Casco Viejo Market

Casco Viejo Market trades on Fridays from 9am to 2pm and Sundays from 8am to 2pm, at Itxaropen Kalea 14 in Bilbao's Ibaiondo district. It is a covered hall with step-free access, and it is one of the markets in Bilbao worth checking against the city's other municipal markets before you pick a morning.

About Casco Viejo Market

Mercado Casco Viejo keeps two sessions a week rather than the Monday to Saturday pattern of a larger food hall. Sunday opens an hour earlier, at 8am, and runs to 2pm; Friday runs 9am to 2pm. Those are the only two days it trades, so a Saturday visit to Itxaropen Kalea finds the doors shut.

The hall is indoors and wheelchair accessible throughout, which is worth knowing if the alternative is an open-air pitch on a wet Bilbao morning. Stalls take cash and mobile payment. Cards are not listed among the market's payment options, so bring notes and coins.

What to buy at Casco Viejo Market

The counters cover a full weekly shop: fish and seafood, meat and poultry, fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese and dairy, and bread and bakery. In a Basque port city the fish counters are the reason most people walk in.

Everything is sold by weight at the stall, so you can buy one fillet rather than a supermarket tray. Nothing in the record lists bars or tapas counters inside, so treat it as a place to shop and take your pintxos in the old town afterwards.

How to get to Casco Viejo Market

The market is at Itxaropen Kalea 14, 48005 Bilbao, in the Ibaiondo district of the old town. Casco Viejo metro station is the closest stop, a short walk away through the historic quarter, and street parking here is scarce enough that arriving on foot or by metro is the easier option.

Where to stay in Bilbao

Staying in the Casco Viejo itself puts you right on the doorstep of the market, and the narrow streets of the old town are full of character. Casco Viejo is the obvious choice, with plenty of small hotels and guesthouses within easy walking distance.

If you prefer something a little more polished, Gran Hotel Domine Bilbao sits just across the river in the Abando district and is easy to reach on foot or by metro. Abando also has good transport links if you plan to explore beyond the market.

What days is Casco Viejo Market in Bilbao open?

Casco Viejo Market opens on two days a week: Friday from 9am to 2pm and Sunday from 8am to 2pm. It does not trade on Saturday or on any other weekday. The Sunday session is the longer of the two, starting an hour earlier at the hall on Itxaropen Kalea in Bilbao's old town.

Is Casco Viejo Market open on a Sunday?

Yes, Casco Viejo Market trades every Sunday from 8am to 2pm, which is its longer of two weekly sessions. That makes it one of the few places in Bilbao's old town open for a food shop on a Sunday morning, with fish, meat, produce and bakery counters all trading in the covered hall.

What can you buy at Casco Viejo Market?

Casco Viejo Market sells fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and poultry, fish and seafood, cheese and dairy, and bread and bakery goods. Everything is sold at the counter by weight. The fish and seafood stalls are the draw in a Basque port city, and they are busiest in the first hours of the Sunday session.

Is Casco Viejo Market wheelchair accessible?

Yes, Casco Viejo Market is wheelchair accessible, with step-free access into the hall. It is a covered indoor market rather than an open-air pitch, so the trading area stays dry and level in all weather. Stalls take cash and mobile payment, and cards are not listed among the accepted payment options.