San Sebastián Photo Spots
San Sebastián, officially known by its bilingual name, Donostia-San Sebastián, is a Spanish city located on the Basque coast. It’s a resort town packed with beautiful golden sand beaches, maze-like cobblestone streets, a stunning bayfront promenade, pintxo bars, and world-renowned restaurants. Here at Flytographer, we easily connect people with trusted photographers for fun photo shoots and have captured over three million memories worldwide. Today, we asked our local photographers to show us around the very best places to take photos in San Sebastián.
TLDR
(A little sneak peek just for you 😊)
- Old Quarter: Its narrow, winding, cobbled streets are bursting with street stalls, tapas bars, and some of the best restaurants in Basque country.
- Gipuzkoa Plaza: Gipuzkoa Plaza has long attracted tourists and locals alike, thanks to its beautiful gardens, lush green trees, Neoclassical ashlar porticoes, and friendly swans and ducks. 🦢🦆
- La Concha Beach: It is a glistening beach with rolling green hills that tumble into turquoise water, which you can reach via a splendid seaside promenade.
- Ondarreta Beach: If you’re looking for a less-populated beach where you can peacefully recline on the golden sand with your friends or family after a gentle swim, Ondarreta is the one for you.
- Aiete Parkea: This park is full of French-style gardens, ponds inhabited by ducks and swans, a waterfall, and a forest filled with titanic sequoias and trees over a hundred years old.
Photo: Patricia in San Sebastián for Flytographer. Sally and partner capture memories in San Sebastián with a just-because photoshoot.
1. Old Quarter
The Old Quarter of San Sebastián is, as you may have already guessed, the oldest part of the city. It is an old fishing village located at the foot of Mount Urgull, and it should be no surprise that this old town holds some of the oldest buildings in the city—so get those cameras ready to capture some history! 📸
Its narrow, winding, cobbled streets are bursting with street stalls, tapas bars, and some of the best restaurants in Basque country. If you want a quick snack, you won’t have to search for long, as just about every stall, bar, and restaurant offers bite-sized pintxos—mouth-watering morsels of haute cuisine. 🍽
Photo: Patricia in San Sebastián for Flytographer. Bridget and partner capture memories in San Sebastián with a couples photoshoot in Old Quarter.
2. Gipuzkoa Plaza
Located in the city centre of San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa Plaza is one of the most picturesque and emblematic spaces in the city. Designed between 1867 and 1882, it was the first public park in San Sebastián.
Gipuzkoa Plaza has long attracted tourists and locals alike, thanks to its beautiful gardens, lush green trees, Neoclassical ashlar porticoes, and friendly swans and ducks looking for a snack (or a photo shoot 😉🦆📸).
The plaza is full of several different species of flowers, plants, and trees, including Himalayan cedar, palm trees, banana, hazelnut, plum, weeping willow, silver lime, elm, ash, and yew—which you can also find on the coat of arms of Gipuzkoa.
Photo: Patricia in San Sebastián for Flytographer. Hannah and partner capture memories in San Sebastián with a vacation photoshoot.
3. La Concha Beach
La Concha Beach (Playa de La Concha) is not only one of the best places to take photos in San Sebastián, featuring prominently on most of their postcards, but it’s also one of the best beaches in Europe!
🐚La Concha is a glistening, gorgeous beach shaped like a shell, with rolling green hills that tumble into turquoise water, which you can reach via a splendid seaside promenade. Word to the wise: The railings of the promenade provide plenty of opportunities to snap some Instagram-worthy shots.
With Mount Urgull on one side and Mount Igeldo (Monte Igueldo in Spanish) on the other, La Concha features beautifully calm waters, perfect for swimming, paddle boarding, or canoeing. During the summer, a swimming deck is installed with slides and diving boards, perfect for kids of all ages (including the young at heart!). 💦
Photo: Patricia in San Sebastián for Flytographer. Paola and partner capture memories in San Sebastián with a honeymoon photoshoot.
4. Ondarreta Beach
If you’re looking for a less-populated beach where you can peacefully recline on the golden sand with your friends or family after a gentle swim, Ondarreta is the one for you. The turquoise waves are calm, which means you can swim all the way to Isla Santa Clara, a cozy, clear-water island located in the heart of La Concha Bay.
But if you want to stay active, this beach also offers volleyball, soccer, and paddle ball; plus, you can rent a canoe if you want to get a look at the beach from the water. 🛶
Photo: Alejandro in San Sebastián for Flytographer. Jeff and partner celebrate a proposal in San Sebastián with a proposal photoshoot.
5. Aiete Parkea
Aiete is best known for Aiete Palace, which rises out of the highest part of the neighbourhood. Where once it was the summer home of kings, queens, and dictators, it now hosts the House of Peace and Human Rights.
The palace is surrounded by Aiete Park, which is full of French-style gardens, ponds inhabited by ducks and swans, a waterfall, and a forest filled with titanic sequoias and trees over a hundred years old. Leave yourself plenty of time to soak in the beauty, as this park is one of the best places to take photos in San Sebastián!
Photo: Alejandro in San Sebastián for Flytographer. Gregory and partner celebrate a proposal in San Sebastián with a proposal photoshoot.
Capturing Memories in San Sebastián
Rolling green hills, golden sand, turquoise water, beautiful architecture, and all the pinxtos you can handle, Donostia-San Sebastián is truly not a city to be missed. Perfect for a day trip or a longer stay, you’ll feel truly at home in San Sebastián.
If you’re looking for a break from your camera, Flytographer pairs you with professional travel photographers all over the word. We have a long list of talented photographers, as well as photographers nearby in Spain, including Madrid, Barcelona, San Juan, and Bilbao.
“Patricia was spectacular to work with! It started raining 10 minutes after our shoot began but she was able to work with us and the weather to create some beautiful images. I was blown away when I saw the final photos and would highly recommend working with Patricia!”
Bridget
“This was great! Our pictures were amazing and it made our proposal experience perfect. He did a great job! We really appreciated his local knowledge and eye for posing. He was also really helpful in working with the restaurant to make it even more special.”
Gregory
“We had such a great time with Patricia!! She had great ideas for shots and told us a lot about the local history as well. We never felt uncomfortable taking the photos either which is rare for us!! Not to mention, the photos are amazing!!! Some of our favourites we’ve ever had taken.”
Hannah
