3–15 August 2026 · Oban → Edinburgh → San Sebastián
Dan Point · Amy Finn-Welch · Susan Point · Mike Risley In San Sebastián from 8 August, sharing Villa Sol with Jamie Fell, her mother Anne, her husband David, baby Caleb, and Lizzie.
The train up ran late, so the day compressed into a drive. Everyone got there, which on day zero is the whole job.
The Kelpies — the thirty-metre horse heads at Falkirk, caught after the LNER delay ate the morning. Worth the stop even on a broken schedule.
Fish and chips at the hole in the wall, eaten in the car while Dan drove and learned, in real time, how not to hop a kerb in a left-hand-drive country.
Into Oban late, and straight to bed.
The big excursion day, bookended by an Aldi run and a pub.
Aldi, and some genuinely crazy parking to start the morning.
The Three Isles Tour — ferry to Mull, coach across, an hour on Staffa and two on Iona. Out at 9:45 AM, back in Oban at 8:15 PM.
Dinner below Susan and Mike's apartment, then the Oban Inn for drinks as a group.
And then Dan built this website, and lost a great deal of sleep doing it.
Most of the plan survived. The distillery happened, lunch happened, and the day ended at Coast with what the record will show were life-changing scallops. Only Glencoe slipped — Susan needed the afternoon, so Dan and Amy struck out for Inveraray instead.
Oban Distillery — the original tour Two stills, one of the oldest and smallest distilleries in Scotland, right in the middle of town. Stafford Street, Oban PA34 5NH
Lunch at The View Good food, and the haggis fries went down as Mike's favourite thing of the day. The View, George Street, Oban
Inveraray Castle The Duke of Argyll's seat on Loch Fyne, an hour southeast. Fairytale turrets, and an armoury hall with a thousand-odd weapons fanned across the walls. Downton Abbey used it for the Christmas special. Inveraray PA32 8XE · Susan and Mike took the afternoon off in Oban
A drink at the George Hotel, Inveraray Quick bite and a drink in the old coaching inn before driving back. Main Street East, Inveraray PA32 8TT
Dinner at Coast — the good one Scallops (described, without qualification, as life-changing), chicken liver pâté, venison, hake, stewed beef, salmon. 104 George Street, Oban PA34 5NT
Markie Dans Down into the basement for the music, where they fell in with some funny young folks. Susan and Mike, sensibly, went to bed. Corran Esplanade, Oban
The one casualty of the split afternoon. It slots into tomorrow's drive for about thirty minutes of extra driving, because heading north first and coming back south over Rannoch Moor is barely longer than the direct road. See the next day.
The best day of the Scottish leg, and the one where the plan bent in exactly the right direction.
Glencoe — great pictures, and a long slow drive that nobody wanted to hurry. Then coffee at a very fancy inn along the road.
Doune Castle — amazing.
Midhope / Lallybroch — the one Susan came for, and it delivered. It rained hard before and hard after, and somehow held off entirely while we walked the grounds. Pure luck.
The decision: standing at Midhope, everyone independently arrived at the same conclusion — keep the car another day. So we did. That bought back the whole evening.
Linlithgow Palace was skipped — too much time at Lallybroch, and no regrets. But we went back to The Four Marys with our new block of time and had a proper dinner, including duck nachos, which were outstanding.
Then into Edinburgh and the Airbnb.
One long, beautiful drive. Breakfast at 7:30, a quick stop at McCaig's Tower for the view over the bay, then Glencoe, a castle, lunch, a second castle, and into Edinburgh by late afternoon.
The tower has a ramp as well as steps from the car park, so there's no climb unless you want one.
Every viewpoint today is reachable from the car. Doune has a lift. Midhope is a short flat gravel walk. Linlithgow Palace is the one with the spiral stairs — skip it without a second thought and sit by the loch instead; it's already marked as the first thing to cut.
Nothing today is compulsory except getting to Edinburgh. If you want to stay in the car at a stop, stay in the car.
Counterintuitive, but true. Oban → Glencoe is 34 miles. Glencoe → Doune, coming back south on the A82 over Rannoch Moor, is 73 miles and about 1h30. Total driving to Doune: roughly 2h20, against 1h50 for the direct road.
Glencoe costs you about thirty minutes of driving. And the return leg over Rannoch Moor — fifty square miles of peat bog, lochans and sky, one of the last great wildernesses in Europe — is a better road than the one you'd otherwise take. You're not detouring so much as choosing the good version.
It works. You can drive to the base, there's a free car park at the entrance, and — correcting something I told you earlier — there's a ramp as well as steps, so it's manageable for Susan. I'd previously steered you to Pulpit Hill on the assumption it was steps-only. That was wrong.
But it costs about 25 minutes, and 25 minutes is almost exactly the Alamo grace period. So: you're not pushing it if you take the trade below, and you are pushing it if you try to keep everything.
The trade: drop Linlithgow Palace — already the first cut — and take a 45-minute lunch rather than an hour. Tyndrum also comes down to 10 minutes; it's a loo stop, not a destination.
What not to shorten: Glencoe or Midhope. You skipped Glencoe yesterday, and Midhope is the one Susan came for.
Breakfast together, north to Glencoe for the photos we missed yesterday, then back south over Rannoch Moor — fifty square miles of peat bog, lochans and sky, and the best stretch of road on the trip. Two castles on the way into Edinburgh. The car goes back at 4:00 PM, so the day has a shape to it.
Breakfast at the Perle — all four Susan and Mike are joining you. Eat properly; the next real stop is three hours away and there's nothing much between Glencoe and Tyndrum. Perle Oban, Station Square, PA34 4LW
Bags in the car, both places cleared Susan & Mike out of the Imperial — keys on the kitchen table, spare back in the lock box by the front door for the cleaner. You and Amy check out of the Perle. Load everything now. You will not be coming back for anything.
McCaig's Tower — the colosseum Five minutes up the hill from the Perle. Follow the Fort William road, then Deanery Brae and the signs — there's a small free car park right at the base. From there a short flight of steps up into the gardens, or a ramp round to the left that avoids them entirely. Fifteen minutes gets you the view over the whole bay to Kerrera and Mull. McCaig's Tower, Oban PA34 5AB · free, no ticket
North to Glencoe A85 east to Connel, then the A828 up the coast past Castle Stalker and over the Ballachulish Bridge.
Glencoe — the Three Sisters viewpoint The big lay-by on the A82 with the three ridges straight ahead. The shot from the Outlander title sequence and the opening of episode one. The view is right at the car park — nobody has to walk more than thirty metres, which is the point today. Three Sisters Viewpoint, A82, Glencoe
South over Rannoch Moor Turn around and take the A82 south — past the Glencoe ski centre, across the open moor, down past Loch Tulla and Bridge of Orchy to Tyndrum. Keep the cameras out; this is the best twenty minutes of road on the whole trip.
Tyndrum — coffee and a loo stop The Green Welly Stop is the standard Highland pit stop and it's right on the route. Level access, clean toilets, decent coffee. Don't linger.
Doune Castle Castle Leoch — the MacKenzie stronghold where Claire is first held. Also, for what it's worth, the castle from Monty Python and the Holy Grail; the audio guide is narrated by Terry Jones and there's a separate Outlander track recorded by Sam Heughan. Castle Road, Doune FK16 6EA · opens 9:30 AM · book tickets
Drive to Linlithgow A84 to the M9, then straight down. Easy motorway run.
Lunch in Linlithgow The High Street has plenty. The Four Marys is the traditional pub choice, named for Mary Queen of Scots' ladies-in-waiting and sat directly across from the palace gates. 65–67 High Street, Linlithgow EH49 7ED
Linlithgow Palace — only if you're ahead of schedule Mary Queen of Scots was born here, and Outlander used it as Wentworth Prison. But it's a roofless ruin with spiral stairs and uneven stone, and it's the least essential thing on today's list. If you reach Linlithgow after 2:15 PM, skip it and go straight to Midhope. The loch path beside it is a pleasant five-minute flat stroll if you just want to stretch. Kirkgate, Linlithgow EH49 7AL
Midhope Castle — Lallybroch Jamie's family home. The courtyard, the archway and those front steps are among the most recognisable images in the whole series. It's a derelict tower on the Hopetoun Estate — exterior only, nothing to go inside for, but that's not why anyone comes. Abercorn, South Queensferry EH30 9SL · £6pp · book tickets
Into Edinburgh Down the A904 and over into the city. Fuel up on the way in — it went out full. Traffic thickens near the centre in Festival season, so leave the full half hour.
Return the car Fuel it up on the way in — it went out full. New Street Car Park, EH8 8BH · Alamo desk 0131 341 4441
Check into the Edinburgh flat Five minutes on foot from Waverley — you can walk it with the bags rather than finding a cab. Head up Leith Street and it's on your left just off the top of Broughton Street. 16 North Saint Andrew Street, Flat 3, floor 2, Edinburgh EH2 1HJ
First night of the Festival — take it gently Nothing is booked. The city will be loud and full. A short wander and an early dinner is the right call after five hours in a car.
A slow start that everybody needed, then two very good shows.
Everyone slept in, Dan most of all — he'd needed a nap the moment he got through the Airbnb door the night before.
Dan and Amy walked the city and bought a new pair of shoes, having dropped the Chelsea boots bought here in 2024 in for repair.
Colin Cloud — a great time. The three words were Pikachu, Paris and Roomba.
Baby Wants Candy — Dan met some New York musicians, and the audience-chosen title was "The World Cock", which had the room in pieces. Susan and Mike got the full report over breakfast.
Nothing at all until 7:30 PM, and even then — the Fringe shows are optional. Every one of them. The tickets cost less than a round of drinks and nobody will mind in the slightest if you sit one out.
Gentle options if you want them: the National Museum of Scotland is free, has lifts everywhere, benches on every floor and a roof terrace with the best view in the city. Princes Street Gardens is flat, green and full of deckchairs.
This is a get-to, not a got-to. Two shows tonight if you fancy them, and a quiet evening in if you don't.
Colin Cloud: Hoax Forensic mindreading. Cloud is a Scot who built an act out of Sherlock-style deduction — the kind of show that plays well across a wide age range and doesn't rely on knowing who anyone is. Pleasance Courtyard — Grand · 60 Pleasance, EH8 9TJ
Baby Wants Candy A completely improvised musical, made up from a title shouted by the audience, with a live band. A Fringe institution — it has been coming for over twenty years. No two performances are the same. Assembly George Square Studios — Studio One · George Square, EH8 9LH
The Old Town is steep, cobbled and, in August, extremely crowded. The Southside around Pleasance and George Square is much flatter and is where most of your shows are.
Black cabs are the way to move Susan and Mike around — they're wheelchair-accessible by law, the drivers are used to it, and in Festival traffic a cab across the centre is rarely more than £8–10. Ranks at Waverley Bridge, the west end of Princes Street, and outside the Pleasance during the Fringe.
You don't need tickets for any of this. These three run sessions every single night and none of them charges a penny; you buy a pint because you're in a pub. Any evening of your Edinburgh stay, one of them will have something on.
For Susan and Mike: Sandy Bell's and the Jazz Bar are both cramped and the Jazz Bar is a basement. The Royal Oak's upstairs bar is the most manageable of the three, and going at the 2:00 PM Sandy Bell's session rather than the 9:00 PM one means a seat and room to breathe.
Three shows, one very good curry, and a wheelchair carried up three flights of stairs.
Biff to the Future — silly but fun. Susan and Mike shopped through it.
By a Thread — started thirty minutes late and was worth every minute of the wait. A wild aerial display by a company of young acrobats who appear to be, collectively, extremely close.
Demi Adejuyigbe — Susan and Mike powered through to join for the last show of the day. Amy loved it, which was the point.
Mother India's Cafe for dinner, all four — saag paneer, chicken tikka masala, lamb vindaloo, mango and curry chicken, and veggie and goat samosas. Incredible, and far too much.
Dan's nightcap campaign failed. The homebodies won and everyone went back.
The wheelchair for Susan — rented for the Tattoo, delivered very late, and carried up three flights by Dan and Amy. They went out to the Queen's Arms after, where Dan left his sling behind and, mercifully, got it back.
Three shows on the books, all optional. The 12:50 and the 6:45 are both in the Southside near George Square; the 3:55 is across town in the New Town.
If you only want one, make it By a Thread at 3:55 — it's wordless circus, so there's nothing to follow, and the Assembly Rooms Music Hall is a grand Georgian room with proper seats.
Cabs between venues, always. Black cabs are everywhere and it's under a tenner across the middle of town.
Biff to the Future A Back to the Future parody told from Biff Tannen's side. Broad, silly, and an easy first show of the day. Assembly George Square Gardens — Piccolo Tent · George Square, EH8 9LH
Lunch around George Square The Assembly Gardens itself has food stalls and seating under the trees — the path of least resistance. If you want to sit properly, Söderberg on Middle Meadow Walk is five minutes away.
Cross to the New Town The Assembly Rooms are on George Street — a different place entirely from George Square, and about a mile north. Twenty-five minutes on foot, mostly uphill and then down. Take a cab; ten minutes, and you arrive unbothered.
By a Thread Australian circus — six performers, a lot of rope, no safety net and no fixed rig. Wordless, so nothing to follow; it just builds. The Music Hall is a grand Georgian room, which suits it. Assembly Rooms — Music Hall · 54 George Street, EH2 2LR
Early dinner in the New Town You're already in the best part of town for it. Dishoom on St Andrew Square, The Ivy on the Square, or Café St Honoré tucked down Thistle Street Lane for something quieter.
Demi Adejuyigbe Sells Out Comedy, music and video from the writer behind the September 21st videos, and a Best Newcomer nominee in 2024. Sharp and very fast — the most likely of the week to go over Susan and Mike's heads, which may or may not matter. Pleasance Dome — Queen Dome · 1 Bristo Square, EH8 9AL
By a Thread ends around 4:55 PM on George Street. The Pleasance Dome is back in the Southside. You have plenty of clock time, but you're crossing the city twice in an afternoon at the height of the Festival. Cab both ways and eat near the Assembly Rooms rather than trying to get back south for dinner.
Everyone went their own way in the morning. Tonight is the big one.
Amy took Princes Street Gardens: coffee, a pastry and a book, quietly.
Dan went to recover his bag, and very nearly bought a jacket at Hackett. The jacket remains a live possibility.
Caledonia — Dan and Amy. Susan and Mike sat it out to go shopping, which by now is a recognised third activity.
World's End for something to eat, then home to get ready for the Tattoo.
Today is one of the two that matter. The Tattoo at 9:30 PM is a big night and worth saving yourself for — so treat the afternoon show as entirely skippable and rest instead.
Be ready for a cool, open-air evening: layers, and a rain jacket regardless of the forecast. We'll be up at the castle from about 8:15 PM. Dan is sorting the easiest way in and up.
Eat by 6:30. There's nothing to eat on the Esplanade and it runs to about eleven.
Caledonia At theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall, on Nicolson Street. Short, and it leaves the rest of the afternoon clear — which you want, given the evening. theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall — Fleming Theatre · Nicolson Street, EH8 9DW
Rest, then eat early Do not schedule anything else. Eat by 6:30 PM — the Tattoo runs to about 11:00 PM and there's nothing to eat on the Esplanade.
Head for the castle Gates open around 8:00 PM for a 9:30 PM start. Arriving an hour early means you climb at your own pace instead of in a crowd, and you get to watch the Esplanade fill up, which is half the atmosphere.
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2026 — A Call to Gather Massed pipes and drums on the castle esplanade with the floodlit castle behind. It ends with the Lone Piper on the battlements, and it is genuinely stirring even if military display isn't your thing. Edinburgh Castle Esplanade · East Stand, Section 6, seats X11–X14 · mobile tickets in the Tattoo Tix app (amyfinnwelch@gmail.com)
Worth knowing in advance: the approach is a steep cobbled climb up Castlehill, then a further slope across the Esplanade, then steps up into the stands. Arriving early means doing it at your own pace instead of in a crowd. Stewards are on hand throughout and there are easier routes in — ask at the gate.
Your last full day in Scotland, and the reason the whole Edinburgh leg exists. Keep the day light — tomorrow starts at a quarter to four in the morning.
The other one that matters — All Rise at the Usher Hall, 6:30 PM. This is the concert the whole Edinburgh leg was built around, and the doors close: latecomers aren't admitted, so we'll be in our seats by 6:20.
The rest of the day is genuinely free. Pack in the afternoon, and don't plan anything ambitious — tomorrow starts at a quarter past three in the morning.
Early night. Tomorrow is the long one.
Nothing booked Pack in the afternoon. If you want one more thing, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art has a shuttle and a very good garden, or take the Water of Leith walkway from Stockbridge — flat, shaded and about as far from Festival crowds as you can get inside the city.
Dinner at Kyloe Gourmet steak, upstairs at the Rutland Hotel — and, luckily, a three-minute walk from the Usher Hall. 1–3 Rutland Street, EH1 2AE · 0131 229 3402 · confirmation 6844670
Leave the table Not a suggestion. See the note below.
Be in your seats The programme states plainly that latecomers may not be admitted. Doors are well before; aim to be seated ten minutes early.
EIF Opening Concert: All Rise Wynton Marsalis's twelve-movement symphony for big band and orchestra, performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. It is a blues in the shape of a symphony — over an hour long, and the opening event of the whole International Festival. Usher Hall, Lothian Road, EH1 2EA · Grand Circle, seats F63–F66 · order 26-TF-9WLD
Straight back and to bed Bags packed, alarms set, taxi confirmed. You are up at 3:15 AM.
OpenTable holds a table for two hours for a party of four. Sitting at 4:45 PM, that's 6:45 PM — and All Rise starts at 6:30 PM with latecomers not admitted.
The fix is one sentence to the waiter: "We're at the Usher Hall for 6:30, can you pace us accordingly?" Steak houses do this constantly and it's no trouble — but only if you say it at 4:45, not at 6:00.
Order fast, skip dessert, and walk out at 6:15. Rutland Street to the Usher Hall is three minutes, so you'll be seated with five to spare. If you want pudding, have it after — the bars on Lothian Road are open late.
The Grand Circle is the upper tier. There is a lift, though it doesn't serve every level directly. Stewards are used to helping people find the easiest route in — just ask one at the door.
Two separate journeys now. Dan and Amy go early via Paris; Susan and Mike go late via Brussels and land in Bilbao first. Everyone converges on Villa Sol by about midnight.
A much kinder day than the one we'd planned. No dawn alarm. Out of the flat around 10:15 AM, Edinburgh at 12:40 PM, one change at Brussels, and Bilbao by 6:25 PM.
Two things to do before you fly: check in online (it opens 23 hours before and Brussels Airlines requires it — they need your passport details in advance), and be at the airport by 11:40 AM at the latest, which is when check-in closes.
Bags: one carry-on up to 8 kg, one personal item, one checked bag up to 23 kg each.
Dan and Amy won't reach the house until about 11:30 PM, so you'll get there well before them. Everything you need for the last leg is written out below — and Jamie's family are already at the villa.
Up
Taxi to Edinburgh Airport Mark, +44 7894 953418. About 30 minutes at that hour. Edinburgh Airport EH12 9DN
Check-in closes Not a suggestion — this is the stated deadline on the booking, and the ticket is non-refundable and non-changeable.
AF1887 · Edinburgh → Paris CDG Arrives Terminal 2E at 8:45 AM. Booking reference X6HLGS · all four of us
Into Paris — the Marais Taxi in, taxi back. Losco, Place des Vosges, a long lunch, Laperruque. Full plan below.
Back at CDG — transfer to 2G You land at 2E and depart from 2G. They are not the same building — 2G is a separate satellite reached by a free shuttle bus from 2F, and the transfer takes about 25 minutes. Don't leave it late.
AF7486 · Paris CDG → Biarritz Terminal 2G. Check-in closes 7:35 PM. Arrives Biarritz 9:45 PM.
Collect the car — Sixt key box Booking 9737180322. Mercedes GLC or similar, automatic. Prepaid; a €500 hold goes on the card. Self-service key box, no desk. Biarritz Pays Basque Airport
Drive to Villa Sol A63 south, across the border at Irún, into Donostia. Roughly 50 km, motorway the whole way and quiet at that hour. Lockbox entry — have the code screenshotted before you leave Edinburgh. Altxuene Kalea 10, Donostia-San Sebastián
You land at 6:25 PM. The villa is about 60 miles east, roughly an hour and a quarter. Two ways to do it, and both work.
Option 1 — the bus, then a short taxi. €13.65 each, about two hours all in.
Option 2 — a taxi the whole way. About €190 for a saloon, €200 for an SUV. One hour five minutes, door to door, no changes, no luggage handling.
Honest recommendation: take the bus. It's a comfortable coach, it runs every half hour, it drops you in the middle of the city, and it saves about €175. The only argument for the taxi is if the day has already been long and difficult — in which case, take it and don't think about it twice.
Getting into the house: Jamie, Anne, David, Caleb and Lizzie have been at the villa since the 8th, so someone should be there. Message Jamie when you land so she knows to expect you. The lockbox code is the backup — Dan will send it to you before you fly.
Write down before you go: the villa address in Spanish, Jamie's phone number, and Dan's. Don't rely on having signal or battery at 8 PM in a bus station.
Eleven and a half hours is not a layover, it's a day. And it's doable for everyone if we take the taxi instead of the train and keep it to one flat neighbourhood.
| 9:45 AM | Through immigration. Bags are checked through to Biarritz, so we're carrying nothing but day bags. |
| 10:00 AM | Taxi into the Marais — one fixed regulated fare to the Right Bank, about an hour. Door to door, no stairs, no RER escalators, everyone sits down. |
| 11:00 AM | Losco, 20 rue de Sévigné — the handmade belt shop. Susan's. Pick the leather, the colour and the buckle and they make it up for you. |
| 12:00 PM | Place des Vosges — three minutes' walk. The oldest square in Paris, arcaded on all four sides, entirely flat, benches everywhere and shade under the arches. The right place to sit while other people wander. |
| 1:00 PM | Long lunch in the Marais. Everything is within a few streets. |
| 2:30 PM | Laperruque, 12 rue Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth — the leather workshop Dan wants. It's a 20-minute walk north, so take a cab, or Dan goes alone while everyone stays on the square. |
| 4:00 PM | Taxi back to CDG. Leave a full 90 minutes for traffic. |
| 5:30 PM | At the airport, with two hours in hand before the 7:35 PM check-in close for Biarritz. |
Why the taxi, and not the train: see the fares below — for four people the taxi is the same price as the RER and involves no stairs, no platform walk and no crowds. It isn't the indulgent option, it's the obvious one.
| Taxi recommended | €56 flat each way to the Right Bank — a regulated fixed fare, all four of us and all luggage included. About an hour. €112 round trip for the group, ~€28 each. Official taxi rank outside every terminal; ignore anyone who approaches you inside. |
| RER B train | €14 per person per journey — so €56 each way for four, exactly the same as the taxi, plus stairs at both ends and a change at Châtelet. No reason to take it. |
| Roissybus | Gone — the Opéra service was discontinued in March 2026. |
| Uber / Bolt | Typically €55–85 depending on demand, and no flat-fare protection on a Sunday. The official taxi is the safer number. |
Between us: Dan's weekender and backpack, Amy's duffel and backpack, Mike's backpack. Nobody is dragging that round a market.
The clean answer is to check the big ones at Edinburgh. We're on one booking (X6HLGS) all the way to Biarritz, so anything that goes into the hold at EDI comes out at BIQ — we never see it in Paris, nothing to pay, nothing to collect. Check Dan's weekender and Amy's duffel and the day becomes three backpacks between five people, which is nothing.
We're storing them. Full detail below.
Getting there from the 2E arrival gate:
Coming back — this is the part with a deadline:
Book ahead if you can. They don't publish per-bag pricing, so call the day before, quote five items (two large, three backpacks), and ask what it comes to. Better to know the number than to find out at a counter with five bags and a taxi waiting.
Worth still checking one or two. Even storing them, if Dan's weekender and Amy's duffel go into the hold at Edinburgh they fly straight to Biarritz and never enter the equation — fewer bags to store, less to pay, less to carry back to 2G. Storage then covers only the backpacks.
The 9th is a Sunday, and most Paris shops close. The Marais is the exception — it's one of the few districts where Sunday trading is normal, so Losco on rue de Sévigné is likely fine. Laperruque, up in the 3rd near République, is less certain.
Both need a quick check before the day, and there's a fallback if either is shut: the Marais is still the Marais, Place des Vosges doesn't close, and the day stands up on lunch and a walk alone.
Nobody has to do the whole day. YotelAir in Terminal 2E rents cabins by the hour past security — a real bed, a shower and a door that shuts — so peeling off and sleeping through the middle of the day is a completely reasonable choice, not a failure.
Lounges: Dan's Flying Blue Gold gets him and one guest into the Air France lounges, in 2E on arrival and 2F/2G before the Biarritz flight. His Bilt Palladium carries Priority Pass with up to two guests — but note that Air France lounges are not part of Priority Pass, so those are separate doors. Between the two, three or four of us can be sitting somewhere comfortable; it just may not be the same room.
Sunday is the best market day in Paris, and two of the good ones are a short walk from Place des Vosges.
A better-shaped day, if the markets appeal: taxi to Marché Bastille first thing while it's still going, walk over to Place des Vosges, Losco on rue de Sévigné, lunch at Marché des Enfants Rouges, then Laperruque round the corner. That's one continuous flat loop and nobody doubles back.
After yesterday, do almost nothing. San Sebastián rewards that better than most cities — the whole centre is flat, and the best thing in it is a beach you walk beside rather than on.
Do nothing. Sleep in properly — there is no plan before midday and nobody is waiting on you.
When you surface: the La Concha promenade is flat, a mile and a half of it, with a railing and benches the whole way. It's the best thing in the city and it asks nothing of you.
Spanish hours take a day to adjust to — lunch at 2, dinner at 9, and fireworks over the bay at 10:45 every single night this week.
| Address | Altxuene Kalea, 10, Donostia-San Sebastián, Euskadi 20009 |
| Listing | Luxury 5-bedroom villa, garden and parking |
| Host | Rosalind — English, has lived in San Sebastián eight years |
| Dates | Check-in Sat 8 Aug after 3:00 PM · checkout Sat 15 Aug before 10:00 AM |
| Confirmation | HM5J52RC5R · non-refundable |
| Entry | Lockbox self check-in. Codes and wifi appear in the Airbnb app 48 hours before — that's Thursday 6 August. Screenshot them then; you'll be arriving at 11:30 PM and you do not want to be hunting for a code on a phone with no signal. |
| Occupancy | 8 guests and 1 infant · 8 guests maximum · no pets |
Finding it: Rosalind's directions — "Villa Sol is on Camino de Altxuene, or Altxuene Kalea in Basque. It is a one-way street with access from San Roke street. The villa is the second property on the left as you head down the road."
The villa has parking, which solves the Sixt car for the week.
It isn't in the city centre. Altxuene Kalea is in Antiguo, the neighbourhood at the western end of the bay below Monte Igueldo — roughly 2 km from the Parte Vieja, and on a hill road rather than the flat. Walking into the Old Town for pintxos is a 25–30 minute walk each way, most of it fine but with a climb at the house end.
That's not bad news — Ondarreta beach and Peine del Viento are both within a few minutes, and they're the quietest, easiest corner of the city. The car will earn its parking space, and taxis into the Old Town are cheap and plentiful.
You're sharing with Jamie Fell, her mother Anne, her husband David, their baby Caleb, and Lizzie — nine of you, in from the 8th, so they'll have had a day's head start.
Worth agreeing early: which meals are group meals and which days people go their own way. Nine people deciding on dinner at 9:00 PM in the Old Town is how evenings get lost. Everything below is written so pieces can be done together or separately.
The garden has a charcoal BBQ and outdoor dining for eight. With a baby in the house and a 70-year-old with a bad back, at least a couple of nights probably want to be at home rather than out.
Your entire stay — 8 to 15 August — is Aste Nagusia, San Sebastián's Big Week and the biggest thing that happens in the city all year. Nobody appears to have planned this. It is a very large piece of luck.
What it means in practice:
The flip side: the city will be extremely full, restaurants need booking further ahead than usual, and the Old Town at night will be busier than anything you'd otherwise meet. Plan around the crowds rather than being surprised by them.
Sleep in. Seriously.
La Concha promenade The crescent bay with the white iron railing. It is completely flat, broad, and about a mile and a half end to end with benches the whole way — you can do as much or as little of it as you like. This is the single most accessible great thing in the city, and the easiest thing to do as a group of ten. Paseo de la Concha
Lunch, Spanish hours Nothing opens for lunch before 1:30 PM and dinner doesn't start until 9:00 PM. Adjust today rather than fighting it all week.
First pintxos crawl — the Parte Vieja The Old Town. The method: one drink, one pintxo, then move on. Never two at the same bar. See the list in the Reference section — it came from a friend who knows the city, and it's better than anything a guidebook will give you. With ten people, split into twos and threes and agree a bar to reconvene at. Parte Vieja (Old Town)
Get a spot on the bay Half an hour before the fireworks. The promenade fills up — earlier is better, and later means standing three deep.
International Fireworks Competition Fired from a barge in the middle of La Concha bay. Every night of your stay, a different country competing. You can see it from anywhere along the bay — the promenade rail, the beach itself, or the terrace at Alderdi Eder by the town hall. Alderdi Eder gardens · flat, benches, and a short walk from the Old Town
Good news, mostly. The urban core is flat with broad, low-kerbed pavements. Buses have ramps, and the local taxi firms run adapted vehicles.
The exceptions worth knowing: the Monte Igueldo funicular has many steps at both stations and no step-free route — the views are wonderful but they are not reachable that way. You can drive to the top instead. Monte Urgull is a genuine hill climb. And the Old Town at pintxo hour is shoulder-to-shoulder, standing room, on stone floors — go early, around 7:30 PM, rather than at 9:00 PM when it fills.
It's Amy's birthday. Beyond that, a good day to split up — take the car out, or stay in the city and do it slowly.
Lunch at Zazpi at 1:00 PM with Dan and Amy — right next to the San Telmo museum, so the two make one easy flat outing. That's the only fixed thing.
Afterwards the afternoon and evening are yours. The fireworks are at 10:45 PM as always.
It's Amy's birthday, so Dan has her for the evening.
Whichever version of today you pick, one of you should drive part of the Vitoria road before Wednesday. You are looking for a spot with a completely clear view to the west-northwest, low to the horizon. Doing it in daylight, unhurried, on a day when it doesn't matter, is worth an hour.
It's the five of you — Dan, Amy, Susan, Mike and Jamie — in the one car. Anne, David, Caleb and Lizzie are staying in the city, so tell them the fireworks are still on at 10:45 PM and they should not wait up for you.
Semana Grande is running. Check tonight's line-up at Plaza de la Trinidad — a small square right in the Old Town, walled on three sides, and one of the best places in Spain to hear anything. Fireworks over the bay at 10:45 PM as every night.
If you'd rather have a room with a stage in it, Altxerri Jazz Bar on Reina Regente does live jazz and blues most nights, and Dabadaba over in Egia is the city's proper indie venue — a younger, louder room, and the one Lizzie would probably pick.
The first total solar eclipse visible from mainland Spain since 1905. San Sebastián is just outside the path — so you're driving.
Eclipse day. A long afternoon and a late night: we leave about 4:00 PM, sit somewhere in Álava for a couple of hours, and totality is at 8:27 PM for barely a minute. Home very late.
Bring a folding chair or make sure there's a wall to sit on — two hours of standing is not the plan. Big lunch before we go; there'll be nothing to eat out there.
This is the once-in-a-lifetime one. Everything else this week is optional; this is the reason for the date.
Donostia gets about 99.7% coverage. That sounds like nothing to complain about, and it is completely misleading. At 99.7% the sky dims oddly and that is all — the remaining sliver of photosphere is still thousands of times brighter than the corona, so you do not see the corona, the stars, the horizon glow, or any of the things that make people cry at eclipses.
Totality is not the top of a scale. It is a different event. The difference between 99.7% and 100% is the entire difference.
| Primary target | Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava — about 1h 05m from San Sebastián on the AP-1 |
| Partial begins | 7:32 PM · sun 17.9° up, west |
| Totality | 8:27:43 PM → 8:28:47 PM · 1 minute 4 seconds |
| Maximum | 8:28:16 PM · sun only 7.8° above the horizon, bearing 283° (WNW) |
| Sunset | 9:17 PM |
| Historic cloud odds | cloudy on this date in 47% of years since 2000 |
Check the satellite forecast — and be willing to move This is the one decision of the day. If Álava looks cloudy, the answer is to drive further, not to settle. See the escape option below.
Big late lunch, then go Eat properly before you leave. You will not be eating again until eleven at night, and there will be nothing open near wherever you end up standing.
Leave San Sebastián The drive is an hour. Leave four and a half hours early anyway. Every road into the path of totality in northern Spain will be carrying traffic it was never built for, and this is the one appointment in your life you cannot be late for.
In position, and settled Chairs out, car parked facing the way you'll want to leave, phones charged. Then sit for two hours and let it come to you.
First contact — glasses on A notch appears on the sun's edge. For the next 55 minutes very little seems to happen, and then everything happens at once.
The last ten minutes Watch the light, not the sun. It goes strange and metallic. Shadows sharpen. The temperature drops. If there's a west-facing slope in view, you may see the moon's shadow coming across the ground toward you.
Totality — glasses OFF Take them off. This is the only moment in your life it is safe to look directly at the sun, and it lasts 64 seconds. Don't photograph it. Look at it.
Glasses back on, immediately The instant any brightness returns at the edge, the eye protection goes back on.
Don't leave yet Everyone will run for their cars. Sit down, open something, and let ninety minutes pass. You will get home sooner than the people who left first, and considerably less angry.
You'll be sat in a field in Álava from about 5:30 PM until gone 9:00 PM, and there will be nothing out there. Whatever you want, you bring.
At 7.8° above the horizon the sun will be behind anything taller than a line of poplars. You need an unobstructed view to the west-northwest, and a slight rise is better than flat ground.
Vitoria sits in the Llanada Alavesa, a broad open plain, so the terrain is on your side — the ground west of the city toward Nanclares de la Oca and the Rioja Alavesa is open and gently raised. Use a compass app to confirm 283° is clear before you commit, and check there's a bench, a wall or a folding chair for Susan. She should not be standing for two hours.
No separate recce trip. Leaving San Sebastián at 4:00 PM puts us in Álava around 5:30, which leaves three hours of daylight to drive around and find a clear west-northwest horizon before totality at 8:27 PM. That is the scouting window, and it's a generous one.
The reason a dedicated trip buys little: Vitoria sits in the Llanada Alavesa, a wide flat plain. This isn't a valley where one spot works and the rest don't — it's open country where most of the ground west of the city will do, and a pin dropped on Monday tells you nothing about where the clouds will be on Wednesday.
What we do instead: check the satellite picture at midday on the 12th, commit to Vitoria or Burgos, then use the afternoon on the ground. Whoever is in the passenger seat runs a compass app and watches for 283° being clear.
Burgos is roughly 2h 20m from San Sebastián instead of 1h 05m, but it is meaningfully better on both counts that matter: 1 minute 44 seconds of totality rather than 1:04, and it has been cloudy on this date in only 31% of years versus 47% for Vitoria. Totality there runs 8:28:25 PM → 8:30:09 PM.
Make this call by midday, not at four o'clock. And decide it on the satellite picture, not the app icon.
You need five pairs of ISO 12312-2 certified eclipse glasses — Dan, Amy, Susan, Mike and Jamie. Buy a spare or two anyway; they cost almost nothing and they get sat on. Do not leave it to the day, when every shop in northern Spain will be out. Sunglasses, welding glass below shade 12, exposed film and smoked glass are all useless and dangerous.
Glasses on for everything except the 64 seconds of totality itself. If you are pointing a phone or a camera at the sun outside totality, it needs a filter too.
Worth buying a few extra pairs for the four staying behind — San Sebastián still gets a 99.7% partial, which is a genuinely strange thing to watch even if it isn't the real event.
You'll have got in very late. Plan nothing before noon.
Recovery. Nothing before noon, and no obligations at all.
Ondarreta is the quietest of the three beaches and the easiest to get onto. Group dinner in the evening if everyone's up to it.
Fireworks again at 10:45 if you want them — the Kursaal bridge is a good, uncrowded spot.
Beach day La Concha for calm water and the full sweep of the bay. Zurriola, across the river in Gros, for surf and a younger crowd. Ondarreta at the western end is the quietest of the three and has the easiest beach access.
Gros The neighbourhood over the Kursaal bridge. Newer, less touristed, and increasingly where the better pintxo bars are. Flat and easy to walk. Gros, Donostia
A proper dinner If the house is going to do one serious meal together, this is the night for it. Book it now — San Sebastián in August books out weeks ahead, a table for nine needs more notice than a table for four, and Semana Grande makes it worse.
Fireworks, night four Ask for a table that lets you get out by half ten, or eat on the Gros side and walk back over the Kursaal bridge — the view of the bay from the bridge is excellent and far less crowded than the promenade.
Check the Semana Grande listings for Sagüés — the open-air stage at the far end of Zurriola beach, and where the bigger headline acts play. Free, outdoors, and a five-minute walk from Gros.
Whatever you didn't get to. But leave the evening clear and pack before dinner — tomorrow starts before dawn.
Last full day. Anything you didn't get to, or nothing at all.
Pack before dinner. Bags by the door tonight — Saturday starts at 4:45 AM and you fly to Chicago via Madrid.
Last fireworks of the trip at 10:45. Worth staying up for.
Anything from Tuesday's list you skipped Hondarribia, Getaria, the Guggenheim, Peine del Viento.
Fuel the car It goes back full. Do it today, not at six in the morning in the dark on an unfamiliar road.
Pack, then a last crawl Bags done first. Then out, and back at a sensible hour. Say your goodbyes tonight — you'll be gone before anyone else is up.
Final fireworks The seventh of eight nights, and your last. Worth staying up for even with a 4:45 AM alarm — you'll sleep on the plane. Watch from Paseo Nuevo around the base of Monte Urgull if the promenade is heaving; it's flat, and the angle across the water is better than most people realise.
You leave together and split at the airport. Susan and Mike go via Madrid to Chicago; you and Amy go via Paris to New York.
Up, out
Drive San Sebastián → Bilbao Airport AP-8 west. About 100 km. Quiet at that hour. Bilbao Airport (BIO), Loiu
Return the Sixt Booking 9737180322. Photograph the car from all four corners and the fuel gauge before you walk away. The €500 hold releases a few days later.
Susan & Mike check in Booking X4PIQO. Bags are checked through to Chicago.
Susan & Mike · BA7089 (Iberia) · Bilbao → Madrid Arrives Madrid Terminal 4 at 10:25 AM. Then a change to Terminal 4S — a separate satellite, reached by an underground shuttle train. Allow the full transfer time; it is a long walk plus a train ride.
Dan & Amy · AF1477 · Bilbao → Paris CDG Check-in closes 9:50 AM. Arrives CDG Terminal 2G at 12:10 PM. Booking XM7ZZV
Dan & Amy · layover at CDG Arrive 2G, depart 2E. Shuttle across again. Eight hours — the YotelAir cabins are in 2E if you want a few hours of horizontal.
Susan & Mike · BA1637 (American) · Madrid → Chicago O'Hare Terminal 4S. Arrives O'Hare Terminal 5 at 4:00 PM local.
Dan & Amy · AF0012 · Paris CDG → New York JFK Terminal 2E, check-in closes 7:30 PM. Arrives JFK Terminal 1 at 10:40 PM.
Print this page and carry it. The actual tickets live in apps — Tattoo Tix, edfringe, Air France — so these open the pages you need to reach them, plus every venue on a map and every number as a one-tap dial.
Tickets & shows
Book these now
Places — opens in Maps
Live music — all free, no booking
Numbers — scan to dial
| Edinburgh → Biarritz Sun 9 Aug · all four | X6HLGS AF1887 · EDI 5:40 AM → CDG T2E 8:45 AM (check-in closes 5:00 AM) AF7486 · CDG T2G 8:15 PM → BIQ 9:45 PM (check-in closes 7:35 PM) Non-refundable, non-changeable |
| Bilbao → New York Sat 15 Aug · Dan & Amy | XM7ZZV AF1477 · BIO 10:30 AM → CDG T2G 12:10 PM (check-in closes 9:50 AM) AF0012 · CDG T2E 8:30 PM → JFK T1 10:40 PM |
| Bilbao → Chicago Sat 15 Aug · Susan & Mike | X4PIQO BA7089 / Iberia · BIO 9:15 AM → MAD T4 10:25 AM BA1637 / American · MAD T4S 1:35 PM → ORD T5 4:00 PM |
| Scotland — Alamo | RA 4GDT7C · Mercedes GLB, white, KU24EYO Due back Tue 4 Aug, 4:00 PM Waverley Station, New Street Car Park, EH8 8BH Branch 0131 341 4441 · roadside 0330 053 0405 · accidents 0345 600 5923 |
| Spain — Sixt | Booking 9737180322 · Mercedes GLC or similar, automatic Pick up Biarritz Airport key box, Sun 9 Aug 9:30 PM Return Bilbao Airport, Sat 15 Aug 12:00 PM — needs changing to ~7:00 AM Prepaid €1,887.32 · €500 hold · SIXT ONE SXT126094407 Licence must be verified in the app before pickup |
| Oban · Susan & Mike 1–4 Aug | Imperial Apartment, 60 George Street, Oban PA34 5SD cottages.com ref 42162897 · out by 10:00 AM Tue Door panel 1268Y · key box 6034B Keys on the kitchen table on departure, spare back in the box Owner Stuart 07528 773543 · Gemma/Sandie 07810 347842 (text) |
| Oban · Dan & Amy | Perle Oban |
| Edinburgh · 4–9 Aug | 16 North Saint Andrew Street, Flat 3, floor 2, Edinburgh EH2 1HJ New Town, five minutes' walk from Waverley · flat 3, second floor |
| San Sebastián · 8–15 Aug | Villa Sol — Altxuene Kalea 10, Donostia-San Sebastián 20009 Host Rosalind · conf. HM5J52RC5R · lockbox entry, codes 48h before In after 3:00 PM the 8th · out before 10:00 AM the 15th 5 bedrooms, garden, BBQ, parking · 8 guests max, no pets Antiguo — not the centre; ~2 km to the Old Town |
| Fri 7 Aug · The Tattoo | A Call to Gather · 9:30 PM Edinburgh Castle Esplanade · East Stand, Section 6, X11–X14 Mobile tickets in the Tattoo Tix app, registered to amyfinnwelch@gmail.com |
| Sat 8 Aug · All Rise | 6:30 PM · Usher Hall, Lothian Road EH1 2EA Grand Circle F63–F66 · order 26-TF-9WLD · £378 Latecomers may not be admitted · event page |
| Fringe · six shows | Booked in Amy's edfringe account. Show links and QR codes on the scan sheet. |
Nothing here needs booking and almost none of it costs anything. Turn up.
| Oban | Markie Dans — trad most nights from about 9:30 PM. Basement; stairs. The View — ceilidhs and touring Scottish bands. Street level. Programmed, so check. Aulay's Bar — local, no stage, occasional session. |
| Edinburgh | Sandy Bell's, 25 Forrest Road — trad sessions most afternoons from 2 PM and every evening from 9 PM. Free. The Royal Oak, 1 Infirmary Street — folk every night. Free. Most manageable of the three. The Jazz Bar, 1a Chambers Street — jazz every night, late. Basement. Small cover some nights. |
| San Sebastián | Semana Grande, 8–15 Aug — free concerts nightly at Plaza de la Trinidad, Sagüés, Plaza del Arriaga and the Arenal. Fireworks over La Concha every night at 10:45 PM. Altxerri Jazz Bar — jazz and blues most nights. Dabadaba, Egia — the city's indie venue. Programme |
| Mon 3 Aug · 8:00 PM party of 4 | Coast, 104 George Street, Oban PA34 5NT — reserved |
| Tue 11 Aug · 1:00 PM party of 4 | Zazpi STM, Plaza Zuloaga 1, Donostia — to book +34 943 506 767 · TheFork · lunch 12:00–3:00 PM · closed Mondays Tavern and terrace by phone only. ~€44pp, €80 tasting menu. |
| Thu 13 Aug · evening party of 9 | Group dinner, San Sebastián — to book |
The International Fireworks Competition, 60th edition, runs every night of Semana Grande — 8 to 15 August. A different country's pyrotechnic team competes each night, fired from a barge in the middle of La Concha bay and judged. It is free, it is the biggest thing in the city, and it happens on all eight of our nights.
| Every night | 10:45 PM · roughly 20 minutes · La Concha bay |
| Best flat vantages | Alderdi Eder gardens by the town hall — benches, level, short walk from the Old Town The promenade railing anywhere along the bay — arrive by 10:15 or you're three deep The Kursaal bridge — excellent angle, far less crowded Paseo Nuevo around Monte Urgull — flat, and better than most people realise Ondarreta beach — the closest to the villa, and the quietest |
| Which country, which night | The competing teams are listed in the official programme, published shortly before the festival. Check the programme once we're there and we'll pin the good nights. |
| Nights we might miss | Wed 12th — we'll be driving back from the eclipse. Sat 15th — we fly out that morning. Every other night is ours. |
| Mark — taxi, Edinburgh | +44 7894 953418 |
| Emergency, UK & Spain | 112 |
| Oban apartment owner | 07528 773543 |
| Alamo Waverley | 0131 341 4441 |
A friend's list, not a guidebook's. Order the specific thing named; that's the point of it. One drink and one pintxo per bar, then move.
| Antonio Bar centre | Prawn ravioli · oxtail in pastry · tortilla de patatas · scallops · piperras |
| La Espiga centre | Anchoas Getaria · pintxo delicia · morros |
| Kata 4 centre | Knife-cut jamón · oysters · ham and baby squid croquettes |
| Borda Berri Old Town | Idiazabal cheese risotto · pork rib kebap · pig's ear — "actually, anything" |
| Goiz Argi Old Town | Pintxo Marijuli · grilled baby squid · red pepper stuffed with cod |
| La Cepa Old Town | Jamón · torrijas |
| Martinez Old Town | Champi · hake |