Urdaibai Bird Center

It is in Gautegiz Arteaga, about 4.5 km from Gernika, on the right bank of the Oka and at the edge of the marshes. Inside there is a migration map, a projection dome, exhibitions, a viewpoint with telescopes towards the Orueta lagoon and a tower. From Gernika, take the road to Lekeitio and, 700 m after the Kortezubi roundabout, turn left at the signposted entrance, which leads to its car park.

What you will see

The Urdaibai Bird Center is both a museum and a research centre devoted to bird migration, and the building itself works as an observatory over the marshes. Urdaibai is a stopover on the migratory route of many birds, and from the viewpoint you see, depending on the season, spoonbills, herons, ducks, waders and, with luck, the elusive bittern. The Orueta lagoon, right in front, was created in 2009 on a former polder, and the centre carries out a daily bird count there.

Inside, the visit combines the large migration map, the exhibitions, an audiovisual room and the projection dome, before moving on to the viewpoint and the tower, which gives a wide view of the area. The centre closely follows the osprey reintroduction project in Urdaibai: the first chick in the reserve was in 2021, and in spring it broadcasts the nesting season live. After a recent storm it even recorded a group of 85 spoonbills sheltering in the marshes.

What the visit is like

Allow an hour and a half. You can do it on your own with an audio guide or arrange a guided visit. It has a shop, parking and meeting rooms, and its website publishes that count and a live camera of the reserve, useful for deciding whether it is a good day. It is an easy visit with children, and the centre has environmental education programmes for schools and families.

Opening hours and price

From February to June and in September and October it opens Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 16:00 and at weekends and on public holidays from 10:00 to 18:00. In July and August, every day from 10:00 to 18:00. From November to February, only Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 10:00 to 16:00. It closes on 24, 25 and 31 December and on 1 and 6 January. On the San José long weekends and at Easter it extends to 10:00–18:00 every day. The rate is published on its website as an image; if you want to confirm it beforehand, write to them through the contact form.

Getting there by bus and what to combine

Without a car, Bizkaibus bus A3513 between Bilbao, Gernika and Lekeitio stops at Zelaieta (stop 1855), in Gautegiz Arteaga. Very close, on the same bank of the estuary, Laida Kanoak canoes set out. In Gernika, ten minutes away, you have the Peace Museum and the Casa de Juntas.