Navarre

A Table Worth Travelling For

The cooking here belongs to a tradition that takes its larder seriously. Piquillo peppers roasted over wood fires, white asparagus from the Ebro valley so tender it barely needs dressing, and lamb raised on mountain pasture that finds its way into slow stews and wood oven roasts. Navarran wine, produced in the south of the region under its own appellation, ranges from crisp rosados to structured reds that hold their own against anything from neighbouring Rioja.

Running Bulls and Riotous Colour

The Fiesta de San Fermín in July is one of the most recognisable festivals in the world, and Pamplona transforms completely for it. The running of the bulls is the spectacle that draws the cameras, but the week is really about the whole city abandoning ordinary life for parades, music, fireworks and communal meals in the streets. Outside fiesta season, the old city rewards slower exploration: the medieval walls, the Gothic cathedral, and the contemporary museum of Navarre all make strong cases for more time.

Pyrenees to Riverbank

The geography of Navarre covers remarkable range for a region of its size. The northern valleys are green and forested, pressed against the Pyrenean peaks that mark the French border. The middle section opens into rolling agricultural land where most of the wine and vegetables are grown. The south grows drier and more austere, sliding toward the semi-arid Bardenas Reales, a natural park of eroded clay badlands that feels closer to a desert film set than anywhere in northern Spain.