Pamplona

Leave Hondarribia towards France and take the N121A to Pamplona. It’s a very scenic drive where the road goes from narrow, as it traces the River Bidasoa along the French border, to a major road, as it travels through tunnels and around picturesque villages of red-roofed houses surrounded by verdant fields, with the Pyrenees as a backdrop. After traversing the summit via the Puerto de Velate tunnel, the scenery quickly becomes more urban as you approach Pamplona. Pamplona was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Navarre from the 10th to the 16th centuries, and is now best known for the “running of the bulls” festival of San Fermín (July 6–20), made famous by Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises (published in Britain as Fiesta). If you are not a fan of big cities, simply follow the ring road in the direction of Zaragosa, bringing you onto the autopista A15, and exit at Olite.