A day at the beach in San Sebastian whilst studying Spanish in Bilbao

On one sunny weekend some friends and I decided to take advantage of the good weather and explore the north coast of Spain a little bit more by visiting San Sebastian. You can easily access the city from Bilbao by taking a coach from the bus station in San Mamés. This takes about an hour and fifteen minutes but the journey itself is very picturesque.

As you arrive at the bus station in San Sebastian there is a tourist information notice with a map of the city which highlights several areas of interest. However the tourist information office is only open in July and August.

In order to make the most of the sunshine we decided to visit the beach first of all. As the city is so well sign posted, the beach was very easy to find. After a fifteen minute walk through the city centre we arrived at La Concha bay to find a beautiful beach with a spectacular view of the sea and its green, hilly surroundings.

After spending most of the day there, we decided to look for something to eat. San Sebastian is renowned for its Basque cuisine and is home to a few restaurants which have been awarded Michelin stars. However, as we were traveling on a budget we decided to go to the Parte Vieja (Old Part) of San Sebastian which has many bars serving pintxos which are tasty bar snacks very similar to tapas.

Although most of the tourist attractions take place later in summer, San Sebastian is a great place to visit at any time of year due to the spectacular views and its world-famous cuisine. In fact, San Sebastian is now a candidate city for the “European Capital of Culture 2016”.

If you are there later in the year, here is a list of what’s coming up in San Sebastian in the summer months:

- The Jazz Festival takes place in the last week of July and features top Jazz musicians from around the world.
- The Clasica de San Sebastian is a cycling race which takes place in early August and is part of the UCI ProTour.
- The Semana Grande or Aste Nagusia in Basque is held in mid-August and features brass bands, live music performances on the beach, fairground attractions and an international fireworks competition in which a fireworks presentation is made every night over the bay.
- Basque Week is held at the beginning of September and features events related to Basque culture such as performances of traditional poets, Basque games, dance exhibitions, contests and a cider tasting competition. The highlight however is the rowing boat competition where teams from different towns of the Bay of Biscay compete for the Flag of La Concha.
- San Sebastian International Film Festival takes place in September and is the most important film festival in Spain and one of the most important in Europe.
Naomi