor activities is a great recipe for an exceptional experience abroad. Regardless of your interests, you will have a multitude of activities in which to partake: exploring art/history museums, hiking, sightseeing, surfing, biking, shopping, or socializing with locals!

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Diversity & Inclusion

BIPOC Support

Our team at ISA is committed to providing exceptional support through identity-focused advising and resources for students, university partners, and ISA staff. We have developed our ISA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee to help serve all students and stakeholders, particularly the needs of underrepresented student populations. Our country-specific diversity pages offer information about the societies and cultural history of ISA destinations. This information can be used to start your reflection about how your intersecting identities relate to the host community context.

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LGBTQIA+ Support

Our team at ISA is committed to providing exceptional support through identity-focused advising and resources for students, university partners, and ISA staff. We have developed our ISA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee to help serve all students and stakeholders. Our country-specific diversity pages offer information about the societies and cultural history of ISA destinations. This information can be used to start your reflection about how your intersecting identities relate to the host community context.

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Neurodivergent Support

ISA is committed to facilitating quality programming to students with varying levels of neurodivergence. Our Health & Safety team is available to answer questions about insurance and medication, as well as provide students with materials on overseas access to support.

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Accessibility Support

ISA is committed to facilitating quality programming to students with varying levels of accessibility. With our wide portfolio of program types and locations we’re confident there is a suitable and accessible program for each student. Accommodations abroad can be complex and take time, so those with accessibility needs should inform ISA of any accommodations requests as early as possible in the advising process. Please contact accessibilityteam@studiesabroad.com with questions or for more information.

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Impact

Sustainability

We have partnered with Fill it Forward to engage team members and program participants in waste reduction practices. The goal is to encourage the elimination of single-use waste. Every QR code scan shows the impact of reusable bottles and unlocks a donation to environmental impact groups.

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Ethical Impact

WorldStrides, a global organization, is committed to educate and serve communities worldwide. Our commitment is fueled by the passion of our team members and partners to make experiential learning accessible, while also being socially, environmentally, and ethically responsible. Together, we accomplish this by investing in initiatives to promote inclusion, diversity, and sustainability.

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Popular Programs

The Universidad de Deusto

The Universidad de Deusto, founded in 1886, was Spain’s first private university. It is located in the heart of Bilbao on either side of the Nervion River. The two sides of campus are connected by a pedestrian footbridge and are adjacent to the famous Guggenheim museum. Deusto is very well-connected to Bilbao and has beautiful views. There are many opportunities for you to meet local students at Deusto including the Tandem program which pairs you with a local conversation partner.

Scholarships

ISA by WorldStrides Diversity Scholarship

This scholarship is offered for summer and semester programs and is intended for students with identities historically underserved in education abroad. This can include, but is not limited to, individuals who identify as African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian American, Alaskan Native, American Indian, Native Hawaiian, LGBTQIA+, First-Generation College Students, U.S. Military Veterans, students with disabilities, and/or students at Minority-Serving Institutions.

Value

$2,500 - $5,000

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Program Reviews

4.75 Rating

based on 4 reviews

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Rating Spread Study

5 rating 75%
4 rating 25%
3 rating 0%
2 rating 0%
1 rating 0%

Academics 3.25
Support 5
Fun 5
Housing 5
Safety 5

Good for Students, Photographers

Showing 1 - 4 of 4 reviews

Bilbao is a beautiful city rich in culture with amazing views, inspiring art, delicious food, and kind people! The city's vibrant atmosphere and welcoming spirit allowed me to feel at home within days of arriving. The city offers experiences for everyone to enjoy: lively nightlife, picturesque hikes, world class gastronomy, and spirited fútbol matches of Bilbao's own professional team. The public transportation is in a class of its own as it is reliable, clean, and efficient allowing easy access to explore the city within or take quick day trips to nearby cities and beaches. Whether it was walking around historic Casco Viejo, riding the metro to nearby beaches, taking in the views of the city from above per the funicular, eating pintxos at La Ribera market, or simply sitting on a bench in the park, my time in Bilbao was a once in a lifetime experience with memories I will cherish forever.

What was your funniest moment?

While it is hard to pinpoint an exact moment on a trip filled with laughs, my most memorable moments and times I laughed the hardest were simply sitting at the park at night sharing stories and debriefing the day with friends.

Pros

Walkable city with well structured public transportation
Beautiful scenery
Cultural experiences

Cons

Wood bridge by Deusto

Guggenheim and Univeristy of Deusto along the river

Aerial view of the city from the top of the funicular

Bilbao is an absolutely amazing city nestled right in the middle of the mountains and the beach. What more could you ask for? With a short metro to the beach, countless stunning mountains surrounding you at every angle, beautiful greenery, lively culture, and most of all: pintxos, Bilbao has something for everyone! Bilbao is very safe and is perfect for nature lovers who want to be centralized in a modern city. The public transportation is very clean, efficient, and laid out wonderfully compared to other major cities in Spain!

What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?

My host dad owned a bar in Casco Viejo, so I had frequently "bar food" for snacks. When I think of bar food, I think of nachos, but when he thinks of bar food, it's raw anchovies in a plate of olive oil! I can't lie, it was very good and filling!

Pros

Nature
Beach
Modern City

I always knew I wanted to study abroad, but I chose Bilbao specifically because I wanted to experience the culture, language, nature, and people of Spain without having to deal with ginormous cities like Barcelona or Madrid. Bilbao is absolutely one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been in. It's surrounded by green mountains on either side with plenty of hiking and multiple insanely beautiful beaches 20 minutes away on the Metro. In Bilbao, I lived in a homestay, and between my host mom, Elena, and my program manager, Genoveva, I always felt safe. I also felt supported in my academics at the university and adjusting to the homestay. This freed me up to experience Bilbao, Spain, and Europe. I took many trips to the historic cities near Bilbao, like Pamplona, San Sebastian, and Guernica. I experienced nightlife with some great friends I met on the trip and got to eat some of the best food I'd ever had. On a normal day in the first month, I would walk across the river, with a great view of the Guggenheim, and into Universidad de Deusto, which is this beautiful European building full of smart Basque students and teachers. After my language, history, and culture classes, I would most likely take the metro to the beach with my friends, where we would relax under the sun and cool off in the Cantabrian Sea. Then we'd grab a pintxo, probably tortilla de patata, and head home to have dinner with our host parents and siblings. I will never forget all those beautiful moments I had while studying abroad, and I can't recommend Bilbao, or anywhere in Spain for that matter, enough! It's also great if you're looking to build your resume. There are local programs that hire students to teach local kids English.

If you did this all over again, what's one thing you would change?

If there's one thing I would change about the time I was in Bilbao it would be putting more time into meeting with and making friends with local students. I did make some amazing friends while studying abroad. However, most of them were from the States. It's hard to put yourself out there, especially when living abroad for the first time, speaking a second language, but meeting local people is seriously one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. People living in Bilbao and anywhere outside of the US will just invariably have different perspectives than we do. They have different lifestyles and cultures, and if you can make some local friends, I promise you won't regret it.

Pros

Beautiful city full of Spanish and Basque speaking locals.
Incredibly architecture, gastronomy, and culture.
Many bars, clubs and restaurants filled with other college students from around Europe.

Cons

Classes are mostly with other American's.
Bilbao's airport is not as big as Madrid's or Barcelona's
Homesickness

One of our last night's at Porto Viejo in Getxo (15 minute metro ride away from Bilbao)

A night out in one of Bilbao's many bars and Restaurants

My typical day during the week involved waking up, getting ready, grabbing my umbrella and boots and walking to the metro in the rain. Then a 30 minute ride followed by a 10 minute walk in the rain to class. The class rooms were freezing but the professors were wonderful. The classes were not hard, but the Language immersion classes were all in Spanish and with mostly American students. The business side had more of a mixture of international students and were taught in English. At 130 I would hope back on the metro, go home eat lunch with my host family and take a siesta till 4, go for a run on the pathway next to the beach, come back finish some homework and hangout till dinner with was at 930-10 when my host mom got home. We would eat all together watching El Hormie Guero on TV and then go to bed. On the weekends I went on trips all over Europe, I visited 15 different cities. There was a 2 week spring break so we got to go to Morocco and I visited family in Germany, but other students went all the way to Jerusalem and Egypt. I hung out in the ISA office a lot too which was literally the building next to the school. If I wasn't out traveling we went out on the town, there is a great night life scene where people start partying at 2 in the morning and then go home at 7. We also went to the beach a lot and had surfing lessons with a discount for the Unviersidad de Deusto. It rained a lot in Bilbao in the spring, and it was cold. It had similar weather to Seattle but colder and very little sunshine. That was my biggest disappointment, but the public transit was amazing, and my host family was so gracious and loving. I would definitely go back.

What would you improve about this program?

More cultural activities, like Basque dancing and maybe a discount with the rec center. The worst part was that it rained so much, there was only so much we could do out in the city, and it was not socially acceptable to have friends come over to the host family homes. We hung out in the ISA office a lot, but we were only allowed to be so loud. It was still a great experience and the directors were so supportive and unbelievably helpful. ISA is amazing, but the rain was the worst part of Bilbao.

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Questions & Answers

Alumni Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with verified alumni.

Why did you decide to study abroad with ISA in Bilbao, Spain?

Lauren williams sahara desert

Lauren: I chose ISA as my hosting program because they helped with the visa, they had an office with 2 directors on site that was literally next door to the university. They offered health insurance, travel insurance, host family placement and really helped the students with their questions such as the best night clubs, extra curricular activities like photography and exercise programs. Geno and Nago were the best people to ask cultural questions too, they were really understanding and corrected all my Spanish papers and projects. They loved to go out to lunch with us too.

What made this study abroad experience in Bilbao with ISA unique and special?

Lauren: My experience was unique to me because I spent years preparing for it, trying to save money and pick the best city. I did a lot of research on where to travel, how to get there, time managed my trips. I also chose a host family, who happened to be the kindest people I met over there. The sister had a baby while I was there too, and so the whole family included me in the care of their newborn and we went to lunches and bars and the beach all the time. They helped me with my Spanish and taught me how to cook their traditional meals. They were so kind to me and told me if I ever come back to Spain, I can stay at their home again.

How has this experience impacted your future?

Lauren: I am going to be a Nurse, and being fluent in Spanish really helps me everyday with my patients. I also learned how to be independent because no one held my hand in Spain to show me how to get between the cities or how to get around in Bilbao. That is important for life in general, because you cannot rely on other people to make your dreams come true.

Tell us about an experience you had that you could not have had at home.

Lauren: A unique experience I had in San Sebastian was with a group of kids from my program when we were staying in the hotel. There was a piano bar downstairs and my friend started playing "Thousand Miles" and all of us girls knew the song, so naturally we all sang it super loud. The patrons of the bar loved it, and they tipped my friend, and asked us to sing it again. After the second round, one of the patrons was so excited he bought us all a round of drinks and wanted to talk with us about how we all knew that song. It was very cool that we sort of blended the two cultures together with a song and we all had a good night.

spain lauren williams beach friends

What did ISA do for you and what did you need to do on your own?

Lauren: The ISA program picked us up from the airport in Madrid and took us to Bilbao, and set us up with the housing. But after that I had to pay for the metro tickets to get from the host family's house to school, which did end up being rather expensive. They also set up trips for us that were pretty local, such as going to a winery in Rioja and San Sebastian, but we had to do all our own planning and booking for other trips. They also offered to set up the visa for us before we left the country. There was also that office literally next to the university that we could hang out in and plan our trips and eat lunch or talk with the directors. They had free wifi so it was really easy to book trips. There was also an extra trip, that cost money outside the program, that was all ISA students and directors and we went to Fes, the Sahara, and Meknes, in Morocco. Loved the trip, and it is really cool I can say I have ridden a camel in the Sahara.

About ISA (International Studies Abroad)

As a leader in international education for over thirty years, ISA is dedicated to providing university and college level students the opportunity to discover, learn, and enjoy a way of life other than their own. ISA offers a diverse portfolio of education abroad programs across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific. Our worldwide...