Getaways from Pamplona: day trips and destinations close by.

Two ways to the sea, via Belate or the A-15

Each road leads to a different landscape. To the north there are two ways to the sea: the N-121-A, over the Belate pass and the Baztán to Dantxarinea, where the villages of the French Basque Coast begin, and the A-15, which drops to San Sebastián and continues towards Hondarribia or, along the Gipuzkoan coast, towards Getaria and Zarautz. To the south, the AP-15 and N-121 cross central Navarre to Olite and continue to Tudela and the Bardenas Reales; from Tudela, the Tarazona road leads to the Moncayo.

To the west, the A-12 follows the Camino de Santiago towards Logroño: on one side of the Ebro is Laguardia and the Rioja Alavesa, and beyond, Haro and San Millán de la Cogolla. To the east, the A-21 goes towards Jaca: via the Lumbier turn-off and the Salazar valley you climb to the Irati Forest, and continuing to Jaca you reach Canfranc, Candanchú and Astún, the Tena valley and, for sleeping there, the Ordesa valley.

For almost everything you need a car. The clearest exception is Olite, with a scheduled Pamplona–Tafalla–Olite bus; there is also a bus to San Sebastián, but from there the inland villages have no convenient transport.

Olite at 40 minutes and Ujué in the afternoon

Under an hour is Olite, at 40 minutes: the Royal Palace, the medieval streets and, in the afternoon, Ujué on top of its hill. It is the only plan with time to spare in the morning.

The bulk of the Sundays is between one and one and a half hours, and almost all look north. The Bardenas are 65 minutes away; Hondarribia and Getaria, 70; the French coast between Bidart, Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Biarritz, 73; Laguardia, 75; Tarazona, 80, and Haro, exactly an hour and a half.

Between an hour and a half and two hours the day starts early: San Millán de la Cogolla is 105 minutes away, and Irati, Candanchú, Astún and Gaztelugatxe with Mundaka, 115. Formigal and the Portalet snow park, at 140, are already a Sunday from which you return at night.

It is best to sleep away from two and a half hours: Ordesa from Torla, at 144 minutes; Burgos and Atapuerca, at 147; Alquézar and its canyons and the Laguna Negra, at 165; Aínsa and Añisclo, at 185; the oysters of Arcachon, at 194, and Gavarnie, almost four hours away.

Chains in the boot for Candanchú

In winter the snow of the Aragonese Pyrenees rules: a Sunday of skiing at Candanchú, a first day at Astún with a lesson or snow with children in the Tena valley, always with chains in the boot. When the La Rhune train is not running, the northern plan is Ainhoa, Espelette and Abbadia castle.

In spring, southern Navarre is at its best. The Bardenas are toured on a guided 4x4 through the Bardena Blanca, with a lunch of Ribera vegetables in Tudela; in July and August they have no shade and the heat bears down from mid-morning.

In summer the plan is on the water or in the high mountains. The Gipuzkoan coast, with the Balenciaga and the Ratón of Getaria, and the Gavarnie cirque, which calls for the months from June to September. Olite, in August, has medieval festivals and a lot of people.

In autumn, in the second half of October and the first days of November, the Irati beech forest changes colour, and in September and October the grape harvest arrives in Olite and the Rioja Alavesa, with Laguardia and its cellars 75 minutes away.

Ten kilometres of beech forest to the Cubo Waterfall

• Without a car, in a day: Olite and Ujué. Bus to Olite, the Royal Palace towers before the queues, a grill house on Rúa Mayor; to go up to Ujué in the afternoon you do need a car.
• A long Sunday: the Irati Forest to the Cubo Waterfall. Setting out at eight, ten kilometres of beech and fir forest, lunch beside the forest and the afternoon in Ochagavía.
• With one night: the Rioja Alavesa from Laguardia. 75 minutes away, to sleep inside the walls, go down to the cellars and taste at Marqués de Riscal without worrying about who is driving.