San Sebastián: the city where small pleasures are experienced with great intensity
San Sebastián: the city where small pleasures are experienced with great intensity
San Sebastián, “Donostia” in Basque, is blue surrounded by green. It is famous for its shell-shaped bay whose waters touch three extensive beaches, crowned in the middle by an island with the only beach in the Basque Country facing south.
Traditional and avant-garde cuisine coexist here, with the greatest concentration of Michelin stars in the world. The city hosts an international film festival every year, welcomes jazz stars in the summer, and boasts art and culture in the streets and museums. It is fertile and cultivated – a land watered by influences from all over the planet. Still, it has its own identity and the oldest language in Europe: Basque.
There are many ways to visit this destination fit for royalty, but in order for visitors to discover the essence of the city which invites them to experience the small pleasures with great intensity, San Sebastián Premium has been created. This platform publishes the best experiences for the most demanding visitors on its website premium.sansebastianturismoa.eus, dividing them into six categories or sectors: agencies, transport, accommodation, resources, shops, and restaurants.
San Sebastián has obvious, iconic, irrefutable beauty. But it also has secrets that it wants to tell. To discover them, it is best to allow yourself to be guided by local agencies who specialize in custom travel itineraries.
Accompanying the agencies are the premium transport services, which enable the traveler to arrive on time to all the appointments, events, and happenings that take place as part of the city’s endless cultural agenda.
San Sebastian was very lucky when desirable features for cities were being divvied up. It got magnetic geography, with a coastline sculpted by an inspired artist. But then, on top of that natural beauty, delicate and exciting artificial pleasures were built. A less ordinary life was engendered. A favored life. Luxury hotels and exclusive vacation apartment rentals are a good example of this. From their windows, one can really feel what it means to live in a city as beautiful as this one.
San Sebastián is also a spectacular open-air museum where you can see sculptures such as “Empty Construction” by Jorge Oteiza or the “Hondalea” installation, the work of Cristina Iglesias located in the lighthouse of Santa Clara Island, through which water flows – reminiscent of sea currents. And, very nearby, in Getaria, is the Balenciaga Museum, dedicated to the brilliant designer born in said town, as well as the Chillida-Leku Museum in Hernani, where the largest body of work by Eduardo Chillida can be found. To these resources, we must add those related with the sea (the Aquarium, sailboat outings, etc.) and with the local wine, known as “txakoli” (some Getariako Txakolina Designation of Origin wineries offer private tours with tasting experiences).
Perhaps because it’s a small municipality. Or maybe it’s just Basque character: introverted, but loyal and generous. The thing is that the people of San Sebastián really like to share what they have and what they are with those who sincerely want to get to know them. Local shops are a good place to interact with the city’s inhabitants and, incidentally, to take home with you a piece of San Sebastián at its most authentic, a part of its identity.
There are cities that can be visited and seen, and there are others, like San Sebastián, that can also be savored: they are to be sampled little by little so as to fully appreciate the nuances and so that the city’s textures, colors, aromas and sensations remain in the mouth and in the memory forever. Whether at the “pintxo” bars, at cider houses, or at restaurants with Michelin stars (Akelarre, Arzak, Martín Berasategui, Mugaritz, etc.), this city serves up thousands of stimulating culinary delights every day. Excitement is served.
San Sebastián Premium
