At 8 a.m. July 7, the world-famous San Fermines really begins as six bulls and assorted steer are set loose in an angular corridor through the heart of the city. It’s a wild stampede between man and beast made famous by Ernest Hemingway in Fiesta, published in the US in 1926 as The Sun Also Rises.
In the Middle Ages, farmers in many Spanish towns moved their bulls at dawn from paddocks outside the city gates to central pens for the afternoon’s bullfight. Medieval residents of many towns probably shook their heads as foolish young men ran ahead of the herd, risking a horn in the gut to prove their virility.
But it took Ernest Hemingway to make Pamplona’s San Fermines famous around the globe—especially the Running of the Bulls.
The fiesta runs July 6-14, and here are some of the best possibilities for restaurants and hotels in Pamplona. Some will have last-minute cancellations. Of course, many rates will be higher during San Fermines.
Savoring the Great Produce and Produce of Pamplona and Navarra
- Restaurante Rodero,3 CalleEmilio Arrieta, Pamplona. Phone 34 948-228-035. Rodero’s has been a family-owned restaurant for more than 40 years, with a strong seasonal emphasis in the kitchen. It’s earned a Michelin star for chef Koldo Rodero’s inventiveness. Entrees from $30. Also, a Selected Taster menu or Gastronomic Menu for the table is available, starting at $73 per person. Rodero is closed Sunday nights and Mondays.
- Restaurant at Hotel Palacio de Guendulain, 53 Zapateria, Pamplona. Phone 34 948-225-522. This palace was built in the late 1700s by the Viceroy of New Granada. Dine at Palacio de Guendulain under the chandeliers of the viceroy, surrounded by the family’s School of Goya paintings. A four-course set meal starts about $58.
- Restaurant Europa, 11 Calle Espoz y Mina, Pamplona. Phone 34 948-221-800. Europa is also a recipient of a Michelin star, and is one of the city’s best. Entrees from $26; Tasting Menus from $58 and $80.
- Restaurante la Cocina de Alex Múgica, in the Gran Hotel La Perla, 1 Plaza del Castillo, Pamplona. Phone 34 948-510-125. Chef Mugica specializes in updating traditional Navarra recipes, especially those from Las Pocholas restaurant which once occupied this basement spot in La Perla—this is as close as Hemingway pilgrims will get to dishes he knew. At La Cocina de Alex Mugica, look for lamb stew, chorizzo sausage and salted codfish, ajoarriero, in a sauce with peppers and oil. Set menus for lunch or dinner from $50 weekdays, $58 weekends.
- Baserri, 32San Nicolás, Pamplona. Phone 34 948-222-021. Beserri is alocalinstitution that was cooking when Hemingway roamed the streets of Pamplona. A tapas tasting menu of six with wine is $32 in the restaurant, less if you stand at the bar. Set menus are available, too, from $19.
Principe de Viana de Murchante Winery and Restaurant Worth the Drive South of Pamplona
- Restaurante Principe de Viana de Murchante, 191Calle Mayor, Murchante, Navarra. Phone 34 948-838-640. This winery, established in 1983, is about 60 miles south of Pamplona. Chef Jose Aguado Hernandez brings vegetables from his personal garden to the kitchen—his multi-course vegetable lunch is a revelation of the bounty of Navarra. Entrees from $14. A degustation lunch from salad through dessert in the on-site restaurant starts at $32; a bottle of the house wine is less than $8. The tour of the wine-making facility and tasting is about $7; free if you dine here. Closed August.
Brave the Ghost and Stay in Hemingway’s Room at Gran Hotel La Perla in Pamplona
- Gran Hotel La Perla, 1 Plaza del Castillo, Pamplona. Phone 34 948-223-000. La Perla is Pamplona’s oldest hotel, in the heart of the city. It reopened in 2007 after a two-year restoration. This is where Ernest Hemingway watched the running of the bulls in 1924—you can still ask for his room, No. 201. Actor/directors Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles also booked in at La Perla. Hemingway's Room 201 is $655 per night, plus tax, outside San Fermines; during the festival of San Fermin, it’s $2,251 per night with a five-night minimum stay.
- Hotel Palacio de Guendulain, 53 Zapateria, Pamplona. Phone 34 948-225-522. This 18th-century mansion is now a 25-room hotel in the old quarter, with an elaborate carriage on display in the palace’s rococo setting. The family of the Viceroy of New Granada used the home until its recent hotel conversion, and left much of their art and furniture in the rooms.
- Europa, 11 Calle Espoz y Mina, Pamplona. Phone 34 948-221-800. This family-run hotel of 25 rooms, close to the Plaza del Castillo and the Running of the Bulls, has Wi-Fi in the rooms..
- Hostal Arriazu, 14 Comedias, Pamplona. Phone 34 948-210-202. Near the Plaza del Castillo in the city center.
- Pnsion Otano, 5 Calle San Nicolas, Pamplona. Phone 34 948-225-095 or 34 948-227-036. Pension Otano is a bar/restaurant with rooms above, near the Plaza del Castillo. Some rooms have great balcony views into the city.
Information about Spain, Pamplona and San Fermines
Click for more information about Spain or call the Tourist Office of Spain in New York (212-265-8822); Miami (305-358-1992); Chicago (312-642-1992) or Los Angeles (323-658-7195).
Click for more information about Pamplona.
Betsa Marsh - Betsa Marsh's passion is the UK, but she'll go anywhere for a good story. Her piece on the San Antonio Toilet Seat Museum won the Lowell ...
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