Navarre and its attractions

Navarre (Spanish: Navarra), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Nouvelle-Aquitaine in France. The capital city is Pamplona (Basque: Iruña).

Navarre is one of the wealthiest regions in Spain per capita, with a diversified economy primarily focused on the energy sector, healthcare services and manufacturing. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the autonomous community was 20.3 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 1.7% of Spanish economic output.

Activities

The San Fermín festivities are celebrated in Pamplona every year for a week starting at noon on the eve of July 7, with bullfights as the main reason. It is an internationally known celebration, especially since it was popularized by the American writer Ernest Hemingway, fan of it. Every year, thousands of people visit the city during the festival.

The Navarrese Pyrenees is another area of active tourism in the community. Also within rural tourism, the Irati Forest stands out. In that same area are the Zugarramurdi caves and the museum of witches.

As cultural tourism, the different routes of the Camino de Santiago in Navarre stand out, especially the most popular and well-known one that begins in Roncesvalles and runs through the community through towns such as Puente la Reina where it joins the one brought from Sangüesa for those who decide to follow the Aragonese road. The Jacobean route of the Ebro crosses the Ribera Navarre.

What to see (in alphabetical order)

Abbey of Santa María la Real de la Oliva

Arantza and its attractions

Arazuri castle dates back to the 15th century

Artajona and its walled enclosure

Bera and its attractions

Castle of Xavier and art collection

Elizondo and its noble houses

Estella-Lizarra and its attractions

Etxalar has a National Tourism Award for beautification of the town

Fort of Alfonso XII

Lesaka and its architecture

Monastery of Leyre – a Benedictine monastery

Monastery of Santa Maria de Irache and its winery

Pamplona – the capital of Navarre

Puente la Reina and its Roman bridge

Roncal – Erronkari and its Church of San Esteban

Roncesvalles and the legend for the death of Roland

Royal Palace of Olite

Sangüesa and its attractions

Tudela and its attractions

Ujué and its church-fortress of Santa Maria

In winter ski resorts are available:

Abodi Salazar with four cross-country tracks

Larra-Belagua with 24 km of cross-country skiing

Transport and how to get to?

By air

Pamplona Airport is a Spanish Aena airport located 6 kilometers from the city of Pamplona, within the municipalities of Noáin and Esquíroz. It is a public airport owned by the Aena company. In 2019, it registered 242,520 passengers (18% growth compared to the previous year) and 6,135 operations (4.5% less than the previous year).

By trains

Navarra has three railway lines totaling a network of 175 km. The lines are: Madrid-Irún/Hendaya, Alsasua-Zaragoza and Bilbao-Castejón. The entire network is electrified but only a small fraction —the Madrid-Irún sections and from Castejón to the Navarro-Aragonese border— have double track.

Renfe Operadora provides two types of service in the Autonomous Community. The most frequented in terms of number of passengers transported are those of Media Distancia. The busiest route is Logroño-Castejón-Zaragoza. In fact, between Castejón and Zaragoza there may be seven Regional Exprés circulations per day and direction.

In second place comes the Castejón-Pamplona-Vitoria, in which 4 or 5 trains run every day between the first two terminals, and three trains between the capital and Vitoria. A third route tangentially serves Navarra, specifically Burunda, with Regional Express trains in the Irún-Vitoria corridor, at a rate of three daily frequencies in each direction. All these services are managed by the North and Center Managements of the Media Distancia business unit.

However, the star service is the Talgo Altaria, inaugurated in 2003, which connects Pamplona with Madrid-Puerta de Atocha four times every working day. Of these, two end in the Navarran capital, while a third continues to Irún and the fourth to Vitoria. All the trains make the journey between Pamplona and Madrid in less than 4 hours, using the AVE route from Ricla to Madrid, where they reach speeds of 220 km/h.

Distance by car from the capital Pamplona to the main cities of Spain

From Madrid 4 hr 6 min (397 km) via A-2

From Logroño 58 min (85.1 km) via A-12

From Santiago de Compostela 6 hr 33 min (693 km) via A-6

From Oviedo 4 hr 18 min (436 km) via A-8

From Santander 1 hr 38 min (156 km) via A-1

From Vitoria-Gasteiz 1 hr 6 min (96.9 km) via A-1 and A-10

From Zaragoza 1 hr 48 min (178 km) via AP-68 and AP-15

From Barcelona 4 hr 32 min (482 km) via AP-2

From Valladolid 3 hr 12 min (333 km) via A-62

From Toledo 4 hr 35 min (459 km) via A-2

From Valencia 4 hr 37 min (487 km) via A-23

From Mérida 6 hr 29 min (723 km) via A-66 and A-62

From Murcia 6 hr 44 min (722 km) via A-23

From Seville 8 hr 15 min (915 km) via A-66 and A-62

Main information

Area: 10 391 km²

Coordinates: 42°49′00″N 1°39′00″W

Population: 661 197

Languages: Spanish, Basque

Currency: Euro

Visa: Schengen

Time: Central European UTC +1

Read more: Interesting places in the Pyrenees and around with Jane Cautch ...