the city

Donostia-San Sebastián

Magically connected, facing the imposing presence of earth, water and the sky, Donostiam-San Sebastián, is reborn daily breathing in the sea breeze after bathing in its Cantabric sea. Full of freshness our “Bella Easo” protects it's dwellers and welcomes its visitors every morning.

By means of the noble art of strolling, deeply rooted local tradition, the following lines will take us on a tour around the most representative sites of our beautiful city; creased by the breeze...at peace.

Our starting point will be the City Centre, which is currently the heart of the commercial activity of the city. The expansion of the town was designed by the architect “Cortazar”, also known as ”The Romantic area”, it is a grid of spacious pedestrianised stately streets with an elegant architecture of palpable French influence. It boasts iconic buildings from the ”Belle Époque”; ”Victoria Eugenia” theatre and ”Maria Cristina” hotel, the Neo-Gothic cathedral of ”El Buen Pastor”, the theatre of ”Bellas Artes” and the ”Escuela de Artes y Oficios”, currently H.Q for the post office, are some examples of them. At the heart of the expansion stands the neoclassic palace home to the Provincial Government at ”Plaza de Guipuzcoa” with its beautifully cared for gardens and ponds.

Splitting the centre in two we find the ”Avenida de la Libertad”, financial stretch of the town which connects with the area of Gros to the east across the river. We will however head west where the majestic horseshoe bay of ”La Concha” opens up.

We will continue around the bay's iconic morphology which gives it its name (concha meaning shell in Spanish), and admire the noble buildings that compose the walk. The Hotel Londres, the water spa of La Perla and further along The Palace of Miramar. The former royal residency offers a stunning panoramic view of the bay; protected by Igueldo and Urgull hill and the beautiful pearl Santa Clara island. Here we can welcome the sea on two twin golden carpets which are the beaches of La Concha and Ondrreta.

We will continue down towards Antiguo and then to the villas and gardens built in the 20's by the Brunet, contemporary urbanist family, as an expansion from Antiguo towards Ondrreta beach. Along the beachfront to the most western edge of the bay. Here, El Peine del Viento, the group of sculptures by Chillida and Ganchegui, rooted to the rocks at the base of Igueldo, comb the cantabric winds.We will make our way back around the curved silhouette to the opposite vertex discovering treasures like the hug of Pico del Loro, dividing both beaches; the Great Casino from the early XXth century currently used as City Hall and the rationalist building of the Royal Nautical Club. Here we will enter the charming fishing harbour, among boats, lovely fishermen houses and its fish market we also find the Naval museum and the Aquarium. From the Aquarium we will head up and around Urgull discovering traces of the past of the city in the form of canons, The Cemetery of The English, La Mota castle and Sagrado coral on overlooking the bay from the top of the hill.

Descending from Urgull down to Paseo Nuevo through the pass the breakwater we will bump into Oteiza's ”Construccion Vacia” sculpture and San Telmo museum. Across the bridge at the edge of Zurriola beach and already in the Gros area the two cubes of the Kursaal Auditorium, figurative tribute to two giant rocks protecting us from the bite of the cantabric in the form of culture.

At this point it is most likely that our second brain is sending us intelligent signals to enjoy another gem that our city offers; it's gastronomy. We will enter old town, the small walled village that San Sebastián used to be. We can either walk the Boulevard or enter through la Bretxa market. Here walking along 31 de Agosto, Fermin Calbeton and Plaza de la Constitucion we will discover temples erected to the art of good eating in the form of bars, restaurants and gastronomy clubs.

Here, where the beautiful city that San Sebastián is today was born, we will end our walk, awaiting for your return, creased by the breeze... at peace.

Oldtown

The emblematic Old Part of Town is a succession of narrow streets where at every step you can enjoy the traditional Donosti pintxos. It is an area where you can find countless bars, restaurants, shops and part of the city's nightlife are concentrated.

Like the Gros district, the Old part consists of sea and mountains. The sea surrounds this emblematic area, through the legendary fishing port where you can eat, drink or take the boat that will take you to Santa Clara Island, along the Paseo Nuevo where you can see the wonderful sculpture of Oteiza and the Paseo de Salamanca where the mouth of the Urumea River is located. The Old Part is at the foot of Mount Urgull, where part of the history of the city is buried and where you can enjoy a wonderful panoramic view.

The heart of the Old Part is the Plaza de la Constitución, formerly the bullring of the city. This square will be able to enjoy different premises and terraces to have a coffee, a pintxo or a nice drink

Downtown

The center of the city, divided by the Liberty Avenue is where the business and commercial section of the city is , ofrececiendonos an urban center with large pedestrian streets with elegant architecture of French influence.

In this area we find all kinds of shops , trendy shops , boutiques , bars , terraces, restaurants , cafes , supermarkets and market San Martin renovated with all premium products .

In this part of town is the famous beach of La Concha and Alderdi Eder manor park presiding council of San Sebastian .

Gros

Gros neighborhood is located in the eastern part of the city crossing the Urumea River. In this neighborhood is located the famous Zurriola, a large beach frequented by surfers of all over the world. Looking to the sea, is the Kursaal Congress Palace, a building that houses both the San Sebastian International Film Festival, as well as fairs and congresses of all kind. It is surrounded by Mount Ulia, from which you will have spectacular views of the city.

It is a neighborhood with a clear youthful character that offers all the services of a city, in fact, it is still a neighborhood with a lot of population, being part of it foreign students. In it you will find supermarkets, bars, boutiques, bakeries, local and international restaurants, etc ...

Noteworthy within the neighborhood, the Sagües area, a promenade full of bars to snack, eat or drink something watching the beautiful sunset of San Sebastian, also having several surf schools in which to hire surf lessons or rent a board for the practice of this sport.

Antiguo

El Antiguo is an emblematic neighborhood in the city of San Sebastian, located in the western part of the city that has its own beach, Ondarreta. It is sheltered from the Cantabrico by Mount Igeldo, which from its top you can see a spectacular view of the city.

In this neighborhood is located the famous and beautiful work of Eduardo Chillida, Peine del Viento where you can take beautiful snapshots of the place. You will also find the Miramar Palace, old summer residence of the monarchy, where you can walk or rest in its beautiful gardens and simply enjoy the spectacular views.

The main street is Calle Matia, where you can find a small business, highlighting the butchers, pintxos bars, etc.

Cycle Line

San Sebastián is a city that you can visit by bicycle. You can move from one neighborhood to other one thanks to the many kilometers of bike lane that the city has for everybody who want to visit the city in a comfortable and healthy way. The local people call the bike lane ”bidegorri”, which means red road in basque.

Throughout the city there are also parking lots where you can park and lock our bicycle. Finally and if you come with your family, it is recommended that children under 13 years old wear a helmet.

In the next website you can see the map of the cycle line,

See map of the cycle line in San Sebastian

Stores where you can rent a bike:

La bicicleta - Bike Rental. Reyes Católicos Street, 14. You can rent bikes, electric bikes and scooters.

Bici Rent. Zurriola Avenue, 22.

Sanse Bikes. Boulevard Avenue, 25.

Pintxos Donostia (online). Guided pintxo tours with bycicle.

Finally and if you really like ride by bycicle, the city ville of San Sebastián presented few months ago the Route 25. A 25 kilometres way through cycle line with which you will see all the neighborhoods and touristic points of the city.

Cookies Policy

Configuration of cookies