A pintxo is not a tapa. It is a specific Basque form: something served on a slice of bread with a skewer through it, or a small hot dish ordered from the kitchen, and the convention is that you eat one or two in a bar with a small glass of wine or cider and then leave for the next one.
That last part is the point. The crawl — the txikiteo — is the format, and it means the good bars are ones that do two or three things exceptionally rather than a long menu. San Sebastián's Parte Vieja holds well over a hundred of them in a few blocks, and the Basque Country has more Michelin stars per head than almost anywhere on earth.
Why walkability is the whole thing
You cannot drive a pintxo crawl. The bars are packed, you eat standing, you pay at the end on trust, and you move on after fifteen minutes.
In San Sebastián the Parte Vieja is about six blocks between the harbour and the river, and everything is inside it. In Bilbao the equivalent is the Casco Viejo and the streets around Ledesma and Diputación in the newer town.
Stay outside those areas and you have a taxi at the end of an evening that is designed to end on foot.
The two cities and the coast
San Sebastián is a resort town on a shell-shaped bay with a nineteenth-century belle époque centre, the old town at one end and Monte Urgull above it. It is small, elegant and expensive.
Bilbao, an hour west, is a post-industrial city that rebuilt itself around the Guggenheim from 1997 and is now one of the more interesting urban regeneration stories in Europe. It is larger, grittier and cheaper.
The coast between them has Getaria, a fishing village that grills whole turbot over charcoal outside the restaurants, and the txakoli vineyards on the slopes above.
The eleven below are grouped by city.
San Sebastián
The Parte Vieja and the bay.
Hotel Maria Cristina, a Luxury Collection Hotel, San Sebastian occupies a belle époque building on the river opened in 1912, with a bar that is the city's meeting point during the film festival and rooms facing the water. It is the grand hotel of the Basque Country.
Hotel Maria Cristina, a Luxury Collection Hotel, San Sebastian
San Sebastián riverside · 5★ · $$$$
A 1912 landmark five minutes from the Parte Vieja
Check availabilityLasala Plaza Hotel - Adults Only sits on the Zurriola side in a converted building with a rooftop pool over the bay, a good restaurant and contemporary rooms.
Lasala Plaza Hotel - Adults Only
By the old town harbour · 4★ · $$$
Rooftop pool over the bay beside the Parte Vieja
Check availabilityHotel de Londres y de Inglaterra occupies a position on the Concha promenade in an 1865 building facing the bay directly, with the old town a short walk east.
Hotel de Londres y de Inglaterra
La Concha promenade · 4★ · $$$
An 1865 building facing the bay directly
Check availabilityHotel Villa Soro sits in a nineteenth-century mansion in a garden slightly out from the centre, with a pool and a quieter setting.
Hotel Villa Soro
Ategorrieta, San Sebastián · 4★ · $$$
A nineteenth-century mansion in a garden
Check availabilityHotel Arbaso occupies a building near the cathedral with a rooftop terrace and contemporary rooms at a fair rate.
Hotel Arbaso
San Sebastián centre · 4★ · $$$
Rooftop terrace and contemporary rooms at a fair rate
Check availabilityAkelarre sits on a hill above the city beside a restaurant that has held three stars for decades, with rooms looking down the coast. It is a taxi from the pintxo bars and the trade is the view and the kitchen.
Akelarre
Monte Igueldo · 5★ · $$$$
Rooms beside a long-held three-star kitchen above the coast
Check availabilityBilbao
The Casco Viejo, the Guggenheim and the river.
Gran Hotel Domine Bilbao occupies a building directly facing the Guggenheim, designed by Javier Mariscal, with a glass atrium and a rooftop terrace that has the best view of the museum.
Hotel Carlton sits on the Plaza Moyúa in a 1919 building that housed the Basque government during the civil war, with a domed hall and the most formal service in the city.
Hotel Carlton
Plaza Moyúa, Bilbao · 5★ · $$$
A 1919 building that housed the Basque government
Check availabilityHotel Tayko Bilbao occupies a restored building in the Casco Viejo with a rooftop, a good restaurant and the pintxo bars outside the door.
Hotel Tayko Bilbao
Casco Viejo, Bilbao · 4★ · $$
A restored building with the pintxo bars outside
Check availabilityHotel Miró sits near the Guggenheim in a design-led property with a good bar and rates below the landmarks.
Hotel Miró
Near the Guggenheim · 4★ · $$
Design-led with a good bar below landmark rates
Check availabilityThe coast
Between the two cities.
Hotel Iturregi occupies a house above Getaria surrounded by txakoli vines, with a handful of rooms, a garden and the fishing village below where the turbot is grilled outside.
Hotel Iturregi
Getaria · 4★ · $$$
A house among txakoli vines above the fishing village
Check availabilityWhat we have left off
The pensiones across San Sebastián's old town are excluded, and in a city this expensive they are how a great many visitors afford to be in the middle of it. They are guest houses rather than hotels.
What to do
Do a pintxo crawl properly: four or five bars, one or two things in each, standing, and ask what the bar is known for rather than reading the whole counter.
Book the restaurants a long way ahead if you want the starred ones. Several take reservations months out and the Basque Country's density of them is the reason people come.
Walk up Monte Igueldo or Monte Urgull for the view over the Concha bay, which is the best urban beach in Europe.
In Bilbao, do the Guggenheim and then the Museo de Bellas Artes, which has the better collection and a fraction of the visitors.
Drive the coast to Getaria and San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, the islet with a staircase of 241 steps up to a hermitage.
Practical notes
Bilbao's airport is the main gateway with European connections; San Sebastián has a small airport and Biarritz across the French border is 45 minutes away. The two cities are an hour apart by road or bus.
June and September are ideal. The film festival in late September fills San Sebastián entirely. Summer is busy and this is a green coast, which means it rains through the year.
Book restaurants and the good pensiones well ahead in summer.
Explore 4 & 5 Star San Sebastian and Bilbao Hotels
Questions people actually ask
What is a pintxo?
A Basque bar snack on bread with a skewer, or a small hot dish, eaten one or two at a time before moving to the next bar.
San Sebastián or Bilbao?
San Sebastián for the bay, the old town and the density of pintxo bars. Bilbao for the Guggenheim, a real city and lower prices. An hour apart.
Do you need reservations?
For the starred restaurants, months ahead. For pintxo bars, never.
How many nights?
Four. Two in each, with a coastal drive between.
If you only book one
Search 4 and 5 star hotels in San Sebastian and Bilbao, Spain