This is a continued recap of my recent trip to Europe. Read about days 8-11 of my trip in Barcelona, Spain here, days 6 and 7 in Nice, Èze, and Villefranche-sur-Mer here, days 3-5 in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France here, or days 1 and 2 – my travel days – here. See a complete map of my travels here.

Day 12

H and I left for the Barcelona Sants station early where we picked up our rental car and got on the road to drive across the country to San Sebastián, a seaside town in Basque country that boasts golden, sandy beaches and some of the best food in the world. I first learned about it through an article in The New York Times and had my heart set on visiting ever since.

The drive took 5 hours and could not have been more pleasant. Hardly anyone was on the road, and we drove past gorgeous mountains, flowers, and small towns. Driving felt easy and stress-free.

We watched the landscape become even more mountainous as we neared San Sebastián.

And at last, we arrived at Hotel Villa Soro, a lovely 19th century villa. A genuine, friendly man at the front desk welcomed us and gave us a map of San Sebastián, on which he drew the best way to walk to the beaches and Old Town. The hotel was slightly outside of the central part of San Sebastián in a neighborhood called Gros, and we picked it intentionally, wanting a quiet place away from the crowds. Plus, it just looked so magnificent online (and it was in person!) and had the best reviews.

We got settled into our sizable, comfortable room and felt instantly at home.

After changing, we headed downstairs and popped in the hotel’s beautiful sitting rooms before venturing out to explore this new town.

We easily followed the map and found ourselves first at Zurriola Beach (just a 5-minute walk from the hotel), a popular beach among younger people and surfers. We inhaled the salty, fresh air, feeling instantly charmed by what we started referring to as “our beach.”

We continued to walk on the beach promenade as recommended and soon faced the instantly recognizable Santa Clara Island in the very center of the town’s bay.

H snapped this photo of me as it grew a bit chillier and windier, but we were so captivated by the view, we did not mind.

We looked on towards Playa de La Concha, the beach in the Bay of La Concha – one of the most famous beaches in Europe and the most popular in San Sebastián. We headed that way to see the views and find a bite to eat as we were quite hungry.

We walked past the numerous hotels right on the beach (one in which we had seriously considered staying – but the reviews were not great) and straight to Café de la Concha for a perfect view of the bay. There is plenty of outdoor seating, but we opted to sit indoors as it was growing colder.

We scarfed down our sandwiches and decided to walk back to the hotel through town as opposed to  the beach to keep away from coastal wind. We also found the walk through town to be a bit quicker.

After relaxing at the hotel and taking a bath, we found our appetites once again and decided to walk to Bar Bergara, a pintxos bar on our side of town in Gros that I had read about.

Pintxos are the Basque version of tapas. Pintxos bars have small snacks laid out across bar tops, and you simply walk in, grab what you want, and eat. After you have finished, tell the bartender how many you had, pay, and be on your way. In Basque country, it is all about the honor system.

Many people hop pinxtos bars, popping by a place for only one or two pinxtos before going to the next. This evening was shockingly cold, and as a steady rain had begun to fall,  H and I were not up to bar hopping. We decided to load up our plates at Bar Bergara, and with a glass of wine, we found a spot to stand outside (it was covered!) where we ate our pinxtos. All the food we had was exceptional – honestly better than tapas in Barcelona! When we were finished, we hurried back in the chilling rain and went straight to sleep.

Day 13

The next morning, we woke up for our first breakfast at Villa Soro – and wow. It was my best breakfast yet in Europe! Fluffy bright orange scrambled eggs, crisp bacon, fresh, juicy, melon, and locally made yogurt mixed with granola – my favorite. Breakfast became a special, leisurely time for us in San Sebastián, as we never really wanted it to end.

Unfortunately, the weather had not improved in San Sebastián from the night before. We had been hoping for a day to explore Old Town, the heart of the city, but instead, we decided to take a day trip to Bilbao (an hour drive) to see the famous Guggenheim museum there.

A giant puppy covered in bedding plants guards the museum, and we could not wait to go inside. However, we got closer, and… the Guggenheim ended up being closed. It was a Monday. We felt pretty foolish for not looking up the hours first.

H and I decided to make the most of our trip and treat ourselves to lunch. We walked just across the street (see the flower puppy behind me?) to Sua San, a brunch place we picked on a whim that ended up being amazing! H got a glass of wine and I got a divine mango smoothie.

I ordered some type of flat sandwich that I gobbled up before I could snap a photo, and H got a 3-course meal that he loved just as much. Our little outing ended up being quite fun, and I checked the weather to see that the sun in San Sebastián was to be shining that afternoon! We paid our bill and raced back.

H and I returned, absolutely thrilled by the warmth and the sun! We ventured out to climb Monte Urgull, a hill in San Sebastián with spectacular vistas. When I snapped this, we were facing Gros.

We continued to climb and found this dreamy view of Playa de La Concha, with those rolling hills behind.

We found the tip-top with this statue of Christ above us. The statue can be seen, too, from almost anywhere in the city.

We lingered for a while, watching the boats gently rocking in the bay below.

We decided to start descending on the other side of the hill, and found a view that we liked even better.

We simply could not get enough of this classic San Sebastián scene – the island, the bay, the beach, the boats.

We continued to wander down the hill, keeping our eyes forward on Santa Clara Island and loving the sun’s heat after being so cold the previous day.

After taking our sweet time on the hill, we made our way down to Playa de La Concha, to at last stick our bare feet in the sand and sea. Behind H, you can see the statue of Christ at the top of Monte Urgull, where we had just been standing!

We walked a long way – all the way across Playa de La Concha and even Ondarreta beach, the third, more family-oriented beach in San Sebastián. We reached the end of it and came to this view – we were actually behind Santa Clara Island, and an hour’s walk away from our hotel.

We started to walk back in the direction of our hotel and passed this darling café on Ondarreta beach.

I loved the blue and white stripes against the sand, sea, and sunset.

We passed by these famous benches and stopped for a moment to take in the perfect night.

The evening was growing late, and we were suddenly hungry as we passed by Café de la Concha – so we decided to stop there once again for dinner.

This time, we selected a table on the large patio to watch the sun go down.

Sangria in hand, we felt extremely lucky for such a flawless evening. We knew that the weather was supposed to get cold and windy once again in San Sebastián, so this night, we really soaked in every moment and stayed present – right up until the moment when we sank into bed with full hearts.

Day 14

We woke up to another exquisite breakfast at the hotel, but sadly, the rain poured out the window and wind whipped the trees loudly. We were informed that it does rain often in San Sebastián. But the wind seemed violent and relentless.

And so, we drove (the wind was too strong to walk far in, almost knocking me down) to the aquarium, which we had heard good things about. Honestly, it was decent, but nothing special, and barely took us an hour to walk through.

From there, we braved the squall to walk to the nearest open place that served lunch, which seemed to be the Hotel Londres, a popular upscale stay right on the bay. We stumbled in the bar and ate ham sandwiches, watching the wind through the windows.

The wind being too strong to wander anywhere, we drove back to the hotel, not really sure what else to do. (I did love these trees on our street!) We decided to have a recovery day after being quite active the past week and napped in the hotel for the afternoon. I was obsessed with the tub in our room and took another bath.

That evening, we walked to another nearby pintxos bar in Gros that I had read about called Bodega Donostiarra. It was rather crowded, and we noticed an empty table, so we decided to sit and be served. We had some tasty bites, but honestly, we favored Bar Bergara where we ate the first night, as it felt a bit more low-key and welcoming. From here, we were too cold to do anything more than head back to the hotel. Neither of us had expected these temperatures in San Sebastián and had simply not packed the right clothing! Back at Villa Soro (which luckily was so homey and comfortable), we washed up and went to sleep.

Day 15

The next morning, over another delightful breakfast, I decided to not let the weather (which was cold and rainy, once again) ruin the day. H and I had really been wanting to take a day trip to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, an islet on the coast of Biscay, and also the location of Game of Thrones‘ Dragonstone, if you watch the show. (Watch the clip of the show here in which you see the stairs of Gaztelugatxe!) I checked the weather there, and it looked ideal, so we were off.

After an easy hour and a half drive, we had arrived. We gazed down and were mesmerized by this unusual place.

We knew it would be a long way to the bridge, then a long way up the stairs, and back again, so we stopped for lunch at Eneperi Jatetxea, a restaurant that we could walk to, not far from the path down to the islet. We grabbed some delicious pintxos from the bar.

When we were finished, we slowly walked down a very steep 3 km paved path (which I knew would be a challenge on our way back) that led to the bottom of the man-made bridge seen in Game of Thrones.

We slowly ascended the 241 steps, taking in the lush, green landscape as we went.

We made our way to the very top, now standing beside the orange-roofed chapel that we had been eyeing as our target.

We could not take our eyes off this Spanish coast, so grand and full of life.

Just behind us was this chapel that sits at the top of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. It has a bell that you can ring three times and make a wish, which we did, of course!

It was so worth the hike – such a cool experience and unlike anything we had ever seen before.

The walk down the steps was fine, but climbing up that steep 3 km that challenging. We got in our car, quite fatigued, and started driving back towards San Sebastián. Just 10 minutes into our drive, we spotted a stunning beach in Bermeo. We stopped to relax after our active day, reclining in the sand and feeling the sun on our faces. It was a full, special day.

We finally left the beach in the early evening and drove back to San Sebastián, the sun turning back to clouds and then rain on our drive. We returned to the hotel satisfied and exhausted from our day, without much motivation to wander out into the cold again. It was our last night, and we had been wanting to finally pintxos bar hop in the Old Town – but we just could not deal with the weather anymore. Instead, H picked up a pizza just down the street, and we ate in our hotel room! We needed to just chill and were very ready to leave the weather behind to drive to Bordeaux, France the next day. We fell fast asleep in our perfect bed at Villa Soro, looking forward to our next adventure.

Upcoming post: Days 16-18 in Bordeaux, Saint-Émilion, and the Dune of Pilat.