25/03/24 - Things to do in San Sebastian

 (Briefly) What we did on our Holidays.....

San Sebastián, also known as Donostia in the Basque language, is a charming coastal city nestled in the Basque Country region of Spain. Renowned for its breathtaking beaches, world-class cuisine, and rich cultural heritage, San Sebastián attracts visitors from around the globe.

The city is perhaps best known for its stunning La Concha Beach, a crescent-shaped stretch of golden sand framed by scenic promenades and lush green hills. This beach offers not only opportunities for sunbathing and swimming but also picturesque views of the surrounding bay and the iconic island of Santa Clara.

In addition to its natural beauty, San Sebastián boasts a thriving culinary scene, earning it the reputation as a food lover's paradise. The city is home to numerous Michelin-starred restaurants, traditional pintxo bars, and bustling markets where visitors can sample an array of delectable Basque specialties, including pintxos (small, flavorful snacks) and fresh seafood.

That's the AI Summary of our latest getaway. Here's what we got up to;

SIGHTSEEING

The coach from Bilbao airport drops you off at the River in the New Town, where its a short walk into the pedestrianised old town. A promenade offers a 3 mile there and back walk with the beautiful people. And their dogs. A funicular railway at the far Western end offers access to an unexpected fun-fair and the best views of the bay.

View from the Monte Igeldo fun-fair

EATING

A gastronomic hot-spot, the choices of dining out fall into two camps - the chaos of the Pintxos bars, or more fancy restaurants - where the best dishes are usually preceded by an animal that was suckling.

Pintxos bars - imagine going on a pub crawl and having a different savoury snack at each location. For the English, think Black Sheep with a sausage roll at the Red Lion, followed by cheese and onion crisps with a pickled egg at the Kings Arms.

It's a scrum to get into most of these tiny bars and the menus are tricky to decipher. Spanglish will only help you so far. See Photo 2;

My first order - Two Beers, and Pintxos of the landlady's choice. Which never came.

You can't really go wrong in choosing which bar - but we tried Borda Berri, Bar Sport, Txepetxa Taberna and attempted to get into Bar Nestor on at least three occasions.

Bar Hanging for Squid at Txepetxa Taberna

DRINKING

Obviously, this can be completed at the Pintxos bars but a quick google showed a couple of Craft Bars.

Akerbeltz is located on the Western Edge of the old town and having fine views of the bay.  Loads of outside seating, served by a tiny bar with an extensive menu. The top 6 menu items are keg, with the rest in can. Various IPAs chosen over the week - testing WCIPA against DIPAs and HIPAs. The last one a new one on me but I should have guessed "Hazy"

On the Basqueland Murk

For something more traditional - Monpas - at the opposite side of town was found at the end of our best walk.  Four Belgian beers on keg including Chouffe, Gulden Draak and Kwak.

No Shoe Deposit required

WALKING

I expected there to be City Walks - and there was.  A there and back along the prom is mandatory.  As is psychogeography in the narrow streets of the old town, followed by a climb to Motako Gaztelua castle for the views.

Downloading a few routes from Komoot proved a major success. It pointed us to a 7 mile walk up Monte Ulia at the Eastern End of the town. This was wild walking on good paths and thankfully, the mapping through the app was excellent. I could bring photos off the cliffs and sea views but you know the score.  Instead, a pointer to future Mappiman for well documented walks that could be available abroad;

Labelled Paths

GR 121 and GR 287 transpired to be Long Distance Paths but SL-GI 33 was more interesting.  A simple 5 mile circular walk that was very close to our planned walk and would have been discovered if I had completed more research.  

Next holiday - look out for similar SL-GI Walks.