Travel information

San Sebastián (or Donostia in Basque) is located in the northeast of the Spanish Basque Country: 110 km from Bilbao, 500 km from Madrid, and 30 kilometres from the border with France. It is a charming medium-size city, on the edge of the Gulf of Biscay and surrounded by mountains. It is a tourist city, eminently commercial, with strong emphasis on services and congresses. San Sebastián offers an excellent clean public transport service, an icon of architecture the Kursaal Congress Centre and Auditorium, a varied choice of hotels and, above all, what is now one of the best known creative gastronomies in the world.

How to go to San Sebastián?

Probably the most efficient way is to fly into Bilbao's Loiu airport. Bibao is connected to the main European cities and has frequent flights. From Bilbao you can take the bus (PESA) going from the Loiu airport, to the bus station in San Sebastián. A one-way ticket costs 17.10 euros, and can be purchased on board (at Loiu airport) or in the bus terminal (in San Sebastián). There is one bus per hour starting at 7:45 and ending at 23:45 from Loiu. From San Sebastián, buses start at 5:00 and end at 21:00. The bus needs 1 hour and 15 minutes to reach the airport from San Sebastián (called Donostia, in Basque). More information in Basque and Spanish can be found here.

Other possibilities are:

• to fly into Biarritz (France), and take a bus (either with PESA or ALSA ). The ticket price is 7 euros, and depending on the bus the trip takes 45 minutes or one hour. It goes all the way from Biarritz airport to the train station in San Sebastián.  (Note: the ALSA bus is sometimes taken by CONDA this can be confusing when you are waiting for the ALSA bus at the airport).
• to fly direct into San Sebastián's airport (Hondarribia) that only has connections to Madrid and Barcelona. But it might be convinient for you, if you are flying from overseas. At the airport's web you can check out transportation for the airport and San Sebastián. Many times you will need to take a taxi that costs between 45 and 50 euros.

Further information on the city and the region can be found at: http://www.sansebastianturismo.com and http://tourism.euskadi.net. Further information about how to get to the city can be found using the following link.