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The Donostia Weekend Booklet · 2026 No. 01 · Spring shoulder edition

A weekend in Donostia,
built backwards from the dinner.

Five Michelin restaurants sit in five different micro-geographies. Pick one, and Friday afternoon, Saturday morning, and Sunday's day-trip all fall into place. This booklet maps each option — and the closures that wreck a naive plan.

Source map · 154 citations Window · Late May, shoulder season Scope · City + ~30 km ↩ Back to the synthesis

The dinner is the most-binding constraint — not because it's expensive, but because each of the five stars sits in a different corner of the map. Where you eat decides where you walk that morning, and what falls within reach for the afternoon. Pick the restaurant first; the day plan emerges.

§ I · Five candidates

The dinner decides the day

pp. 02–06
Akelarre on Monte Igueldo overlooking the Bay of Biscay ★★★ Monte Igueldo

Akelarre

Pedro Subijana · est. 1975 €195–€255

The dinner doubles as the panorama. You ride up Igueldo at sunset anyway — Akelarre is what's waiting at the top.

  1. 11hmorning
    Walk Ondarreta to Peine del Viento — Chillida's three steel sculptures at the bay's western tip.📍 Foot of Monte Igueldo · free
  2. 15hafternoon
    Ride the 1912 funicular up the mountain — €5.50 round-trip, every 15 min.📍 Plaza del Funicular · 10:00–21:00
  3. 20hdinner
    Akelarre. Three menus on offer — Aranori, Bekarki, and a 50-year retrospective[26].📍 Padre Orcolaga 56 · Mon–Sat
Pairs withSunset on Igueldo
Arzak — three Michelin stars since 1989 ★★★ Gros

Arzak

Juan Mari & Elena Arzak ~€260

A New Basque founder dynasty, three stars since 1989. The day around it is a surf-and-walk loop through Gros — Donostia's energetic east bank.

  1. 10hmorning
    Zurriola surf lesson with Pukas Surf Eskola — boards and spring wetsuits provided.📍 Avenida de la Zurriola 24 · ~€36 / session
  2. 13hlunch
    Stop at Bar Bergara for the txalupa pintxo on the way home[4].📍 General Artetxe 8, Gros
  3. 20hdinner
    Arzak. The lobster with purple onion and vanilla. Three stars since 1989.📍 Alcalde Elosegui 273 · 5-min walk from Pukas
Pairs withA Zurriola morning
La Concha bay — Amelia is inside Hotel Villa Favorita directly on the promenade ★★ La Concha

Amelia

Paulo Airaudo · 22 seats €308–€345

A 22-seat counter inside a 19th-century villa directly on the bay. Spa in the morning, Urgull at golden hour, dinner across the lobby.

  1. 11hmorning
    A circuit at La Perla Thalassotherapy — heated seawater pools on La Concha, €25–€54.📍 Paseo de la Concha s/n
  2. 16hafternoon
    Loop Monte Urgull — 30 min up to Castillo de la Mota, the city laid out beneath.📍 Free · 08:00–21:00 in summer
  3. 20hdinner
    Amelia at Hotel Villa Favorita. Two Michelin stars; 82 on La Liste 2026[24].📍 Zubieta 26 · on the bay
Pairs withLa Concha bay day
Mugaritz — Andoni Luis Aduriz's avant-garde restaurant in Errenteria ★★ Errenteria

Mugaritz

Andoni Luis Aduriz · since 1998 €319

An avant-garde, sensory-experimental experience east of the city — and the only night that pairs naturally with the dramatic Faro de la Plata cliff walk.

  1. 10hmorning
    Hike the Camino del Faro de la Plata — Zurriola → Ulía → Pasai San Pedro along the cliffs[8].📍 Trailhead at Zemoria 47, Gros
  2. 14hlunch
    €1.10 motora across to Pasai Donibane — fish lunch on the colourful waterfront[50].📍 6:30am–11pm ferry
  3. 20hdinner
    Mugaritz. 25–30 courses, 2026 theme "common places"[13]. Open May 1 – Oct 25 only.📍 E20 bus from Donostia · Errenteria
Pairs withThe Pasaia cliff walk
Martín Berasategui — three Michelin stars in Lasarte-Oria ★★★ Lasarte-Oria

Martín Berasategui

11 stars across his group · since 2001 €395

The outlier with no walking pairing — a 15–20 minute taxi each way. Book it purely for the technique, and treat the day separately.

  1. 11hmorning
    Pick anything from the rest of this booklet — Berasategui doesn't constrain the day-plan[9].📍 City is free, treat as a wild card
  2. 17hplan
    Book a taxi for the round-trip. Berasategui sits 15–20 minutes outside Donostia in Lasarte-Oria.📍 Loidi Kalea 4 · Wed–Sun only
  3. 20hdinner
    Berasategui. Two tasting proposals, both €395; both customizable[27].📍 The most-decorated chef in Spain
Pairs withAnything — it's the outlier
if
booked
FALLBACK
★ Parte Vieja

Kokotxa

One Michelin star · Old Town Plan B

All five two-and-three-star tables booked out? Kokotxa is a single-star reservation, tucked in Parte Vieja — the consolation is that every Old Town pintxos bar is now a 30-second walk after dinner.

  1. 17hbefore
    Wander the Urgull loop or visit San Telmo Museoa — both are 5 min away.📍 San Telmo free on Tuesdays
  2. 20hdinner
    Kokotxa. One Michelin star in the 2026 Guide — modern Basque in a quiet Old Town side street.📍 Campanario 11, Parte Vieja
  3. 23hafter
    Walk back through the Old Town — late Cuchara de San Telmo or a slice at La Viña.📍 30-second crawl radius
Pairs withA long pintxos night
§ II · The closures map

Which day kills which plan

p. 07
Place Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su
Old Town pintxos bars[10] ✕●●●●●●
San Telmo Museoa ✕●●●●●●
Chillida-Leku[11] ●✕✕●●●●
Martín Berasategui[12] ✕✕●●●●●
Arzak ●●●●●●✕
Akelarre ●●●●●●✕
Balenciaga Museum[48] ✕●●●●●●
Mercado de La Bretxa ●●●●●●✕
● Open ✕ Closed ◐ Reduced
§ III · Pairable IT conferences

If the dates are flexible

p. 08
JanFebMarApr MayJunJulAug SepOctNovDec
19–20Jun 2026
EuskalHack Security Congress IXColegio Mayor Olarain · €85–€190
Friday talks → Saturday Michelin. Olarain is on Paseo de Ondarreta — walking distance from Akelarre's funicular and Amelia's bay. Mugaritz is still open[18].
18–26Sep 2026
74th Zinemaldia & TechnologyFilm Festival industry programme
Inverts the booking order: lodging vanishes, prices spike, so the dinner slot has to be chosen around the festival window, not vice versa[19].
Nov2026
Donostia Week-INNCity-wide innovation week · Kursaal / Anoeta
Autumn anchor, but Mugaritz has already closed for the year — drop to the three-star shortlist plus Amelia[20].
§ IV · The pintxos crawl

The non-Michelin night

p. 09

Whichever Michelin dinner you book, you still owe one evening to the txikiteo — moving bar to bar, one pintxo and one zurito per stop, paying when you leave. This is a Parte Vieja line that flows on muscle memory.

Parte Vieja · 19:30

Casa Vallés

One gilda. The skewer was invented here in 1946. Pickled guindilla, Manzanilla olive, Cantabrian anchovy.

Old Town · 20:00

Ganbara

Revuelto de hongos. Wild mushrooms with a fried egg — reportedly Juan Mari Arzak's favourite bar.

31 de Agosto · 20:30

La Cuchara de San Telmo

Foie gras with apple. Cochinillo asado. The crackle is audible across the room.

Old Town · 21:00

Borda Berri

Beef cheek that dissolves. Plus the orzo risotto with Idiazábal cheese. Cooked to order, so wait.

Parte Vieja · 21:45

Bar Txepetxa

Anchovy fillets, twelve toppings. Three generations of one family. Spider crab cream is the entry point.

31 de Agosto · 22:30

La Viña

One slice of burnt cheesecake. The original — Santiago Rivera, c. 1988. Six euros. The line forms within minutes of opening; late evening is calmer.

§ V · Within 30 km

The Sunday option

pp. 10–11
Getaria
↘ Coast, west32 min drive

Getaria

A fishing village squeezed between sea and vineyards. Pair the Balenciaga Museum with grilled whole fish at one-star Elkano and a txakoli tasting at Txomin Etxaniz or Gaintza.Museum closed Mondays

Pasai Donibane
↘ Coast, eastE20 bus

Pasai Donibane

Two waterfront halves joined by a €1.10 motora. Cobbled streets, painted houses, Victor Hugo's lodgings. The natural lunch stop on a Mugaritz day.Ferry 6:30am–11pm

Hondarribia old town
↘ BorderE21 bus · 35 min

Hondarribia

Walled old town, the Castle of Charles V (now a Parador), Calle San Pedro's green-and-blue fishers' houses, and a 7-minute boat to Hendaye, France.€2 shuttle, bikes welcome

Zumaia flysch
↘ Coast, west~50 min

Zumaia

UNESCO-grade flysch cliffs, 60 million years of rock visible at low tide. Itzurun beach is the Dragonstone of Game of Thrones. Geoparkea boat tour (€28, 3 h) from the quay.Weather-dependent · book ahead

Guggenheim Bilbao
↘ WestPesa · 1h15

Bilbao

If the weather is bad: Pesa coach takes 1h15 to the Guggenheim[51]. €15 admission, free Tuesday evenings 18:00–20:00. Gehry's curves were designed to catch the light.Pesa hourly from Donostia bus station

Petritegi cider house
↘ Astigarraga15 min

Petritegi

The cider-house lunch when official txotx is over. €44.50 — chorizo in cider, cod omelette, txuletón, cheese with walnuts and quince. Open all year, including late-May shoulder.€3 less if you skip the txotx draw