San Sebastian, verdict by verdict

San Sebastian is Europe's best eating city per square metre: a Belle Epoque resort wrapped around the shell-shaped bay of La Concha, a Parte Vieja whose bars compete on pintxos, Monte Igueldo's vintage funicular over the panorama, and more starred restaurants per head than anywhere outside Kyoto.

The straightforward catch is rain: the Basque coast stays green because it drizzles, and sun is never guaranteed. Summer stacks crowds on top of the year's highest hotel prices, August and festival weeks fill the Parte Vieja, and the famous starred restaurants need reservations weeks out. The city's own airport is a small strip across the border in Hondarribia with limited flights, so many visitors land an hour away in Bilbao, and prices generally sit above the rest of Spain.

What San Sebastian offers in return is a combination nowhere else manages: a city beach this good paired with food this serious, all walkable in twenty minutes. Two to three days does it properly, one for La Concha, the old town and an evening pintxos crawl, one for Monte Igueldo and the Chillida Leku museum, and one for a Getaria or Hondarribia run, with June and September balancing beach weather against crowds. It is the Basque trip's crown jewel, priced accordingly, and suits travelers who treat dinner as the point of the day.