La Marina quarter and Calle San Pedro

Going down from the old town towards the bay you reach the Marina (Portua), the fishermen's quarter. Its houses have balconies and shutters painted green, blue or red, and Calle San Pedro is the street of bars: Gran Sol, Maite, Txantxangorri, Zeria and Itxaropena, one after another. Keep going to the Butrón promenade, beside the water, where the boat to Hendaye leaves from. The second tourist office is on Calle Matxin de Artzu.

The quarter of the portuarras

If the walled old town is the Hondarribia of soldiers and palaces, the Marina is that of the people of the sea. Its residents are called portuarras, and the quarter grew outside the walls, beside Txingudi bay and the mouth of the Bidasoa. The memory of the fishermen is captured in the documentary Amakiña bat itsaso kontu, which the Sustraia association filmed over several years with interviews with fishermen and harbour people, in collaboration with the town council and Arma Plaza Fundazioa.

Calle San Pedro

It is pedestrianised and is the backbone of the quarter. Hondarribia Turismo lists its bars with their addresses: Zabala at number 8, Rafa at 10, Sardara at 12, Ignacio at 20, Alcanadre at 26, Txantxangorri at 27, Maite at 35, Itsaspe at 40, Gran Sol at 65, Itxaropena at 67 and Azkenportu at 73. It is a street for going from bar to bar, with a pintxo and a txakoli in each.

If it is your first time, start at Gran Sol, which has pintxos with names of their own such as the Jaizkibel or the soft-boiled egg. Each bar has its own day off, and Gran Sol, for example, closes on Sunday and Monday: if you go on those days, check first what is open.

Butrón promenade and the bay

At the end of the street is the water. The Butrón promenade follows the bay and the boat to Hendaye leaves from it, crossing to France in about seven minutes. On the same promenade there are more bars and terraces. Following the coast northwards you reach Hondarribia beach and, further on, the Higer lighthouse.

How to fit it in

The Marina can be walked in an hour, but most people stay longer. Combine it with the old town, which is a few minutes uphill: go up in the morning, when it is quieter, and come down to the Marina at vermouth time or for dinner. Park down below, around the Butrón promenade, because there is no room up above. If you need information, the Marina tourist office is on Calle Matxin de Artzu.