Things to Do in San Sebastián, Spain: Sights and Beaches

If you only have a weekend, the best things to do in San Sebastián, Spain, are mostly religious buildings, palaces and sea views. Start with the Good Shepherd Cathedral, barely half a mile from the centre, then walk to the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Chorus and on to San Telmo Museoa, an ethnographic and art museum housed in a former monastery. Above them stands the Motako Gaztelua, or Castillo de la Mota, a fortress building with the bay spread out below.

For a second day, the city's palaces reward the walk: Miramar Palace and the Palacio de Ayete are both listed cultural properties around a mile out. Cross the Zurriola Bridge towards the eastern side of town, and keep an eye on the three lighthouses that mark this stretch of coast, at Igeldo, on Isla de Santa Clara and at La Plata. The Plaza de Toros de Illumbe, the city's bullring, rounds out the list of things to see in San Sebastián, Spain.

The city itself holds the bulk of the list. Around the old centre you have the cathedral, the basilica, San Telmo Museoa, the castle and the aquarium; to the west, Ondarreta Beach, Miramar Palace and the Igeldo lighthouse, about 2 miles out; to the east, across the Zurriola Bridge, Zurriola beach. When people ask about the best beach in San Sebastián, Spain, it usually comes down to these two, and they are different enough that most visitors try both.

Pasaia, about 2.5 miles east, is the obvious half-day trip and the place to start if you want beaches near San Sebastián, Spain, with a working-harbour feel. Here you will find Albaola Itsas Kultur Faktoria, a shipyard-school museum, the Castillo Santa Isabel, a listed cultural property about 3 miles from central Donostia, and the La Plata lighthouse at the harbour mouth.

Inland, Hernani and Astigarraga are both around 3 miles away and have tours and activities of their own listed on this page, so they are worth a look if you are deciding what to do in San Sebastián, Spain, beyond the seafront.

Families tend to get the most out of the Aquarium de Donostia-San Sebastián, roughly a mile from the centre, and the two town beaches, which are within easy walking distance of each other. July and August are the warmest months, with highs around 24°C and the fewest rainy days of the year, so they suit sandcastle days best.

Older children usually enjoy the climb to the Castillo de la Mota and the trip to Pasaia, where the Albaola shipyard museum shows how boats were built here, and Castillo Santa Isabel gives them another castle to tick off. On a wet day, and there are plenty here even in summer, San Telmo Museoa and the aquarium make a sensible indoor pairing.

You can compare tours and tickets for San Sebastián, Pasaia, Hernani and Astigarraga from this page, alongside hotel prices and car hire. Package deals from the providers shown here bundle the flight into Bilbao with your hotel and, usually, the transfer, which takes about 67 minutes by road; school-holiday weeks generally cost more, so it pays to compare dates.

Plan around the weather: this is a green, rainy coast, with November the wettest month at over 220 mm and around 16 or 17 rainy days in most winter months. Keep an indoor option such as the museum or aquarium in reserve. If you would rather bring your own car, Brittany Ferries sails from Portsmouth to Bilbao, about 53 miles away, and from Portsmouth and Plymouth to Santander, about 93 miles away.