An overview of our walking holiday from San Sebastian to Bilbao. The most important thing to know is "Pinchos". The rest of this article is just fluff.
With the beginning starting in San Sebastian, discover what makes this city so remarkable along with the rest of the Basque region. Obviously taking note of our sips and bites along the way.
DINK Details
Spend a few days in San Sebastian. Articles for each day: Our Camino Del Norte
Deets: - Basque country, not Spain - Languages: Basque, Spanish, French, English | Train & Plane (From / To Madrid): - Train 5 hours¹ - Plane 1 hour |
Plan Ahead: - No plans needed | Area Highlights: - Pinchos - Camino Del Norte |
1. We did train to San Sebastian since the airport was an hour from town. We flew back from Bilbao
I don't understand, if Pinchos exist, why is there other food?
Why Camino Del Norte
The D.I.N.Ks were looking for a New Years vaca. It needed accessible by train / plane, not freezing weather, good food and ideally Tapas. Looking at Spain, we covered the south part, Andalusia and wanted to hit up the North. We heard there was good wine north, ribera del duero. Turns out it was even better Pinchos and Txakoli.
We had 10 days to burn (-2 for travel). The start and end needed easy access. San Sebastian has been on our list for some time and Bilbao were perfect. The trail was a little short, so we created our own at the end.
The Camino
The Camino is a network of trails that all lead to Santiago Spain. Full trails can range from a few weeks to 2 months. Our walking holidays are done in segments, around 6-7 days at a time.
This time around 2022, we do half Camino and half we made up (a lot of trails exist in Spain so you just hope to find some maps along the way). Map link.
There are many ways to Camino, walk, bike, hire a service to transport your luggage. We usually pack light and schlep it. Otherwise, a service we have used before and enjoyed (for Portugal) is Camino ways.
Our Camino Del Norte (The Deets)
Part 1 is the Camino proper which starts in San Sebastian and ends in Guernica. Part 2 is off the Camino, the north coast from Bermeo to Bilbao (which is where the Camino meets up again). The proper start of Camino Del Norte is, Irun (which is right next to the airport). We took the train so, we skipped a little.
Our journey is detailed in this map and articles here:
Part 1 Starts in San Sebastian (This article)
Day 1: Orio (Spa)
Day 2: Deba (Long day)
Day 3: Ziortrza-Bolibar (Got Lucky)
Day 4: Guernica (Picasso)
Part 2 Starts in Bermeo (Beautiful Sunrise)
Day 5: Bakio (New Years)
NOTE: Day 6 we recommend staying in Armintza
Our Day 6: Plentzia (Scary Dog)
Day 7: Bilbao (Finish!)
Basque
Hot takes
We never ran into another American
Everyone outside of the city carries a stick (we don't know why)
Basque is not really Spain nor France.
and the Basque language is nothing like Spanish or French or anything.
There was a Basque conflict that ended in 2011.
Please be respectful
Everyplace looks well kept and fancy, its pleasant to walk through.
English does become less common in rural areas. We leaned on Spanish next.
Eat early and often.
The Hilly Landscape
As you are walking, you will go across multiple hills in a day. It is beautiful and will take a lot out of you.
Dinner Theories (Basque and Spain)
I truly believe a sit down dinner in Spain is just a tourist thing. You always hear, "you have to wait to 8 for dinner". This holds true for the large cities. Once you leave the major areas, dinner is just drinking together. All recusants become living rooms with bars. The pinchos are just to keep you alive enough to enjoy each others company throughout the night.
Sips and Bites
Pinchos
Tapas are great and all but Pinchos are optimized for variety, easy access taste. Every bar, every day, they are there. You walk in, grab a drink and point and repeat.
They typically come on a small piece of bread. It is socially acceptable to have between 3 and 10.
Txakoli Wine
During our 3rd pincho place, we noticed some people were getting a glass of wined pour higher up than usual. What is this we wondered as we stared awkwardly at the customer. We ask the bartender if wine tastes better from high up. No except for this one, Txakoli.
Jamón Ibérico (de Bellota)
The perfect meat. There are many grades and styles of this ham. Black label is your 100% iberico and 100% acorn diet.
Our favorite past time is sitting outside with a glass of chilled red and a plate of jamón ibérico.
Basque Cheesecake
An Anthony Bourdain informed bite. This is some gooood cheescake. It is fluffy and full bodied at the same time. We went to the place from Parts Unkown, La Viña. It was crowded and had many pinchos. It has all your wants and need, you could spend all day here.
San Sebastian
This town because it heals you. There are many sections to explore and plenty of hikes on the boarders. We only stayed for 2 days but needed more.
Old Town
Being a New Yorker, my first impression was, this was a tourist trap. "Ever place is a scam", "That's a Applebee's without L.I Teas"
I have never been so wrong. Every place was so amazing, beautiful and unique, I'm still shocked. You walk in, you just hop from place to place until you are tired, drunk or its just late. Time doesnt exist in Old Town.
I can't even recommend a place because San Sebastian perfected going out. Dinner for both nights was, at least, 5 places, hoping from one to the next. Throw down a few euro for a glass and a plate, talk about how great life is, on to the next place.
Monte Urgull
San Sebastian has 3 hills on the coast that it sits in-between with beaches connecting the 3. The middle hill, Monte Urgull is a huge park with great views
Gros District and Monte Ulia
The east side of Monte Urgull is the Gros District. It is less compacted and has a lot of surfers. It was fun to watch them thought of the trip. We stopped for some coffee and took a peak at the Monte Ulia (were the camino comes from Irun).
Stay (San Sebastian)
Hotel Atari
We sprung a little for this hotel and it was so worth it. Room with balcony over looking Koruko Andre Mariaren basilika. Our room was large and a modern shower. The best part, everyday we got free breakfast pinchos. If you are a savage with no taste, there is also free warm breakfast to order.
15 minute walk from train station
0 min to center, 5 min to Monte Urgull, 5 min to Camino
Breakfast - Top 5 breakfast of all time
Despite being in the center of oldtown, not noisy at all during the night.
Maps
Our Camino Map
Notes: This was made before our trip. Here are the deets
- For Cami Del Bilbao, we took a cab half way to Plentzia. Its a long leg, stay in Armintza
- If you fly in, you can start from the proper beginning in Irun.