San Sebastian, or Donastia as the locals call it, is in the part of Basque country that is located in Spain. It is an amazing city and one known for its food (as you will see in this next post). It is a big city but the historic centre is where you want to focus your energy. It is a beautiful area full of restaurants and bars, stunning buildings and lots and lots of pastries. I’ve been here a few times and have had other hot chocolates here in the past. You can read about them here.

When in San Sebastian:

  • Visit Plaza de la Constitucion and note the numbers on the balconies. 
  • Walk around La Concha Beach
  • Spend a little time at San Telmo Museum to learn more about Basque history
  • Take a ride on the carousel in front of beautiful Donastia Town Hall (a former casino)
  • Visit La Brexta market
  • Hike up Mount Urgull for a 360 view
  • If you are travelling outside of the historic centre, keep your out for milk vending machines! You just rock up with a bottle and you can fill it with fresh, local milk!

You can also follow this handy map. You could easily spend a few days here. 

It was a bank holiday the first day we arrived and nothing was open but Barrenetxe. The lights were like a beacon that we rushed towards. The family has been running bakeries since 1699 and this one in San Sebastian was 100 years old. There was one very impressive woman doing everything that morning, taking orders, heating things up, making coffees. I was exhausted just watching her. The specialty here was a sort of French toast flan, as deadly as it sounds but the first few bites were delicious (the rest was probably not needed). The hot chocolate was sweet and thick, made for dunking but the thought of dunking that French toast flan into sweet chocolate just didn’t appeal.

This is the first time I write up a review for a hot chocolate and find out that the café is now, sadly, closed. Strangely, this was also one of the very rare places where I didn’t take a picture of my hot chocolate. Wonder if the two things are connected (it was COVID apparently).