San Sebastian is a small Spanish town in Basque country in northern Spain. Basque has a very strong culture and language throughout northern Spain and towns near the French border. San Sebastian is well known for its beaches and surf, but away from the coast lies lively small walkways filled with vibrant tapas bars, that you can't avoid missing.
How we got there
We caught our 5th out of 9 Busabout hop on hop off transfers from Madrid to San Sebastian. We were lucky enough to have stopped at Bilbao on the way through for a wander to explore the markets down to the river and marvel at the architecture of the Guggenheim.
Click here and book now with Busabout.
Where we stayed
We stayed at Olatu Guesthouse in a twin room with a shared bathroom. The host didn't speak English, but we literally had 3 full conversations with her during our stay and managed fine. The Guest House was in a perfect location just outside the Old Town and a 5-minute walk to the beach.
What we did
Strolled through the Old Town
The Old Town is full of people, shops and bars. It is perfectly located near the beach, surrounded by live music for dancing at sunset on the summer weekends and tapas bars around every corner.
Laid on La Concha Beach
La Concha is a long sweeping swimming beach. Because it is located inside the bay, it has little surf and perfect for a bake and swim sesh. We also walked around the corner to Zurriola Beach, a surf beach, full of surfers and great waves.
Climbed Mount Urgull
Climbed to the top of Mount Urgull above the Old Town for amazing views of the Bay and to check out the 12m statue of Jesus up close. A perfect way to burn off all those calories from pintxos and sangria.
Bar hopping
Even though San Sebastian is a small town, in the summer clubs open at 12am-1am, making it a popular town for nightlife, as well as day life. We went to Tas Tas, Iguana, Dionis and Disco Friends. But what made going out and drinking the most enjoyable was being able to save a few euro by ordering cheap drinks. We ordered Tinto de Veranos, red wine with lemonade, for as little as 2 euro!!
What else to do in San Sebastian:
Hire a bike to see the whole city
Take a ferry to Santa Clara Island
What we ate
Tapas, Tapas, Tapas
As I have already hinted, we ate tapas, and a lot of them! There's not much else to eat in San Sebastian. All the bars are filled with buffet tapas throughout the Old Town. The bars are packed with loads of seafood and pintxos style sandwiches. We then finished each meal with a delicious gelato.
Final Note
If enjoying a few drinks and eating your bodyweight in tapas by the beach is your thing then get to San Sebastian! We definitely recommend putting San Sebastian high on your list of places to visit. Our only regret is we didn’t stay long enough and it’s definitely somewhere we will be visiting again.