Navarre

Navarre (Spanish: Navarra, Basque: Nafarroa) is a region in Northern Spain. Navarre is one of the historic Basque districts, with its Basque features conspicuous in the north, while virtually absent on the southern fringes. Despite its relatively small size, Navarre features stark contrasts in geography, from the Pyrenees mountain range that dominates the territory to the plains of the Ebro river valley in the south. It is bordered by France, the Basque Country, Aragon, and La Rioja.

Regions



 * (Pamplona metropolitan area) — The most populous area of Navarre (half of the people of Navarra live here), with Pamplona, Barañáin and Burlada. It is an urban area and is right in the centre of the region.
 * Mountains: Pirineos de Navarra (Pyrenees of Navarre) and Montaña (Mountain zone) — The north part of Navarra where there is a lot of mountains, like Mesa de los Tres Reyes (2.424 m) and "Pico de Ory" (2.104 m). This is the "Basque" and "green" Navarra where in many villages and small towns Basque is spoken and there is continental weather. It is bordered by France and Basque Country.
 * (Estella Land) — The historic part of Navarre with many medieval monuments and towns. The way to Santiago is here. The most important towns are Estella, Puente La Reina and Viana.
 * (Centre Area) — A transition area between mountain zone and south zone, with important historic towns like Olite (which was the capital of the Kingdom of Navarre, with a wonderful Palace-Castle), Tafalla, Ujue, Andosilla and San Martín de Unx.
 * (South of Navarre) – The south part of Navarre, the only area that was occupied by the Muslims, who founded Tudela, the capital of this zone and the second city of Navarre. It is one of the most important areas of agriculture in Navarre and Spain. There is also a desert called the Bardenas Reales, a pale yellow landscape of canyons, mesas and plateaux.

Comarca de Pamplona

 * — made famous by Ernest Hemmingway in The Sun Also Rises. It is a city with beautiful parks, historical buildings, medieval city walls and a river running through it. It is the first main city on the route of St. James (Camino de Santiago). It hosts the festival of San Fermin, with the running of the bulls (el encierro). The festival is celebrated every year for a week beginning on July 7.
 * Barañáin
 * Burlada

Tierra Estella

 * — named after the bridge on the Way of St. James
 * — named after the bridge on the Way of St. James

Ribera

 * — the second largest city in Navarre with a population not higher than 40,000 people. Tudela is 94 km (60 miles) from Pamplona, it's linked by a good highway and there are good connections by bus and train. It's used to be a big centre of vegetables production although industry has been developed in the city. It has a beautiful cathedral from the Romanic and Gothic period.

Ribera de Navarra

 * – a badlands/semi-desert in the south-eastern part of Navarre

Understand
Navarre is in the transition between Green Spain and semi-arid interior areas, causing a vast difference of landscapes between various parts of the region. The transition also renders a highly variable climate, with cooler spells and heat waves mixing in summer. Winters are mild for the latitude. The famous Jesuit missionary St. Francis Xavier, known for his work in Asia, was a native of Navarre.

Talk
Spanish and Basque (Español and Euskera) are official languages in Navarra. Spanish is more widespread, and everybody can speak Spanish in this land, but Basque is also spoken as a native language by a wide part of the population, especially in the north of Navarra and Pamplona.

By plane
Pamplona has an airport that connects it with Madrid Barajas and Barcelona El Prat by regular flights. There are also connections with some other cities like Lisbon. There are good, regular bus connections with its two closest international airports in Bilbao (, Spain) and Biarritz (, France).

By train
Pamplona has quite good railway system. It has several trains every day to Madrid (3 hr), Barcelona (4 hr), Zaragoza (2 hr) and so on.

See

 * Visit the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves in Navarre

Itineraries

 * Way of St. James (El Camino de Santiago)
 * The French Way and the Ebro Way of St. James of the passes through the region.

Events
The best-known event in Navarre is the San Fermín festival in July held in Pamplona.

Eat
Navarra has a very good reputation for its food and restaurants sharing it mostly with the Basque cook. These are some of the most typical products of Navarre:
 * Sparragus eaten with mayonnaise.
 * Alcachofas vegetable typical from Tudela.
 * Piquillo peppers in the village of Lodosa, really tasty!
 * Txistorra/Chistorra is a kind of red sausage (made with pork), delicious.

Drink
Patxaran is the most typical alcoholic drink of Navarra. It's distilled from blackthorns and it has an intense red colour. It has approximately 30% alcohol.

Wines are also very famous in this region producing wines with Rioja label, and also with their own certification label (D.O. Navarra).

Go next

 * North: across the Pyrenees to Nouvelle-Aquitaine, in France
 * East: to Aragon and Catalonia
 * South: to central Spain and the capital Madrid
 * West: to the Basque Country, Bilbao and San Sebastian