While trekking through Europe in the summer of 1997 I really wanted to Run with the bulls in Pamplona but I also wanted to see some of Northern Spain at the same time.
We ended up departing Amsterdam on a saturday afternoon and arriving in Paris on a saturday night we were set to take the a night train from Paris to Irun (spain). Once in Irun, we took a Circania (Local Train) to San Sebastian and arrived early on Sunday morning. After looking at our maps we walked from the train station to the old part of the city in San Sebastian. After walking around we finally found a nice pension to stay in. Our plan was to hang out in San Sebastian for a couple of days, then get to Pamplona.
All I can say is that San Sebastian was a dream, the city is beautiful and the people are wonderful. I’ll never forget the hospitality of our pension owner.
Anyway, the day before we wanted to arrive in Pamplona, we walked from the old city to the train station, it’s about 2 miles or so, but it’s a nice walk along the shady tree path. Anyway, we purchased our tickets for the following day, and then made arrangements to store our backpacks wirh our pension owner for a nominal fee, as we wanted to travel as light as possible. When we left for Pamplona, all I had was my passport a credit card,and money in my hidden fanny pack.
We arrived in Pamplona in the early afternoon and it was a party with everyone having a good time. We walked around for a while and got an idea of where everything was in the city. WE then walked to the bull ring,and checked out the path the bulls would be taking the next day. After a while the party bugs bit us, and before we knew it we had each consumed 2 liters of cold sangia (as a side note, DONT go for the second bottle, one is enough, avoid the nasty headache the next day, believe me.) WE slept outside that night, and waited until the next morning. When the time came, we got into position along the run path, and when the gunshots rang out, we hightailed it to the bull ring, a couple of bulls passed us, which added to the rush. The whole experience of running with the bulls was probably one of the most intense rushes I have ever experienced, it was awesome.
After that, we walked around the city, and made our way to the train ticket office to purchase our night train reservations for that night leaving San Sebastian arriving in Madrid.
After taking in the city that day, it was time to leave, I think one full day in PAmplona is enough, we then caught our bus to San Sebastian, collected our backpacks and walked to the train station and took the night train to Madrid. If I had it over to do again, I honestly wouldn’t have changed a thing.
I hope this helps you in your plans, and please don’t hesitate to email me if I can be of some help.