Dinner in the Basque old town is not a table but a route: one pintxo and a small drink at a bar, then on to the next. The bars fill late, from around half past eight, and the trick nobody tells you is to ignore the counters of identical cold snacks on the busiest alley and order from the chalkboard instead. Start with a gilda if you want the local grammar in one mouthful: an olive, an anchovy and a pickled guindilla pepper on a stick. You pay for pintxos bar by bar as you go, not in one bill at the end.
The city has no large airport of its own, so most visitors arrive by bus or train from Bilbao, or from Biarritz across the French border, each about an hour away, while the local airport at Hondarribia is small and thinly served. Spain sits in the Schengen area, so visitors from outside the European Union are held to a short-stay limit of ninety days within any rolling period of half a year, and the passport stamp has gone: the Entry and Exit System records fingerprints and a facial image at the first crossing instead. A separate online travel authorisation for visa-exempt visitors has been announced and postponed more than once, so check the official European Union page. One national rule surprises people at reception: accommodation and car hire firms now file far more personal detail than they once did, payment information included, so keep your passport out and allow a few extra minutes at check-in. Rooms are limited and three fixed points fill them, the jazz festival in late July, Semana Grande in August and the film festival in late September, so it is worth a moment to compare hotels and transfers for San Sebastián before fixing anything else.
La Concha curves in an almost closed shell of sand around a sheltered bay, with the wooded island of Santa Clara moored in the middle. Monte Urgull rises directly above the old town, carrying a castle and costing nothing to climb, and a historic funicular hauls you up Monte Igueldo for the postcard angle. Across the river, Zurriola faces the open Atlantic and takes the surfers with it, while the centre between the beaches is all Belle Epoque avenues from the years when this was a royal summer resort.
Where you stay trades noise against convenience, and a new line has appeared on the bill: the city has approved a nightly stay tax, the first in the Basque Country, banded by accommodation type and capped after the first few nights. Reports differ on when collection actually starts and not every official page has caught up, so ask the property whether it applies to your dates. In the Parte Vieja, small hotels and guesthouses sit among the bars beneath the basilica of Santa Maria, wonderful until you try to sleep. Around the elegant centre, historic hotels stand near the cathedral of the Buen Pastor, quieter and dearer. Over the river in Gros, mid-range hotels and apartments face the surf at Zurriola. Near Ondarreta, quiet hotels and apartment rentals look back along the bay from the calm end by the Peine del Viento.
Nothing here needs a hire car, and parking would only annoy you, so the bookings that matter are the transfer in from Bilbao or Biarritz, a guided food walk and the occasional day trip. A guided pintxo crawl earns its place on a first night, because it teaches the ordering the rest of the trip runs on. Beyond that, take the starred kitchen at lunch rather than dinner, when the same room asks less of your budget, and reserve it weeks ahead. Getaria for txakoli and grilled turbot, Bilbao for the museum, and the cider houses at Astigarraga and Hernani all make straightforward days out by bus. You can check food tour and day trip options around San Sebastián without committing to anything.
Season here decides more than the weather. The cider houses run their txotx season from the middle of January to the end of April, when the barrels are opened to the room and the fixed menu of cod omelette and charcoal-grilled ribeye is eaten standing up. Outside those months the picture is gentler than it is usually painted: many houses stay open as ordinary restaurants serving the same menu, and only the barrel ritual stops. Late spring and early autumn are the most comfortable for everything else. August is the hottest and fullest, with fireworks over the bay through Semana Grande, and winter is quiet, wet and easier to book. Pack for rain whatever the month, because this coast is green for a reason. Personally, I would arrive on a weekday, eat standing for two nights, and only then decide whether the tasting menu is what I actually want.
Q: What are pintxos and how do you order them?
A: Basque bar snacks eaten standing, usually one or two per bar before moving on, and settled bar by bar rather than at the end. The counter versions are ready-made; the better ones are cooked to order, so read the board first.
Q: Is there a tourist tax in San Sebastián?
A: A nightly stay tax has been approved, banded by accommodation type and capped after the first few nights. Reports differ on when collection begins, so ask your accommodation whether it applies to your dates.
Q: When can you visit a Basque cider house?
A: The txotx season runs from around the middle of January to the end of April, when the barrels are opened and the fixed menu is served. Outside it many houses stay open as restaurants with the same food but no barrel ritual, while the most traditional ones close.
Q: Do you need a car in San Sebastián?
A: No. The city is compact and walkable, buses cover the rest, and parking is difficult. A car only helps for the cider towns, and buses reach those too.
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