The Camino Francés

A 17th-century ermita by the river, traditionally considered the border between Navarra and La Rioja (the official modern boundary is closer to Logroño, but nobody uses a paper factory as a landmark). A picnic area with shade trees and benches makes this a pleasant rest stop before the urban approach to Logroño.

The ermita is usually locked but the setting is the draw — riverside, shaded, and quiet.

You've left Navarra behind, and the Basque character that has been fading since Roncesvalles disappears almost entirely. La Rioja is Spain's second-smallest autonomous community and the smallest on the Camino Francés. The camino crosses it in about 60 km — roughly three days of walking.

The region is defined by wine. The Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja is one of only two DOCa classifications in Spain, and the vineyards stretch in every direction from Logroño. Tempranillo is the dominant grape, and the range from young crianza to aged gran reserva provides excuse enough for extended tastings. The bodegas around Haro and Cenicero are open for visits, though they're off the camino route.

The landscape transitions from the green river valleys around Logroño to the drier, vine-covered hills heading west. The food is excellent — Rioja's pimientos, chorizo, patatas a la riojana, and lamb dishes are all worth seeking out, and even small-town bars take their cooking seriously.

To the south of Logroño lies Clavijo, where in 844 (according to legend) Santiago Matamoros made his first appearance. The story tells that during a battle between Ramiro I of Asturias and the Moors, Santiago appeared on a white horse to rally the Christian forces. The legend became the foundation myth of the Reconquista, and the image of Santiago on horseback with Moors underfoot appears in churches and cathedrals the length of the Camino.

For those with time, the Monasteries of Yuso and Suso in San Millán de la Cogolla (about 40 km south) are UNESCO World Heritage sites and among the finest monasteries in Spain. The Suso monastery is where the first written words in both Spanish and Basque were recorded.

Logroño is the capital of La Rioja and the first major city after Pamplona. You enter across the Puente de Piedra over the Río Ebro — a crossing that defined the city's fortunes for centuries.

The old quarter is compact and walkable. The Concatedral de Santa María de la Redonda (it shares cathedral status with Santo Domingo de la Calzada) has twin Baroque towers and houses a small painting attributed to Michelangelo — a Crucifixion, easy to miss in a side chapel. The Iglesia de San Bartolomé has the finest Romanesque doorway in the city. The Iglesia de Santiago el Real, the only one directly on the camino route, has an imposing equestrian Santiago Matamoros over the main entrance.

But the real attraction is Calle Laurel. This narrow pedestrianized street and its offshoots pack in upward of 50 tiny bars, each with its own signature pincho. The tradition is to go from bar to bar — one pincho and one glass of Rioja at each stop. Bar Soriano does one thing (grilled mushrooms with garlic oil and a prawn on top) and does it perfectly. The crawl typically starts around 8 PM and can go very late. If your albergue has a curfew, plan accordingly.

Multiple albergues operate in the old city. Hotels and pensiones cover all price ranges. Full services: hospital, pharmacies, outdoor gear shops, supermarkets, bus and train station. The Pilgrim Office near the cathedral stamps credenciales.

The Alto de la Grajera is less a mountain pass and more a gentle rise through parkland and reservoir on the western outskirts of Logroño. The Embalse de la Grajera was built in the 1880s for irrigation and has since become one of the few wetland areas in La Rioja — a pleasant green space with walking paths, picnic areas, and a bird observatory tucked into the scrub near the water's edge. Herons, coots, mallards, and marsh harriers are common.

The reservoir itself is strictly off-limits for swimming, but the surrounding parkland makes for an easy start to the day. There's a bar-restaurant near the park entrance if you need an early coffee.

Along this section you'll pass one of Spain's famous Osborne bull silhouettes — the black cutout billboards that have become an unofficial national symbol. Originally built as brandy advertisements in the 1950s, they were saved from a billboard ban by popular demand and are now protected cultural landmarks. You'll see more of them across Spain.

Look for the makeshift crosses that pilgrims have fashioned from bark and twigs and fixed to a fence near the high point of this stretch — one of those spontaneous Camino traditions that nobody planned but everybody contributes to.

Navarrete has been fought over so many times that very little of its medieval fabric survives. What remains is a compact hilltop town with a handful of covered arcades along the main street — soportales that hint at a more prosperous past. The town is built around a hill, as was common on this otherwise flat terrain, and the layout is straightforward: you walk in one end and out the other.

The pottery tradition here is the real distinction. Navarrete is the last surviving pottery center in La Rioja and one of the most important in northern Spain. Families like the Naharros and Torrados have been working the local clay for generations. At one point, 70% of the town's population was involved in ceramics. The signature piece is the Navarrete jug — wider than it is tall, with a glazed apron at the rim. If you have room in your pack and want a genuine Riojan souvenir, this is where to buy it.

The Iglesia de la Asunción, started in 1553 and finished a century later, has a Baroque retablo worth stepping inside for. The church keeps limited hours, but it's worth trying the door.

Climb to the Tedeón, where the castle once stood, for a picnic area and views over the surrounding vineyards and farmland. Several albergues and pensiones operate in town. Bars and restaurants line the main street, and a small supermarket covers provisions.

Ventosa has been sidelined by a rerouting of the camino that shaved 800 m off the distance but left the village off the main path. Despite this, most pilgrims still detour through — the two bars, an albergue, and a generally welcoming atmosphere make it worth the small extra distance.

The village sits on a small rise with views over the Riojan vineyards in every direction. The Iglesia de San Saturnino, a 16th-century church with a 17th-century brick tower, stands at the highest point. The main retablo inside, carved by Antonio de Zárraga, is dedicated to San Saturnino — the 3rd-century bishop of Toulouse who is one of the patron saints of the Camino.

This is a practical breakfast stop if you left Logroño or Navarrete early. Don't expect much beyond a bar meal and a place to sit — that's usually enough.

The Alto de San Antón (around 640 m) is a gentle pass between the Navarrete area and the descent into the Najerilla valley. The climb from either direction is easy — this is wine and cereal country, not mountain terrain.

Near the top, the ruins of a former monastery and pilgrim hospital dedicated to San Antón sit beside the path. Little remains beyond foundation walls and scattered stones, but the site gives a sense of how thoroughly the Camino was once served by religious institutions.

The views from here are the reward. To the west, the valley of the Najerilla opens up, with Nájera visible below and the red sandstone cliffs that back the town clearly outlined. On a clear day the Sierra de la Demanda rises beyond. No services at the pass — carry what you need.

The approach to Nájera through its eastern industrial suburbs is uninspiring, but persevere — the old town, pressed against red sandstone cliffs on the west bank of the Río Najerilla, has genuine character.

The Monasterio de Santa María la Real is the highlight and well worth the admission fee. Founded in the 11th century when King García Sánchez III reportedly found a statue of the Virgin in a cave in the cliffs — along with a lamp, a bell, and a bouquet of lilies — the monastery houses the Panteón Real, the royal burial place of the kings and queens of Navarra, León, and Castile. Over 30 carved tombs line the nave, and that of Doña Blanca de Navarra is considered one of the finest Romanesque funerary sculptures in Spain. The cave itself is accessible from inside the church. The Claustro de los Caballeros, built between 1517 and 1528, combines late Gothic vaulting with Plateresque tracery in the arches — one of the finest cloisters in La Rioja.

The caves in the red sandstone cliffs above the monastery are accessible and worth the short climb for views over the town and river. Some of these caves are over 3,000 years old, carved out during the Celtic period for defense. They've served various purposes since.

Several albergues, hotels, and restaurants operate in the old quarter. A supermarket and all services are available. The riverfront promenade along the Najerilla makes for a pleasant evening walk.

Azofra is a quiet Riojan town that makes a practical breakfast stop if you set off from Nájera in the morning. The main street doubles as the Camino route — you walk straight through.

The municipal albergue is well-appointed, with double rooms rather than the usual open dormitories, and has a small plunge pool for hot afternoons. A parish albergue also operates. A couple of bars — Bar Sevilla and Bar Restaurante El Descanso del Peregrino — cover meals, and a small shop handles basics.

The Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles, built in the 17th and 18th centuries, sits at the top of the village with an embattled tower. Inside, a carving of Santiago Apóstol depicts him as a pilgrim rather than on horseback — the walking saint rather than the warrior.

On your way out of town, fill your water bottle at the Fuente de los Romeros, a medieval pilgrim fountain on the outskirts.

A tiny hamlet that has been separated from the camino by residential development. A bar is accessible with a short detour if you need refreshment, but most pilgrims pass without stopping.

The camino no longer passes through Cirueña but runs immediately adjacent. If you need a coffee or breakfast, turn left on the main road and walk about 200 m into the village. Otherwise, press on toward Santo Domingo de la Calzada.

Santo Domingo de la Calzada is one of the essential stops on the Francés — a town built by a saint specifically to help pilgrims, and still doing exactly that a thousand years later.

The Catedral de Santo Domingo is the centerpiece. Inside, a Gothic henhouse of polychrome stone — built in the mid-15th century — houses a live white rooster and hen, rotated every few weeks. They commemorate one of the Camino's most famous legends: a young German pilgrim named Hugonell was falsely accused of theft by an innkeeper's daughter whose advances he'd refused. He was sentenced to hang, and his body was left as a warning. When his parents returned from Santiago and found him alive on the gallows — sustained by the saint — they went to the authorities. The judge scoffed that the boy was no more alive than the roasted chickens on his dinner plate. At which point the chickens stood up and crowed. You'll hear the cathedral's birds before you see them.

Santo Domingo himself is buried in the crypt, fittingly beneath the road he built. The detached bell tower — the Torre Exenta — stands across the street, a Baroque structure nearly 70 m tall and the tallest tower in La Rioja. It was built separate from the cathedral between 1762 and 1765 because underground watercourses made the ground beside the cathedral too unstable. The tower is divided into two square sections and an octagonal bell chamber with four corner turrets, topped by a dome. It can be climbed for views.

The old quarter has arcaded streets and a pleasant plaza. The Parador de Bernardo de Fresneda, housed in a converted medieval hospital, is worth walking through even if you're not staying — the lobby preserves Gothic arches and original stonework. Several albergues, hotels, and restaurants operate in town. All services available.

Grañón is the last village in La Rioja on the Camino Francés, and it has earned a reputation far beyond its size. The parish albergue in the Iglesia de San Juan Bautista is one of the most distinctive experiences on the entire route. You sleep in the church itself — mattresses on the floor of the upper gallery, reached by a worn stone spiral staircase. Dinner and breakfast are communal and donation-based, prepared and cleaned up by everyone together. Prayer follows dinner. It's not for everyone, but those who stay here tend to remember it for years.

The church is worth visiting regardless. The 16th-century Baroque retablo is one of the best-preserved in the region, with rich gilding and detailed carving. Of the two monasteries that once served pilgrims in Grañón, only this altarpiece survives.

The village itself is small — fewer than 200 residents — with the solid stone architecture common to these Riojan border towns. A second albergue opened at Carrasquedo, about 1.5 km south in a forest setting, giving pilgrims a quieter option. A couple of bars, a small shop, and an ATM cover the basics. There's a pharmacy in town as well.

Beyond Grañón, the camino crosses into Castilla y León. You'll know — the landscape opens up and the architecture starts to shift.