Casa Vergara, Gandarias, Txepetxa, Borda Berri

Almost every pintxo tour keeps its bars secret. This one names all four in advance, which lets you judge it before you book: Casa Vergara, Gandarias, Txepetxa and Borda Berri, half an hour in each.

Those four are not a random selection. Txepetxa built its reputation on anchovies, served a dozen ways and cured rather than fried. Borda Berri cooks everything to order and is one of the addresses that changed what a pintxo could be. Gandarias and Casa Vergara are the classic counters, loaded and busy.

Two hours, four pintxos and four drinks, and at each bar you get the one speciality regulars order there, with the wine or soft drink that fits it. That is the actual service: in a room with forty things on the counter, knowing which one that bar does better than anyone else.

Every pintxo is chosen around your dietary preferences, allergies and intolerances, told to the guide in advance. Basque cooking runs on fish and meat, so vegetarians should say so early.

Between the bars you pass the Plaza de la Constitución and the Basílica de Santa María, and the guide covers what separates a pintxo from a tapa, the different styles, and why this city has the reputation it does. None of that is an agency script. The guide is a local who worked for years in the city's top restaurants, and treats the history of the place as a second subject.

Up to eight guests, guided in English. Wheelchair accessible throughout. Meet on Portu Kalea; the mussel bar on the corner is the landmark to look for.