Plaza Nueva is a huge public square on the eastern part of central Bilbao. It's a classic Spanish public square with cages, shops and restaurants. It's a lovely spot for food as you'll be surrounded by beautiful neoclassical buildings and cute arcade.

This is the oldest surviving square in Bilbao and is surrounded by 60+ covered arches. Three levels of housing sit upon the arcade with their beautiful white French doors opening into the square. There is a language school there with a very interesting emblem on its roofline: a lion with its two human hands on either side of a shield. On Sundays, the square hosts a flea market and at other times, concerts and community events are held here. The covered arches are a great place to retreat from blazing sun (it was quite hot in July) and many arches open onto cafes, traditional taverns, and small shops. Seating is fairly limited for people who are not sitting at a cafe. The building style is Roman Neoclassical which, in itself, adheres to design simplicity and is a reaction to the excesses of Rococo style. Nice place to stop with our tour group but not for too long.

Spent part of a Saturday evening here before moving on to the old town. It was very busy with locals and tourists. I wondered if it might be a rip off tourist spot but it definitely wasn’t. As a vegetarian I had to try a few different bars to find pintxos that I could eat. Very vibrant and a good atmosphere

Nice little area to relax, go to a cafe, and let the kids run and play. I went Siri g a festival so it was quite busy and most stores were closed due to the weekend. Pretty area though and great for photographs.

This is a good place to go for wine and pintxos pretty much any time. You must EAT as well as drink to get a table on the courtyard. No, just drinking tables. There was NOT a flea market here on Sundays in October 2023, so do not plan on this in your itinerary.