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INTRODUCTION

The huge number of Pintxo bars in San Sebastian (more than 200)  is both exciting and daunting.

That amounts to approximately 5000 pintxos to choose from !

 

The travellers looking to get the most from their foodie trip to this lovely Basque city will have prepared themselves by taking on board the recommendation to pop in to any number of bars to sample just a few of the pintxos on offer, enjoy appropriate accompanying refreshments, and then move on to the next bar to repeat the experience.

 

Several San Sebastian Pintxo Tours are available, and provide the extra benefit of knowledgeable guides who can deliver some colourful comment and historical background, as well as insights into the do's and don'ts of how to eat pintxos. The draw-back of guided tours is cost and limited time frame. Many travellers will want the freedom to do the bar crawl in their own time and at no extra cost.

 

The travellers wanting to do it on their own will want guidance as to which bars are the most renowned for quality, and which of their pintxos are award winning and/or signature dishes not to be missed.

 

We personally researched and selected 40 bars in 8 categories, and sampled their locally most acclaimed and prize-winning signature pintxos over an extended serious foodie visit in June 2016.

We are delighted to share our research, experiences and recommendations with you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We identified the

pintxos

The

pintxos

Other widely

pintxos

And our own favorite bar in each group

Some of the bars we visited unplanned on the spur of the moment turned out worthy of mention.

They are to be found in

​

 

And, recognising that some may be visiting San Sebastian for a few days only, and will not want to miss the best of the best, we selected what we consider to be the top ten places to visit.

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We suggest you buy only one of each recommended pintxo and share.

Most pintxos are large enough for 2 people to get a good tasting.

There is plenty in each route for a full meal, with room for a few impromptu choices of your own.

 

Each route includes the location of some of the sights and things to do in the neighbourhood. These can be included in the experience to broaden its appeal and to allow time between bars for the food to settle and make room for more ! 

 

Renting a bicycle is an inexpensive way to increase the number of sights within reach.

The city is predominantly flat and many of the local recommended things to do lend themselves to exploration by bicycle, even for less athletic and older visitors such as ourselves.

 

We compiled our own map of sights within bicycle reach.

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