Travel Information

The city of San Sebastian (Basque: Donostia) is located in the Basque Autonomous Community in the north-east of Spain. It is well connected to major destinations around the world owing to a number of airports in the neighborhood. For the workshop participants, the most common way to travel to San Sebastian is by plane to the Bilbao Airport. At the Bilbao Airport take the shuttle bus to Donostia--San Sebastian. You will arrive at the New Bus Station (underground), next to the Train Station of San Sebastian.

Traveling by Plane

  • Bilbao Airport (BIO): About 1 hour and 15 minutes drive from San Sebastián. A direct shuttle bus running every hour connects Bilbao Airport and San Sebastián for about 17 € one way. The bus timetable is available at http://www.pesa.net. Note that the airport is situated in Loiu, a location nearby Bilbao, and that the name of Donostia is predominantly used in the place of San Sebastian on destination panels throughout the Basque Country.
  • San Sebastian Airport (EAS): About 20 minutes drive from San Sebastián. A small airport with domestic connections to Madrid and Barcelona, performed mainly by Iberia. A regular bus connects the airport and the city (timetable is available at http://www.lurraldebus.eus.) A taxi from the airport to the city center costs around 30 €. Note that the airport is situated in Hondarribia.
  • Biarritz Airport (BIQ): About 40 minutes drive from San Sebastián and on the french side of the Basque Country. Air France flies to this airport, as well as some low-cost airlines, such as Ryanair. Bus connections are available from this airport to San Sebastián (see https://www.alsa.es).

Traveling by Train

The Adif train station “Estación del Norte” is in the center of San Sebastián, close to Urumea river. It offers connections to several Spanish cities, including Madrid and Barcelona. 

There is also Metro Donostialdea, http://www.euskotren.es, popularly known as “Topo”, a narrow-gauge train connecting San Sebastián with cities along the Basque Coast, from Bilbao to Hendaye (France). The Topo is useful if you travel within France by train to Hendaye or arrive in Hendaye, for example, by taking the bus 816 from the Biarritz Airport. In such cases, look for the train station Metro Donostialdea nearby the building of the main train station (Gare SNCF) in Hendaye and take the Topo train; get down at the main metro station of San Sebastian (the stop is called Amara).

Traveling by Bus

The San Sebastián bus station has lines to cities throughout Spain. The main company traveling here is Alsa http://www.alsa.es.

Traveling by Car

The city is connected to the rest of Spain by the N-1 (Madrid-Irun highway), AP-8 (Bilbao-Irun highway), and A-15 (Pamplona-San Sebastián highway).