During the Running of the Bulls® and the San Fermin Fiesta, over 1 million visitors crowd Pamplona, Spain, a city of 250,000 inhabitants causing Pamplona hotels to sell out in advance and quickly. The best alternative to a hotel is to rent a room in an apartment or an entire apartment, depending on the size of your group. The most sought after and more expensive locations are found where the fiesta takes place in the old part of the city (casco viejo). There are more modern and less expensive options available outside the inner city, but these will require a bus, taxi or long walk to reach the fiesta.
Lodging is the largest cost factor when planning a visit to the San Fermin Fiesta or Running of the Bulls®. It is possible to mitigate this cost by arriving later in the Festival when the crowds are not quite as large. Although we do not recommend it for safety reasons, some visitors do choose to sleep in the city parks as Pamplona does provide public bathrooms for showering.