San Sebastián & Spain’s Basque Country: Come Hungry, Stay Curious
You visit some places because you want to check something off your travel list. Then there are places you visit because you want to understand what makes them different.
San Sebastián, or Donostia as it is known in Basque, is definitely the second kind.
Located on Spain’s northern coast, just a short distance from the French border, San Sebastián sits in the heart of Spain’s Basque Country. This part of Spain feels noticeably different from Barcelona, Madrid or the Mediterranean coast. The landscape is greener, the Atlantic sets the mood, and the Basque people have preserved a strong culture, cuisine and even their own language, Euskara.
And next week, I get to experience it for myself.
First, Let's Talk About the Food
You really cannot talk about San Sebastián without talking about food.
This is one of the world's great food destinations, with everything from neighborhood bars to some of Spain's most celebrated Michelin-starred restaurants. In San Sebastián and the surrounding area, you will find an extraordinary concentration of Michelin stars, including three restaurants with three stars: Arzak, Akelarre, and Martín Berasategui.
But what interests me just as much are the pintxos.
Pintxos are the Basque version of small bites, but calling them tapas doesn't quite do them justice. They can be something simple and traditional or a tiny plate that looks like it came from a fine-dining kitchen.
The fun is in how you eat them.
You don't necessarily sit down at one restaurant for the evening. Instead, you walk into a pintxo bar, order one or two specialties and perhaps a glass of local wine, then move on to the next place. The Old Town and Gros neighborhoods are two of the best areas for doing exactly that.
It's dinner and sightseeing rolled into one, which sounds pretty efficient to me.
A City Made for Walking
One of the things I love about European travel is experiencing a destination on foot, and San Sebastián seems almost designed for it.
Start along La Concha Beach, the beautiful crescent-shaped beach that has become the city's signature view. The promenade follows the bay with the city on one side and the Cantabrian Sea on the other.
From there, wander into Parte Vieja, the Old Town, where narrow streets are packed with pintxo bars, restaurants, shops and historic buildings.
For one of the best views over the city, head up Mount Igeldo. Take the historic funicular to the top and look back across La Concha Bay. On the other side of town, Mount Urgull offers walking trails, historic fortifications, and another completely different perspective of the coastline.
And if you want to see the wilder side of the Atlantic, head toward Zurriola Beach in Gros, where surfing is part of everyday life.
Don't Miss the Peine del Viento
At the western end of the bay you'll find one of San Sebastián's most recognizable works of art, Peine del Viento, or The Comb of the Wind.
Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida placed three massive steel sculptures into the rocks where the city meets the sea. Wind, waves, stone, and steel become part of the artwork.
I love places like this because you aren't walking into a museum to see the art. You're walking right into the landscape that inspired it.
San Sebastián Is Only the Beginning
If you are going to travel this far north, I wouldn't stop with San Sebastián.
The Spanish Basque Country, or Euskadi, includes a mix of dramatic coastline, mountains, fishing villages, wine country and cities that feel very different from one another. The region's three principal cities are San Sebastián, Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Travel west and you can combine San Sebastián with Bilbao, home to the Guggenheim Museum and a city that has completely reinvented itself while holding onto its Basque roots.
Follow the coast and smaller towns such as Getaria and Hondarribia give you another side of the region, with fishing harbors, local restaurants and a much slower pace.
Head inland and the scenery changes again.
This is also wine country, particularly Rioja Alavesa, where medieval villages sit among vineyards and wineries range from generations-old family operations to striking contemporary architecture.
That contrast is part of what makes this region so interesting.
What to Eat and Drink
Come hungry. Look for fresh seafood from the Cantabrian Sea, grilled fish, hake, squid, local cheeses, and seasonal produce. Basque cooking is built around excellent ingredients and letting those ingredients do most of the work.
Try txakoli, the region's slightly sparkling, crisp white wine that pairs beautifully with seafood and pintxos.
And leave room for Basque cheesecake. Yes, I realize telling someone to travel to Spain and eat cheesecake sounds a little odd. Trust me on this one.
When Should You Go?
For me, September and early fall are especially appealing.
The intense summer travel season begins to settle down, but you can still enjoy the coast, walk the city, and spend plenty of time outside. San Sebastián isn't really a destination where I would want to rush from attraction to attraction anyway.
This is somewhere to slow down.
Walk the promenade. Stop for coffee. Wander into a pintxo bar because it looks interesting. Sit by the water. Order something you can't pronounce. Sometimes the best travel days are the ones where we don't schedule every minute.
My Take
What draws me to San Sebastián and the Basque Country is that it offers something I think many travelers are looking for right now: a destination that still feels deeply connected to its own identity.
There is incredible food and beautiful hotels, but there is also history, language, tradition, coastline, small villages, and a culture that existed long before any of us arrived with a suitcase.
I'll be experiencing this part of Spain myself next week, so I am looking forward to seeing how reality compares with everything I've researched.
And I have a feeling there may be a pintxo or two involved. Click here to have me help you schedule your own place to visit for the experience!
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