Travel
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
San Fermin (Running of the Bulls- Pamplona)
If you've been, how many days would you say is enough to get your fill? Right now, we're planning on being there for the kick-off day and the day after. Is two days enough before we move on to explore San Sebastian and some other towns? Would you spend more time in Pamplona during running-of-the-bulls craziness?
Re: San Fermin (Running of the Bulls- Pamplona)
We spent a blur of three days in Pamplona during San Fermin last year. We opted for the Pobre De Mi (the closing ceremony) instead of the opening ceremony, which i have heard and now believe is insane. (sangria fight anyone
i will say we had a fabulous time and love the whole thing, are very glad we went, etc etc but be prepared for a PARTY. this makes Mardi Gras look like child's play. (our trip went Barcelona, San Seb, Pamplona, Barcelona....if we did it again we would go barcelona, pamplona, san seb, barcelona....as could have used the downtime/beach time in San Seb after dancing/drinking all day and night in Pamplona).
two would be fine but three would be better, depending on when you arrive and leave. the bull runs are in the early morning (i think the streets were cleared by 7a.m.) so you could see one and then leave for your next town and not have to spend a full three days there but use half of one as a travel day.
i never did a proper post-trip report for this board. sigh. but PM me if you want more details on San Seb too.
i highly recommend watching one run from a balcony (you can rent these for morning, the most expensive 20 minutes of your life but totally worth it!) and heading to the bull ring another morning to watch as the crowd/bulls run in and then there is this odd tradition of people staying in the ring to run around with the bulls. we did not watch a bullfight and i don't regret it.
get ready for dancing with strangers in the street! it is really fun.
Photo from our balcony just before the run (which takes 10 secs!)
and are you bringing your child? b/c there are some specific children's events too.
http://www.sanfermin.com/index.php/en/la-fiesta/comparsa/
Thanks for the link, but this is our tenth wedding anniversary trip. We're leaving DD with the grandparents!
Amazing photo! Can you rent the balcony in advance or do you just set it up when you get to town? I don't plan on actually running WITH the bulls, just watching others do it!
And we were wondering if we should hit San Seb before or after Pamplona, so thanks for your thoughts on that.
we did ours in advance (ours was fine but i wouldn't recommend the same person to anyone). and we opted to not run, (it is a very male thing anyway but DH wanted no part in it). it is incredibly crazy and dangerous, sure you can get through fine but the other idiots running are even more dangerous than the bulls.
also....it will be LOUD wherever you stay in pamplona. we ignored this warning and went for a cheapo hotel room (by San Fermin standards) five floors above a bar. we did not sleep at all. this is why i would recommend San Seb after bc you will need some time to recover (this was our 5th anniversary trip! hooray).
i have no food recs in Pamplona b/c we stuck to street food (JAMON!) and whatever tapas bar we stumbled upon....including a slice of pizza at 4am (drunk food is universal)
I've never been but I get the feeling a balcony should definitely be booked in advance:
http://www.sanfermin.com/index.php/es/datos-practicos/booking/alquiler-balcones-encierro
I went 15 years ago. Went to San Sebastien then was in Pamplona for day 2 of San Fermin. It was awesome, but sooooooo not appropriate for a child(if you're planning on taking DD). 1 day was enough - arrive in the afternoon, watch some parades and performances, party all night, watch the run then catch a train out.
And yeah, I was 22 when I went.