Alhóndiga Bilbao Kiroldegia | Polideportivo Alhóndiga Bilbao

The pool is located on the 4th floor of a very impressive building, not so far from the Guggenheim museum. You need to pay the (pretty high) admission fee on the ground floor, then take the elevator to the labyrinthic changing rooms on the 3rd floor, before moving to the pool itself. Do not go there if you plan to do a serious workout: there is no speed separation, and the lanes are quite busy and too narrow to safely overtake slower swimmers. After your swim, do not forget to enjoy the rooftop terrace if the weather is nice!

Many come to Bilbao for the Guggenheim, but do not come without visiting this most spectacular municipal pool anywhere. Located in a new building built inside an old shell, you enter at the corner and walk straight through the huge lobby to the ticket desk marked by red and blue lights. One the way, notice the unique pillars, each designed by a different artist/architect. Up to the third floor vestuarios (changing rooms), which are a vision in slate and wood. Deposit a Euro coin to release key to a locker and retrieve the coin when you return the key. The keys come attached to a plastic bracelet designed to fit your wrist; mine slipped off so I secreted it elsewhere. Then, find the separate stairs/lift up to the stunning fourth floor pools. On a November weekday, there were two or three swimmers per lane, but all politely waited at ends for me to pass. The water's a good temperature for distance swimming. Note windows in the bottom of the warm pool to let light down to third floor.

This is a great lap pool with convenient hours and a central location. Perfect.

It’s a giant facility and the ground floor door is not well marked. There are several indoor pools on the roof, brand-new with good light. It is an amazing scene of kids, seniors, classes with euro-disco music. It appears that lap swim is available almost all day and night. Check the website that has updated PDFs. Clean water and refundable €1 lockers. Footwear and caps are required, but the rule appears not to be well enforced.