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Accommodation in San Sebastian

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About San Sebastian

Donostia-San Sebastián (Basque: Donostia, IPA: [đo'no?tia]; Spanish: San Sebastián, known officially as Donostia-San Sebastián and internationally as San Sebastian in English) is the capital city of the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country, Spain. Locals call themselves donostiarras, both in Basque and Spanish. Its population is 183,090 (2007 estimate), and its metropolitan area's population is 405,099.

Geography

The city is in the north of the Basque Country, on the southern coast of the Bay of Biscay. San Sebastián's picturesque coastline makes it a popular beach resort. Adding to the seaside environment, it benefits from hilly surroundings easily available, i.e. Urgull (at the heart of the city by the seashore), romantic Ulia extending east to Pasaia, Mount Adarra rising proud far on the south and Igeldo, overlooking the bay from the west.
The city sits at the mouth of the River Urumea, Donostia having built to a large extent over wetlands of the river during the last couple of centuries, with the city´s downtown and the areas of Amara Berri and Riberas de Loiola lying on such terrain and the former bed of the river diverted to its current canalized course (first half of the 20th century).

Recreation

San Sebastián is the home city of the football (soccer) club Real Sociedad, who have recently been demoted to the La Liga Second División after 40 years in the Spanish top flight. The city's Anoeta Stadium also hosts rugby union matches featuring Biarritz Olympique. Each summer the city is host to the well known bicycle race, the one-day Clásica de San Sebastián.

San Sebastián is renown for its Basque cuisine. San Sebastian and its surrounding area is home to a high concentration of restaurants boasting Michelin stars, namely Arzak (San Sebastian), Berasategi (Lasarte), Akelarre (district Igeldo), to mention but a few. Adding to these cooking highlights, the city features tasty snacks similar to tapas called pintxos, which may be found at the bars of the Old Part.

Popular celebrations

San Sebastian Day

Every year on 20 January (the feast of Saint Sebastian), the people of San Sebastián celebrate a festival known as the "Tamborrada". At midnight, in the Konstituzio plaza in the "Alde Zaharra/Parte Vieja" (Old Part), the mayor raises the flag of San Sebastián (see in the infobox). For 24 hours, the entire city is awash with the sound of drums. The adults, dressed as cooks and soldiers, march around the city. They march all night with their cook hats and white aprons with the March of San Sebastián.
The origin of this custom is said to be that Spanish tradesmen, including cooks, mocked the occupying French army during the Napoleonic wars, by aping their daily procession from Monte Urgull to the water-pump at San Telmo. Later, the procession was developed when Vicente "Txiki" Buenechea donated barrels to be used as drums for the procession.
Adults usually have dinner in sociedades gastronómicas ("gourmet clubs"), which provide elements of the procession, and which traditionally admitted only males. Nowadays, even the strictest ones allow women on the "Noche de la Tamborrada". They eat sophisticated meals cooked by themselves, mostly composed of seafood (traditionally elver, now no longer served due to its exorbitant price) and drink the best wines. For "Donostiarras" this is the most celebrated festival of the year.
After hearing drums all night, children wake up with a version of the Tamborrada for kids. Children dress traditionally as soldiers and march around the city. Children from all the schools of San Sebastián march that day. They have their specific costumes which usually represent a particular country (England, Germany, Romania, etc.)

Semana Grande / Aste Nagusia

A festival called Semana Grande in Spanish and Aste Nagusia in Basque ("Big/Main Week") is held every year at mid-August. An important fireworks competition takes place, in which a fireworks presentation is made every night over the bay and, at the end, a winner is declared.
Other features of the festival include brass bands enlivening the streets, popular music performances at and by the beach, as well as fairground attractions arranged at the seaside promenade Paseo Nuevo.

Basque Week

This decades long festivity taking place at the beginning of September features events related to Basque culture, such as performances of traditional improvising poets (bertsolaris), Basque pelota games, dance exhibitions or the cider tasting celebration. Yet the main highlight may be the rowing boat competition, where teams from different towns of the Bay of Biscay contend for the Flag of La Concha. Thousands of supporters coming from these coastal locations pour into the city's streets and promenades overlooking the bay to follow the event, especially on the Sunday of the final race. All day long the streets of the Old Part play host to droves of youths clad in their team colours who party there in a cheerful atmosphere.

Get in

By train

Trains arrive from many parts of Spain, Portugal and France, including overnight services from Paris and Lisbon. Take care when booking from France as there is also a town named Saint Sébastien in France. There are two train stations in San Sebastian: the RENFE station for national trains (at the east end of Puente de Maria Cristina), and the Euskotren station for the local network (Plaza Easo).

By plane

San Sebastian is well served by airports:

• San Sebastian, a small airport 20km from the town centre, next to Hondarribia.
  • Bus to the airport: i2 (€2) departs from Plaza Gipuzkoa nearly once a hour and rides exactly 30min, making maximum 4 stops (typically less).
  • Cafes in the departures area are limited to a single cafe on the ground floor, plus posh restaurant on the 2nd floor.
  • Shopping in departures area is limited to a single souvenir small shop; no duty free shops available.
  • Electronic check-in is available only for Iberia and Spanair. It doesn't work for Iberia e-tickets printed from an e-mail, however.
  • Wifi network seems to exist but can't be connected to.
• Biarritz (in France), 50km away with bus and train connections to San Sebastian. Take a French SNCF train to Hendaye, change to the nearby Euskotren station (located just outside the SNCF station) and take a Euskotren to San Sebastian. Each train ride is between 30-40 minutes, with the total train trip cost less than €10. A coach service also exists between Biarritz airport and the Hendaye train station, via Saint-Jean-De-Luz (change buses there). The coach ride is less than one hour and costs about €4.
• Bilbao, 100km away with good bus connections, about one an hour during the day. The trip takes about 70min, and costs around €15. The bus company is called PESA. Tickets for the journey from Bilbao to San Sebastian can be purchased on board the bus, however fore the trip from San Sebastian to Bilbao, tickets must be purchased from the PESA office around the corner from the bus station.
• Vitoria-Gasteiz, 114km from San Sebastian with good bus connections. A bus from the airport will take you to the central bus station, from where you can take a bus (companies Pesa or La Burundesa) to San Sebastian for around €7.50.

By bus

The Basque Country is generally easier to get around by bus than by train. Buses arrive and depart at the San Sebastian bus station, at Plaza de Pio XII in Amara Nuevo. A number of bus companies operate services to San Sebastian, including:

• Pesa
• La Burundesa
• Continental Autos
• ATCRB
• Roncalesa (for connection with Pamplona).

Buses are the only way to get to some areas of the Basque region, and often run more often (and cheaper!) than trains. Vitoria-Gasteiz, capital of the Basque Country, is a 2-hour ride away. Bilbao, the travel hub and biggest city in the region (1-hour ride), and Pamplona (1-hour ride) are other popular destinations, but longer-range buses do overnights to Madrid, Milan and even Barcelona.

By car

In the downtown, parking is costly (roughly €20/day); most parking spots are underground, and finding a way to get there can be nerve-wracking. Left turns are more rare than rights (and are unpredictable). Having a driving map is essential.
There are some free parking lots in the west of the city: on the tourist maps by SanSebastianTurismo available in some guesthouses, the area is marked with a blue dotted line "Controlled parking zone".

Do

• Beach - there are two main beaches, one on either side of the river.
  • La Concha, on the west side is the larger, is protected from the sea and has an island and boats in the bay. Ondarreta is in the same bay as La Concha, but split by El pico del Loro (a rocky outcropping). La Concha and Ondarreta has umbrellas, tents and lounge chairs for €15 per day; free WC, showers and changing rooms. A team of fully-equipped life-guards are there during the daytime.
  • La Zurriola to the east of the old town and river is a surf beach, clearly better if you want waves or beach sports.

• Surfing - surfboards and bodyboards can be rented on Zurriola beach. You'll probably want to spring for a wetsuit as well. The surf shop also offers surf lessons (around €65 per person for five one-hour lessons in a small group).
• Hiking
  • For a short easy hike visit the statue of Christ on top of the mountain between the beaches. It takes around an hour to walk up at a leisurely pace. There's a bar on the way up if you need to stop for refreshments or admire the view. To reach the bar: find a library; from there find directions upstairs to a Castle; follow the stairs along green hedge. The park officially closes at 9pm in summer (in reality, gates close bit later), and the bar closes before sunset in summer time--and definitely before park is closed.
  • For a longer hike head up the hill from Zurriola and follow the red & white markings to San Pedro, around 2.5 hours, from which you can take a local bus back (for approx €1.50).
• Tennis and squash - There is a single tennis court (roofed), and two open-air squash courts--both between the El pico del Loro beach and bottom of Mount Igeldo.
• Tourist Land Train - a tourist land train leaves from the Calle Zubieta in front of La Concha Beach.
• Aquarium - by the Paseo de Kaiko, at the far right of La Concha Beach.
• Kayak - kayaks can be hired on Ondaretta beach, for about €7 per hour.
• Water skiing in the La Concha bay
• Amusement Park - an ageing amusement park with quaint rides can be found at the top of Mount Igeldo, at the West end of La Concha bay. A funicular (cable-car) will take you up and down the mountain (approx €1.20 each way; operates 10am-9pm). If you use your own transport to get up (including walking) you'll have to pay a €1.50 per person toll at the top. As well as the rides, the top of the mountain provides a great view of the town.

From Wikipedia:
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