SAN SEBASTIAN - GOLF & GASTRONOMY HOLIDAYS
Our guide to golfbreaks (for gourmets) in San Sebastian & Bilbao.

Golf Holidays - San Sebastian

The North of Spain is surprisingly little-known for golfing holidays.  We believe this is a great pity as it is so easy to get to and has a lot to offer the travelling golfer - particularly if those golfers like good food and quiet courses. The town sits on the northern Spanish coast, close to the Pyrenées and the French border in the Basque region of Spain/France. The original town occupied just a tiny piece of land at the mouth of the Urumea river between the two sandy beaches of Playa de la Concha and Playa de Ondarreta.  During the 19th Century the town spread upriver to occupy more terrain inland from the coast so it now has attractive wide boulevards in the modern part of town yet retains all the charm of the narrow streets and open plazas of the old part of town (Parte Vieja).

For many visitors to San Sebastian it's all about the food and it is as good as you might have heard!  In addittion to the myriad tapas bars in the old, narrow streets there are Michelin stars sprinkled all around the modern side of town too. So whether your taste is traditional or avante-garde there is sure to be plenty to tickle your tastebuds. It's worth noting too that the next-door provinces of Rioja and Navarra provide some fine accompaniements...

San Sebastian - Golf Clubs

One of the nicest things about San Sebastian is the feeling of space as soon as you head away from the big cities.  In general, this part of Spain is much less crowded and much quieter than more southerly parts  of Spain where courses are crammed together, cheek-by-jowl with high-rise hotels.  Around San Sebastian you are more likely to be disturbed by wildlife than wild-partying.

Arguably, the most famous Golf Club in the region is Real San Sebastian, which is a little out-of-town on the way up to France (unsurprisingly it has many French members).  This is a course where you can breathe in the mountain air as you work your way around the wooded Pyrenean hillsides and back to the charming stone Clubhouse (where the food is exceptional).   Be careful though, as there is a second Royal San Sebastian Golf Club!  This one closer to the centre of San Sebastian and named 'Nuevo Real San Sebastian' or more clearly Basozabal after the suburb of San Sebastian in which it sits.  This is another bucolic beauty in the gently rolling Basque hills of Spain, with an impressive Clubhouse complete with swimming pool and two restaurants.  The third golf course we strongly recommend is inland, on the way to Pamplona almost lost in the native Pyrenean forests - Ulzama.  This is good clean golfing fun - just as nature intended with various species of rare bird circling in the skies above you, golfing ornithologists will find it hard to keep their heads down!

And bear in mind that Chantaco and La Nivelle are just over the French border, with Biarritz only a little further away too...

Sightseeing - San Sebastian

San Sebastian provides self-contained entertainment, there is plenty to see and do within the city limits: beaches filled with surfers and sunbathers, cathedrals and museums, the old town, the port, the bridges over the river Urumea, the wide boulevards lined with classy shops, bodegas and delicatessens.

Looking further afield, Bilbao is not far (you may well have arrived here by plane or boat).  Bilbao has a bigger, more commercial feel to it, it also has the astonishing Guggenheim Museum - worth visiting for the building alone.

Getting to San Sebastian

There are three main routes to San Sebastian: land, sea or air (rather obviously).  Of these the quickest will be flying into either San Sebastian itself or nearby Bilbao, which is only an hour away.  And there is also Biarritz airport just over on the French side of the Pyrenees.  From any  of these airports we can arrange a hire-car for you or transfers if you prefer.

You can sail to Santander and Bilbao too.  It takes twenty-four hours from Portsmouth or Plymouth and ferries run every other day or so - please ask us for the Brittany Ferries timetables and our advantageous  fares. The ships are very comfortable with en-suite cabins and plenty of dining choice, so it really is more of a mini-cruise with golf!

The third option is driving down from the Eurotunnel at Calais which, if you have the time, can be a very relaxed way to arrive in Spain and gives you the utmost flexibility too. If you would like some recommendations of places to stopover en-route please ask - we know plenty of charming litlle hotels on the way down (and a few isolated golf courses too who would be pleased to see you).