Tip Nº 01
Walk to Mercado de la Bretxa on the morning of arrival, not the supermarket — Lidl on Easo and Eroski on Salud sell standard groceries, but Bretxa's underground fish hall and cheese counter sell ingredients you cannot replicate at the supermarket and the prices are competitive.
Tip Nº 02
Cook a Basque dinner at least once: fresh anchovies (€4 for 100g at Bretxa), Idiazabal cheese (€15 a wedge), txakoli (€8 a bottle at Lidl, €10 at Bretxa), tomato salad with cebolleta and walnut oil. Total spend €15 a person, comparable to a single Old Town pintxos bar bill but you actually sit down.
Tip Nº 03
Colo Colo's kitchen runs busiest 19:00-22:00 — arrive earlier to get hob space, or do a 22:30 second wave when the early cookers head out for night-cap pintxos. The two ovens make Sunday-roast-style dinners possible (one chicken, one tray of vegetables).
Tip Nº 04
Albergue Ulia's breakfast buffet is included in the room price and is genuinely a meal — cereals, fresh bread, ham, cheese, fruit, juice, coffee. Eat properly here at 08:30, skip the €5 hostel café breakfast at the Centro pod hostels, walk down through the forest to Zurriola for surf check by 10:00.
