We will be in San Sebastian for a couple of days with friends who will be ending their vacation with us, first in France then in San Sebastian. My husband and I have decided to add on a couple nights after our friends leave us at Pamplona as we've never been and the drive back home to Bordeaux is still palatable from Pamplona. We will have most of day one in Pamplona (leaving in morning from San Sebastian) then our thought for the second day is to schedule a day wine tour to the Rioja region with our second night in Pamplona. We would leave the morning of the 3rd day. My questions are:
1) Is one day enough time to get a feel for Pamplona? Are there any tours of the town you would recommend taking?
2) Should we consider something else aside from a wine tour day trip?
3) With two 'extra' nights, is Pamplona the best add-on to San Sebastian to experience more of the Spanish Basque country or should we consider another town? Our requirement is that it's less than a 5 hour drive for us back up to Bordeaux area. Thanks for any advice!
Posted by
northern CA
2766 posts
Francisco Glaria is the RS native expert on Pamplona and he does his own tours -- and has a family home that functions as a b&b some parts of the year.
He has a facebook page and a youtube channel and a website
He and the DW also do a live cooking show on Sunday mornings that is plenty of fun.
Posted by
la rioja
590 posts
Hi Kimberly,
first I would say that Pamplona is a bit over rated. One day would be enough.
Have you thought about going from San Sebastian to La Rioja. It is a two hour drive to Logroño. In Logroño you have the Bodegas Franco Españolas and Viña Ijalba, and both have English language tours. Later you can visit Calle del Laurel and compare pintxo experience with San Sebastian.
The next day you could return to Pamplona (1 hour) visit the old town and have lunch. Then head up to the Baztan Valley and spend the night in Elizondo. From there it will get you back to Bordeos in less than 5 hours.
Depending on how fast or slow you want to drive, there are several places to stop along the way. For example between Pamplona and Logroño you have the hermita of Santa Maria de Eunate, or the towns of Viana or Estella.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7148 posts
I agree that a day is sufficient for seeing Pamplona. There are plenty of small towns and other sights one can visit in the area. Dlindstrom has good ideas for that area. If you visit Santa María de Unate (small and doesn’t take long to visit), there’s a nice Romanesque bridge in nearby Puente la Reina (5.7 km away) and a nice overlook at Alto de Perdón (10 km away). All three places are on the Camino de Santiago.
It’s been a few years, but in Pamplona we stayed at Pamplona Catedral Hotel. It has it’s own parking lot and right by the gates pilgrims on the Camino walk through when entering the town.
If you make it to Estella the cloister and carved serpent pillar at the altar in church San Pedro de la Rúa are worth a visit. In Estella we parked in the free lot between the bus station and river. The bus station address is Pl. Coronación, 1.