Experience the best of Pamplona

Pamplona stands on the plain of Navarre, with the Pyrenees to the north, and its old quarter is ringed by walls and the star-shaped Ciudadela, a sixteenth-century fortress now a park. The Gothic cathedral has a fine cloister, and the Plaza del Castillo, with its cafés and arcades, is the city's meeting place. Pamplona lies on the Camino de Santiago, and pilgrims pass through its streets before heading west.

The San Fermín festival, from 6 to 14 July, is the city's great event, when the encierro sends bulls and runners through the narrow streets to the bullring each morning, an event made famous by Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises. The Café Iruña on the Plaza del Castillo was one of his haunts. North of the city, the Roncal valley and the beech forest of Irati lead into the Pyrenees, and to the south the Bardenas Reales is a semi-desert of eroded cliffs.

Pintxos, small bites on slices of bread, are served in bars along the old streets, with txistorra sausage, piquillo peppers, white asparagus and local cheeses such as Roncal and Idiazabal. Navarre rosé and pacharán, a sloe liqueur, are the regional drinks. July is the city's hot and festive month, and the green hills around town are best in spring and autumn.