3 Days in San Sebastian, Spain
Welcome to San Sebastian
Search for “food capital of Spain” and you will immediately find a hundred references to San Sebastian, a small town on the northern coast in the Basque Region. It has one of the highest numbers of Michelin star restaurants per capita, an indicator of the high level of importance the residents place on what they consume. The culture of this beautiful seaside town revolves around small plates called “pintxos” (pronounced pin-cho) and sparkling regional wine called “txakoli” (pronounced chai-koh-lee.) The best way to enjoy the town is spend the day at the beach, and then casually stop in at 3-5 restaurants and pick up a few bites and a drink at each. Best. Life. Ever.
Where to Stay
We stayed on the east side of San Sebastian in a residential area close to Zurriola beach. We stayed here and would recommend it: KUBO by SanSebastianForYou. It was functional, clean, and the location is excellent, walkable to several other beaches as well as all of the restaurants.
Day 1. Arrive and Try all the Pintxos
On the first afternoon in San Sebastian, spend some time on the beach and then dive in with both feet to the town’s culinary scene.
2:00 - Arrive at the San Sebastian train station (A). We took a train from Madrid to San Sebastian (~5 hours). The walk from the train station to the downtown area (B) is ~30 min.
2:30 - Stop in at the Airbnb to drop bags. Ideally you have already asked your Airbnb host if you can stop by early to leave your bags (see Pre-Travel Checklist). If you are staying at a hotel, they should be able to keep the bags for you.
3:00 - Go for a walk along Playa de la Concha (C) until you reach Miramar Palace (D) (~30 min). While away a couple of hours on the beach.
5:00 - Head back towards the Airbnb. Stop in at a grocery store like EROSKI (D) to pick up essentials for breakfast and lunch.
8:00 - Head out for the first night of pintxos. There are literally hundreds of restaurants to choose from, so feel free to go where the wind takes you. No reservations are needed. Stop in first at Bar Zeruko, a place we liked so much we even returned a second night (A) (open daily 12:30-4:30 and 7:30-11:30 except closed Mon and Thu). Then head next door to Bar Nestor (B) and get their famous pan-seared steak (open daily 1-3:30 and 8-11pm except closed Mon). It may be intimidating at first to head the bar—just point at what you want and you’ll get the hang of it soon enough. Don’t forget to order the txakoli!
9:30 - Dinner isn’t over yet. After strolling for a while, head next to Borda Berri (C) (open for dinner Tue-Sat 7:30-11, open for lunch daily 12:30-3:30, closed Mon). Finally, head to La Vina (D) for the most amazing cheesecake you will ever lay eyes on (open daily 11-4 and 7:30-11:30, closed Mon).
Day 2. Run Mount Igeldo and Relax on Ondarreta Beach
Work up an appetite with a hard but beautiful run up Mount Igeldo, then spend an afternoon relaxing on the beach followed by another delicious dinner. Seriously, this place is amazing.
11:00 - Start the day with a beautiful run up Mount Igeldo. Beginning from the Airbnb (near A), run along Playa de la Concha to the top of of the mountain (B). It’s a heavy climb up but the scenery is beautiful along the way. There’s a funicular and amusement park at the top open on weekends (we didn’t do either). Be sure to pack a few euros because we had to pay to enter (something like €3 pp). On the way back down, see the Peine del Viento sculpture garden (C) and the Reina María Cristina statue (D) (9k round trip).
1:00 - Have lunch at the Airbnb.
3:00 - Spend the afternoon at Playa Ondarreta (near D) and Playa de la Concha. We found Ondarreta Beach to be peaceful and an easy place to spend several hours, though we were there early in the season.
9:00 - Have dinner at Atari Gastroteka (E) (open daily 12pm-1am, until 2:30am on Fri and Sat.) It’s a sit-down place that serves pintxos as well as full entrees. Make a reservation in advance.
Day 3. Run Mount Urgull and Relax on Zurriola Beach
Start with another vigorous (but much shorter!) run up Mount Urgull. Enjoy nearby Zurriola beach and another night of pinxtos.
11:00 - Beginning at the Airbnb (near A), run up Mount Urgull (B). Explore some old ruins and take beautiful pictures from the top (5k round trip).
1:00 - Have lunch at the Airbnb.
3:00 - Spend the afternoon at Playa Zurriola (C) on the east side of the city.
8:00 - On your last night, enjoy another round of pintxos and txakoli. You may go back to some favorite spots from night one, or try new places like Gandarias (A) (open daily 11am-12am), Bar Sport (B) (open Mon-Fri 9am-12am, Sat 10am-12am, Sun 11am-12am), and Bar Txepetxa (C) (open Tue 7-11, Wed-Sat 12-3 and 7-11, Sun 12-3, closed Mon). For dessert, stop for ice cream at Gelateria Boulevard (D) (open Sun-Thu 11am-12am, Fri and Sat 11am-2am).
Before You Go
Have More or Less than 3 Days?
Three days was a great amount of time to spend in San Sebastian. It was relaxing, and there was so much good food to be had that we could have even stayed longer. This is definitely a stop worth making if you are planning a trip to Spain. If you have less than three days, the most important thing is to get your fill of pinxtos and txakoli.
Our complete Spain itinerary included four days in Madrid, three days in San Sebastian, one day in Bilbao, and then finally three days in Barcelona. Check out those itineraries for other Spain recommendations.
Costs for Two People
Train from Madrid to San Sebastian - $70
Lodging - $410 ($137/night)
Food/Drink - $270 ($90/day)
International Phone - $15 ($5/day)
Total Costs = $765 (in 2017)
Pre-Travel Checklist
Make sure your passport won’t expire within 6 months of your departure date.
Double check restaurant hours as they can change.
Explore options for dropping bags early on your arrival date. Some Airbnb hosts will let you drop the bags while they clean, and hotels will usually let you store luggage.
Download offline google maps for San Sebastian.
Tips
Spaniards eat late compared to American standards. Lunch is around 2pm and dinner around 9:30-10pm.
In most restaurants, there wasn’t even an option for meal tipping on the credit card machine. Leaving a couple of euros in cash is nice.
While nearly everyone we interacted with spoke English in Madrid and Barcelona, this was less the case in San Sebastian. When in doubt, try to find someone who looks young to ask questions.
