Logrono is the capital of Spain’s Rioja Region and another stop on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela although its well off the standard tourist trail.
Very few people seem to have heard of the place and we only knew of it because it featured in a TV programme with Alex Polizzi in a series in which she was visiting off the beaten track Spain which we had seen a few months earlier .In fact our two days here should have been spent in Bilbao but we swerved Bilbao because Logrono sounded more fun!
The city is only small and isn’t overly endowed with attractions but it does have a nice city centre and a lively historic quarter . It’s Spain’s biggest and best wine destination with lots of wineries round about and some in the city itself – we made it to only one of them – and so the main reason to visit is to try some fabulous food and drink including some excellent wines from small producers which you will never get to see on the shelves of Tesco.
In addition to wine, Logrono is renowned for its food and especially its pintxos (Basque tapas) bars many of which serve Riojan tapas which you will not find anywhere else .Many of the bars here – there are over 50 of them – specialise in one specific ingredient – for example one bar served only dishes made with crab ,another specialised in mushrooms whilst another sells only dishes made of pigs ear!
Logrono , with two days of eating and drinking , turned out to be great training for our final destination , San Sebastian.
Here’s a few photos – we only took a few preoccupied as we were with the bars and eateries!
