San Fermin in Pamplona: What Accommodation Actually Costs

Every spring I get the same message from a friend. They want to see the encierro, they have just searched for a Pamplona hotel on the opening weekend of July, and the prices look like typos. This guide lays out what San Fermín accommodation actually costs for each type of stay, using real figures from the 2025 and 2026 festivals, and explains how to book without overpaying.

All figures below were read on the providers’ or authorities’ own pages, or in the press reports cited, in October 2026. Each one is labelled with the festival year it belongs to, because a 2025 snapshot and a 2026 average describe different things.

What San Fermín Accommodation Actually Costs, Type by Type

My first San Fermín was a mess. I booked late, paid far more than I had planned, and slept about four hours a night because my room overlooked a street that never went quiet. That is standard for the festival. Pamplona is a compact city of modest size, and for nine nights in July it takes in a crowd far larger than its hotel stock was built for. The result is a price structure unlike almost anywhere else in Spain.

Here is what each type of accommodation costs, based on the most concrete figures available.

The Price Ladder at a Glance

This table puts every type of stay side by side. Check the “Festival year” and “What the figure is” columns carefully, because some numbers are last-minute snapshots, some are search results for specific nights, and some are averages.

That spread is the reality. A couple can pay a modest sum per head to camp at Ezcaba, or, at 2025 last-minute prices, more than three thousand euros for one night at the most famous hotel on Plaza del Castillo. Most visitors end up somewhere in the middle, and the choices that decide where you land are the dates, the distance from the old town and how early you book.

Central Hotels During the Festival

The core of the festival is the Casco Viejo: the bull-run route along Calle Estafeta, the town hall square where the chupinazo rocket opens the fiesta, and the bars and peñas spilling into every lane. Hotels inside or right on the edge of this zone are what everyone wants, and the 2025 prices show it.

When the 2025 festival was searched on Booking.com for two people on the nights of 6–8 July, central hotels came in at about €483–1,131 per night. Those are the opening nights, when demand peaks. Last-minute figures reported during the 2025 festival show how prices shift across the nine days. A double room at Hotel Europa started from €275 for the night of 13–14 July, near the end of the fiesta. Pompaelo and Yoldi were at €324–325. Maisonnave reached €1,104 for 9–10 July, right in the thick of it. Gran Hotel La Perla, the grand hotel on Plaza del Castillo with a long literary history, sat at €2,422–3,083 per night.

Two lessons come out of this. First, a central hotel is a premium product at any point in the festival. Even the cheapest last-minute double reported in 2025 cost far more than a normal summer night in Pamplona. Second, the date you pick matters nearly as much as the hotel. The same city, and often the same street, can cost very different amounts on the opening weekend and on the final nights.

Consider two friends travelling separately. One insists on being there for the chupinazo and books a central double for 6–8 July. The other goes for the closing stretch, catches the last encierros and the Pobre de Mí farewell, and books for 13–14 July. Going by the 2025 figures, the second traveller can pay a fraction of the first one’s rate for a comparable location.

Outskirts, Campsites and Holiday Rentals

If the central prices made you wince, the outskirts are where a lot of experienced San Fermín visitors end up. On Booking.com, for two people on the nights of 6–8 July 2025, hotels in Orcoyen, Villava and Gorraiz came in at about €302–463 per night. That is still well above a normal July night, but it is a clear step down from the centre on the same dates. These places sit just outside the city, and getting into the old town takes some planning, especially in the early morning before the run.

Camping Ezcaba is the budget option. During the 2026 festival it charged about €24–27 per person per night, so a couple pays twice that. It is the classic choice for groups of friends, backpackers and anyone who sees accommodation as somewhere to sleep for a few hours between the encierro and the evening fireworks. The event hostel set up on the campsite, open 4–15 July, listed beds from about US$68. Bring earplugs, a light sleeping bag and realistic expectations. For packing ideas, see What to Wear and Bring to a Spanish Outdoor Festival.

Holiday rentals look appealing for groups, but the numbers are steep. An aggregator average across roughly 430 Pamplona listings, read in October 2026, put July at €552 per night, compared with €157 in June and €212 in August. That is an average, so individual flats will be cheaper or dearer. The gap between July and the surrounding months shows how heavily the festival weighs on that market. Before you pay for any rental, read Apartamentos Turisticos: Licence Numbers, Check-In, and What Can Go Wrong.

Why Pamplona Prices Jump So Hard in July

Once you understand what drives these prices, they make more sense, and you can book with a plan instead of in a panic.

The Official Monthly Averages Hide the Festival Spike

Spain’s national statistics institute, INE, publishes the average rate per occupied hotel room per night for Pamplona. The 2026 figures, along with the previous two Julys, look like this:

These numbers need careful reading. July 2026 at €150.99 is clearly the most expensive month of 2026 in the table, well above March, June and August. But it is a whole-month average. The nine festival nights are blended with three weeks of ordinary July, so the official figure hides the spike. That explains how the July 2026 average can sit at €150.99 while central hotels on the opening nights of the 2025 festival were showing about €483–1,131. Different years, different measures, and the festival nights are where the real pressure is.

The July averages have also come down year on year, from €187.31 in July 2024 to €164.26 in July 2025 and €150.99 in July 2026. Treat that as a broad trend across the whole month, not a sign that festival nights have become cheap.

Occupancy and the Opening-Night Squeeze

According to the City Council’s balance and the hotel association survey reported in the regional press, hotel occupancy during the 2026 festival reached 89.8%, well above the 81.7% forecast. The opening nights of 5–7 July were the strongest of the fiesta.

That matches what is commonly reported every year. Arrival day and the first nights are the crunch: people travel in for the chupinazo, stay for the first encierros and the first big evening, and many leave after a few days. By the second half of the festival the city is still packed, but the hotels are under less strain. If you are flexible on dates, that pattern is the most useful thing you can know.

The Old Town Tourist-Flat Rules

There is another limit on supply right where everyone wants to stay. The Casco Viejo prohibits new tourist-flat use, and as reported in July 2025, 182 regulated tourist flats exist in the old town. That is a small pool for a festival of this scale, so legal short-term rentals inside the historic centre are scarce and sought after.

In practice, if a listing offers an apartment right on the encierro route at a price that looks too good, look closely before you pay. Check that a licence or registration number is shown, read the reviews, and favour platforms with clear payment protection over direct bank transfers to strangers.

How to Book San Fermín Accommodation on Booking.com Without Overpaying

I have tried most ways of booking for this festival over the years: phoning hotels directly, chasing friends of friends, sending messages to rental owners. For most visitors, Booking.com is the most practical tool. It shows the most Pamplona inventory in one place, from Hotel Europa-style central properties to outskirts hotels in Villava and Gorraiz to some festival-period hostels. It also lets you filter, compare and lock in cancellable rates while you finalise plans. The 2025 central and outskirts figures above came from Booking.com searches, which tells you how much of the market is listed there.

Step-by-Step Booking Plan

Follow this order and you will avoid most of the stress:

1. Decide your festival nights first. Choose opening nights, mid-festival or closing nights. Given the 2025 price patterns and the 2026 occupancy peak on 5–7 July, this single decision moves your budget more than anything else.
2. Search Booking.com for your exact dates and party size. Prices differ a lot between two adults and a group, and between one night and several. Enter your real dates.
3. Turn on the map view. Place the old town in the middle and look at how prices change as you move from the Casco Viejo to Ensanche, then out to Villava, Orcoyen and Gorraiz.
4. Filter for free cancellation. Book a cancellable room as soon as you have a plan, then keep checking. See Free Cancellation in Spain: What the Policy Really Allows before relying on it, because festival-period terms can be stricter than usual.
5. Compare the total for your whole stay, not the nightly rate. A cheaper outskirts room can still win once you add taxis or early buses into town for the encierro.
6. Check deposits and minimum stays. Some festival bookings require several nights or a pre-authorisation on your card. Deposits and Pre-Authorisations at Spanish Hotels: What Gets Held explains how this works.
7. Save confirmations offline. Mobile networks struggle in packed streets, so keep your booking details and the property’s phone number on your phone.

Choosing Your Nights Strategically

Here is how I would plan different trip types using the figures in this guide.

The opening-weekend purist. You want the chupinazo, the first encierro and the opening-night atmosphere. Accept that you are buying the most expensive nights of the year in Pamplona. Going by the 2025 Booking.com snapshot for 6–8 July, central hotels were about €483–1,131 per night for two. Book as early as possible, take a cancellable rate and watch for changes.

The value seeker who still wants a hotel. Go later in the festival. The 2025 last-minute figure for Hotel Europa, from €275 for 13–14 July, shows how the closing nights can bring a central room into a more manageable range. You still get encierros, the fireworks and the emotional farewell on the final night.

The day-tripper hybrid. Stay in the outskirts and come in for the run and the evenings. In 2025, Booking.com showed outskirts hotels at about €302–463 per night for two on the opening nights, a real saving compared with the centre on the same dates.

The festival tribe. If you are travelling with friends and mostly want a place to sleep, Camping Ezcaba at about €24–27 per person per night in 2026, or the event hostel beds there from about US$68, keeps accommodation costs low so you can spend on food, drink and the bullring. Camping and Glamping in Spain: Booking Options by Region covers how campsite bookings generally work.

Reading the Listing Before You Pay

When you are looking at a Booking.com listing for festival dates, check these points before you pay:

• The exact address. “Pamplona” in the property name does not guarantee it is in the city. Check the map pin.
• The cancellation terms for your specific dates. Festival nights sometimes carry different conditions from the rest of July. Refundable vs Non-Refundable Rates in Spain: When the Discount Is Worth It helps you weigh the trade-off.
• Noise. A room overlooking the old town means music, singing and crowds until morning. Some people love it; light sleepers will not. Read recent reviews from people who stayed during the festival.
• Check-in arrangements. On the opening day, streets around the centre are packed and some are closed. Ask how and when you can get in. Bring your passport, because Spanish hotels register guest IDs; see Check-In Documents in Spain: Why Hotels Register Your Passport.
• Room configuration. For groups, confirm the bed setup and maximum occupancy so you are not turned away at the desk.

Matching Your Budget to a Realistic Plan

San Fermín rewards people who plan. The festival is generous with its atmosphere and unforgiving with last-minute budgets.

Budget Scenarios Based on Real Figures

This table matches common traveller profiles to the most relevant figures in this guide:

Remember the INE context: across the whole of July 2026, Pamplona hotels averaged €150.99 per occupied room per night, compared with €98.51 in June 2026 and €104.22 in August 2026. If San Fermín is not essential to your trip, visiting Pamplona in June or August is a very different financial experience. If the festival is the reason you are going, budget for festival nights rather than the monthly average.

Costly Mistakes to Avoid

These mistakes cost the most money:

• Waiting until the last week. With 2026 hotel occupancy at 89.8% and the opening nights fullest, late bookers get the leftovers. The 2025 last-minute figures in this guide show what leftovers cost.
• Booking non-refundable too early. Plans change. A cancellable Booking.com rate costs a little more but gives you room to switch dates or location.
• Ignoring transport from the outskirts. A cheaper room in Villava or Gorraiz is a good deal only if you have worked out how to reach the encierro route early in the morning.
• Paying for an unlicensed old-town flat. With new tourist-flat use prohibited in the Casco Viejo, choose regulated listings with visible registration details and secure payment.
• Booking one oversized group room without checking occupancy. For larger groups, Group and Multi-Room Bookings in Spain: What Changes Above Six People explains how multi-room reservations work.

If you are new to the festival itself, read Is San Fermín Safe for Spectators? What to Know before you go, and see Las Fallas, La Tomatina, and San Fermín: Spain’s Famous Events for how Pamplona compares with Spain’s other big events. For broader planning around Spain’s festival calendar, Regional Festivals in Spain: Where to Base Yourself and When to Book covers the approach in more detail.

My advice after many Julys in Pamplona: decide your nights, open Booking.com, set the map over the old town, filter for free cancellation and reserve something you can live with today. Then keep checking as the festival gets closer. A cancellable booking is what lets you enjoy San Fermín without worrying about the bill.

Disclaimer

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Laws, prices and regulations vary by location and change over time. Consult a qualified professional for guidance on your specific situation.

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