San Sebastian (Donostia), Spain.
San Sebby. A place that has beautiful beaches and amazing food. Two things that are probably high on your Summer holiday wish list. Well, at least on mine.
This was the last stop before heading back to the UK when my sister and I did a road-trip around Europe in Peggy Sue, our Volvo Estate. Back then, we slept in Peggy on the water's edge for two nights and it rained the majority of the time we were there. The beef cheek I ate had forever been engrained in my memory (the name of the place I ate it at, not so much) and this time around I added more food delights that I won't forget.
Stay Here.
I highly recommend staying in the Old Town. This is where all the food and bars are that you will want to visit. It is also close enough to walk to either of the two beaches San Sebastian has to offer.
There are quite a few Air BnB places available and we went with this one. There were four of us and bed wise, this was sufficient. The lounge, kitchen and bathroom are a bit small so I would not recommend it for any more than four of you. It is more ideal for two people. The location is absolutely perfect though - conveniently next door to La Vina (more on that one later...) and in the midst of pintxos heaven.
Eat Here.
Ok, so this is why you should visit San Sebastian. The food. Below are the places we checked out and dishes we tried. I am sure there are others that are worthy of trying too so let me know for next time.
Borda Berri; Fermin Calbeton Kalea, 12
Go here and order the veal cheek and risotto. The risotto (made from orzo) was cheesy heaven and the veal cheeks were deliciously tender every time. The steak filet was also damn good as was the ravioli if you wanted to order different things. Pretty much everything here was tasty.
La Cuchara de San Telmo; 31 de Agosto Kalea, 28
This place is small but definitely worth a visit. We tried the veal cheek, grilled octopus, seafood risotto and the suckling pig. My friend who is a huge fan of pork said this was the best pork she had eaten. You heard it here.
Gandarias; 31 de Agosto Kalea, 23
If you like your steak erring on the rare side then go here and order the solomio. It was so delicious I came back a second night to order it again. We also tried the prawn and chorizo brochette which was tasty.
A Fuego Negro; 31 de Agosto Kalea, 31
We came here on a night we were feeling a bit sorry for ourselves after a night of over-indulging on food and wine (quite easy to do here!). This is quite a modern bar and we only managed to try the Makcobe with txips i.e. Wagyu beef slider with plantain chips but so glad we did. It was small but yum.
La Viña; Cale del Treinta y Uno de Agosto, 3
Saving the best for last because this cheesecake is the best I have ever had. Believe the hype! I'm not the biggest cheesecake fan. I enjoy eating it but wouldn't order it necessarily for dessert if I went out however if this particular cheesecake was on the menu, I would. And I did. We had this every day. No regrets.
Visit Here.
The beaches.
There are two options for beaches;
Playa de la Concha is a nice, gentle wave kind of beach and becomes quite busy on a good day but the stretch of sand is long enough for anyone to find space. There are also platforms you can swim to that have a slide and diving board which is excellent fun.
Playa la Zurriola is more for surfing or if you like to swim somewhere with a bit more wave action. G and I had wanted to go for a surf but ran out of time to give it a go. It looked pretty decent so I will be back to trial.
Castillo de La Mota.
This is a nice, easy-ish walk to the top Monte Urgull to visit the castle. If you walk up to the left of the castle, there is a good look out just after you reach Bateria De Las Damas (first photo on the left is at this point). You can then walk down to Baluarte del Mirador which gives you fantastic views of Playa la Zurriola (photo on bottom left below).
Peine del Viento (Windcomb).
These three curved steel sculptures are located as you walk to the very end of La Concha Bay. They are quite impressive with the waves crashing against the rocks with a tunnel built underneath so when the tide is rough, water shoots up through the holes. Quite fun to stand over and get sprayed.
Santa Clara Island.
On our last morning, we thought it a good idea to go for a bit of a swim and came up with the idea swimming to Santa Clara Island. We set off from the beach closest to Peine del Viento using the platforms to stop at should you need a half-time breather. I would only recommend swimming if you are confident as it got quite choppy en route to the island however on the way back you come in with the tide. There are boats that take you across as well but as we went early in the morning, we managed to arrive before anyone else got to the island so could walk around as we pleased. I'm not sure how much the boats are but if you can manage a swim across like we did, it is worth it.
Santa Clara Island hiding on the top left. Monte Urgull the hill on the right.
Writing about San Sebastian makes me hungry. Go there for a weekend and eat yourself into an absolute splendour. And if you come across the recipe for the cheesecake from La Viña, please do send it my way.
We flew to Bilbao with British Airways from Heathrow. Best to use comparison sites like Skyscanner or Kayak.
Coaches run regularly to San Sebastian from Bilbao airport. It takes around an hour without traffic. Check out this website though as it may work out cheaper.
Accommodation options are endless. Air BnB has a range of options as does Booking.com depending on what sort of sleeping arrangements you are looking for.
We visited in September and the weather had cooled however it was still pleasant to wander around in shorts and a t-shirt, and most importantly go for a swim!
