Navarra It is an Autonomous Community full of contrasts, a territory with a great variety of landscapes, with a rich cultural legacy and that offers us multiple tourist options to enjoy. Today we want to focus on the northern area of ​​the Community, a fantastic destination for all of us who like active tourism, ecotourism or any tourist activity that takes place in nature.

The north of Navarra is the Pyrenees, the friendliest, calmest area of ​​the Pyrenees that surprises us with its fantastic forests.

Starting in the east, in the Roncal valley, with heights ranging from 1.100 meters of the so-called Rincón de Belagua to 2.428 meters of the Mesa de los Tres Reyes, the highest peak in Navarra and which encompasses the Belagua Valley, and houses the Larra Natural Reserve, perhaps the most unique and representative of the Pyrenean ecosystems and without a doubt one of the most impressive karst morphological sites in Europe. And speaking of forests, we have to mention the Selva Grande, on the slope of Txamantxoia and the Aztaparreta comprehensive reserve, a beech-fir forest that could well be the last virgin Pyrenean territory.

If we continue towards the west we will reach the Irati Forest, the best-known forest in Navarra and a classic autumn destination for those who want to do Hiking o Mountain bike. The forest mass continues throughout this border area with France and thus we arrive at the Quinto Real Forest which offers us incredible landscapes over the Eugi reservoir and where we cannot fail to highlight the Zilbeti beech forest and her charming representation of Picasso's Guernica. This forest is included in the ZEC (Special Conservation Area) Monte Alduide, thanks to this protection figure it has been possible to save the forest from a mining project that weighed on it.

These forests are the ones we enjoyed when we began the the Camino de Santiago in Roncesvalles, an emblematic point that we cannot miss.

Even further west we will reach the Baztán Valley, a magical place for us and where every year we schedule a trip that is already a classic, the Smugglers Route, for those who want to enjoy some cycling vacation or the hiking trails. The Bertiz Manor offers us another magnificent forest and much more, a lesson in heritage conservation. It must be remembered that in 1949 Don Pedro Ciga He bequeathed the Lordship to Navarra by handwriting will and in his name to the Provincial Council, with the requirement of preserving it without changing its natural characteristics. In this sense, its declaration as a Natural Park in 1984 by the Government of Navarra should be understood. Nor can we forget the Leurtza reservoirs surrounded by fairy-tale beech forests.

La Smugglers Route It is also an exceptional example of tourism product creation by local active tourism and accommodation companies. They have launched a route that can be enjoyed by mountain bike or on foot and that meets the specific needs of travelers who walk or pedal. Congratulations on the initiative and good luck.

Just a little further south, in the Ultzama Valley we cannot fail to also mention the Orgy Forest, or Orgi oak forest, a delight just 25 kilometers from Pamplona and that you should not miss on your tour of the area.

A good part of this extensive territory is crossed by two Greenways, the Plazaola Greenway and Bidasoa Greenway, are a perfect excuse to visit the north of Navarra, but these Greenways are also the gateway to the project Eurovelo to Spain, one of the most powerful initiatives to promote bicycle trips in Europe and one that we love.

We could continue recommending places and we would lack space, the north of Navarra shows us that tourism can be promoted without resorting to crazy projects, conserving the environment, respecting the local culture (which here is on the surface and offers us innumerable manifestations) and valuing local products (cheese, cider, patxaran, meat, chocolate), making sustainable and responsible tourism.

Still don't know where to go on vacation? The north of Navarra awaits you…