Hondarribia, San Juan & San Pedro: Coastal Day Trip from San Sebastian

4.81

(178 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

The first thing I noticed was the clatter of cups echoing off Hondarribia’s old stone walls—someone’s morning coffee ritual, I guess. We’d just rolled out of San Sebastian, barely awake, but our guide (Iñaki—he had this easy way of weaving Basque words into English) nudged us to look up at the tangled balconies. Some were bright blue or red, laundry flapping like little flags. I tried to imagine living behind those wooden shutters—what it smells like when the sea wind comes through. Iñaki told us about smugglers and border stories; he even pointed out a bakery where you could still smell butter and sugar in the street. I didn’t expect to feel so nosy about people’s lives here, but it happens.

The drive up Mount Jaizkibel was all switchbacks and glimpses of the Atlantic—gray-blue that day, with clouds moving fast. At the top, we stepped out into a kind of hush except for gulls somewhere below. The view stretched forever along the Basque coastline. My shoes crunched on gravel; I remember thinking how small Hondarribia looked from up there compared to how alive it felt inside those walls. There was a moment nobody said anything—just wind and someone’s jacket zipper catching.

Later we reached Pasajes Bay and wandered through San Juan (Pasai Donibane). The lanes are so narrow you have to sidestep if someone’s coming the other way—sometimes you catch a whiff of grilling fish from a tavern before you see it. One of the locals waved us over when we hesitated at a doorway; turns out it was his family’s place for three generations. Crossing to San Pedro on that tiny boat felt like cheating time—a few minutes drifting between villages that have watched each other for centuries. I tried to picture Victor Hugo here (our guide grinned at my attempt), but mostly I just watched the water swirl around us. The tour ended too soon back in Donostia—I still think about that view from Jaizkibel sometimes, especially when city noise creeps back in.