Pamplona, Haro, Laguardia (Rioja) and Zaragoza

May 30, 2026 6:12 pm Paula

Pamplona

Pamplona (Spanish) or Iruña (Basque) is the capital of Navarre province in northern Spain with a population of 210k. This was our first non coastal city on our tour and the first to bring warm weather with the sunshine. You never saw two people pack up their winter woolies faster than we did.

Pamplona is best known for the Running of the Bulls every July. During this legendary multiday festival, bulls are led through the city streets by daredevil runners over an 875-meter course. The intense, dangerous and chaotic dash lasts just 2 to 3 minutes. We watched a video at the bullring and found it shocking.

In 1923, at the age of 24, Ernest Hemingway first came to Pamplona as a Toronto Star reporter, in search of news material. Three years later Hemingway published his first successful novel, The Sun Also Rises, in which he romanticized the Pamplona bull runs. It is said that Hemmingway’s visits to the city, news articles and subsequently his novel, transformed the Pamplona’s San Fermín festival and the running of the bulls, into a global phenomenon.

Plaza de Toros & Hemingway Statue. This is one of the world’s largest bullrings and is where Hemingway watched and wrote. The city is filled with Hemmingway tributes and even walking tours!

Running of the Bulls Monument

Pamplona’s food scene continued to intice us with exquisite pintxos and filling Meals of the Day. We are waddling now!

I finally had a glass of, Txakoli, a crisp, bone-dry, and slightly effervescent white wine from Spain’s Basque Country. And I witnessed the “Basque pour”; from high above into the glass to mix the natural micro-bubbles and release its aromas. It was delicious!

A major stop along the Camino de Santiago, Pamplona is also home to Gothic-style churches including fortress like San Nicolás. Pamplona Cathedral, a Roman Catholic, 15th century Gothic church.

Typical Lottery ticket salesperson, they come into restaurants too

The Taconera Gardens, designed in 1830, with a French-style orchard in the centre of the city. Once the wall was completed in the 19th century, it became part of the gardens.

This garden also has a small open-air museum, with various sculptures. And an ‘open-air zoo’ with ducks, swans, deer, peacocks and rabbits.

We had fun exploring and learning about Pamplona. Everyone was celebrating in the beautiful weather. The hotel left packages of earplugs so we were prepared for late night parties. We joined the crowds each evening only we bailed much, much earlier than them lol.

Haro (Rioja)

The “Wine Capital of La Rioja”! We knew we were in it the minute we stepped off the train when at least 3 massive wineries welcomed us to Haro. That historic neighbourhood, known as the Wine Region, holds the highest concentration of century-old wineries in the world. It was easy to walk between bodegas for tastings and cellar tours. Plus it was only a 10-15 minute walk from the heart of the historic centre, where our hotel was.

In the 48 hours we were in Haro, we visited 5 wineries plus took a cellar tour only 5 minutes from our hotel. Haro is a paradise for wine and food lovers. We had some excellent meals in a relaxed, authentic Spanish small town atmosphere.

Naturally, Haro’s economy is mostly linked to farming and industry, particularly wine production. Over 600 hectares of land are used for grape growing and the quality wine produced is world famous. Rioja is Joe’s go to variety at home and I was pleased to discover Rioja’s white and blush wines are also delicious!

Despite AC failure in our hotel room, we had a great time here!

Laguardia (Rioja)

Laguardia is a 10th century walled, medieval village with cobblestone streets. The charming village is perched high on a hill, so a walk along the path outside the walls, provides you with panoramic views of the Sierra de Cantabria mountains and the lush vineyards of the Rioja Alavesa region.

The wide eyed young woman that checked us into our hotel, whispered in a mysterious tone about the things awaiting for us to be discovered. Secret tunnels, locking gates, a singing clock and stunning sunsets. We were hypnotized!

Laguardia was founded in the 10th century and has more than 300 underground tunnels! Originally built for protection, at one time they connected the whole city. Later the tunnels were used to make wine and presently you can visit private cellars, like we did in our hotel.

We visited two wineries that still use the tunnels to age their wines.

The Church of Santa María de los Reyes has one of the few original and perfectly preserved polychrome porticos. Once the tour guide open the doors through the porticos, we were amazed at the size of this beautiful church.

Carilion clock figures pop out and dance to music, several times a day. People wait eagerly for the right time and it was evident taking a photo with the statue looking up at the clock, was mandatory lol. 

Living up to its name of one of the most beautiful villages in Spain, with close to 70 bars and a population of only 1,500 people, should give an idea of life in this wonderful village!

Here’s a few dishes I’ll categorize as ‘lost in translation’ because we couldn’t translate from the menu or we missed one little word in the description. Still all enjoyable, just a surprise!

Fun Fact: when we were with Victor and Marnie in A Coruna, they told us gracias was actually pronounced “grathias“, except for parts of southern Spain and Latin America! We were shocked by that but boy, did we ever notice the ‘th’ sound in that word after that. Thanks you two!

Zaragoza

Zaragoza is a large, friendly city with a population of 725,000. This ancient city is rich in history and is known for the colossal Basilica del Pilar.

Another church just down the street…

Zaragoza has one of the most diverse gastronomic scenes in Spain. We loved the famous El Tubo tapas alley. Tapas in Zaragoza are served from 1-4pm and from 8pm-Midnight so we planned accordingly and managed to visit all 3 nights, just for a tapa and beverage. We knew what to have and where and they lived up to our expectations! Those alleys are insanely busy !

Potatoes Bravos, yes the best we’ve had!

Mushroom tapa at El Champi – they only make this one tapa and it’s incredible! Bread topped with 3 mushroom caps, a shrimp, then doused in garlic oil and parsley sauce….opps, you’re drooling!

Croquettes: pork and chicken curry

Delicious lunches!

We found a cocktail bar (they are rare) and the bartender was thrilled to make Joe a Manhattan

Marketplace of course!

The pedestrian streets of Don Jaime and Calle Alfonso were cool to walk along and pop into shops. Joe was thrilled to find a funky wallet like his dad used to have in the ’50’s, that hides your money! Our grandchildren will love it!

IMG_1402 Watch the magician at work!

Lots to see!

When we travel, we visit a lot of churches, cathedrals, basilicas, etc. and you may have noticed, we take many photos. Why? Because they are so ancient, stunning, breathtaking and massive! They are like nothing we see in North America. Here’s a short prospective:

When the first European churchs were built in North America in the early 1600s, Europes churches were already over a millennium! The Cathedral of Saint Domnius in Split (Croatia) was built in 305 making it over 1700 years old.

The oldest church in Canada is The Cathedral Basilica of Notre-Dame in Quebec City, established in 1647. In the US, San Miguel Mission in Santa Fe, New Mexico was built in 1610. Our oldest churches are barely 400 years old!

Fun Fact: Spain recorded the highest number of overnight stays in Europe in 2025, reaching a record-breaking 513.6 million nights. Italy was 2nd at 476.9 million nights and France a close 3rd at 471.7 million.

We are preparing to leave for Madrid in the morning. There we will meet our new travel companions and begin our 9 Day River Cruise down Portugal’s Douro River. We are excited! We will see you again then!

Paula and Joe

ps Sorry this was so long! 

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