Prices from: was £339* now £312

San Sebastian is a lively city with a population of 185.000 and 17.500 university students. As the cultural capital of the Basque country, it has a wide offer of cultural programmes, mostly channelled through culture houses and events. It is very well connected with Madrid, London and Paris. Skiing resorts can be found 2 hours away and there are plenty of other places to visit. Few cities can offer so many alternatives in one single area: marvellous scenery, beaches, mountains, folklore, remarkable customs and traditions, important musical and cinematic events – a jazz festival, a film festival, a musical fortnight- as well as countless others such as “Semana Grande”, Carnival, “Caldereros” (Tinkers’ Festival), San Sebastian Day, and its internationally acclaimed cuisine.

10+1 Reasons to choose San Sebastian:

• Perfect combination of SEA, MOUNTAIN and CITY (with plenty to do).
• Friendly city: not too big, not too small, everything within a walking distance, helpful people.
• Beauty: San Sebastian is a model of urban design with interesting architecture set in a beautiful landscape. People often compare it to Rio de Janeiro.
• Safety: the lowest crime rate in Europe. You can walk anywhere day or night, alone, without any problems.
• Gastronomy: not just the best restaurants - tapas, pintxos, typical menus and the food cooked by the host families all show general appreciation of good food.
• Excursions: San Sebastian is a great base for excursions to local fishing villages, the mountains, the Guggenheim Museum, Paris, skiing in the Pyrenees…
• Old Town: a pedestrian area full of shops, tapas bars and vibrant night life.
• Interesting local culture: a different take on Spain, the Basque culture and traditions dating from a time unknown the Basques have been able to preserve.
• Wide range of cultural activities throughout the year: famous film and jazz festivals, notable sporting events, for example, regattas, cycling, football, surfing, and many traditional festivities.
• An ideal location for visiting two countries on one trip (20 km to France), to travel to Hemingway’s Pamplona, Madrid, Barcelona or Paris. 11) Mild weather all year round, never too cold (average temperature in winter 8ºC) nor too hot (summer avg. 22ºC).

*price per person, 1 WEEK B&B, 20x45 mins SPANISH LESSONS

Language training

Our San Sebastian school is accredited by INTERNATIONAL HOUSE (IH), a world-wide organisation with over 140 language schools in more than 40 countries. Unlike other organisations, in IH, each affiliated school operates independently but under direct supervision from International House's expert staff. IH excels in the field of methodology and Teacher Training Courses and defines the standards and procedures in effective language education. As a member of the organisation, our San Sebastian school offers an internationally standardized method of Spanish language training.

Each year 60,000 children, teenagers, university students, professionals, executives, managers and pensioners choose to study at an IH school, and about 3,000 teachers take IH training courses. Many of the books that are used to teach English, Spanish, Italian and many other languages, have been written by teachers from IH schools.

In addition to high quality, enrolment on our San Sebastian courses offers many benefits:

• Free tutorial available once a week to give extra help to those students requesting it.
• Progress Tests every two weeks to assess improvement.
• Change of level when necessary, after consultation with the Director of Studies.
• Participation in cultural activities at the school.
• Graded reading books to borrow.
• Opportunities for “intercambio” with Spanish people.
• Final certificate, indicating the level the student has studied at and reached with description of all levels.

Included in the course:

• Welcome Pack with a student handbook, maps, and the programme of activities.
• A warm welcome through a welcome meeting and an orientation tour of San Sebastian.
• Opportunity to participate in the school’s extra-curricular activity programme at a small cost.
• Use of computers, and free access to the Internet and the WiFi network.

Additional information

Bank Holidays: Jan 1, 6 and 20; March 19; April 2 and 5; October 12; November 1; December 6 and 8
Opening hours: 08:30 – 19:00 (Monday–Thursday) and 08:30–18:00 (Friday)

Lessons lost during holidays will not be compensated for. School will organize excursions, lectures, etc. to try to compensate.

In winter it is advisable to bring warm clothes (average temperature 8ºC) and some waterproofs in case of rain. Snow is a rare event, and it may sometimes be possible to go to the beach in February. In autumn and spring the average temperatures range from 12º to 16ºC. During the summer (May-September), the school becomes very lively with 150 to 200 students. A light pullover may come in handy in the evenings in June and September although the average daytime temperature is 22ºC and, apart from an occasional hot day, moderate temperature allows for a good use of the beach and outdoor activities. Water temperatures range from 9-13ºC in winter to 19º-22ºC in the summer.

Shared Apartments

Apartments have bed linen, a washing machine, a fully equipped kitchen and bathroom. The common areas such as the kitchen are shared. The occupants are responsible for cleaning their rooms and sharing the household chores with their flatmates.

Host Families

We offer the following choices: bed and breakfast, half board (breakfast and dinner) and full board for groups and juniors (breakfast, dinner and packed lunch)

Accommodation Conditions

• Accommodation is valid from Sunday at 14:00 until Saturday at 12:00. The prices indicated are for this period. If you need extra days for scheduling reasons, please let us know as soon as possible.
• Shared apartments: a deposit of 150 € (charged on Visa or MasterCard) will be required upon arrival, and will be returned at the end of your stay if there has been no damage to the premises occupied.
• The apartments are shared either with students from the school or with San Sebastian residents.
• The accommodation includes bed linen, but students are required to bring their own towels. - The location of the accommodation is within 30 minutes walking from the school
• Students not coming alone can reserve double rooms. Please, indicate the name of your companion on the application form.
• High season for apartments: May 31st - September 27th.

	Host Families
	Bed&Breakfast		Half Board
	Single	Double	Single	Double
Placement fee	£42	£42	£42	£42
Per Week	was £149 now £139	was £108 now £101	was £189 now £176	was £139 now £130

	Shared Apartments
	October - May		June - September
	Single	Double	Single	Double
Placement fee	£42	£42	£42	£42
Per Week	was £98 now £91	was £63 now £59	was £125 now £117	was £83 now £78

Shared apartments – summer dates: From May 31 to September, 27 June-September prices will apply. From January 1 to May 31 and September 27 to December 31, “October-May” prices will apply.

Transfers and Parking Services

The school can organise a private arrival and departure transfer service from the nearby airports (San Sebastian, Bilbao or Biarritz) or train stations (Irún or Hendaya) for individuals or groups. Please, provide your flight number, airport, and the day and time of your arrival minimum seven days in advance. This service takes students directly to, or picks them up from, their accommodation.

Transfer Prices:

MEETING AND TRANSFER SERVICE	1 PERSON	2 PEOPLE	3 PEOPLE
BILBAO AIRPORT	was £108 now £101	was £68 now £63	was £51 now £47
BIARRITZ AIRPORT	was £83 now £78	was £54 now £51	was £38 now £36
SAN SEBASTIAN AIRPORT	was £49 now £46	was £29 now £27	was £25 now £23
IRUN/HENDAYA TRAIN STATION	was £49 now £46	£was £29 now £27	was £25 now £23

These prices are for arrivals and departures between 08:00 and 22:00. Outside these hours, the above prices will be an increased by 25%.

Directions:

Boat:
Portsmouth – Bilbao (Santurtzi): every 3 days.
www.poferries.com
Plymouth - Santander & Portsmouth - Santander
www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/routes/portsmouth-plymouth-santander

Air:
San Sebastian Airport (EAS Tel +34 943 66 85 00 Fax +34 943 66 85 61), 19 km away, for connections through Madrid or Barcelona. www.aena.es gives information on all flights and airports in Spain. Also flights to Alicante & Malaga in the summer

Biarritz airport (BIA Tel +33 559 43 83 83 Fax +33 559 43 83 86, www.biarritz.aeroport.fr), 50 km away, connects with London Stansted (www.ryanair.com), Bristol and London Gatwick (www.easyjet.com)

Bus:
There are regular international connections to and from London.


How to get there (national and local connections):

BILBAO AIRPORT – San Sebastian
There is a simple connection from Bilbao Airport to San Sebastian, taking less than 2 hours, for only 10,20 €. A bus departs every 20 minutes from the Arrivals Terminal to the Bus station in Bilbao and connects with another bus to San Sebastian (from 6.30 to 22.00 every 60 min). When you change buses the distance is only 20 metres. Please, check the timetable from www.pesa.net (Tel. 902.101210). This is the most economical way to reach San Sebastian, and now quite convenient.
***In summer, there is a Pesa bus that goes direct from Bilbao Airport to San Sebastian for 15 €.***

SAN SEBASTIAN AIRPORT (FUENTERRABIA) – San Sebastian
It is 19 km from San Sebastian. There is a bus “Fuenterrabía-San Sebastián” (1.75 €) that stops close to the airport every 30 minutes and takes about 45 minutes to get to San Sebastian. If your luggage is very heavy, it might be better to take a taxi (28 €).

BIARRITZ AIRPORT – San Sebastian
For updated information, please check details from http://www.biarritz.aeroport.fr

Bus:
Two possibilities: Pesa (Tel.: 902-101210) to San Sebastian and ATCRB (Tel +33559 260699) to Biarritz. From the airport to the town centre, take bus Number 6 (every 20 minutes), it is a 10-minute trip and costs 1,20 €.

Train:
The airport is only 1 km away from the train station. The best choice is to take a taxi to the train station, but also 5 buses run the same route every hour. The timetable may change depending on the dates. Please, check the details from www.voyages-sncf.com for train timetables.