Practical information

for Nonviolence Training Exchange (26-29 October)
and WRI Council meeting (29-31 October)
Bilbao, State of Spain

Travel

Bilbao is located in the Basque Country, in northern Spain, at 15 km from the Atlantic Coast, about one hour away from the French border.

If you travel by plane, you can fly directly to the Bilbao Aiport (BIO), situated 12 km away from town.

A taxi would cost you about 20 €. There is a bus service from the airport to downtown, the Bizkaibus line 3247. It stops in Bilbao at Gran Vía 79, plaza Moyua, Alameda Recalde,11 and ends up at the Bilbao Bus terminal, called Termibus (Calle Garrellano). The service starts at 5.20 from Termibus until 22:20 at night (every 20 minutes). Its starts at 6:20 from the airport until 24:00, also every 20 minutes. Information number (from within Spain): 902 222 265.

If you are looking for cheaper rates for overseas flights, you might check flying into Madrid (Barajas airport). From there you can go by metro to the bus terminal of Avenida de América, taking metro line 8 until Colombia station and switching to Line 9 until the Avenida de América station (see metro map: http://www.metromadrid.es/acc_resources/pdfs/Plano_Metro_2008.pdf).

The bus line to Bilbao is operated by Alsa (phone: 902 42 22 42 from Spain; online ticket purchase: www.alsa.es). The trip lasts 4h45, with a 20 min stop half-way through. It costs 27€ or 41€ (supra class) one way. In Bilbao, you will arrive at Termibus. There are about 10-12 buses daily (with slight changes on weekend), but the web page does not give yet information for October and November. There is usually no space problem, so you can buy the ticket directly at the station or wait until a week or 10 days before the trip to get more accurate information through the web page.

If you travel by train from Europe, you will probably arrive at Hendaye (on the French side) or Irun (across the Spanish border). From Irun, you can take a bus to Bilbao, the trip lasts 1h45, costs 8€ one way or 15€ roundtrip. There are 10 buses daily, including on Sundays. (more info at: http://www.alsa.es).

From Hendaye, you can also take a bus to Bilbao, but there are only a few connections a day (see www.pesa.net).

Another much slower, but more environmentally friendly option -- is to take the local train (euskotren, also called "topo") from Hendaye train station to Donostia-San Sebastian (until the terminus, Amara Station) and change there to the Eusko trainline from Donostia to Bilbao (leaving every hour, the trip lasts almost 3 hours). A one-way ticket will cost you about 10€. You can find the schedules on the Euskotren website: http://www.euskotren.es/castellano/horarios/home2.html

The timetable to/from Hendaye is the one for Zumaia-Hendaia. You will find that one and the San Sebastian-Bilbao at http://www.euskotren.es/castellano/horarios/pdf/verano/08/ZUMAIA-HENDAIA.pdf

Travel within Bilbao. You can get a Creditrans ticket (available at metro stations). The minimum amount is 5€, it can be used by various people and allows you to travel on bus and metro. Each trip is discounted from the ticket until money runs out.

Visa information

You should get in touch with the Spanish embassy of your country to know whether you need a visa for Spain and what the requirements might be. Spain is part of the Schengen agreement, which allows you to travel through the Schengen zone with the same visa. Schengen visa application forms can be found here:

http://www.maec.es/en/MenuPpal/Consulares/Formularios/Paginas/formularios.aspx

Be aware that, apart from the airplane ticket reservation, some embassies might ask you for a proof of travel insurance.

Any person needing a visa should get in touch ASAP with Dominique Saillard at domi@euskalnet.net in order to arrange for the invitation letter you will need from the event organisers in the Basque Country and for any other practical issue.

Accommodation

Most people will be staying at the Bilbao Youth Hostel. You can find more information about the Hostel at http://albergue.bilbao.net/ing/introing.html. Toward the end of September, we will write individually to the people who might not be staying at the Hostel to give them the relevant information.

Access to/from the Youth Hostel:

The address of the youth hostel is:
Carretera Basurto-Kastrexana, 70 -- 48002 BILBAO -- State of Spain
Tel. 94 427 00 54; Fax 94 427 54 79; E-mail: aterpe@albergue.bilbao.net

	The Hostel has good communications with the city via buses which stop just a few metres from the Hostel. Buses link the Hostel to Bilbao's main streets, providing rapid access to the city.
Bus Line : 58 Frequency: 15 minutes	Links the Hostel to the Old Quarter
Bus Line: 80 Frequency : 30 minutes	Links the Hostel to the Coach Station (Termibus), and the Metro (San Mamés station.- exit to calle Luis Briñas)
	The tram is a 15-minute walk away. “BASURTO” Stop.

If you are traveling by car, the directions to get to the Hostel are as follows:

If you are traveling from DONOSTIA-SAN SEBASTIAN take exit number 118 (BASURTO-ALTAMIRA), which is after the three exits for Bilbao. Turn right and the Hostel is located at a distance of 300 metres.

If you are traveling from SANTANDER, take the BALMASEDA exit, followed by the ALTAMIRA turn-off.

The Hostel is located at a distance of 500 metres.

You can find the Youth Hostel location on this Bilbao map: Location on the plan