Viana
Camino Frances
Viana is a thriving city that serves as a good stopping point. A pair of albergues, a few churches, the occasional closing of the city streets to run with the bulls, and a handful of good restaurants offer a break from walking.
There is a nice green park, small but a great place to rest, on the west end of the town near the albergue and church ruins. It also offers great views of the plains to the west and the mountains to the north.
The restaurant Armendariz has a sidreria in the basement, where you can serve your own cider. To do so is a two person job whereby you position your glass near a bucket in the center of the room, and the person seated nearest the spigot in the wall lets flow an arc of cider on a trajectory towards said bucket.
Viana has no shortage of celebrations, and it is entirely possible that when you arrive the main street will be closed to everyone but bulls and mad men.
The most important: San Felices is celebrated on the 1st of February, Magdalena and Santiago from the 21st to the 25th of July. And the Fiesta for the Virgen de Nieva (snow), a movable feast that is celebrated from the Saturday to Wednesday that includes the first Sunday after the 8th of September.
Viana, being a frontier town along the border with La Rioja, has been built with obvious fortifications. The most strategic of these is its perch high above the surrounding hillside.
Although the city walls served their purpose well, holding off several prolonged sieges, the town changed possession several times since its founding in 1219. It did so largely with the shifting possession of the surrounding land.
Not long after leaving Viana you will have left Navarra behind and entered into La Rioja. The way into Logroño, its capital, is without much heavy industry.
Accommodation in Viana.
| Alberguería Andrés Muñoz 9€ 46 |
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| Albergue Izar 15*€ 44 |
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