Pamplona is a lovely city and a great starting point. unfortunately, within a minute of leaving our hotel, it became evident that every other pilgrim in the universe thought the same thing, and we spent all morning on a giant Camino conveyor belt, which felt very much like the world's largest IKEA store! the crowd started to thin out a bit after lunch though, and following our detour from the town of Muruzàbal to the medieval, octagonal Iglesia de Santa Maria de Eunate, we found ourselves pretty much alone for the remainder of the afternoon into Puente la Reina. Apart from one fairly steep, rocky descent, that went on for probably a couple of kilometres after the Alto del Perdón sculpture, it's a relatively flat and easy-ish day. if you use walking poles you'll probably need them at this point! there are five towns along the way, but we chose to stop in Zariquiegui (not sure how to pronounce that) as it had a nice cafe, which is not only well advertised, but also right on the Camino! We always carry water and snacks too, of course, our favourite Camino snacks being the baked, salted corn from Mercadona stores (see photo) and dried apricots. Yum! In Puente la Reina we stayed at the Hotel Jakue, which is the first place you come to when approaching the town, and is around a kilometre before it. We stayed in the 'glamping' area, which was essentially some form of function hall that had been partitioned off into separate 'rooms' that resembled big tents. As all partitioning was fabric (apart from a lockable wooden door) sound proofing was non-existent, but our room DID have a huge bath in it so that was pretty awesome! There's a nice bar here too! The only downside is that if you want to visit the actual town, you have to walk a kilometre from the hotel, then the kilometre back again afterwards.

Walking

Pamplona, Navarre, Spain

time : Sep 10, 2024 8:18 AM

duration : 8h 5m 22s

distance : 26.5 km

total_ascent : 795 m

highest_point : 822 m

avg_speed : 4.5 km/h

user_id : fineartjones

user_firstname : Neil

user_lastname : Jones

Pamplona is a lovely city and a great starting point. unfortunately, within a minute of leaving our hotel, it became evident that every other pilgrim in the universe thought the same thing, and we spent all morning on a giant Camino conveyor belt, which felt very much like the world's largest IKEA store! the crowd started to thin out a bit after lunch though, and following our detour from the town of Muruzàbal to the medieval, octagonal Iglesia de Santa Maria de Eunate, we found ourselves pretty much alone for the remainder of the afternoon into Puente la Reina. Apart from one fairly steep, rocky descent, that went on for probably a couple of kilometres after the Alto del Perdón sculpture, it's a relatively flat and easy-ish day. if you use walking poles you'll probably need them at this point! there are five towns along the way, but we chose to stop in Zariquiegui (not sure how to pronounce that) as it had a nice cafe, which is not only well advertised, but also right on the Camino! We always carry water and snacks too, of course, our favourite Camino snacks being the baked, salted corn from Mercadona stores (see photo) and dried apricots. Yum! In Puente la Reina we stayed at the Hotel Jakue, which is the first place you come to when approaching the town, and is around a kilometre before it. We stayed in the 'glamping' area, which was essentially some form of function hall that had been partitioned off into separate 'rooms' that resembled big tents. As all partitioning was fabric (apart from a lockable wooden door) sound proofing was non-existent, but our room DID have a huge bath in it so that was pretty awesome! There's a nice bar here too! The only downside is that if you want to visit the actual town, you have to walk a kilometre from the hotel, then the kilometre back again afterwards.