San Sebastián invented pintxos — the Basque version of tapas — and the bars of the Parte Vieja are the best place in the world to understand what that means. The ritual is simple: order a txakoli or a beer, pick pintxos from the bar display or order from a blackboard, eat standing up, move on. Most people do five or six bars in an evening. The quality is extraordinary because the competition is fierce — every bar in the old town is trying to outdo its neighbours.
Txakoli is the essential drink. This dry, slightly sparkling white wine from the Basque country — poured from a great height to oxygenate it, producing a dramatic cascade into the glass — is the correct accompaniment to pintxos. It's low in alcohol, tart and refreshing. A glass costs around two euros in most bars.
For something more serious to drink, the sidrerías (cider houses) in the hills around the city open from January to April for the sagardotegi season. The ritual is to fill your glass directly from the huge wooden barrel (catching it in a wide stream from arm's length) and eat simple Basque food — cod tortilla, txuleta (a large bone-in steak), and sheep's cheese with walnuts and quince. Most of the sidrerías are accessible by taxi or the occasional bus.