When you visit or move to a certain city, what's the first thing you ought to do? Get to know the way home, right? Once you're familiar with the area where you're staying, traveling around the city is easy peasy. And yes, that works in the coastal city of San Sebastian in Spain's Vasque country. It may not look like a very urban city, but when you don't know the way and how to navigate around it, you'll easily get lost. A great way to start is to familiarize yourself with public transport here.
Travel Passes/Cars To Get
The moment you get to San Sebastian, whether you're here as a tourist or you just moved here as a new resident, get yourself a travel card here. There are two main ones on offer: the San Sebastian card and the Basque card. Among other things, these cars will help you cut costs and easily go onto any of the public transport systems in the country. Though mostly for tourism, many locals have benefitted from using the cards in their everyday commutes. Not only will you get to save time, but you can save some money, no matter how little, as well!
Renting Transportation in San Sebastian
Even though San Sebastian is far from the most expensive city in the world—paling in comparison even to another Spanish city,
Barcelona!—it's not without its high costs. With that said, some of these high costs are convenient as well. When it comes to transportation, renting your own car or any other vehicle would be pricey. It can already cost you hundreds of Euros just to rent them for a day, what more during your whole stay here? However, despite that, renting vehicles is actually quite common in San Sebastian. Don't be afraid to consider this option if you can afford it!
Boarding The Buses
Of course, if you want to cheap, you can always ride the bus! With various routes on offer that travel to different
neighborhoods of San Sebastian, it's unlikely that there won't be a line that can't get you exactly or near your destination. Most of them operate from 7:30 am to 10:30 pm so you have all the time in the world to catch one. At times, night buses called 'Búhos' also run from 12:00 am midnight to 4:00 pm. You should also remember that all buses are wheelchair-friendly so if you or your company are in one, you don't have to worry about anything!
Getting A Taxi
Getting a taxi is also a common mode of public transportation in San Sebastian but there is a huge difference from those here to those in other cities like
New York or
Paris. This is that you're not allowed to hail a taxi just about anywhere in the city. Similar to the buses, taxis have designated stops throughout San Sebastian. If you want to ride a taxi, you'll need to go to these stops and board one there. Don't worry, there are a lot of them in the city. It's virtually impossible you won't see a taxi stop near your current location.
Traveling by Bike
When all else fails, you can always ride a bike. As already mentioned, renting a vehicle is a common mode of transportation here in San Sebastian and this applies to bikes as well. In fact, bike rentals are virtually the most popular among the rental services available in the city. And since Sa Sebastian is a coastal town that boasts natural beauty throughout its many corners, riding your bike is one of the best ways to travel around and explore. Not to mention it will help you remain fit and healthy as well. What's not to love?
Using An App in San Sebastian
Since public transport in San Sebastian is, more or less, constricting and a little confusing, you can always use a
transportation app to help you. There are tons that will aid in your commuting problems here in the city. Most notably, ride-hailing apps will make it possible for you to get a taxi or even a private car anywhere in the city. You won't have to go to the designated taxi stops to hail one. But what if you ride the bus? Various information apps will tell you everything you need to know about traveling to your destination by bus.
While it may not seem to you, San Sebastian is actually an easy city to explore and travel around in. Public transport here is just as convenient, easy, and efficient as it is in other cities around the world!
The more familiar with San Sebastian's public transport, the faster you can go back to your
luxury home here in no time!
