Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian runs about 5 times a day, with the first departure around 06:49 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays between €11.89 and €22.34, every fee included, depending on the operator and the way you travel. The fastest door to door is 1h 52m over 156 km, on services run by 3 operators across 2 modes.
What one seat costs
The spread between the cheapest and dearest typical fare on this corridor, across 3 operators and 2 ways of making the journey. The operator sets the price on the day.
Typical fares
€11.89 to €22.34
- 51%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving Santander
No operator has filed a timetable for this direction yet, so the first and last departure below follow the pattern of the corridor. Read them as the shape of the service day rather than as times to turn up for.
- 06:49First departure
- 07:30Last departure
- 5Services per day
- 40%Run direct
SNCF runs this service and does not sell it here. Bookaway takes the payment.
Buying this journey
Bookaway lists departures for Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian on your date, and you pay on their side.
See Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian on Bookaway
Or compare on TrainlineOr compare on 12Go
Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and we earn nothing from this one.
Grimaldi runs this service and does not sell it here. AFerry takes the payment.
Buying this journey
AFerry holds the sailings between these two ports, with the crossing times and the fares.
See Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian on AFerry
Or compare on BookawayOr compare on Direct Ferries
Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and we earn nothing from this one.
Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €17.94Tue15
- about €21.78Wed16
- about €19.59Thu17
- about €22.34Fri18
- about €25.08Sat19
- about €18.49Sun20
- about €17.39Mon21
- about €12.99Tue22
- about €12.99Wed23
- about €16.84Thu24
- about €20.69Fri25
- about €15.74Sat26
- about €17.39Sun27
- about €14.64Mon28
- about €11.89Tue29
- about €13.54Wed30
- about €12.44Thu1
- about €16.29Fri2
- about €12.99Sat3
- about €14.64Sun4
- about €13.54Mon5
Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.
The ferry gets you into Donostia / San Sebastian. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in Donostia / San Sebastian for the night the ferry gets in
Sort by distance from Hernani and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Donostia / San Sebastian on Booking.comOr compare on Expedia
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €15.7490 days
- €12.9960 days
- €14.0945 days
- €12.9930 days
- €13.5421 days
- €14.6414 days
- €17.397 days
- €19.593 days
- €17.941 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €12.99.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time is 51 percent. The dearest point is €19.59, 3 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 60 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 30 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.
The shape of it
156 km
149 km as the crow flies, 5% further by the route services actually take. The bearing runs east.
Who lives at each end
173,635 → 185,357
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
How we know
0/4
4 of these connections were inferred from service-area overlap rather than observed in a timetable. We would rather say so.
The route
What the journey actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 43% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 57% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 156 km against 149 km in a straight line, a detour of 5 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Bermeo, Algorta, Getxo, Santurtzi. The gap between arriving and leaving is 49 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 19 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
Who runs this route
The ferry gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Left luggage near Hernani
Most of the points near Hernani open before the first train and shut after the last one.
Check Donostia / San Sebastian on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian
The questions people actually ask about this journey, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian?
The fastest journey from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian takes 1h 52m door to door, of which 1h 10m is spent moving, on the train. Most services take around 3h 31m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian?
The cheapest fare from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian is €11.89, as of 14 September 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €25.09. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian?
The cheapest way from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian is by ferry, at €12.99 for one passenger on 29 September 2026. That journey takes 6h 17m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
What is the fastest way to get from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian?
The fastest way from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian is by train, at 1h 54m door to door. Only 1h 10m of that is spent moving; the remaining 44m is reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end. The cheapest fare on that mode is €21.77.
When should I book Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian?
Fares from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian bottom out around 60 days before departure, at €12.99. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the dearest lead time is 51 percent, measured on 14 September 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian?
Tuesday is the cheapest day to depart from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian, at €12.99. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of 14 September 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian?
December is the cheapest of the next 6 months to travel from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian, at €11.88 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs services from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian?
3 operators sell services from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian across 2 modes: Grimaldi, Renfe Feve, SNCF. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.
Is there a direct service from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian?
43 percent of the services we sell from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian are direct. The rest connect at Bermeo, Algorta, Getxo, Santurtzi, with about 49 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
How much CO2 does the journey from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian produce?
Travelling from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian by train produces about 5.1 kg of CO2 per passenger, the lowest of any mode on this corridor. The same journey by Ferry produces about 17.9 kg, roughly 3 times as much for one passenger.
Which station or terminal do services from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian use?
Services from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian by train leave from Santander and arrive at Hernani. Allow about 44m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian?
3 of the 3 operators we sell from Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
Derived from service area No carrier record names this exact pair. The operators listed publish a service area covering both places at a distance their mode plausibly carries people, which is evidence that the corridor is served and not evidence of a specific service. Pages state which, because presenting the two as the same thing would be dishonest.
Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Santander to Donostia / San Sebastian on 14 September 2026: 156 km of route against 149 km in a straight line, 7 services a day, 3 operators a cheapest fare of €11.89, and 1h 52m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Being on the water gives Donostia / San Sebastian a set of days out that do not start at a station. We do not sell those either.
Day trips out of Donostia / San Sebastian and across Spain
Day trips that leave Donostia / San Sebastian in the morning and cover a good part of Spain by evening.
See Donostia / San Sebastian on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
The two ends, compared
Santander reaches 120 places in 12 countries on services we hold, over distances from 64 to 2,384 km. Donostia / San Sebastian reaches 98 places in 4 countries, from 15 to 874 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Santander
- 120Places you can leave for
- 12Countries
- 14Operators
Arriving in Donostia / San Sebastian
Leaving Donostia / San Sebastian
- 98Places you can leave for
- 4Countries
- 8Operators