A Perfect Day in San Sebastian Cultural & Food Half-Day Combo Tour
Follow steps below for booking.
Enjoy both of our famous walking tours for one great price!
We will start at 10 am sitting in our office with a history synopsis of the Basque people, culture and language and show you why you are not in Spain, but in the Basque Country (think Scotland). Then, we cover the city of Donostia-San Sebastian, in all, a few 1000 years in a matter of minutes to help you relate to what we will see around us. We will then set off on our leisurely paced walk through the city exploring 1 of the largest markets in San Sebastian as well as the beach area, port/marina and the Old Town as we point out some of the local landmarks and activities. We will show you many other things that you will find very interesting and possibly helpful for the remainder of your stay here.
At around 12:00 -12:30 once we have worked up our thirst and appetite, we will move into the 2nd part of the tour (see Pintxo like a Local tour). The second part is all about Food and Drinks (non-alcoholic drinks are available as well). To come to this Shangri-La of food and not know where or how to do the Pintxo crawl, would be a shame. We help you navigate through the over 180 Pintxo bars in the Old Town. We will start this second part at 12:30 pm, which contrary to popular belief, this is the more traditional Pintxo time for locals, specially on Saturdays and Holidays. We become your flavor guide and provide 5 traditional Pintxos at up to 5 different Pintxo bars and pair those with a local wine or cider. This town is famous for Michelin Star restaurants and Pintxos. For the Pintxo bars you really need someone on the inside who knows what to order and at what bar, on that specific day, because it changes throughout the year, month by month.
We have spent many years exploring the Pintxo bars with family and friends, PARTICULARLY THROUGH MY WIFE´S LOCAL GASTRONOMIC FAMILY, and have come up with a variety different Pintxo and wine/cider pairings that people from outside of the Basque Country should enjoy in some of the most traditional settings. We take you to the most traditional bars and order their house specialty and then, we pair those with a local wine or cider. While we are walking from bar to bar, we will also show you the more cutting edge/modern Pintxo bars that you have probably heard or read about while planning your visit, just like all the other visitors here and tell you what they offer, but we will NOT be going into those. It is more about exploring the different flavors that come from combinations of ingredients that most people think would not work together, or breaking stereotypes of flavors (not all anchovies are salty for example). This is giving you many years of experience in 2.5 hours to set you up for a GREAT trip. You will leave the tour full and know where to go, what to get, how to eat it and what drink you should have with it.
Visitors can sometimes have a hard time with the Pintxos and may feel intimidated about ordering because it can be very chaotic and some will only get what they can recognize (things you could get at home). So, they come here for 2 or 3 days and leave saying "I don't know what all the fuss is about the food in San Sebastian" when all they have eaten is boiled eggs or chicken wings and drank sangria or beer (not typical here and mainly for tourists). That’s why we help YOU get outside of their box. We do not force you to eat our recomendations, and of course, we don't do anything over the top (this is not an episode of Crazy Foods); it is more about the combinations of local flavors.
This is all included in the price; we pay for the Pintxos and drinks, all you do is enjoy and learn how to do it, so that after we are done you feel more comfortable getting around the Old Town and exploring the Pintxo bars yourself. You will be many steps ahead of the other tourists here if you decide to do your own Pintxo Crawl later in the evening.
The meeting location will be listed on your confirmation email. Please be on time as other people may be on the tour as well.
- Duration: 4.5-5 hours starting at 10:00 am (half-day)
- Price: Ages 14 and over: 160 EURO per person (sales tax 21% included).
- Children: Ages 8 to 13: 25 EURO (sales tax 21% included) with paid adult (food and drinks NOT INCLUDED).
- Special rates available upon request for groups larger than 10 people.
- VEGETARIAN, PREGNANT & KID FRIENDLY TOUR