Frequently Asked Questions

Once you have booked your tour, we will send you a confirmation e-mail with additional information on where to meet. In the case of our Cider House Tour, you will receive additional information about transportation to/from the cider house. If you are staying in the central districts of Donostia – San Sebastián, we may arrange meeting at your location if it makes sense.

Donostia – San Sebastián’s weather is changeable like the sea it is next to. In general, the most common weather phenomenon is txirimiri — the Basque term for a light, misty rain. Heavy rains tend to occur, but at a lower frequency. Snowfall is a rare occurrence — recently happened during one day in 2018 and another day in 2023. It does get windy, especially the closer you get to the sea or the river.

We think this changeable weather adds tremendous character to the city and is part of the excitement of off-season travel.

We recommend consulting online weather reports in advance and bringing the necessary gear such as raincoats, layered clothing, and sturdy umbrellas. If rain is in the forecast, we will provide two umbrellas.

With the exception of the Cider House Tour, you should expect a moderate amount of walking and likely standing while eating.

The Pintxos Tour in Parte Vieja will have us walking an average of 5-10 minutes between establishments and staying put about 30 minutes. This is the typical custom of the txikiteo — where locals visit their favorite places for a drink and a taste of their specialty dish(es) before moving on to the next joint.

The City Walk + Pintxos Tour might have us walking an average of 10-20 minutes between establishments and staying put about 30 minutes. Since City Walk Tours include visiting beautiful and fascinating points of interest in addition to eating delicious dishes, you should plan for more walking.

If you have any mobility requirements or would like us to know about any particular needs regarding walking, please contact us and let us know. We will try our best to accommodate your needs. That said, please note that many establishments and locations might not be accessible.

Yes! We love it when our guests have done some research and have particular dishes and places in mind. You may include such requests in the Note field while booking.

Depending on the location and opening hours of the place(s) you have in mind, we will try our best to accommodate your requests. We will also provide additional background information and/or recommendations based on your own preferences and needs.

Since we are local residents, we are also in-the-know when certain establishments may be closed for their vacations or due to refurbishments and can share this information with you. This might help you plan your stay.

Though children are welcome on our tours, there may be certain challenges to face. Our Pintxos Tour involves elbowing up at busy establishments and likely standing while eating. 

Our City Walk + Pintxos Tour involves stretches of urban walking along with potential lack of seating space at the establishments we visit.

Our Cider House Tour is well-suited for our younger guests since there is round-trip transportation involved as well as children-friendly menus available.

Ultimately, you know better than us as parents and/or guardians whether your children are up to the experiences we have described.

All younger guests age 12 or below can be registered free of charge though you would be responsible for their food and beverage bills.

It is very important that you let us know about any dietary requirements and/or food allergies. This will help us plan the appropriate establishments and routes to match your needs. During the booking process, you will have the opportunity to enter these requirements in the Notes section of the booking.

That said, it may be challenging to accommodate certain requirements given the local gastronomic culture. It may be very difficult to find vegan options, for instance. It may also be very difficult to guarantee that some food items have not been cross-contaminated by allergens or gluten.

Please review our Booking Terms and Conditions for additional information regarding our liability.

Not really. Our pricing includes the relevant credit card fees and IVA (i.e., VAT) taxes. If, however, you request a refund in accordance to our Cancellation Policy, we will need to deduct credit card fees from your refund since those fees are non-refundable.

Our planned itineraries do not include locations or establishments that charge any admissions or usage fees. Though gratuities are not expected, they are appreciated.

We pride ourselves on being flexible and attentive to your needs. That said, we do need to protect our own business by having the following Cancellation Policy:

To cancel your Booking, you must email us your complete booking details at [email protected]. A booking is considered successfully canceled or amended only after we send successful notification via email and cancellation/amendment fees are assessed.

Cancelation fees will be applied per booking, based on the date we receive your written notification. Unless otherwise noted, cancelation fees are based on the following schedule:

Refund based on date and time written notification received before tour date*

• Up to 24 hours before start time — 100% of the booking price refundable less applicable credit card processing and/or other fees (minimum of 7.8% of booking total)
• Within 24 hours of start time — no refund
• No show — no refund

Refunds will be sent back to your credit card (if you paid online) unless otherwise agreed. You will take care of any costs/commissions required for the refund transfer.

We don’t cancel tours and services because of weather, unscheduled closures of tourist attractions or transport delays. For this and other reasons, we encourage you to purchase trip cancellation and interruption insurance and travel protection.

All tours are sold as an entire package; as such there will be no offers of partial refunds for portions of a service that a guest has decided not to utilize. If a guest has pre-purchased food and/or beverages to any establishments visited, or booked similar tours from an outside vendor, we are not responsible/liable for the reimbursement or prorating of any such fees.

If an establishment or attraction that we planned on visiting is closed due to force majeure, including strikes or other unforeseen closures, Off-Season Tours will do its best to contact guests soon as possible, and offer a suitable substitution, reschedule the tour, or provide a refund, pending availability and at full company discretion.

*Tour Date is the date and time the tour/package is specified to begin on your booking confirmation regardless of the date that you may depart from your location of origin.

For more, please consult our full set of Booking Terms and Conditions.