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San Sebastián, one bite at a time
Photo: Kent Wang, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Sample trip

San Sebastián, one bite at a time

A long weekend for two couples: pintxo bars in the old town, a whole turbot grilled over coals in Getaria, a surf lesson on Zurriola beach and a cider house where you drink from the barrel.

4 days, 3 nightsFor two couplesBoutique villa hotelGastronomic
San SebastiánSan SebastiánGetariaGetariaAstigarragaAstigarraga
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SpainCtrl + scroll to zoom
Few places pack as much good eating into a few streets as San Sebastián. This weekend is built around three very different Basque tables: the standing, noisy pintxo bars of the Parte Vieja, a calm Michelin-starred lunch on the harbour at Getaria, and a cider house in the apple country behind the city, where dinner is salt cod, a shared T-bone steak and cider caught straight from the barrel. Between meals there is enough movement to earn them: a coastal walk, a first surf lesson and the funicular to the top of Monte Igueldo. May brings long, mild days, before the summer crowds.

Arrival and a first pintxo crawl

Day1

Getting there

San Sebastián's small airport has a few connections through Madrid and Barcelona; most people fly into Bilbao (about 1 hour 15 minutes by road or direct bus) or Biarritz across the French border (about 45 minutes).

Where you're staying

Hotel Villa Soro, in the Ategorrieta district, a short walk from Zurriola beach and about 20 minutes on foot from the old town: a 19th-century aristocratic villa, listed as city heritage, turned into a 25-room hotel with lounges with fireplaces, a garden terrace and free bicycles for guests.

  • Guests single out the breakfast and the staff
The villa
A superior room
A garden privilege room
One of the lounges
The bar
Breakfast on the garden terrace

Photos: hotelvillasoro.com

Evening

A first crawl through the Parte Vieja, the old town: one pintxo and one drink per bar, then move on.

A counter of pintxos
The blackboard and the bar
Pintxos in the old town

Photos: Wikimedia Commons (Gordito1869, Basotxerri; CC BY / CC BY-SA)

Evening

Start at Bar Nestor at 19:00 to get your names on the list for the evening tortilla; then La Cuchara de San Telmo, where every pintxo is cooked to order from the blackboard (open Tuesday to Sunday), and Borda Berri for its famous "risotto" of pasta (Wednesday to Sunday).

  • Order a txakoli, the local sparkling white, poured from a height

Two tortillas a day

Bar Nestor makes just two potato tortillas a day, one at lunch and one at dinner. You put your name down for a slice when the doors open, and it is gone within minutes.

Flagship day

A coastal walk to Getaria, and turbot over the coals

Day2

Day 2 · Sat 15 May

Getaria

Thirty minutes west to Zarautz, then the flat coastal promenade to Getaria, a fishing village on a headland with vineyards of txakoli running down to the sea.

  • About an hour on foot, sea on one side the whole way
  • Stop at a txakoli winery above the village for a tasting before lunch
The harbour below Mount San Antón
The coastal path from Zarautz
Txakoli vines above the village
The church tower of San Salvador

Photos: Wikimedia Commons (Cosal, Zarateman, Jean Michel Etchecolonea, Javi Guerra Hernando; CC BY-SA / CC0)

Lunch

Elkano, on Getaria's harbour: one Michelin star, and the reference for grilled fish in Spain since Pedro Arregi opened it in 1964; his son Aitor runs it today.

  • The whole turbot, grilled skin-on in a basket over the embers and served on the bone so every part can be tasted, is the reason people travel here
  • Plan three unhurried hours and about 100 euros a head or more with wine
  • Book well ahead for a Saturday
The grilled turbot, served
Turbot in its basket over the embers
Kokotxas, the hake throats
Anchovies to start
The wine cellar
The grill fire

Photos: restauranteelkano.com

Why a whole fish

Elkano serves the turbot whole and explains each part at the table, from the rich cheeks to the gelatinous fins, because each part cooks and tastes differently.

Evening

Back in the city, a slow walk around La Concha bay at sunset.

  • Pintxos again, lighter this time

Surf, a funicular and a cider house

Day3

Morning

A first surf lesson at Zurriola, the city's surf beach, five minutes from the hotel, with Pukas Surf Eskola, the school of the surf brand born in San Sebastián in the 1970s, based right on the promenade.

  • A group beginner lesson lasts about 90 minutes, wetsuit and board included

Afternoon

The 1912 funicular up Monte Igueldo for the classic view over La Concha and the island of Santa Clara.

Dinner

Petritegi, a family cider house in Astigarraga, 15 minutes by taxi, open all year.

  • The cider-house menu is a Basque ritual: salt cod omelette, cod with peppers, a T-bone steak shared by two, then Idiazabal cheese with quince and walnuts
  • When someone shouts "txotx!", everyone gets up and catches cider in their glass straight from the barrel, as often as they like

Market morning, then home

Day4

Morning

The market of La Bretxa in the old town for anchovies, cheese and a last coffee, or a swim at La Concha for the brave.

  • Then the airport

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