Do you prefer tourist places or places off the beaten track?

I would undoubtedly say that I definitely prefer places that are off the beaten track. Maybe it’s something to do with living in a busy city like London. In some circles there is almost a badge of honor associated with traveling to obscure locations to find places that we can refer to as hidden gems.

In Europe it would seem that hidden gems tend to be places without airports, so they have avoided mass tourism. One place that I would strongly recommend is a town in Spain I visited in 2019 called San Sebastian.

San Sebastian is located on the boarder of Spain and France. Due to the fact that there is no airport, we took the Eurostar from London to Paris, a journey that took 2 and a half hours. From Paris we took the train to the French boarder town of Hendaye (another 4 hours), before taking a local train for the last leg to San Sebastian (30 minutes). The trip was accomplished in a day with regular breaks. We had breakfast in London, lunch in Paris and finished the day with tapas in San Sebastian.

San Sebastian is famous for a type of tapas called pintxo, which is typically eaten in bars and consists of meat and seafood on bread. The old town is packed full of history and bristling with bars serving the local pintxo, usually washed down with a glass of wine. The famous Rioja region can be reached on a day trip. I would recommend taking a day trip to the vineyards to sample the produce and purchase a few bottles for the trip home.

The town itself is not exactly off the beaten track but is popular with Spanish and French tourists rather than British. As such, the accommodation is reasonable and there is an authentic Spanish atmosphere. The old town is charming and very lively in the evening, and there is also the beach, which is not too packed.

This region of Spain is known as green Spain due to its topography and is traditionally populated by the Basque people, who have their own language and refer to San Sebastian by its Basque name of Donostia.

If you are in the region then you can. as we did, visit the nearby and much more famous town of Pamplona. Pamplona is famous for the Running of the Bulls, which takes place between the 6th and 14th of July every year as part of a nine-day festival. The Running of the Bulls dates back to the 14th century. The runners are pursued by bulls over an 875-meter course, and each year between 50 and 100 people are taken to the hospital due to injuries. Since records started in 1910, 15 people have been killed. If you’re brave, you can travel to Pamplona and join the excitement. However, I would recommend a more relaxed pursuit. There is an abundance of good food and wine to be consumed and Spanish coffee is possibly the best in the world.

Ashley

Vocabulary

badge of honor (idiom) – a mark or expression of pride
obscure (adj.) - not well-known; not known to most people
hidden gem (idiom) - a place that is not widely known but is worth visiting
tapas (n) – a type of Spanish cuisine consisting of lots of small dishes
topography (n) – the features in an area of land