Charming town of Olite Spain, near Pamplona. Palacio Real de Olite castle in Spanish wine country.
Spain has many notable destinations: Madrid; Barcelona; Valencia; the islands of Ibiza and Mallorca. Olite is a gem of a small town that I found on my trip to Spain, which was one of the real highlights of the trip.
Olite’s main highlight is the Palacio Real de Olite, which was originally a Roman fortification and then was built into a castle starting in the 13th century. It was nearly destroyed in 1813 during the Napoleonic French Invasion. A restoration ended in 1967 resulting in the fully restored appearance that you can see today. And the best part is…you can stay IN THE CASTLE.
If you’re interested in Spanish wine and its history, this should be high on your list. There are several wineries around the town, most notably Bodegas Ochoa, which is a family winery founded in 1845 conveniently located just a few minutes walk from the castle. It features wines made from local tempranillo grapes. Bodegas Marco Real is another nearby winery which has a capacity of 1 million bottles coming from 5,000 French and American oak casks.
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Spain has many notable destinations: Madrid; Barcelona; Valencia; the islands of Ibiza and Mallorca. Olite is a gem of a small town that I found on my trip to Spain, which was one of the real highlights of the trip.
Olite’s main highlight is the Palacio Real de Olite, which was originally a Roman fortification and then was built into a castle starting in the 13th century. It was nearly destroyed in 1813 during the Napoleonic French Invasion. A thirty year restoration ended in 1967 resulting in the fully restored appearance that you can see today. And the best part is…you can stay IN THE CASTLE. That’s right, part of the castle has been converted into a hotel named Parador de Olite. I stayed there and not only was the room one of the most distinctive that I have ever stayed in, but the restaurant was great too. I had an amazing multiple course dinner featuring fresh local cheeses, cherries, lamb, wine and dessert right from the area. And if that isn’t enough, it’s all reasonably priced too.
But there is a lot more to this charming small town. If you’re interested in Spanish wine and its history, this should be high on your list. There are several wineries around the town, most notably Bodegas Ochoa, which is a family winery founded in 1845 conveniently located just a few minutes walk from the castle. It features wines made from local tempranillo grapes. Bodegas Marco Real is another nearby winery which has a capacity of 1 million bottles coming from 5,000 French and American oak casks.
And the people are some of the nicest that you will ever meet in Europe. The town doesn’t feel touristy, and the locals welcomed me as if I was one of their own.
Olite is a great place to go for a day or two. I was going from Barcelona to Pamplona and just stopped there for one night. At the time, I didn’t know much about the town other than it was about halfway in between and there was a castle there.
One weird thing did happen to me when I went there. I took the train from Barcelona west, but it was delayed a few hours. I was planning to get to Olite in the early afternoon, check into the hotel, and then explore the castle for a few hours. I got there late in the afternoon, and was the only person to get off the train. There was no one in the train station, no porters or anyone selling tickets, or security or anyone else. Even this Google Earth picture shows it deserted. I had my backpack on me, so I decided to just walk into town. I did see the castle in the distance, but there was no one anywhere. There was no noise at all, no cars, or people or anything. At first I thought I was in an abandoned ghost town and had made a mistake. I walked a few blocks before I saw any signs of life. Once I got to the main street in front of the castle, all was well, except it was getting quite late in the day. I was trying to find the entrance to the hotel portion of the castle but walked to the ticket office. A sign that I noticed that the castle would be closing soon. I still had my backpack on, but knew if I didn’t go in soon, I’d miss my chance. I paid the admission and was on my way.
11 май 2022
