Wandering the streets of Logroño, Spain

Logroño is a really pretty little city in La Rioja in Northern Spain. We spent three nights there in a hotel right in the centre. We stayed at the Sercotel Portales, which was a good three-star hotel and the location was perfect. It definitely wasn’t as snazzy as the other hotels we have stayed at in Spain, but it was really clean and because we asked for a second bed for Ava we had a very good-sized long room.

We mostly spent our time in Logroño wandering the pretty little maze of streets, eating lots of food and strolling through the park. We had a really good Menu del dia one lunchtime in a beautiful outside space; three courses and a bottle of Rioja (of course!) between us, and Ava had some Risotto pintxos and bread. The Rioja was chilled slightly and it was actually really nice; perfect in the heat and we both enjoyed it. It was a lovely, relaxed long lunch that made a nice change from having lots of little dishes (pintxos) every night.

There are lots of beautiful buildings in Logrono, and it feels like a really nice, chilled place. It is quite a bustling little place in certain areas in the evenings and it feels quite alive and fun.

One evening whilst we stood at an outside table eating and drinking we heard lots of loud drumming so we strolled to the end of the street and there was a huge crowd gathered around a brilliant group of performers drumming, dancing and playing other instruments and they moved along the streets every so often and the crowd followed them! I managed to get close to them after we followed them for a bit and it was bloody amazing to watch and hear. The drumming was so loud in the dark streets, and lots of us danced along with them and then moved together down the street. It was such a brilliant thing to experience. Ava danced on her Daddy’s shoulders and loved it and I didn’t want to leave. I filmed a bit of it if you’d like to see….

We had planned on going to a Vineyard in Logrono but we were all very tired on the day we had planned to go, and we also thought Ava probably wouldn’t enjoy a talk on wine and standing around while we tried some, especially because she’s being quite difficult at the moment.

We really enjoyed Logroño. It’s a relaxed small city where there were plenty of people clearly on holiday but it wasn’t at all touristy. It’s especially chilled and nice in the evening when everyone seems to come out and enjoy the many tapas and wine bars.

Have you ever been to Logroño or anywhere in Northern Spain? Have you ever thought about going?