Last verified: October 4, 2026. Where to stay in San Sebastian depends on two registers that change every week and a tax that starts in January. I re-count the hotels, pensiones and hostels in each area from the Basque Government’s tourism register. The licensed flats come from the Ayuntamiento de Donostia’s census. I check prices against INE and the tax against the council’s votes, as reported. I update the date above each time one of them moves.
Where to stay in San Sebastian, for most first trips, means Centro. That’s the grid of streets between La Concha beach and the Old Town. Pick the Old Town itself if you want pintxo bars under your window and can sleep through them. Pick Gros if you surf, and you’re happy in a licensed flat.
The choice matters because trips here are short. In 2025, the city’s hotels logged 2.2 million overnight stays. The average guest stayed just 2.09 nights (my sum of INE’s monthly hotel survey for Donostia). Foreign visitors booked 64% of those nights. On a two-night trip, where to stay in San Sebastian decides the walk, the sleep and the bill.
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So how do you decide where to stay in San Sebastian? I did the count. I placed all 210 registered places to stay on the city’s own barrio map. Then I added the council’s list of licensed flats and compared seven areas and three coast towns. What to eat and see is in my San Sebastián travel guide; this page is about the bed.
Key Takeaways
- For most first trips, where to stay in San Sebastian means Centro. It holds 17 of the city’s 65 hotels (Basque Government register, October 2026).
- The Old Town next door has 44 pensiones and just 4 hotels.
- Rooms averaged €284.33 a night in July 2026 and €91.17 in January, before VAT (INE).
- A tourist tax of up to €6.50 per person per night is due to start on 1 January 2027.
- No new tourist flats can be licensed in Centro, the Old Town, Gros, Antiguo or Ibaeta.
Table of Contents
Where to Stay in San Sebastian: The Quick Comparison
Stay in Centro on a first trip. Choose the Old Town for pintxos at the door, Gros for surf, and Antiguo for families. In October 2026, the Basque Government’s register listed 181 hotels, pensiones and hostels in the city with 9,373 bed-places (Basque Government, tourist accommodation open data). The council’s census listed 1,488 licensed flats and rooms with 6,578 places (Ayuntamiento de Donostia, tourist-flat census).
| Area | Best for | Hotels, pensiones, hostels (beds) | Licensed flats and rooms (beds) | To Plaza de la Constitución / the stations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centro | Most first trips, La Concha | 46 (2,747) | 666 (2,708), with the Old Town | 0.8 km / 0.4 km |
| Old Town (Parte Vieja) | Pintxos at the door | 50 (794) | counted with Centro | 0 km / 1.0 km |
| Gros | Surf, a flat, a neighbourhood | 21 (486) | 359 (1,459) | 0.7 km / 0.8 km |
| Antiguo and Ondarreta | Families, a quieter beach | 13 (1,709) | 115 (520) | 1.7 km / 2.2 km |
| Amara | Large hotels, the stadium | 10 (1,517) | 118 (447) | 2.2 km / 1.5 km |
| Egia | Early trains and buses | 8 (330) | 70 (260) | 1.2 km / 0.2 km |
| Igeldo | A view, a car, a campsite | 5 (255) | 5 (36) | 2.1 km / 2.8 km |
Counts are from the Basque Government register and the city’s census on October 4, 2026, and I placed them on the Ayuntamiento’s barrio boundaries. The city counts the Old Town inside its Centro barrio. To split them I drew my own line along the Boulevard, so the flat census can’t be split the same way.
Distances are straight-line. The walk is longer, and a good deal longer round the bay to Ondarreta or up to Igeldo. I measured from the Buen Pastor cathedral, the Kursaal, Ondarreta beach, the Anoeta end of Amara, Tabakalera and the top of Monte Igueldo. “The stations” means the bus station and the Renfe station, which sit side by side in Egia. Amara here is the city’s Amara Berri barrio, the newer half around the stadium.
If you only read one row on where to stay in San Sebastian, read yours. First trip: Centro. Couple: Centro, on or near La Concha. Family: Antiguo. Surfer: Gros. Budget: a pensión, most of which are in the Old Town and Centro. With a car: Antiguo, Amara or Igeldo. Visiting more than one city? I built the same comparison for where to stay in Barcelona, where to stay in Madrid and where to stay in Seville.
Old Town or Centro: Which Is Best for a First Trip?
For most people deciding where to stay in San Sebastian, the answer is Centro. In October 2026, the Basque Government’s register showed 50 places to stay in the Old Town, but only 794 bed-places between them. That’s 8.5% of the city’s hotel-type beds. Centro’s grid, just south of the Boulevard, holds 2,747, or 29%. The pintxo bars are ten minutes’ walk at most from either.
The difference is the kind of bed. Of the Old Town’s 50 places, 44 are pensiones with about 11 beds each. Only four are hotels. So when a guide on where to stay in San Sebastian sends you to the Old Town, it’s really telling you to book a pensión.
That isn’t a bad thing. A pensión here is a small guesthouse, usually on one floor of an ordinary apartment building. Expect stairs, a small reception or none, and a street that’s still eating at midnight. The whole city has 103 pensiones, and 69 of them sit in the Centro barrio, Old Town included.
Whether you sleep depends on the street. The Old Town is where the pintxo crawl happens, and the council sets its own terrace hours for the narrowest lanes (Onda Vasca). Ask for an interior room, or a street off the main bar runs of Fermín Calbetón and 31 de Agosto. My guide to the Spanish eating schedule explains why 11pm is the middle of the evening.
Centro gives you the hotels instead. The register lists 17 of the city’s 65 there, with 2,012 beds. Three of San Sebastián’s four five-star hotels are in Centro. The seafront hotels on La Concha belong to this area too; La Concha is Centro’s front row, not a separate neighbourhood. If you want a simple central bed without hotel extras, the Old Town’s pensiones are it. For a dorm bed instead, my guide to the best hostels in Spain maps the city’s 12 hostels and 824 beds against the rest of the country.
Is Gros a Good Place to Stay in San Sebastián?
Yes, if you surf or want a neighbourhood, and you book early. In October 2026, the register counted 7 hotels, 12 pensiones and 2 hostels in Gros, with 486 beds in all. The city’s census counted 335 licensed tourist flats and 24 rooms there, with 1,459 places. That’s three flat beds for every hotel-type bed.
Gros is the surfer’s answer to where to stay in San Sebastian. But “stay in Gros” usually means “rent a flat in Gros”. The Kursaal and Zurriola beach are about 700 metres from Plaza de la Constitución, over the bridge. The surf is at the door. La Concha is the calmer swim; I compare the two coasts in my guide to the best beaches in Spain.
There’s one catch. Gros sits inside the zone where the city stopped licensing new tourist flats in January 2026. The flats that exist are legal if they’re on the census. No more are coming, so the good ones go early in summer. Before you pay, look the address up; my guide to the Airbnb ban in Spain shows how to check a flat’s registration number.
Prefer a hotel? Gros has a handful, mostly small. Just east, the Ategorrieta and Ulia barrio adds 6 more places with 209 beds. It’s quieter, and a longer walk.
Antiguo, Amara or Egia: Where Are the Bigger Hotels?
The big hotels sit outside the centre, in Antiguo and Amara. In October 2026, Antiguo held 18.2% of the city’s hotel-type beds and Amara 16.2%, on the Basque Government’s register. Together that’s more than Centro’s grid. So where to stay in San Sebastian for more space? Choose Antiguo for Ondarreta beach, Amara for a large hotel, and Egia for an early train.
Antiguo and Ondarreta. Nine hotels with 1,444 beds, including two with more than 300 beds each. Ondarreta beach is 1.7 km from the Old Town in a straight line. The flat walk around the bay is longer. Nearly every guide sends families here, and the register agrees: this is where the big hotels meet a quiet beach.
Amara. Six hotels with 1,449 beds around the Anoeta stadium and the river. One of them alone has 623 places, and three of the others are registered as four-star. You’re about 2.2 km from the Old Town here. Amara’s Euskotren station, at the Centro end, is the line to Zarautz and the coast.
Egia. Five hotels and three pensiones with 330 beds, beside the bus station and the Renfe station. Tabakalera, the culture centre, is a couple of minutes’ walk from both. If your bus to Bilbao airport leaves early, sleep here.
Igeldo. Five places with 255 beds on the hill west of the bay. The city’s three campsites are here too, with 1,207 places, and so are most of its rural houses. The view is the reason to come. It’s the outlier answer to where to stay in San Sebastian, and you’ll want a car or a taxi for every trip into town.
Are these areas cheaper? Probably, but I can’t prove it. No official source publishes hotel prices by barrio, so I won’t print a number. If you’re driving, check whether the hotel has a garage before you book. My guide to getting around Spain covers when a rental car pays off in the Basque Country. Travelling with children? My guide to family hotels in Spain compares 12 resort areas by beds per room and price.
How Much Does It Cost to Stay in San Sebastián?
Between €91 and €284 a night, depending on the month. In July 2026, the city’s hotels averaged €284.33 a night for a double room before VAT. In January 2026, they averaged €91.17 (INE, hotel ADR by tourist point). July cost 3.1 times as much as January, and 13.9% more than July 2025.
Once you’ve settled where to stay in San Sebastian, pick your month with the same care. Here’s what that swing means for three nights at INE’s monthly average. These are averages across every category, not quotes. Guests pay 10% VAT on top.
| Month | Average rate per night, before VAT | Three nights | Three nights with VAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 2026 | €284.33 | €852.99 | €938.29 |
| September 2025 | €226.70 | €680.10 | €748.11 |
| May 2026 | €208.60 | €625.80 | €688.38 |
| January 2026 | €91.17 | €273.51 | €300.86 |
The city is full when it’s dear. Rooms were 91.9% occupied in August 2026 and 90.7% in July, against 50.9% in January (INE). The shoulder is long, too: September 2025 ran at 89.6%. INE’s figures from September 2025 onward are provisional.
From 2027 there’s one more line on the bill. The council approved its tourist tax ordinance on 24 September 2026, in an initial vote that was unanimous (Noticias de Gipuzkoa, September 2026). From 1 January 2027, top-category hotels and tourist flats are due to charge €6.50 per person per night. The tax stops after six nights (Hosteltur, July 2026). Agroturismos are due to charge €1.25. The council chose not to add the 50% surcharge the provincial law allows.
In practice, a couple in a tourist flat pays €13 a night, so €39 for three nights and never more than €78. Nothing is charged for a stay in 2026. My guide to Spain’s tourist taxes explains how the Basque tax works. To put the room into a full budget, use my Spain trip cost breakdown. And if these prices hurt, the same Atlantic coast is cheaper further west, as my northern Spain itinerary shows.
Hotel or Apartment in San Sebastián? The Licence Freeze
Book a hotel or pensión for a short trip. Choose a flat if you want a kitchen, but only one that’s on the city’s census. That’s the short version of where to stay in San Sebastian if you’re weighing the two.
On 29 January 2026, the council voted unanimously to stop authorising new tourist flats and rooms in five areas (EFE via Noticias de Gipuzkoa, January 2026). They are Centro, the Old Town, Gros, Antiguo and Ibaeta. The city treats that area as saturated, at ten tourist places per hundred residents.
The freeze covers hotels as well. In those five areas, listed buildings aside, no new accommodation of any kind can open on a residential plot. Elsewhere in the city, new hotels can only go on non-residential land.
That hasn’t made flats rare. The census still lists 1,339 tourist flats with 6,100 places, plus 149 rooms in private homes. Of the flats, 611 are in the Centro barrio and 335 in Gros.
You can see the tap closing in the regional register. Of the tourist dwellings still registered in the city today, 273 were first registered in 2017 and 118 in 2023. Only 41 date from 2024 and 18 from 2025. I found none from 2026. Those counts only include flats that survived, so they understate the early rush. Licensing was already slowing before the vote.
For a guest, the stock is fixed, so peak weeks sell out sooner. An unlisted flat risks a cancelled booking, which is why I check the address first. My guide to the licence check for Spanish rentals explains how. And from 2027, flats pay the top €6.50 tax band.
If you want a kitchen with less risk, look at a registered tourist-apartment building. The register lists 14 in the city with 1,084 places, and most of those places are outside the centre. San Sebastián is the reverse of Seville, where flats hold more beds than hotels do. Here, hotels, pensiones and hostels still hold 9,373 beds against 6,578 in flats and rooms.
Should You Stay Outside the City? Hondarribia, Zarautz and Getaria
In summer, yes, if you book early. In August 2026, hotels across Gipuzkoa province averaged €229.98 a night, against €282.24 in the city (INE, hotel ADR by province). That’s €52 less, before VAT. In January the gap was €7.
So if where to stay in San Sebastian is really a question about price, the coast is a seasonal answer. It’s also a scarce one. The three coast towns most people name have 24 hotels between them, with 823 hotel beds. San Sebastián has 65 hotels with 6,939. A coast base is something you book in spring, not a fallback in July. Still, for a family in August it can be the best answer to where to stay in San Sebastian without paying city rates.
Hondarribia. Ten hotels with 325 beds, plus 9 casas rurales and 142 registered flats. It has a walled old town, a parador in the castle (check it’s open for your dates), and San Sebastián’s airport on its doorstep. Since 1 October 2026, bus BI02 runs direct to central Donostia every hour on the motorway (Noticias de Gipuzkoa, September 2026). If castles are your thing, I’ve ranked the best paradores in Spain.
Zarautz. Eight hotels with 353 beds, 154 registered flats, and two campsites with 2,300 places. That last number tells you what Zarautz is: a surf town that sleeps under canvas. The Euskotren reaches Amara station in roughly half an hour; check the timetable for your day.
Getaria. Six hotels with 145 beds, in the village famous for grilled turbot. The bus takes the best part of an hour, so it’s a poor commute. It’s a fine place to spend the night after a long dinner, though.
Pasaia, the fishing port just east, has no hotel on the register at all. Visit for lunch.
There’s a rural option, too. Gipuzkoa has 98 agroturismos and 108 casas rurales on the register, and a dozen sit inside San Sebastián’s own boundary, mostly on Igeldo. Agroturismos pay the lowest tax band. My guide to casas rurales in Spain explains how to book one. Walkers on the Camino del Norte pass through or close to all three towns, as my guide to the Camino de Santiago routes sets out.
When Does Your Choice of Area Matter Most?
It matters most on one night in January and during four events from July to September. From May to October 2025, the city’s rooms were more than 80% full every month (INE). My guide to the best time to visit Spain weighs June against September on this coast. Inside that long season, a few dates change which area you want.
The Tamborrada, 20 January. The whole city drums for 24 hours, starting at midnight in Plaza de la Constitución. The Old Town and Centro are the stage. If you want sleep, stay in Antiguo or Amara.
Jazzaldia, 21 to 25 July 2027. The festival has announced those dates (Modo Festival, 2026). Its big free stages sit on Zurriola beach, so Gros is the place to be, or the place to avoid.
Semana Grande, mid-August. A week of fireworks over La Concha every night. Seafront rooms in Centro and Antiguo are the prize. The 2027 dates aren’t confirmed yet; in 2026 it ran from 8 to 15 August (Basque Government, Semana Grande programme).
The La Concha regattas, early September. The rowing races fill the bay on two Sundays early in the month. Seafront rooms go first.
The Film Festival, late September. In 2026 it ran from 18 to 26 September (San Sebastián Festival), centred on the Kursaal in Gros and the theatres of Centro. Expect the same pattern in 2027, and expect both areas to book out.
So in festival weeks, decide where to stay in San Sebastian by the event, not by habit. For the summer events, book six to nine months ahead. For the Tamborrada, book as early as you can. My Spain festival calendar lists the rest of the year. Whatever the month, my list of what to pack for Spain starts with a waterproof here.
How Do You Get From the Airports and Stations to Each Area?
If you fly, you’ll most likely land at Bilbao, where an hourly coach takes about an hour and a quarter. It arrives at the bus station in Egia. San Sebastián’s own airport is at Hondarribia. From there, bus BI01 runs direct to the same bus station, timed to the flights. It has run all year since 1 October 2026 (Noticias de Gipuzkoa, September 2026). Until then it was a summer-only service.
| Arriving at | Route | Lands you in | Easiest for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bilbao airport | Lurraldebus DO04 coach, hourly, about 1h15 | Bus station, Egia | Egia, Centro, Gros |
| San Sebastián airport | Lurraldebus BI01, timed to flights | Bus station, Egia | Egia, Centro, Gros |
| Renfe (Estación del Norte) | On foot | Egia, beside the bus station | Centro is 0.4 km away |
| Euskotren, Amara station | Trains to Zarautz, Zumaia, Irun and Hendaye | South edge of Centro | Amara, Centro |
| Hondarribia town | Lurraldebus BI02, hourly, by motorway | Central Donostia | A coast base |
I haven’t printed fares. Part of the network was redrawn on 1 October 2026, so check lurraldebus.eus for current fares before you travel. My San Sebastián travel guide covers the Bilbao airport run in more detail.
From the stations, the distances are short, whichever answer to where to stay in San Sebastian you picked. The Buen Pastor cathedral in Centro is about 400 metres away in a straight line, and Plaza de la Constitución about a kilometre. Ondarreta is 2.2 km, so take a city bus or a taxi with luggage. Staying on Igeldo? You’ll want a car or a taxi. And for one night before an early flight, Egia is the practical answer to where to stay in San Sebastian.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best area to stay in San Sebastián for first-timers?
Centro, the grid between La Concha and the Old Town. In October 2026 it held 17 of the city’s 65 hotels and 29% of its hotel-type beds (Basque Government register). It’s under a kilometre from both the pintxo streets and the bus and train stations.
Is it better to stay in the Old Town or in Centro?
Centro for a hotel and a quieter night. The Old Town for a pensión above the pintxo bars. In October 2026 the Old Town had 44 pensiones and only 4 hotels on the Basque Government’s register, with 794 beds in all. The two areas meet at the Boulevard.
Is there a tourist tax in San Sebastián?
Not for stays in 2026. From 1 January 2027, the tax is due to be up to €6.50 per person per night in top-category hotels and tourist flats. It stops after six nights. A couple pays €39 for three nights at that rate. The council approved it in an initial vote on 24 September 2026.
When is the cheapest time to stay in San Sebastián?
January and February. INE’s average room rate was €91.17 in January 2026, against €284.33 in July, both before VAT. Rooms were about half full in January and over 90% full in July and August.
Can I stay outside San Sebastián and travel in?
Yes. Zarautz is roughly half an hour away by Euskotren, and Hondarribia has an hourly direct bus. Province hotels averaged €52 a night less than the city in August 2026 (INE). But Zarautz, Hondarribia and Getaria have only 24 hotels between them, so book early.
So, Where Should You Stay in San Sebastian?
My answer to where to stay in San Sebastian on a first trip is Centro. Take the Old Town if you’d trade sleep for pintxos, and Gros for surf and a licensed flat. Antiguo suits families, Amara suits a big hotel, and Egia suits an early train. In summer, a coast town can save you €50 a night if you book in spring.
Whichever you choose, remember that where to stay in San Sebastian is half the decision. The calendar moves the price more than the barrio does. Check the month, check the festival dates, and check your flat against the census before you pay. Then plan the eating with my San Sebastián travel guide and my Spanish food guide. Is San Sebastián one stop on a longer route? My guide to where to stay in Spain compares every kind of bed across the rest of the country.
