Things to do in San Sebastian

San Sebastian’s busy annual calendar of fiestas and festivals kicks off on the stroke of midnight at the start of January 20, the feast day of its namesake saint. Carnival too is celebrated in style, but the two biggest events of the year are the five-day, multi-venue Jazz Festival in late July, which attracts well-known performers, not exclusively jazz musicians, from all over the world.

The splendid crescent of sand that stretches all the way west from the old town to the suburb of Ondarreta, the La Concha Beach, must rank among the finest city beaches in the world. Even in the depths of winter it’s usually busy with walkers and playing children, while on summer days every inch tends to be covered in basking bodies. Swimmers escape the crowds by heading out to platforms moored offshore. One of the best things to do in San Sebastian is to explore this area around the bay.

What to do in San Sebastian? Eat of course! Basque cuisine has established a reputation as the finest in Spain. Cutting-edge chefs such as Martín Berasategui, Juan Mari Arzak, and Andoni Aduriz, the stars of the nueva cocina vasca (new Basque cuisine), delight in creating inventive new combinations and preparations, and restaurants throughout the region are crowded with eager diners happy to pay premium prices for superb food. That said, Basque food doesn’t have to be expensive. For visitors, the perfect way to sample it is in the form of pintxos, the Basque equivalent of tapas. Bar counters throughout the region, and above all in San Sebastian, are piled high with fabulously enticing and utterly delectable goodies, freshly cooked, priced as a rule at €2–3, and almost invariably excellent.

Although San Sebastian’s old town, or Casco Viejo, stands on the site where the city first developed, almost nothing predates a disastrous fire, set by British troops, in 1813. With little trace of its original walls surviving either, it’s a formal grid far removed from the typical old quarters of other Spanish cities. Nonetheless, it’s a delight, its narrow streets and occasional pretty squares thronged in the daytime with shoppers and sightseers, and at night with revellers eager to sample its legendary pintxos bars and restaurants. One of the most impressive things to do in San Sebastian is to simply wander around this part of town. Looking for San Sebastian holiday packages? We’ve most certainly got you covered!