Discover San Sebastian

Getting Active

Playa de la Concha

If you’re looking for picture perfect beaches, look no further than Playa de la Concha. Referred to ‘La Concha’ by the locals due to its shell shape, the beach offers a relaxing shoreline stroll with 1350 metres to walk down. The beach is surrounded by mountains covered in greenery providing breathtaking views, but it also shelters the beach from strong winds meaning the sea is nice and calm, perfect for families to go for a paddle without the water being too rough. It also means your hat won’t fly off as you lounge on the beach.

Catch waves at Zurriola

As one of the most popular beaches for surfing, Zurriola beach is the ideal place to get active. The beach is situated in the district of Gros, making it easily accessible from the city centre, provides showers, dressing rooms and is monitored by lifeguards. The main reason people visit the beach is for the waves, offering the perfect conditions for surfers of all experience levels - you’ll even see some of the more experienced surfers taking on the rougher waves in the autumn and winter. If you’ve never surfed before and want to give it a go, there are a variety of schools in the area including Pukas and Zurroila Surf Eskola. You can also find volleyball, football and beach tennis across the beach, as well as surf championships and music festivals throughout the year. Time to grab your board and hit the waves!

Get the wheels turning

What better way to explore the streets of San Sebastian than gliding through on a bike! Not only is bike rentals available in various places throughout the city, but you can also find bike tours that will show you the best the city has to offer. Urban Adventures is one such group, who not only have tours that’ll take you down the coastlines or around the city’s pintxos stands on food, active, beer, and shopping tours, but you can create your very own personalised tour! Go Local also offers a tour but with electric bikes as an alternative. With around 25km of bike lanes throughout the city, you’ve got plenty of safe space to explore as much as you want!

Walk along San Juan de Gaztelugatxe

San Sebastian has some fantastic places to go out walking, but if you’re thinking of adventuring a little further outside of San Sebastian, then you’ve got even more options. One we recommend is San Juan de Gaztelugatxe - after a 2 hour drive, you’ll be able to get to Bilbao city centre, and from here a 40 minute bus journey to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. Whilst it’s a bit of a trek, it’s one you definitely don’t want to miss out on if you’re a Game of Thrones fan. This walk containing 241 steps is 1000 years old and leads you to the island Gaztelugatxe via a winding raised path across the bay from the mainland - for Game of Thrones fans, this is more familiar as the winding passage to Dragonstone. Whether it’s beautifully sunny or pouring with rain, the island is dramatic and, obviously, like the set of a film! Oh, and there’s little church that sits atop the hill has a bell at the front of it - tradition says that you should ring the bell three times and make a wish!