"Leyre Monastery" Provincia de Navarra by jorgejuansanchez

Navarra is a special spanish autonomy, with their own laws, history and traditions.
From Navarra you can start your Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage, from a place called Roncesvalles, in the Pyrenees mountains, or from Saint Jean Pied de Port, in France, just in the border with Spain.
You should stay one day in the holy and beautiful monastery of San Salvador de Leyre, one of the jewels of Navarra. According to the leyend, the main monk, San Virila, fell slept in a cave during 300 years while listening a nightingale chanting, and when he woke up he thought that there had only passed a few hours.
Other special places that you should visit in Navarra are the lovely town of Sanguesa, the Eunate temple, near Puente la Reina, and the Order of Malta castle in Cizur Menor, near Pamplona, where you can sleep if you are a pilgrim.
If you come for San Fermin Fiestas, the seventh of july, then you can join the locals running with the bulls in the streets of Pamplona. During a whole week you will only run, drink excellent Navarra wine and dance and enjoy, practically without time to sleep.

Roncesvalles Cross

When you will start your Camino de Santiago, you will see this cross in Roncesvalles.
The Camino will take you about three or four weeks walking from Navarra to Galicia.

• Pros:the beginning of the Camino de Santiago
• Cons:during San Fermin Fiestas you will have to sleep in the parks
• In a nutshell:try the pacharan liquor !