The pleasures of Logroño, the discreet, fun and delicious capital of wine and tapas

Discretion and small pleasures.

Those seem to be the keys for Logroño to always appear as one of the Spanish cities where life is best.

The capital of La Rioja is a city without great fanfare, neither too big nor too small, without great architectural symbols or tourist icons of those that cross borders.

But looking closely, the traveler can appreciate that here there is not only good wine, but also good tapas and pinchos, restaurants with Michelin stars, elegant modernist buildings, arcaded streets, green spaces embracing the city and even pilgrims crossing the medieval streets of the small town. historical.

The Ebro is the axis (quite decentralized) of everything: on the other side of the river, towards the north, Navarra and Álava already appear, so Logroño has always grown towards the south, leaving that border strip of the river for walks, wineries prestige, some quite interesting cultural center and, above all, so that the people of Logroño can contemplate from this side of the Ebro open landscapes that make one feel at all times in contact with the countryside.

And to do this, they only have to cross one of its historic bridges: the stone or the iron one, very much in the style of Eiffel.

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The Ebro was what gave it wealth and prestige for centuries and to which it is due that today it is a pleasant city that combines culture and good life in just the right doses.

The streets of the historic center form a labyrinth in the shadow of majestic monuments, such as the co-cathedral of Santa María or its oldest churches, although they remain overshadowed by the claim of bars and restaurants that display the typical regional cuisine.

And here and there, there is always something to pay attention to: a museum, a monument, a shady square, an arcaded street... or a game of the giant goose in the Plaza de Santiago.

Logroño as a whole is a secluded and monumental city at the same time, installed in a corner that seems not to be passing through anything and yet it is in a strategic point between Zaragoza, the Basque Country, the north of Castilla y León and Navarra. and that it is an essential stop on the Camino de Santiago.

There are plenty of reasons to stop in the city of wine.

Information in the Lonely Planet guide

and in lonelyplanet.es.

Small, but monumental

The great advantage of Logroño is that it is just the right size: you can easily explore it all on foot, stopping quietly here and there to look at its churches and museums;

to have a wine and a pincho, or simply to take a picture in its most striking corners.

Starting with the oldest is usually a good criterion for organizing any walk: here we should start with the old town, made of stone, and where we will probably find more than one pilgrim on the way to the municipal hostel or looking out at the church of Santiago the Royal.

It is considered to be the oldest temple in the city, although today it sports a grandiose Renaissance structure.

Ruavieja street is one of the most beautiful in Logroño, the gateway to the Jacobean route, where the pilgrims' hostel is also located today.

This pedestrian path is full of openwork, ancient underground cellars carved into the rock under the buildings.

Nine of them are currently preserved;

the best known is the Calado de San Gregorio, from the 17th century.

Gothic portico of the church of San Bartolomé, one of the oldest in Logroño.Alamy Stock Photo

Also medieval and very old is the Romanesque church of San Bartolomé, with a striking doorway and an unusual Mudejar-style tower.

Its construction dates back to the 12th century, although its façade, a masterpiece of Gothic sculpture, was completed three centuries later.

And very close to there is the third of the great churches of Logroño: Santa María de Palacio, with a curious octagonal and pointed dome, known as La Aguja, which is one of the symbols of Logroño.

This medieval temple has a long and intricate history where reality and fantasy mix.

The best is inside: the magnificent altarpiece of the main altar.

It is time to look out at a peculiar square: the Plaza de la Oca, in the surroundings of the church of Santiago, a small square that is well known to pilgrims heading to Santiago de Compostela.

A game of the goose is traced on its floor

giant whose 64 squares are illustrated with landmarks of the Camino.

Portales de Logroño street with the towers of the co-cathedral of Santa María la Redonda in the background.

FJ Jimenez (Getty Images)

In Logroño there is no cathedral, but a co-cathedral, which in this case shares a privilege with those of Calahorra and Santo Domingo de la Calzada, both in La Rioja.

The co-cathedral of Santa María la Redonda

It does not have a medieval appearance because, although construction began in the 9th century, it was remodeled on many occasions.

Its twin towers on the façade have risen above the city since the 18th century, with their baroque style, framing the carved doorway.

Inside, the people of Logroño boast of having a work attributed to Michelangelo: a small canvas guarded in the ambulatory, a Crucifixion known as the

And already heading west, on the way to Santiago, at the Revellín gate, the people of Logroño stop to tell you about its importance: for them it is one of their emblems.

It is a gateway to the old city and one of the few remains of the old walls, specifically one of the towers.

Its name will be in diminutive, but not its historical and monumental value.

Through the temples of tapas: a walk along Laurel street

What is international is the fame of Logroño's tapas area: the famous Calle Laurel and other nearby ones, such as those of San Juan or San Agustín, because so many bars and so many good pinchos do not fit on a single street.

It is what is known as "the path of the elephants", because everyone comes out of the trunk.

There are almost 70 bars, each one with its specialty, so you have no choice but to choose.

Ham croquettes at the bar of a bar on Calle Laurel, the tapas area of ​​Logroño, capital of La Rioja.

David Silverman (Getty Images)

It is difficult to choose where to stop, although sight, smell and taste can easily guide us.

Among the most typical stops in Laurel are El Soriano (at number 2) and Bar Ángel (number 12) for the mushrooms (a veritable tower of grilled mushrooms on a slice of bread).

Their secret seems to be the secret sauce with which they are seasoned on the fire.

And in Black and White (Laurel, 1) they boast of their

, some wonderful fried green pepper, anchovy and anchovy sandwiches that are a Logroño tradition.

The patatas a la brava can be those of the Jubera (number 18), served in a small clay pot full of crispy potatoes on the outside and tender on the inside, covered in brava sauce and mayonnaise.

Essentials.

Like the grilled salchichón from the San Agustín cantina, which is served with a very tasty picadito, or like those from Tío Agus: some Moorish kebab sandwiches that are served with a special sauce that only they have.

Vegetarians and vegans have it easy in any bar, but especially in the Taberna de Baco.

Logroño shines its stars

Although the tapas are essential, the quality of the Riojan products also gives rise to a spectacular restoration.

There are restaurants everywhere, and several proudly display their Michelin stars: Ajonegro, Ikaro and Kiro Sushi (the red guide also lists La Cocina de Ramón among its recommendations).

Ajonegro has recently joined starred restaurants.

The couple formed by the Mexican Marian Sánchez and the Riojan Gonzalo Baquedano are responsible for a kitchen that fuses Mexican and Riojan gastronomy.

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Another couple is also behind another of the city's gastronomic

restaurants, Ikaro, where Carolina Sánchez from Ecuador and Iñaki Murúa from La Rioja prepare fusion cuisine with ingredients from all over the world but paying great attention to detail and technique and with a menu Very varied depending on the season.

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And not everything is Rioja cuisine: Kiro Sushi means "way back" in Japanese.

Chef Félix Jiménez brought many ideas and many techniques from his learning in Japan to offer in this small restaurant for only 10 diners the best sushis,

,

or

.

Another classic is La Cocina de Ramón, in the middle of Portales street, with different atmospheres and dishes with seasonal ingredients.

And there are many more: the restaurant of the Basque chef Aitor Esnal;

the Enascuas, which serves traditional cuisine al sarmiento;

For more informal snacks we have La chispa adecuada, a small gastrobar serving kitchens and dinners in the center of the city, and, on Calle Laurel itself, two classic restaurants: the Iruña restaurant and the Matute restaurant,

traditional quality-assured roasters.

Shopping, terraces and a good lemon ice cream

In addition to tapas,

is practiced in Logroño .

For example, on Bretón de los Herreros street, where the theater of the same name is located, the main one in the city.

There is also a good

in Plaza del Mercado and in Calle Portales, at the foot of the Co-Cathedral.

Not far from Portales, the Café Moderno, open for more than a century, is still active as a meeting place for writers and artists.

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But if there are two places that everyone passes by in Logroño, they are the arcades on Calle Portales and Paseo del Espolón: this tree-lined square, with the equestrian statue of General Espartero in the middle, was

It was inaugurated at the beginning of the 19th century and since then it has always been crowded with people from Logroño who walk under its trees.

Café Ibiza 1941 and Wine Fandango are two good places to meet in this center of public life in Logroño.

For original and classic purchases, you have to pay attention to wandering around the center: for example, on Portales street there are two classics: the Dulín hat shop, with more than a century of tradition, and the centennial La Mariposa de Oro confectionery, which it sells some superb eclairs and a thousand leaves (you have to order them because the production is very traditional).

Without leaving Portales, we can try the best ice cream in the city in another classic establishment from Logroño, the La Veneciana ice cream parlor.

Its lemon ice cream has been second to none for more than 80 years.

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And aside from wine, which is an almost obligatory purchase, we can stop by Botas Rioja, at number 8 Calle Sagasta, where Félix El Botero is a tradition in the city, now continued by his son Iván.

There they continue to sell the wine boots of a lifetime.

Manufacturer of traditional wine boots in Logroño.

Alamy Stock Photo

wine capital

La Rioja has made wine tourism its hallmark and any of its wineries in Haro, Briones, Cenicero or San Asensio invites you to visit and taste.

But without leaving the capital there are already eight important wineries: Olarra, Campo Viejo, Viña Ijalba, Arizcuren, Franco-Españolas, Marqués de Vargas, Ontañón and Marqués de Murrieta.

All can be visited and offer tastings.

The most central and most striking are the Franco-Españolas Wineries, on the other side of the Ebro, a step away from the historic center.

They were founded in 1890, when the French arrived in the region trying to replace their vineyards devastated by the phylloxera disease.

In 1920, the French sold the shares and they became fully Spanish, but the name was kept.

Its award-winning wines have followed the tradition of a family winery.

There are guided tours, tastings, grape harvests with children, pairings and its own cultural agenda.

Another proposal is Bodegas Ontañón and its particular Temple of Wine, where tastings are combined with the art and mythology of the god Bacchus.

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A green belt next to the Ebro

Not everything is eating and drinking in Logroño.

Logroño has developed with its back to the Ebro, but curiously it has been creating a green belt around the river with three main parks: the Iregua, the Ebro park and the Grajera park.

The Ebro Park is the jewel in the crown, with grassy meadows, paths, children's play areas, a viewpoint that is accessed by large stairs and a game of goose that recalls the different stages of the Camino de Santiago.

The stone bridge that crosses the Ebro river and through which Logroño is accessed on the Camino de Santiago.

Alamy Stock Photo

To the right of the Puente de Piedra, the Paseo de la Florida stretches out, a pleasant cobbled walk that runs along the right bank of the Ebro and is the best point of observation of the Puente de Piedra, one of the five that cross the river and the most picturesque, along with that of Hierro, which is a short distance away.

If you continue along the promenade to the east, you will come to La Ribera park,

one of the green lungs of the city that, in spring and summer, is packed with visitors and locals.

The Iregua park, a little further away, runs from the mouth of the river in the Ebro to the town of Puente Madre, which is practically one more neighborhood in Logroño.

Its layout is part of the GR-99 long-distance trail, which is also known as the Ebro Nature Trail.

Yellow arrow and scallop indicating a section of the Camino de Santiago as it passes through the city of Logroño (La Rioja).

Alamy Stock Photo

You have to get away a bit to explore the park of La Grajera, which is part of the Camino de Santiago and for pilgrims it is a landmark of freshness.

Over the years, it has developed one of the most important lagoon ecosystems in La Rioja, and it is a good place to spend the day and get in touch with nature, just 10 minutes from downtown.

modernism and avant-garde

Apart from churches and convents, there are other buildings that attract attention and are not exactly medieval.

One is the City Hall, modern and avant-garde, integrated into the city with its modern arcades, a huge building designed by Rafael Moneo outside the historic center, which came to replace the historic Town Hall that had become too small (today the Rioja Culture Center ).

In the same area, a huge building with the air of an almost grand palace is striking.

Actually, it is an institute, the Práxedes Sagasta, still in use today.

It is one of the emblematic buildings of Logroño, through which many generations have passed since its opening in 1843.

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Modernism is also very present in the city, in many houses on Portales street and especially in some buildings such as the ESDIR headquarters, the La Rioja Higher School of Design, located in the old school of arts and crafts, very close to the Sagasta Institute and the new town hall.

Also noteworthy are the reforms of two industrial buildings, the old Tabacalera, now converted into an art gallery, and the so-called Casa de las Ciencias, on the other side of the Ebro, a beautiful purple building from the early 20th century that was formerly the slaughterhouse and Today it is a center for children's workshops, exhibitions and educational activities.

And as for museums, perhaps you should look at the Museo de La Rioja in the Espartero palace, a baroque building where this general of Queen Isabel II retired to live out his retirement.

There are three floors of archaeological and artistic collections.

It is also worth taking a trip to an exceptional art museum displaying the impressive Würth collection of contemporary art, in an industrial estate on the outskirts of Logroño, in Agoncillo.

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