Travel Guide: San Sebastián & Biarritz - eating my way through the Basque country
The food adventures from a sunny, joyful trip in May
The joy of travel
I’m sure many people feel this way, but I am my happiest and sparkliest self when in holiday mode. The research, the anticipation and the joy of visiting somewhere new fills me with pure giddiness. I also happen to be engaged to a travel-partner-in-crime who makes for an excellent travel companion. We can often be found on trips away exclaiming to one another “my god, we nail holidays”. We’re humble too.
There are so many things to love about a break, a reset and a new adventure but, for me, the absolute priority for every trip is the food. Having a bad meal in a world filled with epic tastes is nothing short of deeply unfortunate. To avoid such a drastic fate, I will spend plenty of time in advance on Google maps pinning must visit cafes, restaurants and bars - a worthwhile task which helps me to orient myself when arriving into a new place and one which my friends and family take full advantage of.
Basque Country
Our most recent trip, last week, was spent eating our way around the Basque Country - a stunning, coastal region spanning the Spanish and French border where the food, culture and scenery blew our minds. Famous for their Pintxos, tapas style bar snacks, I’ve wanted to visit San Sebastián for a long time. Renowned as a foodie mecca and the culinary centre of the Basque region, and even endorsed by the legendary Anthony Bourdain.
“You could make the argument that there is no better place to eat in Europe than the city of San Sebastián." Anthony Bourdain
I would make the argument that there may be no better place in the world to eat, but I know what he was getting at.
The everything list
My lists live on Google maps - I find them easy to add to and make notes, easy to find pre-saved spots when you’re in the area and easy to figure out where the bustling neighbourhoods are.
Here is the list that I curated before and during our trip:
The San Sebastián/ Biarritz list
With food as a priority, here you’ll find bars, restaurants, recommendations from others, places we went and places we didn’t get to. Use it as a guide - if it’s made the cut on this list, it’s worth doing! My takeaways of both San Sebastián and Biarritz below but all the nitty gritty detail is in that list above.
Even if you’re not planning a trip soon, take this post as inspiration. The way the Basque people approach life is aspirational for us all - community focussed, food obsessed and an insistence on rest and the daily siestas - lessons for us all!
What surprised me about San Sebastian
First off, it exceeded my expectations and the hype - we will absolutely be back in future. But it wasn’t exactly as I expected and there were quite a few things that surprised me.
I, wrongly, assumed that the Basque Country was just a region in Spain but actually, it is home to the Basque people, an ethnic group that inhabits about six towns in both France and Spain. The link to their culture is evident when you visit, and many locals identify more with being Basque than Spanish and it’s lovely to see all the way this manifests across San Sebastian (or Donastia in Basque).
The food was out of this world good. We knew this was a foodie destination. We booked this trip because it was a foodie destination, but what surprised us most is just how bloody good the food actually was. The quality of every single meal or bite we had was really just next level. The Basque people care so much about local produce and some places were so specialist that they only sold a couple of items on their menu - all of which were epic!
The prices were really really reasonable. Coming from Australia and Ireland, where alcohol is taxed at a very high rate and where a meal out would drain your bank account, to sit and eat lots of different plates and some wines for only a few euro each was a novelty. Don’t get me wrong - it adds up if you’re bar hopping around but comparably, it’s an absolute steal.
The locals were all divine. They appreciate attempts at Spanish, they were genuinely thrilled if we managed a few words in Basque but they did all speak perfect English. The Spanish are known for being hospitable, friendly, food obsessed and the Basque people were no exception.
How beautiful the actual location is. Yes, there is the density and buzz of the Old Town, where all of the pinxtos bars were, but to the left and right of here, there are beautiful coastal walks with marinas, ports, beaches and coastal views. The beach and the coast looked as appealing to us as the food tours around the old town.
How committed to the siesta the Basque people are. This is typical of continental Europe - with daylight until about 10pm in Summer, the days are long and they manage this by wedging a four hour closure into their day. Siestas are common place - accessing food between this 3pm and 7pm is tricky and the most advisable approach (as we did on our first full day) would be to do like the Spanish/ Basque people and lean into this forced rest by taking a time out and napping in the day. Delicious.
How easy it was to eat gluten free. I am a coeliac which is easy to navigate in English speaking countries but language barriers usually make things a bit more complex. I was shocked at how almost every place showed their allergens per item and I was even more shocked to find places that did gluten free versions of items that would be typically gluten-filled. Ice-cream cones, croquettes, bread etc. Yum.
The last thing that struck us was just how community focussed everyone was. We saw so many people of all ages just gathering in the streets and chatting. People of different generations hanging out, young day-care kids being brought to the beach as a group by their careers, many elderly people being brought around the town and food seeming to be a focus of people coming together - it just had a different feel to modern city living and it struck us how normal and lovely this seemed and how lost it has become in our own society.
What I would suggest doing for your visit in San Sebastian
Learn to say thank you in Basque. An older Irish couple we met in a bar explained why this is so well received instead of Spanish and when we started (badly) practicing our Basque ‘thank yous’, people were elated and so appreciative of the effort.
The coastal walk and swims at the beach. It’s easy to get caught up in a self directed food tour (one day we started our breakfast at one cafe at 10am and didn’t actually stop eating across various different bars until 4pm - outrageous), but do make sure you make time to walk around both sides of the coast - on one side, you’ll find a funicular which will take you to the top for amazing views of the whole town.
Take a boat trip. In order to prevent us from consuming every item of food in town, we had to forcibly remove ourselves from land to give our stomachs a break. This one hour long boat trip was the perfect circuit breaker and for only 8e each, it’s well worth doing.
Prebook any coaches/ buses. You can’t fly directly into San Sebastian but you can into Bilbao or Biarittz in France. Buses from the airport and between neighbouring towns book out in advance - they are cheap but you need to pre-plan so once you know your plans, book your bus seat. We missed out on the airport bus and had to arrange a transfer.
Spend a lot of time in the Old Town. The thing that let us down most this trip was the fact that our stomachs got full. Honestly, it was a total inconvenience. The only way to circumvent this is to go back to the Old Town over the course of many days and stuff in as many delectable food experiences as you can. You could plan it out, but really just popping in anywhere with a table free is a good strategy.
But also, get out of the Old Town. Although it is the central hub, there are lots of gems to be found outside too. Our particular favourite, Antonio’s, was a casual cafe recommended to us as the best tortilla in town - it was predominantly locals and was one of the best bits of food I’ve ever put in my mouth.
Antonio’s famous tortilla, genuinely one of the best bites of life Order fresh Pintxos, not the ones on display. For obvious reasons. Many of the bars have specialities so doing a bit of research would help ensure you’re ordering the “right” thing at the right place, although you can’t go far wrong with any item on the menus - we just went with the flow and loved everything we ate.
Try snag a table out front of Atari Gastrolekua restaurant. We had a couple of drinks here and it overlooked the stunning Basilica, a very impressive table view paired very well with a local wine.
Try the local cider and white wine. Famous for their dry, natural and fermented style, both Txakoli (white wine) and sidre (cider) are poured (dramatically and messily) from a height to aerate it as it pours. They’re cheap, they’re delicious, they’re local and it makes for a fun, often sloppy (for the bartender) experience!
Eat Basque cheesecake. Eat as much as you can fit in. Born out of San Sebastián, the famous burnt Basque cheesecake is all around town. La Viña is where it became famous initially but there are lots (and lots of GF ones) in the Old Town. We had ours at Loco Polo (twice) and it was DIVINE.
Visit Bar Nestor. Famous for selling four local things (tortilla, steak, tomato salad and grilled peppers), this place has gone viral a few times over and the queues reflect this. Twice a day, eager patrons join a queue in the hopes of snagging a table and a slice of the tortilla (they only make one tortilla per service). Now, despite our love (obsession) for eating (gluttony), we are not queue-for-food people. However, with a glass of wine in hand, we joined the queue for this renowned place at 5.45pm, waited in line for them to take our order at 7pm and returned at 7.45pm to eat one of the most delicious meals of my life. Yes, it’s worth the hype. No, I wouldn’t recommend the queuing to everyone but if you’re as lucky as us, you may befriend the other couples in the queue, drink wine and chat with them for hours and make new food-aligned besties for a night.
France
If you find yourself with a few days to spare either side, or happen to be flying out of Biarritz, taking a coach down the road 45 minutes will see you have a totally different experience to the one mentioned above. Still an emphasis on quality food, still a coastal town in the Basque region, there are still lots of differences between these two places and, if you can, it’s worth tacking on a trip to this holiday destination.
Things that surprised me about Biarritz
It is very upmarket. French royalty used to vacay here back in the day - that sort of sets the scene. The hotels, boutique clothing stores, restaurants and bars all cater to an audience with a chunk of disposable income. As a visitor with little intention to purchase from these places, it was gorgeous to look at the beautiful stores and places in this little French seaside village but worth bearing in mind that it comes with a price tag.
It has a strong surf culture. For the Aussies amongst us, it felt like a French Byron Bay or Bondi Beach. Lots of cool looking surfer types, a photography store selling surf photography and Billabong-esque stores a plenty. While we were there there was a cute little surf festival with food trucks and an enthusiastic surf community.
How much we enjoyed it. It was an extra bonus stop on our trip but between the stunning coast, the freshest oysters I’ve ever eaten, the hikes to enjoy around the town, the morning markets and the best coffee we’ve had all trip and just the quintessential Frenchness of it all, we really loved it and fit a lot of fun into two days.
How easy it was to navigate. The 11 bus drops you from the town to the airport in ten minutes. The town itself is totally pedestrianised and easy to get around. The coastal walks are well marked and easy to get to. It’s quite contained so you feel like you know your way around very quickly.
What I would suggest doing for your visit to Biarritz
Visit Mercado Les Halles - a feast for the eyes and stomach, you can stock up (as we did) with fromage, deli meats, fresh fruit and veg and freshly baked goods as you shop amongst locals. We happily ate ‘picnic style’ for our meals here and this market was the perfect find for us. Go early, and be sure to buy deli meats from the butcher rather than preprepared as it worked out as so much cheaper. Also, get a coffee here - delicious.
Fromage for days 
Our first picnic after the trip to the markets. All of this for under 30euro Do the lighthouse walk. Walk along the water and when you reach the top, treat yourself to a glass of wine and freshly shucked oysters from the kiosk bar, Pavillion du Phare in the sunshine overlooking the water - hard to beat as an experience.
Walk to the marina - Le Port des Pêcheurs - have a glass of wine after summiting the hill next to it. It’s a beautiful spot for a drink but was not great for food - overpriced and not great quality.
Swim at the main beach. We got up early one morning and joined some surfers for a swim. It was pretty bracing being only May, and we were the only lunatics not in a wet suit, but having a swim looking back on the town in the gorgeous clear, blue water was so good for the soul.
Walk around, sit in, eat in, read in the lovely little park in town. Pierre Forsans Public Garden was right next to our hotel and we loved having a wander around.
We loved our little hotel, Hotel Maison du Lierre - it was inexpensive and felt more like a bnb. A very cute hotel overlooking the park, the owners live on site and the breakfast was very French and very local and very delicious.
Do as we did and head to the grocery store in town, stock up on reasonably priced, delicious food to supplement your market purchases and head back to the hotel balcony to enjoy. Also, pretty much every wine in the store was less than 10 euro. Even the top shelf ones. What on earth.
So, if you love a food based holiday, this is one for your list!
✨Sparkly Recommendations ✨
These are on hiatus for this week. Regular programming will return next week with my recommendations on what to eat, watch, listen to and read!
Thanks for reading!! If you’re new here, I write essays about slow success, life transitions, and finding meaning in the mess. As well as recommending some of my favourite things every week! ✨
Sounds like an incredible vacation! Also your pictures are fabulous, too!