Logroño

The origin of Logroño is associated to the Roman Vareia, currently a neighbourhood of the city, and the Iron Age site on top of Monte Cantabria. Being an important crossroad on the Way of St. James and strategic point between the kingdoms of Aragon, Castile and Navarra helped to develop the city during the Middle Ages.
In 1095, the king Alfonso VI of León and Castile awarded the inhabitants of Logroño with the Code of Laws named Fuero. The king John II of Castile granted the status of 'city' in 1431 and the titles of 'very noble' and 'very loyal' in 1444.
In 1521, the population heroically resisted the siege of 30,000 troops sent by the king Francis I of France for 17 days. To remember the victory, Charles I ordered three fleurs-de-lis to be added to the city's emblem. A tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition was set in Logroño in 1570, being of historical importance in 1610 during the Basque witch trials.
The 1833 territorial division of Spain established Logroño as the capital of the new Province of Logroño, renamed in 1980 to Province of La Rioja and constituted as autonomous community since 1982.
Logroño is nowadays a city of 153 066 inhabitants and considered to have one of the greatest quality of life in Spain.
The city is twinned with Brescia, Ciudad de La Rioja, Darmstadt, Dax, Dunfermline, Hagunia, Libourne and Rancagua.

Climate

Logroño has a humid continental climate due to its location in the Ebro valley and this is characterized by hot summers and cold winters, with the precipitations well distributed throughout the year.

Tourist information

A good start for a visit to Logroño is the centrally located

Tourist Office of La Rioja

In there you can get free maps and information of the city and the region. Don't forget to ask about current exhibitions and guided tours.

By plane

• Logroño–Agoncillo AirportIs the airport serving Logroño. There’s no public transport to get in or out so it's only accessible by car or taxi. As of January 2016, there is just a daily flight to and from Madrid operated by Iberia.

By train

• Logroño railway station

  phone: +34 902-432-343
  address: Avda. Colón, 83
  The state-owned rail company Renfe () operates train services. Long-distance trains operate between Logroño and Barcelona (3h 58m), Bilbao (2h 25m), Madrid (3h 15m), Salamanca (4h 45m), Santiago de Compostela (9h 33m), Valladolid (3h 4m) and Zaragoza (1h 50m).

By car

There are several roads passing through Logroño. The Autopista AP-68 connects Zaragoza with Bilbao while the Autovía A-12 connects Pamplona and Burgos. The N-120 road goes from Logroño to Vigo and the N-232 follows the river Ebro to the coast.
Blue and green parking spaces are paid Monday to Saturday between 9:00 and 14:00 and between 16:30 and 20:00. White parking spaces are free at all times.
There are car rental facilities available at the airport and the train station.

By bus

• Logroño bus station

  phone: +34 941-235-983
  address: Avda. de España, 1
  Logroño is well connected to many major cities in Spain. Different bus operating companies provide their services:

• ALSA

  phone: +34 902-422-242
  offers four daily connections to Barcelona and eight to Madrid, with stops in the Terminal 4 of Madrid–Barajas Airport and Avenida de América bus terminal. Other destinations like Burgos, Gijón, León, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Valladolid or Vitoria-Gasteiz can also be reached by some of their routes.

• Autobuses Jiménez

  phone: +34 941-202-777
  Connects Logroño with Burgos and Zaragoza, having as well several regional routes across La Rioja.

• Bilman Bus

  phone: +34 941-243-572
  Has a route to Valencia, Alicante and Murcia.

• La Estellesa

  phone: +34 948-326-509
  connects Logroño with Pamplona and San Sebastian.

• La Unión Alavesa

  phone: +34 941-235-983
  runs from Logroño to Bilbao.

• PLM Autocares

  phone: +34 902-144-174
  offers a slightly cheaper connection to Madrid with six daily buses.

By public transport

Logroño has a good public network of buses with eleven lines crossing the city. They start at 7:00 and finish around 23:00 with frequencies of 10 to 15 minutes. The ordinary ticket can be bought directly from the driver and it costs €0.72 allowing unlimited transfers for half an hour. There are also night bus services on Fridays and Saturdays with three different routes. All the buses are equipped with free Wi-Fi.

By bicycle

Logroño is a flat city and has an extensive network of bike lanes so riding a bicycle is a good option to discover the city. The public rent-a-bike service is named Logrobici and visitors can use it for free after obtaining a pass in the tourist office.

On foot

Logroño is a small city and therefore very walkable.

By taxi

Taxis are quite expensive for the size of the city and a ride can get you easily up to €10. Official taxis are white and have a red stripe in the front door. Available taxis have a green light on top. There are some stands around the city where you can pick up a taxi but you can also call to the numbers .

Churches

• Co-cathedral of Santa María de la Redonda

  phone: +34 941-257-611
  address: C/Portales, 14
  The cathedral was built during the 15th century and expanded in the 16th and 17th centuries. Behind the main altar there is a painting attributed to Michelangelo.

• Church of San Bartolomé

  address: Plaza de San Bartolomé, 2
  It's the oldest church in Logroñed dated back to the 12th century. It has a magnificent arched cover which contains some Romanesque sculptures.

• Church of Santa María de Palacio

  address: C/Marqués de San Nicolás, 36
  The church was built between the 12th and 13th centuries and has the Gothic octagonal spire as the most representative symbol. The second tower was built around 1560.

• Church of Santiago el Real

  address: C/Barriocepo, 6
  This is the site of the oldest church in the city, although the current building was constructed during the 16th century.

Landmarks

• El Cubo del Revellín

  address: C/Once de Junio, 6
  It's the best conserved part of the city wall and hosts an exhibition inside.

• Fountain of Distinguished Riojans

  address: Avda. Gran Vía Rey Juan Carlos I
  Fountain built in 1999 with statues of 8 distinguished Riojans: Fausto Elhuyar (chemist), García of Nájera (king of Navarre), Gonzalo de Berceo (Medieval poet), Juan Fernández Navarrete "The Mute" (Mannerist painter), Julio Rey Pastor (mathematician), Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (Roman rhetorician), Marquis of the Ensenada (statesman) and Pedro del Castillo (conquistador).

Museums

• House of Sciences

  phone: +34 941-245-943
  address: C/Ebro, 1
  It's located on the other side of the river Ebro in the former slaughterhouse. It hosts different scientific exhibitions over the year. In the garden, there are some tools you can use to do your own experiments.

• Museum of La Rioja

  address: C/San Agustín, 23
  The museum is housed in a Baroque palace of the 18th century and hosts different collections featuring paintings, sculptures and furniture.

• Würth La Rioja Museum

  phone: +34 941-010-410
  address: Pol. Ind. El Sequero, Avda. Cameros pcls. 86-88
  Contemporary art.

Wineries

In the old city you can visit some of the vaulted underground cellars known as calados. For a bigger understanding of the winemaking you can get a tour in one of the currently active wineries that surround the city:

• Bodegas Campo Viejo

  phone: +34 941-279-900
  address: Camino de Lapuebla, 50
  Opened in 2001, the winery is buried achieving the ideal conditions for making and ageing wine while getting perfectly integrated with the landscape. The barrel room is one of the largest in the world and contains 70,000 oak barrels.

• Bodegas del Marqués de Vargas

  phone: +34 941-261-401
  address: Ctra. Zaragoza, km. 6

• Bodegas Darien

  phone: +34 941-258-130
  address: Ctra. Zaragoza, km. 7

• Bodegas Franco-Españolas

  phone: +34 941-251-290
  address: C/Cabo Noval, 2

• Bodegas Marqués de Murrieta

  phone: +34 941-271-374
  address: Ctra. Zaragoza, km. 5

• Bodegas Olarra

  phone: +34 941-235-299
  address: Avda. de Mendavia, 30

• Bodegas Ontañón

  phone: +34 941-234-200
  address: Avda. de Aragón, 3

• Bodegas Viña Ijalba

  phone: +34 941-261-100
  address: Ctra. Pamplona, km. 1

Concerts and theatre

• Congress Palace and Auditorium of La Rioja

  phone: +34 941-276-200
  address: C/San Millán, 25
  Inaugurated in 2004. It hosts conferences and concerts.

• Theatre of Bretón de los Herreros

  phone: +34 941-207-231
  address: C/Bretón de los Herreros, 11
  19th century theatre inaugurated in 1880. Stage play, music, choreography and cinematography.

Festivals

• Actual Festival. Music, film and art festival celebrated since 1991 during the first week of the year.
• Fiestas de San Bernabé. Festival that commemorates the victory against the French troops of André de Foix in 1521. The legend says that the inhabitants of the city survived the siege during 17 days just with fish from the river Ebro, so on June 11 it's tradition to eat the fish, bread and wine served for free by Cofradía del Pez. Since 2008 locals wear period dress and historical performances are carried out. Together with the Day of La Rioja on June 9 makes four of five days of break with several activities in the street.
• Fiestas de San Mateo. The Wine and Harvest Festival is celebrated during the week of September 21 with activities during the whole day starting with the bull run in the morning, continuing with food and wine tastings till midday, bullfighting and Basque pelota during the afternoon, and finishing with fireworks and concerts at night.

Logroño is very much a commercial city and you can find shops in almost every street. Some of the busiest commercial zones are Gran Vía, Calle San Antón and Paseo de las Cien Tiendas. In the old city there are a few souvenir shops where you can buy wine as well as traditional products.
Being in the La Rioja wine region, an original souvenir would be to buy an authentic bota de vino made with leather and designed to carry wine:

• Botas Rioja

  phone: +34 620-738-504
  address: C/Sagasta, 8
  Five generations of the family Barbero have been doing artisan wineskins since 1865.

Markets

• Mercado de San Blas

  phone: +34 941-220-430
  address: C/Sagasta, 1
  Public market built in 1930 with a very diverse selection of goods (fish, meat, fruit and vegetables).

Shopping malls

• Centro Comercial Berceo

  phone: +34 941-245-830
  address: C/Lérida, 1

• Centro Comercial Parque Rioja

  phone: +34 941-205-310
  address: Cmno. de las Tejeras, 0

You can't leave Logroño without visiting the famous

Calle Laurel

that together with Travesía del Laurel, Calle San Agustin and Calle Albornoz concentrate more than 50 bars serving tapas, known in the north of Spain as pintxos.
Each bar cooks its own speciality, although new openings are specialized in more than one dish, always accompanied by a glass of Rioja wine. You can hop freely from one bar to the next one along the one hundred meters of the street that has an unbeatable atmosphere of good vibes. The circuit is popularly known as Trail of the Elephants, because people would walk on four legs if they visited all the bars.
In the neighbouring

Calle San Juan

which is 300 meters far away, you can find another 30 bars that are usually less crowded and have different specialities.

Budget

• Prices of pintxos are around €2 so it can become expensive if you feel really hungry or can't stop trying all those delicacies. An option to keep the budget low would be ordering bigger portions of them that are called raciones and are usually served in clay pots. Some of these bars serve as well bigger sandwiches known as bocadillos or bocatas.
• There is a good amount of doner kebab stands around the city offering beef and chicken served with salad in flatbread for around €4.5.
• In autumn and winter you can find churrería stalls selling a fried-dough pastry named churro. During the cold months is common to find as well smaller kiosks selling roasted chestnuts.

Mid-range

During working days most of the restaurants offer a daily menu for lunch which includes three courses, bread, wine and water ranging from €10 to €15.

• Boragos

  phone: +34 941-250-353
  address: Plaza del Mercado, 2
  Modern cuisine with cod as speciality.

• Burgerheim

  phone: +34 941-287-124
  address: C/Víctor Pradera, 5
  Go there early if you wan to try one of their tasty burgers as the place it's always crowded around 21:00.

• LaMaite

  phone: +34 941-254-747
  address: C/Sagasta, 6
  Traditional food with a special touch.

Splurge

• Kiro Sushi

  phone: +34 941-123-145
  address: C/Maria Teresa Gil de Gárate, 24
  Opened in 2015 the chef Felix Jimenez serves traditional Japanese sushi, two times per day, to a maximum of 10 people. Booking in advance is completely necessary.

• Tondeluna

  phone: +34 941-236-425
  address: C/Muro de la Mata, 9
  The 2-Michelin starred chef Francis Paniego opened this restaurant in 2011. It has affordable prices for cuisine of high quality elaborated with local products.

Beer

In a wine region like this, drinking beer is not forbidden yet. Ordering beer is easy with the widely known "una cerveza, por favor" that will get you usually a caña which is about 25 cl. of draught beer. For a smaller size you should order corto de cerveza and for the half litre, or pint, use pinta.
On Thursdays most of the bars have "pinta a precio de caña" which means pints are discounted, paying for them what you would pay normally for a caña. In some of these bars you can also find local hand-crafted beer: Ceriux, Mateo & Bernabé and Palax.

Plaza del Parlamento

and

Plaza San Agustín

are two of the favourite spots for beer lovers with bars and terraces.

Coffee

Locals like to drink coffee or tea, but it's simply an excuse to get together around a table and chat. The pedestrian street Bretón de los Herreros has some of the nicest cafeterias with outdoor terraces both in winter and summer, which get really crowded after-work.
In summer it's common to ask for café con hielos and you'll be getting a glass with ices where you can pour your coffee. If you want to try something different, ask for té americano which is an infusion of black tea boiled in milk with an slice of orange and cinnamon.

• Café La Luna

  phone: +34 941-288-700
  address: C/Bretón de los Herreros, 56
  For stronger versions of té americano ask for té de la luna (with hazelnut liqueur) or té selenita (with ron miel).

• Café Moderno

  phone: +34 941-220-042
  address: Plaza Martínez Zaporta, 7
  Founded in 1916, it's not only a bar but a restaurant. Go there on Friday or Saturday at midnight to have fun singing together the anthem "Fibra de Pájaro".

Wine

While ordering wine you have to consider that is classified into four categories. Joven, cosechero or vino del año is the youngest wine and has undergone very little, if any, wood ageing. Crianza is aged for two years, being at least one in an oak barrel. Reserva is aged for at least three years, of which at least one year is in oak. Gran Reserva has been aged at least two years in oak and three years in bottle.
You can distinguish as well four types of wine because of the colour: red tinto, white blanco and two kinds of rosé clarete and rosado with different processes of elaboration.

• La Gota de Vino

  phone: +34 941-204-200
  address: C/San Agustín, 14
  Be advised by Antonio, the nice manager and waiter of the place, and you'll be tasting some of the trending wines in the region.

• La Tavina

  phone: +34 941-102-300
  address: C/Laurel, 2
  Ask when is the next wine and food pairing event to enjoy the mix of flavours.

Logroño has a good amount of modern hotels in the city centre but also in the outskirts. Although for a cheaper accommodation you might search for guest-houses known as hostal or pensión. The first hostel was opened in 2012 and there is as well a camping area. As a stop of the Way of St. James there are several pilgrim hostels known as albergue de peregrinos.

Budget

• Camping La Playa

  phone: +34 941-252-253
  address: Avda. de la Playa, 6

• Hostel Entresueños

  phone: +34 941-271-334
  address: C/Portales, 12
  Opened in July 2012.

Mid-range

• Hotel Carlton Rioja

  phone: +34 941-242-100
  address: Avda. Gran Vía Rey Juan Carlos I, 5
  4-star hotel.

• Hotel Condes de Haro

  phone: +34 941-208-500
  address: C/Saturnino Ulargui, 6
  3-star hotel.

• Hotel Husa Gran Vía

  phone: +34 941-287-850
  address: Avda. Gran Vía Rey Juan Carlos I, 71 Bis
  4-star hotel.

• Hotel Murrieta

  phone: +34 941-224-150
  address: C/Marqués de Murrieta, 1
  3-star hotel.

• Hotel Portales

  phone: +34 941-502-794
  address: C/Portales, 85
  3-star hotel.

• NH Logroño Herencia Rioja

  phone: +34 941-210-222
  address: C/Marqués de Murrieta, 14
  4-star hotel.

Splurge

• AC Hotel La Rioja

  phone: +34 941-272-350
  address: C/Madre de Dios, 21
  4-star hotel.

• Hotel Calle Mayor

  phone: +34 941-232-368
  address: C/Marqués de San Nicolás, 71
  Boutique hotel located in a palace built during the 16th century.

• Hotel FG Logroño

  phone: +34 941-008-900
  address: Avda. de Viana, 2

• Hotel Los Bracos

  phone: +34 941-226-608
  address: C/Breton de los Herreros, 29
  4-star hotel.

• Hotel Marqués de Vallejo

  phone: +34 941-248-333
  address: C/Marqués de Vallejo, 8

There is a public service of free Wi-Fi that covers most of the old city, but you have to register through SMS once you try to connect to the network "Aytologrono". The hotspots are located in Parque del Ebro, Paseo del Príncipe de Vergara and Plaza del Mercado.
You can get free Wi-Fi without the need of registration in the building of the City Hall and in the cultural centre La Gota de Leche. Public buses are equipped as well with free Wi-Fi.

Logroño is quite a safe city but as usual while travelling it's better to keep an eye on your belongings.

Emergencies

If you suffer an accident or have an emergency, call 112 or go to the closest emergency centre:

• Centro de Alta Resolución San Millán

  phone: +34 941-298-000
  address: C/Obispo Lepe

• Hospital San Pedro

  phone: +34 941-298-000
  address: C/Piqueras, 98

Post office

• Post Office

  phone: +34 941-286-802
  address: C/Once de Junio, 1

Day trips from Logroño include:

• Briones — Small picturesque medieval town that hosts the Vivanco Museum of Wine Culture.
• Enciso — The Paleontological Centre it's a good start to follow the dinosaur footprints spread across the southern part of La Rioja.
• Haro — Wine town that celebrates the Battle of the Wine every year on June 29.
• San Millán de la Cogolla — The Yuso and Suso Monasteries were declared World Heritage Site in 1997, as the birthplace of the modern written and spoken Spanish language.