Markets in Donostia / San Sebastián

Staying in the Parte Vieja (Old Town) puts you within walking distance of the market squares and the pintxos bars. The Hotel de Londres y de Inglaterra sits on the La Concha seafront, and the Hotel Maria Cristina is a short walk from the centre. The city is compact enough to reach every market on foot.

Five of the six markets are street markets, and they split into two groups. Some are local farmers markets in all but name, selling fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and poultry, fish and cheese, useful if you are self-catering and not staying near the food hall. The rest are browsing markets: antiques, books and magazines, jewellery and handicrafts, with clothing and footwear at one of them.

That mix is what makes the city unusual for its size. Most Spanish cities give you a weekly produce mercadillo and little else, whereas here collectors' and craft stalls run alongside the food ones. Two markets trade on Sunday, which is worth knowing in a city where much of the retail shuts.

The city has one municipal market, Bacalao Mercado de Gros, and its 25 stalls carry the produce behind the pintxos counters: fish and seafood, fruit and vegetables, meat and poultry, and cheese and dairy. It keeps the city's usual morning session, so arrive well before the 14:00 close if you want the fish counters at their fullest. Being indoors, it is also the reliable option in a city where rain arrives without much warning.

Yes, six markets trade in Donostia / San Sebastián: one municipal food market and five street markets. At least one of them is open on every day of the week, with two running on Saturday and two on Sunday. The usual hours are 08:00 to 14:00, so go in the morning rather than after lunch.

San Sebastián has one market trading on each of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and two on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is the busiest day of the week in the city and Friday the quietest. Two of the six markets have no confirmed day on record, so check before you travel.

Markets in Donostia / San Sebastián usually open at 08:00 and close at 14:00, and that covers both the municipal food hall and the street markets selling fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and fish. Market shopping here is a morning job. Individual hours vary, and each market's own page lists its exact times.

Yes, several of San Sebastián's five street markets sell antiques, books and magazines, jewellery and handicrafts rather than food, which is as close as the city comes to a flea market. They keep the same 08:00 to 14:00 pattern as the food markets, and two of the city's six markets trade on Sunday.