Bilbao - Ondarreta Travel Guides | Bilbao | Sub Regions | Bilbao - Ondarreta

Where the beach of La Concha graciously concedes defeat at a small rock outcrop, the beach of Ondarreta begins. Behind it, streets of tastefully wealthy mansions form an exclusive community overlooked by the towering hill of Monte Igueldo.

Paseo de Pío Baroja s/n. Gardens open summer 1000-2030, winter 1000-1700.

A rocky spur separates the beaches of La Concha and Ondarreta, which are joined by a natural tunnel. The rock is named the Pico del Loro after a long-forgotten chapel to Our Lady of Loreto. Atop it now is the Palacio Miramar. Commissioned by the regent María Cristina in the late 19th century, it would not be out of place offering bed and breakfast in an English village. Built in Queen Anne style, its gardens have excellent views around the bay. The palace itself is closed to the public but is used by the university for summer schools.

Bus number 16 from Plaza Guipúzcoa hourly/half-hourly in sumer, €0.80.

The beach of Ondarreta gazes serenely across at the rest of San Sebastián from beyond the Palacio de Miramar. It’s a fairly exclusive and genteel part of town, and is appropriately overwatched by a statue of a very regal Queen María Cristina. It can be a good place to stay in summer, with less hustle and bustle than the centre of town. The beach itself feels a bit more spacious than La Concha, not being densely backed by buildings. The amusingly old-fashioned Royal Tennis Club is at its western end.

Bus number 16 from Plaza Guipúzcoa hourly/half hourly in sumer, €0.80.

“The light of the Atlantic is a light that is mine; it’s a dark light” E. Chillida

At the end of the Ondarreta beach the town gives way to the jagged rocky coastline of Guipúzcoa again. Integrating the two is El Peine del Viento, the Comb of the Wind, one of the late sculptor Eduardo Chillida’s signature works. It consists of three twisted rusty iron whirls that at times do seem to be struggling to tame the ragged breezes that can sweep the bay. The paved viewing area was specially designed for the work and has a few airholes that can resonate with the sound of the sea or, in rougher weather, shoot spouts of seawater into the air.

Bus number 16 from Plaza Guipúzcoa hourly/half hourly in sumer, €0.80. Funicular runs 1100-2000, €0.80/1.50 return. Park entry €1.10 (haphazardly applied).

Above Ondarreta rises the steep Monte Igueldo, which commands excellent views of all that is San Sebastián. It’s not a place to meditate serenely – the summit of the hill is capped by a luxury hotel and a slightly tacky funfair. But the view is special, and it’s particularly unforgettable in the evening, when the city’s lights spread out like a breaking wave below. The funicular runs up and down from a station behind the tennis club at the end of the beach. Otherwise it’s a walk up the winding road beside it.

The most lively part of San Sebastián is its old section, at the eastern end of the bay. Although most of it was destroyed by a fire during the Peninsular War in 1813 (one of several ‘great fires’ the city has endured), it’s still very characterful, with a dense concentration of bars, pensiones, restaurants and shops. Protecting the narrow streets is the solid bulk of Monte Urgull, which shelters the small harbour.

C Igentea 1, T 943-481000, F 943-426781. http://www.donsnsn.es

Built in 1881, the town hall was originally the centrepiece of the city’s suave nightlife as a casino and concert hall. For forty years it hosted the famous and the fabulously wealthy and was a compulsory stop on the European high-society circuit until the dictator General Primo de Rivera claimed it for the government in 1923. Still an elegant focus of the town, it currently flies neither the Spanish nor the Basque flag; giving precedence to the former invites ETA attacks; the alternative is a rap over the knuckles from Madrid.

San Sebastián’s small fishing and recreational harbour is a pleasant place to stroll. There’s a handful of cafés and tourist shops, and you can see the fishermen working on their boats while their wives mend the nets by the water. Halfway round the harbour is a monument to Aita Mari (Father Mari), the nickname of a local boatman who became a hero for his fearless acts of rescue of other sailors in fierce storms off the coast. In 1866 he perished in view of thousands attempting yet another rescue in a terrible tempest.

Museo Naval

Paseo del Muelle 24, T 943-430051, F 943-431115, mnaval@kultura. gipuzkoa.net Descriptions in Spanish and Euskara. Tue-Sat 1000-1330, 1600-1930, Sun 1100-1400, €1.20.

The harbourside museum succeeds in making a potentially intriguing subject slightly dry and lifeless. On the ground floor is an exhibit of small boats and other accessories. Upstairs deals in the maritime history of the area; San Sebastián’s biggest moment as a port was in the middle ages when it was an export centre for Castilian wool and an important naval base. The city prospered in the 18th century via the trade monopoly on South American chocolate established by the Real Compañia Guipúzcoana de Caracas.

Plaza Carlos Blasco de Imaz s/n, T 943-440099, F 943-430092, http://www.aquariumss.com Tue-Thu 1000-1900 (2100 in summer), Fri-Sun 1000-2000 (2200 in summer), €8, sharks fed at 1100 and 1600. Bar/restaurant and shop inside.

What would a seaside resort be without an aquarium? San Sebastián’s isn’t bad, although the entry fee is a little high. The highlight is a massive tank brimming with finny things; fish, turtles and rays, plus a couple of portly sharks to keep the rest of them honest. There’s a good perspex tunnel, which can also be viewed from above. Apart from this, there aren’t many other live creautures, but there are decent displays on whaling and fishing, temporary exhibitions, and the skeleton of a small whale that greets arriving visitors. Viewing space can get crowded, particularly at shark-feeding time, which isn’t quite as dramatic as it sounds.

Fort; Mon-Sun 1100-1330, 1700-2000 summer only.

Not only does San Sebastián have a superb setting around the bay, it also lays on plenty of spots to climb up and appreciate the view. Monte Urgull, an important defensive position until the city walls were taken down in 1863, saw action from the 12th century onwards in several battles, wars and skirmishes. The hill is topped by a small fort, the Castillo de la Mota, once used as the residence of the town’s alcalde and as a prison. It’s got a small collection of old weapons, including a sword that belonged to the Moorish king Boabdil. There’s also a large statue of Christ, the Monumento al Sagrado Corazón, which is not the only Rio-like aspect of San Sebastián. In summer there’s a bar to quench your thirst after the 120-metre ascent. On the way up from the old town (there are many access paths) is the English cemetery. Plenty of soldiers died storming the town under General Graham after a siege in the Peninsular War in 1813. Graham defied conventional military wisdom, storming the breach in the walls at midday. He made up for his error by taking the unusual and risky step of firing his artillery over the heads of his troops and thus subduing the defenders. The valiant French garrison held out on this hill for another week after the town had fallen while the victorious British, Spanish and Portuguese pillaged the town, and setting it on fire; Calle 31 de Agosto was the only street to survive the blaze: its name is the date of the fire.

One of the city’s nicest meanders can be had along this road encircling the bulk of Monte Urgull. It runs from the rivermouth around to the harbour and is particularly enjoyable in the evening, when the sun sets over the sea. The road dead-ends for cars at the Aquarium and is accessed from Paseo de Salamanca on the river.

C 31 de Agosto s/n.

With a façade about as ornate as Spanish Baroque ever got, the church of Santa María del Coro squats under the rocks of Monte Urgull and faces the newer cathedral across the city. After the exuberant exterior, the interior can seem a bit oppressive with its low lighting, heavy oil paintings, and the numbing scent of incense. Above the altar is a large depiction of the man the city was named after, unkindly known by some as the ‘pincushion saint’ for the painful way he was martyred. Facing him is a stone crucifix in the unmistakeable style of Eduardo Chillida.

Plaza Zuloaga 1, T 943-424970, F 943-430693. Tue-Sat 1030-1330, 1600-1930, Sun 1030-1400. Free.

This museum, set in a 16th-century Dominican convent, is worth a visit if only for its perfect Renaissance cloister. The ground floor of the museum houses temporary exhibitions, and a series of grave markers paired with evocative poetic quotes on death. Upstairs is devoted to painting and sculpture. Fittingly, as the museum sits on a square named after him, Ignacio Zuloaga is well represented. He was a worthy sucessor to the likes of Velazquéz and Goya in the art of portrait painting, and one of the best examples here is his deep and soulful Columbus (far more Basque than Genoan…). There’s a small memorial to Zuloaga in the plaza. If you like his work, there is a Zuloaga museum at Zumaia.

C San Vicente s/n.

The most interesting of San Sebastián’s churches, this castle-like sandstone building squats in the northeast of the Parte Vieja. Started in the early 16th century, it features a massive retablo with various biblical scenes. More gracious is Oteiza’s fluid modern Pietá outside the southern door of the church.

This attractive porticoed square once served as a bullring and the balconies were sold off as seats: the numbers have been kept as a nod to history. There’s some good eating to be had in some of the bars around the square. When the French occupied the town in 1794 they set up a guillotine in the square’s predecessor, but only two people ever felt the Madame’s kiss. Nowadays, the square is the focus of some of the city’s happier events, such as the Tamborrada drum parade on 19 January.

La Brecha

This underground food market, cinema and shopping complex, built on the site of the old market, uses the original building of La Brecha. The town walls ran along this spot; in the siege of San Sebastián the British artillery destroyed them at this point, and anti-Napoleon forces poured through, after suffering heavy casualties – Brecha is the Spanish for ‘breach’. Opposite is Plaza Sarriegui, where there is a monument to the composer of the same name who wrote the San Sebastián March, a series of drum scores, deafeningly rendered for 24 hours during the Tamborrada.

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