At just over two hours from Bordeaux, San Sebastian, Spain (called Donostia in Basque) is one of our family's favorite weekend getaways. With just a quick drive down the coast and over the Pyrenees mountains, we’re in a brand-new country with dramatically different architecture, landscapes, food, language, and culture. This never fails to blow my mind! It’s close enough to visit on a whim, which is just what we did in December.
Why visit San Sebastian?
San Sebastian is a compact city on Spain’s northwestern coast. This is Basque country (Euskadi), an autonomous region with a rich and ancient history, culture, and even language that predates Indo-European languages. Of course, Spanish is spoken here, but it’s not uncommon to hear Basque spoken as well, and see signs written in Basque throughout the area, which stretches up into southern France.
Besides that, San Sebastian is known for its food. In fact, it’s often cited as one of the greatest food cities in the world. There are plenty of Michelin-starred restaurants here run by world-renowned chefs, but we’ve never tried them. We go to San Sebastian for the pintxos, small but mighty snacky foods served in humble bars and taverns throughout the city. More on that later.
Where to stay in San Sebastian
We opted to stay on the edge of San Sebastian’s historic center, known as the Parte Vieja. Situated at the foot of Monte Urgull, this district is a maze of narrow, atmospheric streets lined with shops and pintxos bars. The pedestrian-friendly zone also has a few big squares surrounded by cafes where people gather for drinks and kids play futbol, chase pigeons, or glide around on scooters. A picturesque little harbor borders one side of the old town, which in turn leads to the wide, beautiful Bay beach. It’s all very compact and walkable.
We booked a lovely room at the Hotel de Londres y de Inglaterra, an elegant four-star hotel that was built in 1865. Rates were surprisingly inexpensive for the luxury property (around 100€ a night!), and we were very happy with the spacious room, luxe amenities, and central location. There’s a parking garage adjacent to the hotel, which is convenient if you’re driving in like us. For a beachier vibe with a big pool just outside of the center, we’ve also enjoyed staying at Barcelo Costa Vasca.
What to do in San Sebastian
The daylight hours in San Sebastian are the perfect time to hang out on the beach, go shopping, or hike to the top of Monte Urgull. The views of the city and bay are breathtaking, and if you look hard enough, you may also find our favorite bar of all time at the top. Sipping wine and eating olives beside a rustic stone building perched on the edge of a mountain — this was definitely a core travel memory for all of us!
And in the evening, our favorite thing to do in San Sebastian is simple: Eat! (And drink, of course.) I recommend doing a bit of research beforehand to pinpoint a couple of spots you want to hit up. (Devour Tours has never steered me wrong.) Then just follow your nose around the Parte Vieja, taking note of which pintxos bars seem to be the most popular, and stopping where you can easily grab a table or a spot at the bar. You’ll order a couple of pintxos and drinks at each spot, then move on to the next. Basque cider and txakoli, a sparkling white wine, are some of the most popular drink pairings, while the food will run the gamut from salty Iberian ham and anchovies on toast to foie gras, salted cod, and Basque cheesecake. My personal favorite is the gilda (pronounced roughly like heelda), a skewer typically made with briney olives, tart peppers, and salty anchovies — my mouth is watering just thinking about it! Most dishes are priced at only a couple of bucks each, so if you don’t like something, simply move on to the next! Keep in mind that dinner starts later and lasts longer in Spain. Some places won’t even open until 7 p.m. at the earliest.
Are pintxos bars in San Sebastian kid-friendly? Absolutely! Like the rest of Spain, San Sebastian is an incredibly family-friendly city, and we’ve seen children out and about with their families on the weekend until well past midnight. Oliver loved sampling all of the different foods with us and the energy of the pintxos bars, and when he did start to get tired, we got him an ice cream cone and parked ourselves at one of the squares with a playground so he could blow off some steam.
Is San Sebastian worth visiting in December?
We’d visited San Sebastian several times in the warmer months, but this was our first winter visit. It was that quiet week between Christmas and New Year’s, and we were surprised to discover that the locals were still in celebration mode — and they weren’t stopping until El Dia de los Reyes (Three Kings Day) on January 6. The city was still glistening with Christmas lights and decorations, with a Ferris wheel set up along the promenade and a light show projected onto one of the buildings in the main town square beside the bay. We lucked out with some warm, sunny weather, and I’d say the smaller crowds, lower rates, and more local vibe helped to make it our best visit to San Sebastian yet!
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