We'll be traveling from the Aragonese Pyrenees (Torla)to Cantabria in late September and will stop for a night along the Camino de Santiago, heading north the next day via Burgos. I was condsidering either Santo Domingo de la Calzada or Najera. Any thoughts on their respective merits? Places to stay? A better place to stop and enjoy the wines of Rioja? Should we just press on to Burgos(although a 225 mile day is a lot...) Muchas gracias.

Hello;
I preferred Santo Domingo to Najera. We stayed in a pilgrims' refugio but the Parador next to the Church looked very nice. You'll find as much chicken kitsch here as in Barcelos Portugal. Both are home to similar miracles.

You may wish to consider Logrono (a large centre) or Estrella/Lazarra (a smaller centre) Because of an injury, we stayed in Estrella/Lazarra for 2 nights and found it a delightful place. However, that will leave you a long haul for the second day.
All the best.
Dennis

By the refugio, are you referring to the Cistecian abbey that also runs an hospederia? I was planning on making a reservation there, so any review you can provide would be deeply appreciated. There's a small mountain town 9 miles south of SD, Ezcaray, that also looks interesting.

The refugio we stayed at was on Calle Mayor and was for pilgrims with a credential. It was one of the better equipped along the Camino but not a hostal/hotel that accepted reservations. It was an alburque (a hostel in North American terms).
You may have this already but just in case you don't this is the town's web site: http://www.lacalzada.com
Dennis

i too would choose Santo Domingo de la Calzada over Najera.
Najera has the church of Santa Maria La Real, the kingdom of NAvarra was founded there by king Garcia,and Blanca de Navarra the queen is buried there. lots of wood craftmanship,and thats it.

Santo Domingo de la Calzada, has the Cathedral with the burial of the saint st domingo, conventos de las Bernardas and convento de San Francisco; great shopping of antiquities craftmanship and wood carvings; you can buy great wines from the region as well as foodies at Vinateria Luis, center town mayor street 44.
to stay at the old hospital for pilgrims build over a palace of the kings of Navarra at plaza del Santo 3. to eat go to El Rincon de Emilio, plaza bonifacio Gil 7. nearby calle Madrid you will have many pubs and restos to choose from all very good with a great atmosphere.

having said the above, you too should consider Logroño as a place to shop,wines,sights and the capital of the Rioja region. I will tilt toward visiting first San Millan de la Cogolla, with the monastery of Suso and monastery of Yuso(first written language book of Castilian =commonly referred to as Spanish language). staying at the hosteria del monasterio de San Millan UNESCO heritage site.

also, pass by Jaca, great little town (you ar cruising one of my favorite areas on my trips between france and spain).from Jaca you can come down on the N330 toward Huesca and Zaragoza or best take the N240 towards puente la reina de jaca and there take the A132 toward Ayerbe,then the A124 toward Ejea de los Caballeros put you right into Tudela and then take your N232 to Najéra or santo domingo de la calzada (want to go quicker take the A68 expressway.
great ride !!!

I also would choose Santa Domingo de la Calzada. There are not one but two paradores there now! Both have very beautiful public areas.

If you do decide to visit Yuso Monastery, try to book in advance. We just showed up, and the entire day of tours was sold out already.

You might also consider a visit to the Dinastia Vivanco wine museum. It is near the town of Briones. It's a great museum, that will take up a few hours, so only do it if you have the time for it. It was the highlight of the Rioja for us!

Dinastia Vivanco Wine Museum

We also did a tour of one of the underground wineries in Laguardia, which was really great. But that is a bit far from Santo Domingo. Let me know if you would like more info on that.

I think we've definitely settled on Santo Domingo, but there is so much to see in the area, I already wish we had more time there. (The village of Ezcaray also caught my eye briefly.) The Cistercian nuns apparently run a hospederia as well as the albergue for pilgrims at the five hundred year old convent in town -- the website is at http://www.cister-lacalzada.com/hospederia.htm and it was suggested in the Cadogan guide to North Spain.

TN Explorer, the hospederia I mentioned it above in spanish a convent de Bernardas,where you can stay too like the pilgrims did/do.
In Ezcaray lovely as it is too many tourists local and foreign, you can also stay at a pilgrim site at Hosteria Valle del Oja 6km from Ezcaray with parking and pool. I def will stick to Santo Domingo de la Calzada.I am giving just opinions here,but i have been in the area many times in my life.

Thank you, Pedmar. After the information you, Shannon, and Dennis provided, we decided to splurge on the parador in Santo Domingo de la Calzada. I also looked into the new parador de Benardas there, and apparently guests are only admitted through a recommendation process. Although the new school for paradores opened as scheduled in March, one cannot make a reservation directly through www.paradors.com. I appreciate everyone's help.

quote:

Originally posted by TN Explorer:
Although the new school for paradores opened as scheduled in March, one cannot make a reservation directly through www.paradors.com. I appreciate everyone's help.

That link is not the official parador website link... is this who you were trying to book through?

The link - and the contact - you want is:

http://www.paradores.es/english/index.jsp

I was going from memory and made an error on the .com -- I was using the .es site. My bad. Based on others' suggestions I also have enrolled as an "Amigo."