Free Walking Tour Pamplona: Citadel, Bulls and Hemingway

Your Pamplona Walking Tour, from Fortress to Bandstand

1. 1

   Ciudadela de Pamplona

   

   You begin inside a fortress that is now a public park. The Ciudadela de Pamplona, also called the New Castle, is a bastion fort from the 16th and 17th centuries, and a large part of it survives. Walk along the old walls and you are tracing a five-pointed star: each bastion was angled so that its guns covered every possible approach. Today the old military buildings host cultural activities, and entry to the park is free.

   The order came from Philip II in 1571, as part of a wider plan to rebuild and strengthen the city walls. The design was by the military engineer Giacomo Palearo, known as el Fratin, working with the viceroy of Navarre, Vespasiano Gonzaga y Colonna. They followed the latest Italian Renaissance theory of fortification, the same ideas Francesco Paciotto had just used for the citadel of Antwerp.

   Look for the detail that tells you who the fort was really for. Two of the five points face inward, towards the city itself. Back in 1569 the engineer Antonelli had told the king that Pamplona needed a main fortress both against outside threats and to keep control within. Navarre had been conquered only decades earlier, and attempts to win it back had found active support among locals, so the guns watched the streets as much as the horizon.

   The citadel is also listed in Spain's UNESCO inventory for the Camino de Santiago, a reminder that pilgrims have passed through this city for centuries. From here it is 1090 m, about 15 minutes, to the bullring, the longest leg of the walk.

   Hours

   Mon–Fri: 07:30–21:30 | Sat: 08:00–21:30 | Sun: 09:00–21:30

   Price

   Free

   Website

   turismo.navarra.es ↗

   Location

   Ciudadela de Pamplona on Google Maps ↗

2. 2

   Plaza de Toros

   

   The Plaza de Toros is world famous for one reason: the bull runs of San Fermín every July end here. Planned in 1920 in the Second Ensanche, the new part of town, it opened for the festival on 7 July 1922. With room for about 19,720 spectators it ranks as the fourth largest bullring in the world by capacity, and it fills its seats more consistently than any other in Spain. It also hosts concerts and shows, and since it was built it has belonged to the Casa de Misericordia, the city's charitable institution, which manages it.

   The architect from San Sebastián, Francisco Urcola, used the new material of his day, reinforced concrete, but dressed it in classical forms. The main façade works like a great triumphal arch, with an upper gallery and plateresque cresting along the top; giant Ionic columns frame the main body, Doric ones run around the ring. In 1966 Rafael Moneo, with the engineer Carlos Fernández Casado, enlarged it from the original 13,620 seats, exposing the concrete as a series of triangular ribs. The green metal roof dates from the early 1980s and replaced the original tiles, a colour many locals still find too loud.

   The building has a darker chapter too: in the first months of 1939, at the end of the Civil War, it served as a concentration camp for Republican prisoners. And when safety works were carried out in 2004 and 2005, a 16th-century fountain and canal turned up, which supplied the Navarrería district until 1852, along with a bridge from the same century.

   Going inside costs admission and suits anyone curious about the festival or the architecture; guided visits run in Spanish. From the bullring, Calle Estafeta is just 240 m away, about 3 minutes.

   Hours

   Mon–Fri 10:30–17:00 | Sat 10:30–19:30 | Sun 10:30–20:00. Guided visits (Spanish) at 11:00, 12:30, 16:30, 18:00. Times may vary depending on cultural events.

   Price

   Adults 8 EUR, under 12 4 EUR, under 6 free; reduced (groups >25, retirees 65+, students <30) 6 EUR

   Website

   visitalaplaza.es ↗

   Location

   Plaza de Toros on Google Maps ↗

3. 3

   Calle Estafeta

   

   Calle Estafeta is the street you have seen on television: the long, narrow stretch of the San Fermín bull run. It is about 315 m long, one of the longest streets in the old town, starting at the famous Mercaderes bend and ending at the stretch known as Telefónica. It rises with a gentle 2% gradient, and for most of its length it runs between two walls of houses, with nowhere to escape.

   That is exactly what makes it special for the runners. Here the herd, with its steers, often splits up and slows down, and the mozos use the moment to run directly in front of the horns. Locals call it coger toro, taking the bull. The paving tells its own story too: the old cobblestones were replaced by smooth slabs.

   Few streets in Pamplona have changed their name as often. Since the 14th century it has been the Rúa de Araya y de las Eras, the Carpentry of the Navarrería and the street behind the castle, named after the castle of Louis Hutin that stood nearby. In the 17th century a church of San Tirso gave it its next name. Only in the 18th century did it become Estafeta, because the post office, the estafeta, opened here.

   Walk it slowly and imagine the walls lined with spectators. From the end of the street it is 390 m, about 5 minutes, to the cathedral.

   Hours

   Open 24/7

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Calle Estafeta on Google Maps ↗

4. 4

   Cathedral of Pamplona

   

   The Cathedral of Pamplona, dedicated to Santa María de la Asunción, is the seat of the archdiocese of Pamplona and Tudela, and it is regarded as the most complete cathedral complex preserved in Spain. Besides the church, cloister and sacristies you find elsewhere, it still has the rooms of the canons' shared life: the cellar, refectory, chapter house and dormitory. In other Spanish cathedrals these were torn down over the centuries.

   Look at the main façade first. The west front is neoclassical, built at the end of the 18th century, and counts among the purest examples of that style on the peninsula. Behind it, the picture changes: a few Romanesque rooms survive, but most of the complex, including the church and the cloister, is Gothic, built between the 14th and 16th centuries.

   The reason to go in is the cloister, considered a marvel of European Gothic art and often called the finest 14th-century cloister anywhere. Do not miss the kitchen either: it is one of only three Gothic kitchens surviving in all of Europe. Entry to the museum and cloister is free, a guided visit is offered in Spanish, and the tower climb requires prior registration. If you only go inside one building on this walk, make it this one; allow about an hour.

   From the cathedral it is 430 m, about 6 minutes, to Café Iruña.

   Hours

   Museum/cloister (summer season, from the last week of March): Mon–Sat 10:30–19:00, Sun closed. Winter (from the last week of October): Mon–Sat 10:30–17:00, Sun closed. Guided visit (Spanish) 12:00, tower climb 11:15 (with prior registration). Church separately for services: weekday masses 9:30 and 19:30, Sundays/holidays different.

   Price

   Free

   Website

   catedraldepamplona.com ↗

   Location

   Cathedral of Pamplona on Google Maps ↗

5. 5

   Café Iruña

   

   Café Iruña opened its doors on the eve of San Fermín in 1888, and according to accounts of the time it was packed from the first day. It sits on the ground floor of the building raised by the Crédito Navarro, designed by the architect Maximiano Hijón and remodelled between 1932 and 1934 by Víctor Eusa. The building was the first to use iron in its floor structure, and the café was apparently the first business in Pamplona with electric light.

   Inside, the décor takes you back to the turn of the 20th century, and it quickly became the meeting place for residents and visitors alike. Its most famous regular was Ernest Hemingway, who returned to Pamplona again and again for San Fermín. The café's lore holds that he began several of his novels here, among them The Sun Also Rises and The Old Man and the Sea.

   Head for the Rincón de Hemingway, the Hemingway corner, where period photographs hang on the walls and a life-size statue of the writer by the sculptor José Javier Doncel presides over the room. Entry is free; order a coffee and take your time, either inside or at a terrace table. On the first floor of the same building is the Nuevo Casino Principal, and the café's look makes it a favourite setting for film and documentary shoots.

   Step back outside and you are already at the last stop: the Plaza del Castillo is just 70 m away, about a minute.

   Hours

   Mon–Thu: 09:00–00:00 | Fri–Sat: 09:00–02:00 | Sun: 09:00–00:00

   Price

   Free (entry, cafe)

   Website

   cafeiruna.com ↗

   Location

   Café Iruña on Google Maps ↗

6. 6

   Plaza del Castillo

   

   The Plaza del Castillo is where Pamplona gathers, which is why locals call it the city's living room. Laid out in the mid-16th century, it has been the heart of social life ever since and still hosts the city's big moments. With almost 14,000 m² it is the second largest square in the city, after the Plaza de los Fueros.

   Turn slowly and look at the edges. The square is arcaded on every side, yet no two buildings match: they went up one by one, in different periods and at different heights, rather than as one planned project. On the south side you see a façade of the Palacio de Navarra, on the north side the old Casino building, and on the east side the Palacio de Goyeneche, a baroque mansion. From the southern end, Avenida Carlos III leads into the Second Ensanche.

   The square has always been a hinge. It lies between the old medieval burgos of San Nicolás and the Navarrería and joins the old town to the new district, built on a grid plan in the early 20th century. Today it is pedestrian, with flowerbeds shaded mostly by plane trees.

   In the centre stands the bandstand, there since 28 June 1943: 18 m tall, its dome carried by Ionic columns. Find a bench under the trees and let the walk end here.

   Hours

   Open 24/7

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Plaza del Castillo on Google Maps ↗

Shorter Ways to Walk Pamplona

The full route is compact, but you can trim it to match your time or interests.

The full route

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

For a first visit with half a day to spare. 30 min of walking over 2.2 km; the bullring is the only stop with admission, and the cathedral cloister is worth the extra hour.

Bulls, cathedral and Hemingway

Stops: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Skip the fortress park if San Fermín is what drew you here. Starting at the bullring, the walking adds up to 1130 m and 15 min; admission applies only if you go inside the Plaza de Toros.

Old town only

Stops: 3, 4, 5, 6

For a short morning or a late arrival: 890 m and 12 min on foot, from the bull-run street to the cathedral and the main square, with no admission at any stop.

How Long This Pamplona Walk Takes, With and Without Visits

The pure walking time is 30 min, and the longest leg, 15 min from the citadel to the bullring, comes first. After that the stops sit close together in the old town, so the rest of the day is about looking, not walking.

Realistically, give the citadel park about 20 minutes, the bullring visit 45, the cathedral cloister and museum an hour, and Café Iruña time for a coffee. That brings you to a little over three hours. Staying outside the bullring and cathedral, you finish in about an hour and a quarter. The variant starting at the bullring takes roughly two and three quarter hours with both visits, the old town version about an hour and three quarters with the cathedral and a coffee.

Before You Set Off in Pamplona

• Start: The recommended start is the Ciudadela de Pamplona, but you can join the route at any stop.
• Finish: The walk ends in the Plaza del Castillo, not at the start; the GPS navigation in your browser can lead you back to the citadel if you need to return.
• Time of day: Walk in the daytime, so the cathedral cloister and museum and the bullring are open for visits; keep the evening for Café Iruña and the square.
• Admission: Only the Plaza de Toros charges admission. The citadel, Calle Estafeta, the cathedral, Café Iruña and the square are free to enter.
• Cathedral tower: The tower climb needs prior registration, so sign up before you arrive if you want to go up.

Pamplona Questions Before You Go