Pyrenees Guide

Although many associate Navarra with the bulls in Pamplona, Navarra's real charm is its small towns, with fine monuments ranging from the Romanesque to the Renaissance. Several worlds intersect in Navarra: Pamplona, The Middle Zone, The Navarra and The Riverside.

In the Middle Zone, Southeast of Pamplona, along the road to Aragon (N240), there are a handful of interesting places such as Sanguesa, the Javier Castle and the grand Leyre Monastery. The N111 is the main route west out of Pamplona. Dotted with the charming villages of Puente La Reina and Estrella, it's one of the more enticing stretches for those walking the Camino de Santiago.

The soft greens and bracing climate of the Navarra Pyrenees lie like a cool compress across the sunstruck brow of the south, which is all stark plains, cereal crops and vineyards, sliced up by high, forbidding sierras. avarra is pilgrim territory: for centuries the faithful have used the pass at Roncesvalles to cross from France on their way to Santiago.

The scenic Sierras de Aralar and Andia were much beloved by Hemingway, an avid trout fisherman. From Lekunberri, the area's main town, which also has a tourist office, the NA1510 leads southwest through the most scenic countryside, culminating (after 21km) in the austere 9th centurySantuario de San Miguel de Aralar, which lies in the shadow of Monte Altxueta (1343m) and has attractive circular naves and a 12th century altarpiece. Most buses between Pamplona and San Sebastian-Donostia stop in Lekunberri, but you will need your own vehicle to explore the sierras. 

Navarra Pyrenees - The Pyrenees rise up to the North of Navarra in a mountainous region where the visitor will encounter a landscape of soaring peaks and deep  valleys, shady woods and dazzling alpine meadows, ravines and gorges. The Pyrenees Mountain range descends gently from East to West. From the border ...

Navarra Middle Zone - The Middle Zone of Navarra is a broad sweep of rolling hills and gullies with fields of cereal crops and vines that make up a land of transition between the Navarra Pyrenees to the north and the Riverside Zone (Ebro valley area) to the south. The region comprises two historic merindades ...

Navarra Riverside Zone - The Riverside Zone in southern Navarra is an area of open plains, crossed by the River Ebro andits main tributaries, the Ega, the Arga, and the Aragon. Along the banks of these rivers a combination of large areas of irrigated land and thickets creates a characteristic vegetation pattern in a ...

Pamplona and Around - Pamplona is the political, administrative financial and cultural centre of Navarra. The old walled city, previously secluded, now extends across the Arga river basin and joins up with the surrounding towns to form a conurbation that is home to a quarter of a million people, wich is half the ...