San Sebastian, with the lush green hills of the Basque country all around, has the most glorious beach. It has fine golden sand, a shallow slope into the sea and best of all, the enclosed cove with an island in the middle means that the two beaches are completely sheltered from ocean currents and waves and thus totally safe for swimming. There is one ideal surfing beach too. It is kept impeccably clean, and there are also changing rooms, lockers, beach showers and cafes on the beach which is right by the buzzing and beautiful old city centre of San Sebastian.

Just go downhill til you get there! Possible by train from the UK in one day with Eurostar and TGV to the border and one connecting train.
Google map: bit.ly/hHbYEI

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San Sebastian has fantastic beaches adjoining the city centre. It's a great city for food, not just at the Michelin starred restaurants. Cheaper restaurants offer fixed-price menus del dia, much cheaper at lunchtime than at night. Cafe Oquendo does an excellent three-course lunch, inc 1/2 bottle wine for €16pp. So fill up at a leisurely lunch, sleep it off on the beautiful Playa de Concho till 8 o'clock (Spanish style) then shower/change & hit the many excellent pintxos (tapas) bars in the adjoining old city (Parte Vieja).

C/Oquendo 8.
Tel +34 943 420 736, cafeoquendo@terra.es.
Google map: tinyurl.com/34eg9h9

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Silver sand and turquoise sea right in the heart of the city centre.

This beach is a fantastic place to visit for breakfast, get a comfy spot in the sand and watch the city wake up. Spain's health conscious office workers arrive early to walk in the surf up and down the length of the beach. Join in, or just lie back and relax.

In between swimming and sun bathing, you will be perfectly located to head into the city for shopping and pinchos. This beach has retained a real Spanish feel and even in August, it is never too full of tourists

This has to be one of Europe's best urban beaches - by far!

Right in the centre of down town San Sebastian.

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BasqueMTB are a mountain bike guiding company based just outside San Sebastian near the Pyrenees. I recently went on a holiday with them after seeing good reviews in the magazines. Fantastic trails and a spectacular area to visit. The guiding was top notch and we spent a fair bit of time brushing up my skills. Can't recommend them enough.

www.basqueMTB.com

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