Spain Guide
Euskal Herria: the País Vasco & Navarra
San Sebastián
The undisputed queen of the Basque resorts, SAN SEBASTIÁN (Donostia) is a picturesque city, with magnificent beaches and wonderful food. The capital of Gipuzkoa, it has been a fashionable place to escape the southern heat since the nineteenth century – in July and August, it's packed. Set around the deep, still bay of La Concha and enclosed by rolling low hills, it's beautifully situated; the Parte Vieja sits on the eastern promontory, its back to the wooded slopes of Monte Urgull, while newer development has spread along the Urumea river, home to wonderful belle époque architecture, and around the bay.
The Parte Vieja (Old Quarter) is the most fascinating and enjoyable part of San Sebastián. In its cramped and lively pedestrian streets, crowds congregate in the evenings to wander among numerous bars and shops or sample the shellfish from the traders down by the fishing port. Much of this area was destroyed by a fire in 1813 (started by British troops) and subsequently restored, though the old medieval wall was swept away to allow expansion later the same century – the Alameda del Boulevard marks its former course. San Sebastián's chief sights are the elaborate Baroque facade of the eighteenth-century Basílica de Santa María (Mon– Sat 8am–2pm & 4–8pm) and the more elegantly restrained sixteenth-century Gothic Iglesia de San Vicente (Mon– Sat 8.30am–1pm & 6.30–8.30pm). The centre of the old quarter is the Plaza de la Constitución (known by the locals simply as La Consti); the numbers on the balconies around the square date from the days when it was used as a bullring.
For a lovely stroll, especially at sunset, it's well worth following the coastal footpath that leads around Monte Urgull at sea level.
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