Pintxo Bar Crawl in Parte Vieja

The Parte Vieja (Old Town) of San Sebastian is the densest concentration of pintxo bars in the world. A pintxo (pronounced "pincho") is a small portion of food served on a slice of bread or a skewer, arranged on the bar counter, and taken by hand. You eat what you want, keep track of your toothpicks, and pay at the end. A single pintxo costs EUR 2.50-4. A txakoli (the local Basque sparkling white wine, poured from height to aerate it and increase the bubble effect) costs EUR 3. An evening of bar-hopping through the Parte Vieja hitting 5-6 bars, eating 2-3 pintxos and a drink at each, costs EUR 20-35 and constitutes one of the best meals in Europe. The essential bars: Bar Nestor (Calle de la Pescaderia 11, the tortilla de patata, made to order and served at 1 PM and 8 PM only, get there 15 minutes early to put your name on the list, the queue is visible from the street), Gandarias (Calle 31 de Agosto 23, the steak pintxo and the anchovy on bread), La Cuchara de San Telmo (Calle 31 de Agosto 28, hot pintxos cooked to order at the counter rather than pre-prepared, the slow-cooked veal cheek and the foie with apple jam), A Fuego Negro (Calle 31 de Agosto 31, modern experimental pintxos, the gin and tonic prepared tableside).