San Sebastián, Pais Vasco, Spain
September 2025

Itinerary

Thursday, September 18
Getting to San Sebastián, Pensión Koxka Bi, Old Town pinxtos

Bay of Biscay coastline along the Route de la Corniche.

Evening was approaching, but we had just over a half-hour of driving to reach our lodging in San Sebastián, called Donostia in Basque. We were staying in the Old Town area, known for its many bars offering pinxtos, so we didn't have a dinner reservation and didn't feel pressed for time.

Our arrival instructions gave an address to where we should park. We couldn't find it, so we thought to go to the room and unload our luggage and get clarification.

Let me digress a moment to say that we realized the day before that we had booked not a hotel but a pension, and a 1-star one at that. Thus you might notice I am saying "room" and "lodging" rather than "hotel." More about this later...

We knew we would need to use remote parking, but we did not realize that we could not even drive up to the place at all. Driving navigation was starting to take us in circles, so we pulled over and I jumped out of the car to walk to the pension and get parking instructions. This was the start of a series of unfortunate events, aka learning opportunities.

So, I was able to walk to the door but it was like an apartment building where you needed to buzz in. Having not made the reservation myself, I was confused because there were actually 2 rental pensions there. The first thing I saw was to check in at some other address a few blocks away.

Meanwhile, my husband found the parking instructions that had been sent in WhatsApp instead of via email. He started to drive to the garage.

Now we hit another directional snafu - the navigation location was not where you could actually enter the garage in a vehicle. So, having found the lodging, I set out on foot to find the parking garage entry. I was able to - but despite all the very frustrating circling in the car, my husband was not able to reach me.

My cell battery was getting low. The street names were in Basque which to us were unpronouncible and too long to be spell out over the phone. I could read my map, but my husband driving the car in heavy traffic could not see the street names nor read his map.

There were no parking or even standing zones to stop and regroup. Whenever he tried to stop, someone shooed him away. This went on for a long time, where we couldn't really communicate our respective locations and were really starting to worry about how we would find each other again. I'm explaining it calmly now, but it was unimaginably stressful.

Finally, my husband mentioned some silly blue tourist train had just gone by. I said, it just passed me too! So we knew we were close to each other. We figured some shorthand for identifying the streets, and we were able to reconnect at an intersection. I hopped in the car in the middle of the street and we set about finding the parking entry that I had seen.

Observation: San Sebastián might have been the first place that we saw these tourist trains, but we saw them in other cities along this trip. I guess I'm a snoot because while I think it is just fine to take the tram or a tour bus, I can't imagine what self-respecting adult, without kids, would want to ride this.

We knew where we needed to get to, but all we passed were one-way streets and taxi/bus lanes. But, we noticed a regular car turning down one of those, so we decided to follow and we came out right where we needed to be. We got parked and schlepped one suitcase and a backpack to the room, leaving the rest in the car.

This is where we were trying to get to. I took this picture a couple days later, having the aha moment realizing this was the "Concha" that I had been looking for.

Reunited, but not in the clear yet. We went to the address I had seen posted as the door as the location for checking in. But there was no one there. There was another traveler also seeming to have troubles checking in, which made me feel like maybe we were in the right place and that they had screwed up somehow.

I'm not clear on exactly what we did at this point, whether we consulted the WhatsApp instructions and called, or if we just walked back to the lodging. We were quite late, due to my failure to ring the right party to check in, but our propietor showed up to let us in with a set of keys, one to the front door, the next to the set of 4 rooms (maybe an old apartment that had been reconfigured?) and the third to our own room.

I was relieved to see that we had our own bathroom rather than a shared one. The room was reasonably clean - clean sheets, fresh paint, new caulk in the bath, but the floor was a little grubby (there was a sign requesting shoe removal so we left our shoes in the foyer and wore only sandals in the room), and the corners were also neglected.

There was no air conditioning and it was uncomfortably warm overnight. Our room opened onto an interior space that could not really even be described as a courtyard, but it was quiet - important as we had to keep the window open.

Despite the clean sheets, the mattress made sleeping difficult. I did very much like that the bed was made with a sheet (as opposed to a sheet-covered duvet only) and basically a thicker sheet on top. A little refrigerator was well-stocked with drinks, but we used it only for the meats and cheeses we bought from the grocery.

Our host was very friendly and helpful. The room had a book about the town, and he also showed us some things on a map and gave us a phrase book for English, Spanish, Basque, and more.

San Sebastián Old Town pedestrian zone. I took this early the next morning when it was fresh and clean. It's easy to lose your sense of direction and get lost in here.

He gave us some pinxtos coupons for one shop -- we did go there but forgot his cards. When we checked out, our host gave us parking tickets that completely covered the 3 days parking, even though we expected only for it to be discounted.

Travel Tip: We have a long list of lessons learned from our near-disaster:
▴ If you separate, only one person should move. The other should stay in the same spot.
▴ If you separate, be pessimistic about how long it might take to reunite. I carry a battery and charging cable in my purse, but I left it in the car expecting only to be 10 minutes. Later I really wished I had that reassurance of communication.
▴ Don't underestimate how different everything might be. We rely on our phones to navigate, but they can get confused, be wrong, or send you to a location that is not where you need to be in your vehicle. Street names might be unpronouncible.
▴ Make sure the driver has hands-free calling and texting turned on.
▴ Have some standard backup plans. For example, if someone's cell phone is dying and you lose communication, perhaps each person should just find the nearest police station or officer and ask for help to reunite.
▴ In a case where navigation is not working but there is still communication, the person in the car should just drive wherever they need to in order to park, then send the location to the other and that person can just take a taxi.
▴ Make sure all parties have access to and have read the arrival instructions.

Hopefully you will use our experience to avoid a similar situation for yourself. Thinking about it in advance and having some strategies could be helpful if your do.

As I said, the parking was remote and we had left some luggage in the car since we had to hoof it into the pedestrian zone. But we had forgotten something that we needed and despite our fatigue had to return to the car to get it.

Travel Tip: Probably you already know this, and maybe I have already said this, but take a picture of your parking stall number when you park. It is easy to get turned around in garages, especially underground ones, when you might leave through one door and re-enter through another.

After we got used to the way parking was done here, we thought it was awesome and wished we had this all over our home city. Entire blocks are full of underground parking, like six levels deep. There are elevators that pop up everywhere so even though where we drove in to park was quite far from our room, the nearest entry was close. We took that opportunity to move the car closer to the closest elevator.

Another notable thing about finding the parking entry is that rather than turning into a building entry like we are used to, there is a dedicated driving lane that just goes underground. This experience was helpful in similar arrangements throughout this trip.

The Basque region, and San Sebastián in particular, is known for pinxtos, its version of tapas. Most bars will have counters of pinxtos and you just order at the bar and stand around and eat them. Sometimes there will be table space, or sometimes the tables will be reserves for people ordering platos, or full meals. There are some standard recipes, but bars will often have their own specialties as well.

We were quite weary and still recuperating from our stressful day. I think this was even worse than the rental car fiasco - at least on that day we weren't lost from each other. We wandered the streets for a bit and settled on some pinxtos and local beer at the bar next door to the pension. It was already late so we just showered and hit the hay.

Pinxtos counter in San Sebastián.

Friday, September 19
La Kontxa (Concha), Monte Urgull, San Telmo Museum, Bodegón Alejandro

Monte Urgull above the Kontxa

We woke up relatively early, and of course the first thing I wanted to do was find coffee. Nothing much was stirring when we walked out, but we found a small carry-out shop around the corner. They were gracious enough to also provide hot water for my husband's favorite tea that he travels with.

We returned to this spot each morning, and they were always friendly and the coffee was good. I don't recall what we did for breakfast, but I think we just had some bread, meat, and cheese that we had been carrying around with us.

We took a stroll out to the beach on the Kontxa bay, named I assume for its scallop-shell shape. It was pristine and relatively empty. The sand was smooth where the tide had gone out, and there were some people making large murals in it by scuffing up the sand in patterns.

We made it to the top of Monte Urgull to see Jesus watching over Mota Castle.

We were ready to start our day's journey: a climb up Monte Urgull.

The bay is guarded by two big hills, and this one is on the east side just adjacent to Old Town where we were staying. It took us a few wrong turns down similar looking streets to find the starting point, but once we did, we began a somewhat steep climb.

Urgull is not that tall, in terms of hiking. It's about 123 meters. But because it stands at the edge of the Bay of Biscay, it has its own weather. It promised great views back over the city, but for some time, all we saw was mist.

We walked around Mota Castle, an old fortication. It holds a museum that wasn't open at that time. We chatted with a couple we encountered at the top. They seemed of similar age and traveling style, and we compared notes on rental cars, jetlag, and sturdy walking shoes, among other things.

The hill is covered with walking trails, many paved, so we took a different route down, coming out on the Biscay side. There is a wide, paved walkway that leads back to town. We passed the waterfront crowded with churches, museums, and other buildings. We saw plenty of boats and spotted some kayakers taking out - perhaps they had been over to Isla de Santa Clara in the middle of the bay.

Panoramic view of the harbor.

We reentered Old Town via the old gates and had to reorient ourselves in the maze to find our room again.

We had worked up a good appetite by now and wandered around to find something to eat. We stumbled into Constitución Plaza - it's a big open square but tightly surrounded by buildings so if you weren't looking for it you might not know it was there.

We found some tables in the shade - it was quite warm by now - and ordered some drinks and lunch. The tables belonged to Ambrosio. We had their salad of arugula, tomato, and burrata with pesto and balsamic with walnuts; and one of tomatoes and bonito tuna.

This was the place that our pension host had given us the cards for. We liked it so much that we went back the next day as well - and forgot those cards again!

Street art and political graffiti seen around town.

in Basque culture, women's hats told their station and marital status.

We spent the afternoon at the San Telmo Museum of Basque society. the museum is just great, telling the history of the Basque people by showing their culture over time. The building itself is a 16th century convent. While we were there, parts were being set up for a private event.

We walked through rooms with topics such as archaeology, maritime and other economic development, art, clothing, and family and political structure. There was a room devoted to musical instruments, some of which I had not seen nor heard of before. The coverage extends into more modern time, with displays on motor racing, gambling, and other popular sports. I don't feel like I have seen such a museum about the character of a people before.

Our dinner reservation was at Bodegón Alejandro, an easy walk from our room. The menu is very local, featuring a lot of seafood and of course Iberian meats and local cheeses. I am looking at the tasting menu that I photographed and hate to say that I can't really remember it. I think we ended up not doing it but somehow I got the tuna anyway, which was not on the regular menu. And I believe my husband had the pork loin. And I'm pretty sure we had the carmelized French toast for dessert and it was even better than that sounds.

But I also feel like I did all the wine pairings, and I probably wouldn't have taken a picture of the tasting menu if we didn't follow it. What I definitely remember is everything was spot-on, the service was gracious, and I liked all the wines as well.

Tasting menu from Bodegón Alejandro.

Observation: Basque language is, to me, quite daunting, but 'tx' is easily approximated as 'ch' in English. You will want to know the words 'Txakoli' (cha-ko-lee) and 'Txakolina' (cha-ko-lee-na), the refreshing, lightly bubbling white wine of the region. Generally you would ask for Txakoli, whereas you might see Txakolina on a specific Denomination of Origin (DO). Cheers!

We took an evening stroll and enjoyed the city lights on the water. We were getting our bearings in the Old Town maze, but still caught some surprises as we wandered. Then it was back to the warm room with the less-than-comfortable bed, but I think we slept a little better than the previous night.

Observation: One of the many things we like about traveling is taking a walk after dinner. We try to find restaurants that are a mile or less from our hotel. We have discussed adopting this habit at home, but we are not so lucky to have great restaurants nearby or to have the discipline for it in our rainy darkness. Maybe this summer I will start.

Saturday, September 20
Monte Igeldo, Gros district

Monte Igeldo, framing the west side of Kontxa Bay in San Sebastián.

The plan for Saturday was to go up Monte Igeldo, the big hill the other side of Kontxa Bay.

The walk around the bay was about a mile and an half long. We followed the walkway around the beach and though we got a relatively early start, the day warmed quickly and I was happy for my water bottle I always carry.

Luxury apartments and artistic underpass along our walk to Monte Igeldo.

There were plenty of beach-goers and sailboats out. We passed by some volleyball games.

We also paused to watch some footvolley players. Footvolley is as it sounds: played with a volleyball net and ball, but the play is without hands like soccer. I was impressed and took a video but I won't post it since I didn't get anyone's permission.

We passed some fancy buildings on our walk. Toward the end of the Kontxa beach, a main road comes down the hill to turn alongside the water. Here pedestrians are provided a tunnel underpass. The ceiling was glazed ceramic done in an ocean scene. It was beautiful and inviting on this warm day.

We arrived at the base of the hill, but this time instead of climbing ourselves, we took a funicular to the top.

I understood there was a park and old fortress here like on Monte Urgull. But I was not prepared to see an actual amusement park, with bumper cars, boat rides, and other amusements.

Old lighthouse tower of Monte Igeldo.	Thirty-five C is pretty warm to us!

We climbed to the top of the lighthouse tower (for a small fee, of course) and were treated to a great view of the town and into the distance. A roller coaster encircles the hill and we watched it speed by and chuckled at people's screams even as it rounded out of sight.

The park wasn't too crowded and looked a little tired, in my opinion. But it was also the end of the summer so maybe that's the reason.

This might be a fun day with the family but there really wasn't much else for us to do so we headed back down the funicular.

Panoramic view from Monte Igeldo tower shows all of Kontxa Bay.

For the return trip we headed away from the beach in search of the Cathedral of Buen Pastor, or Artzain Onaren Katedrala, which we eventually found. We knew the general location and kept catching glimpses of its spires, but then we would get turned around trying to walk toward it. Now that I am looking at the street map I see why - we had left the beach drive too soon and wound through an area where the streets don't follow a grid.

Txalaparta, a wooden xylophone-like percussion instrument for two players (per Wikipedia). We had seen this in the San Telmo museum; now we got to hear it too.

We continued our walk crossing the Urumea river to the Gros district. This is the newer part of town, with more modern buildings and restaurants. It's also known in Europe for its surfing. We did manage to see some surfers, but I think the bigger waves will come later into the fall.

One change we would make to our itinerary, or maybe something we would do if we visit again, would be to schedule in some beach time. We had just been walking all around the beaches, but here I determined to at least get my feet in the water.

Surfers at la Playa de Zurriola.	Dove of Peace sculpture, with some pigeons.

I was already wearing shorts, so I took off my shoes and headed across the sand. Oh my, that gentleman over there was full on naked, standing, bending over to pick up something... I averted my eyes and gave a wide berth.

Lest I sound like a prude, I don't really think anything about this at all. But I had basically been walking right toward him, and that felt a little awkward.

We walked all the way out to the Dove of Peace statue, where the vegetation seemed to be trying to reclaim its territory and perhaps housing some folks. We had logged a lot of miles and were feeling it. We headed back to our room.

The dinner plan was to take advantage of more pinxto offerings. On this trip I wanted to be adventurous in gastronomy, so I decided to try the pig's ear dish. It was really good, sliced thin and packed together, served with a truffle cream. It was fattier than I expected, sort of like pork belly. I think I would probably have it again. At one of the shops, my husband had an extended conversation with a local older gentleman, who was trying to teach him to pronounce the Basque word for the small beer: zurito.

We turned in for our last night in San Sebastian. In the morning we would surrender our multiple pension keys and depart for Bilbao. But I think there is more here to see and do, so I would come back. But maybe pick a fancy hotel on the beach.

Pinxtos menu in English and French.	One bar shows off its ingredient sourcing.	Pinxto of pig's ear in truffle cream.

Return to top