Dry San Sebastian in the Hotel Maria Cristina is Javier de las Muelas's classic-cocktail room in the 1912 Belle Epoque hotel, with the city's only proper hotel-bar carte by an internationally known mixologist.
Tip: Open daily 10:30 to 00:30, to 02:00 Friday and Saturday. The afternoon-tea hour overlaps with the cocktail service; smart casual at the door.
Address: Paseo Republica Argentina 4, 20004 Donostia, San Sebastián
Arraun Cocktail Bar on Calle Angel in San Sebastian is the Old Town's quiet-conversation cocktail room, with a Magellan-themed list and house cocktails that rotate around ports of the 1519 voyage.
Tip: Open every evening from 19:00, weekends to 04:00; walk-in only, no reservations. Arrive before the 21:00 dinner exodus from the pintxos crawl.
Museo del Whisky on the Boulevard in San Sebastian is the two-floor piano bar with one of the world's largest whisky collections, over 3,400 bottles on display across the Old Town edge.
Tip: Closed Sunday; live piano music every night from 22:00. The upstairs collection room is the conversation seat, the downstairs piano room takes the show.
La Gintonería Donostiarra on Calle Zabaleta in San Sebastian is the Gros gin lounge with over 150 gin labels and theatrical aromatic-infusion gin and tonics built behind a candle-lit dim-light bar.
Tip: Open evenings from 18:00; book ahead at weekends. The flight format lets you taste three gins side by side before the full pour.
Côte on Calle Fermin Calbeton in San Sebastian is the Old Town's gay-and-friendly cocktail bar, an inclusive late-night room with themed weekend DJ parties at the end of the pintxos strip.
Tip: Open Wednesday through Sunday from 22:00; Friday and Saturday from 19:00 to 04:00. Fills after the late-dinner exodus from the Fermin Calbeton crawl.
Akerbeltz on Calle Mari in San Sebastian is the Old Town's queer-leaning waterfront bar with craft taps, the beer menu hand-painted across the slanted ceiling and a port-view terrace.
Tip: Terrace fills at sunset over the Old Port; arrive before 20:00 for a chair. The crowd is mixed gay-and-straight with the late-night rock and electronic mix.
The Museo del Whisky Piano Room in San Sebastian doubles as the city's nearest analogue to a listening bar, two floors of curated drinks taken to live piano and song every evening since 1980.
Tip: Live piano sessions every night from 22:00; the upstairs displays the 3,400-bottle collection. Conversation volume drops once the pianist starts.