I was expecting to be pretty underwhelmed by this WHS (after all, it is just a bridge...) but it was actually quite a bit better than I expected! I visited this during March 2025, during the year my wife and I have been living in Spain. We had a trip to the nearby San Sebastián planned, and so rented a car specifically for the purpose of doing a day in Bilbao where I knew I we could see this bridge.

Unfortunately for me, our other activities took a bit longer than expected, and parking in Bilbao can be a bit tricky. Be aware of that if you are bringing personal transportation into the city as opposed to public transport. Due to the aforementioned factors, my group of four sadly did not have time to cross the bridge as planned, but I did still get to walk up to the base of the bridge and watch it move across!

I had read a decent number of the reviews on here before visiting, but there was one thing I still didn't quite realize – when people talk about the bridge's gondola, you should not think of a typical pedestrian gondola used to ascend mountains. Rather, the gondola is a huge platform that hangs just over the water, level with the street. That's what makes this a "hanging transporter bridge". The gondola is a big flat platform (with walls, but no ceiling) that you can drive your car directly onto from the street, pause as it moves you across, and then continue driving straight off it on the other side!

Also, in case you wondering from the pictures, the bridge is very tall so you have to take an elevator to the upper part of it where you can walk across. It's no wonder so many reviewers mention it being so windy! As Echwel mentioned, take care if you are afraid of heights!

If you're a doubter like I was, thinking "this is just a bridge" as you realize that it is on the other side of the city (30 mins driving) from all of the "main" historical downtown attractions of Bilbao, I can confidently say that the Vizcaya Bridge is worth going to see. It is not merely a functional piece of infrastructure, but has a gift shop and signs and everything telling you about the bridge, making the whole thing an "experience" that's actually fun to do with friends. Also, though I'm sure there are others in the world, I have never seen a bridge quite like this before, so I can assure you that if you go, you won't be relegated to something that is merely different in appearances. (As is usually the case with bridges.)