Zaragoza is the fifth largest city in Spain and sits almost exactly halfway between Madrid and Barcelona, which is why the high speed train stops here and why almost nobody gets off. It has been continuously important for two thousand years: Caesaraugusta under Augustus, Saraqusta under the Muslim taifa kings, then Aragonese, and it kept something from each layer.
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The packing story here is not the monuments, though the Basilica del Pilar on the Ebro is one of the great sights of Spain. It is the weather. Zaragoza sits in a basin in the Ebro valley with no sea anywhere near it, which gives it a sharply continental climate, and it has a wind of its own: the cierzo, a cold dry northwesterly funnelled down the valley between two mountain ranges, which can blow over 100 kilometres an hour and which locals will tell you about within ten minutes of meeting you.
What Makes Zaragoza Different to Pack For
The cierzo
It arrives from the northwest, accelerates as the valley narrows, and it is cold, dry and persistent. In winter it turns 5°C into something that feels closer to minus 5. It blows in every season and is strongest between November and March.
The practical consequence is the same as in any wind city: a windproof outer layer beats a thick one, and umbrellas are useless. A merino wool base layer for women under a shell is the right structure, because the cierzo strips warmth from anything loose or open.
Continental extremes in both directions
Summers are genuinely hot, 33°C to 38°C in July and August with the occasional 40°C, and very dry. Winters run 3°C to 10°C by day with frost, fog in the valley and the wind making it worse. Spring and autumn are short and are the best time to come.
It is dry, and that changes things
Zaragoza gets around 300 millimetres of rain a year, which is semi-arid. Skin, lips and eyes suffer, particularly in the cierzo, which is drying as well as cold. This is not a place where you will need a serious waterproof, and it is a place where you will want lip balm.
A compact, flat, walkable centre
Unusually for a Spanish city of this size, the historic core is level and small. The Pilar, La Seo, the Roman sites and the market are within ten minutes of each other, and the Aljaferia is a twenty minute walk or a short tram ride west.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Zaragoza Packing List
Footwear
Comfortable flat shoes will do almost the whole city, since the centre is level and paved. Something with grip for winter, when frost and the occasional ice make the stone slick in the early morning.
If you are heading out to the Moncayo massif, the Mallos de Riglos or the Ordesa valley in the Pyrenees north of the city, waterproof hiking shoes are the right tool, and the mountains there are serious rather than scenic.
Clothing
Layers with a windproof outer, in every season. In winter add a hat that stays on, gloves and a scarf, because the cierzo finds every gap. In summer, loose light clothing and long sleeves for the sun rather than the cold.
Covered shoulders and knees for the Basilica del Pilar and La Seo, both of which are working churches and both of which enforce it. A light scarf handles it.
Zaragoza dresses like a normal Spanish provincial capital: neat, unshowy, not formal. The tapas streets in El Tubo are casual.
For sun and dryness
A wide brim sun hat with a strap, which the wind makes non negotiable, plus sunscreen and sunglasses. Lip balm and a heavier moisturiser than you would normally carry, and a water bottle, because the dry air dehydrates you faster than the temperature suggests.
For rain
A packable rain jacket with a hood that cinches, which doubles as the windproof and is far more use here than an umbrella. Rain is infrequent and usually brief.
Practical
Cash for the smaller tapas bars in El Tubo, though cards are widely taken. The AVE from Madrid takes about ninety minutes and from Barcelona about the same, which makes Zaragoza the easiest stop in Spain to add to a trip. Book Aljaferia entry ahead, since it is a working parliament building and access depends on the political calendar.
What to Wear at Key Sites
The Basilica del Pilar
An enormous baroque basilica on the Ebro with eleven domes and four towers, built over the spot where, according to tradition, the Virgin appeared to Saint James standing on a pillar in the year 40, which would make it the oldest Marian shrine in Christendom. Goya painted one of the domes.
Practically: look for the two shells hanging on the wall inside. They are bombs dropped through the roof during the Civil War in 1936 that failed to explode, kept on display ever since. The tower lift gives the best view over the river. Shoulders and knees covered, and it is a major pilgrimage church rather than a museum, so expect people praying.
La Seo
The cathedral of San Salvador, a hundred metres from the Pilar, built on the site of the main mosque and before that a Roman temple. The exterior Mudejar wall of the parroquieta is UNESCO listed and is the finest thing of its kind in Aragon.
Practically: the tapestry museum inside holds an extraordinary collection of Flemish work. Same dress code. Zaragoza is unusual in having two cathedral ranked churches within sight of each other, which is the result of a long argument neither side won.
The Aljaferia
An eleventh century Islamic palace built by the taifa kings, later taken by the Aragonese monarchs and later still used by the Inquisition, now the seat of the Aragonese parliament. The interior horseshoe arches are among the best surviving examples of Andalusi architecture outside Andalusia.
Practically: entry is limited and timed because it is a functioning legislature, so check opening days before you go rather than turning up. Flat shoes for the stone.
Roman Caesaraugusta
Four separate museums covering the theatre, the forum, the public baths and the river port, all built over the excavated remains in situ.
Practically: a combined ticket covers all four and they are close together. The theatre is the most impressive and is partly visible from the street. These are indoor, air conditioned and the obvious answer to a 38°C afternoon.
Goya
Goya was born at Fuendetodos, forty five kilometres south, and Zaragoza holds a good deal of his work: the Pilar dome, the Museo Goya in the city, and the frescoes at the Cartuja de Aula Dei north of town.
Practically: the Museo Goya is central and modest in size. Fuendetodos needs a car and is a small village with a birthplace house and an engraving museum.
The Pilar festival
Around 12 October, one of the largest festivals in Spain: an offering of flowers where hundreds of thousands of people in regional dress build a vast floral mantle for the Virgin, plus concerts, processions and bullfighting.
Practically: the city fills completely and accommodation must be booked months ahead at several times the normal price. October evenings are cold and the cierzo does not take the week off.
What Not to Bring
Leave the umbrella, which the cierzo will destroy. Leave a hat without a strap.
Leave the assumption that inland Spain is warm in winter, because Zaragoza is cold, and leave the assumption that it is bearable in August, because it is not. Leave heavy waterproofs, which this semi-arid city does not need. Leave the idea that this is a stopover, since two days here are better spent than a third day in Barcelona.
Essential Resources for Women in Zaragoza
Emergency numbers in Spain: 112 is the general emergency number covering police, ambulance and fire, with English speaking operators. 091 reaches the Policia Nacional and 092 the local police. For a mountain rescue in the Pyrenees north of the city, call 112 and ask for the Guardia Civil mountain service.
Tourist support: Spain runs a national tourist assistance line for foreign visitors on 902 102 112, offering interpretation and help filing a report. A theft requires a denuncia with the Policia Nacional, which can be started online and signed in person, and you need it for insurance or a replacement passport.
US Consulate: there is no consulate in Zaragoza. The US Embassy in Madrid, Calle de Serrano 75, telephone +34 91 587 2200, at es.usembassy.gov, covers the city and is ninety minutes away by AVE, with the Barcelona consulate the same distance in the other direction. Enrol in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov before you travel.
Main hospital or clinic: the Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet and the Hospital Clinico Universitario Lozano Blesa both have 24 hour urgencias departments and serve the whole of Aragon. EU and UK visitors should carry the European Health Insurance Card or the UK Global Health Insurance Card; everyone else needs travel insurance, and check it covers hiking if the Pyrenees are on the list.
Official health authority: the Spanish Ministry of Health at sanidad.gob.es, with the Aragonese health service issuing the summer heat alerts that matter here.
US State Department travel advisory for Spain: current advisory level and detail. Read it directly rather than relying on this page.
UK FCDO travel advice for Spain: entry requirements, safety and health guidance, including the extreme heat advice that applies to the Ebro valley every summer.
Official tourism authority: the Spanish national tourism board at spain.info, with Turismo de Aragon and the Zaragoza municipal tourist office for Aljaferia opening days, which change with the parliamentary calendar, and the Pilar festival programme.
Solo women safety assessment: Zaragoza is a very safe and comfortable city for a woman travelling alone, and it is one of the easiest in Spain to do it in because it is a working provincial capital with relatively few tourists and therefore very little of the industry that targets them. Violent crime against visitors is rare, the centre is compact and busy in the evening, street harassment is uncommon and mild, and eating alone at a tapas bar in El Tubo is completely ordinary, since that whole district is built around standing up and moving between bars. The large student population keeps the city lively without producing a problematic nightlife. Petty theft is modest and concentrated in the few crowded places, principally around the Pilar and the central market, and it is noticeably less of a problem than in Barcelona, Madrid or Seville. The areas near the railway and bus stations are unremarkable. The genuine hazards here are climatic rather than criminal. Summer heat in the Ebro basin is severe, regularly reaching 38°C and higher with very low humidity, and heat exhaustion creeps up because the dry air means you do not feel as sweaty as you are; carry water and use the indoor Roman museums in the middle of the day. In winter the cierzo is strong enough to make walking difficult and to bring down branches and street furniture, and combined with low temperatures it causes real cold exposure in people dressed for a mild Spanish city. Check the forecast and dress for wind rather than for the number. The Ebro is a large, fast, cold river with steep banks in places, and it has flooded the lower districts in recent years. If you head north into the Pyrenees, that is genuine mountain terrain with fast weather and long rescue times, and it needs its own preparation.
Reading On
Zaragoza is ninety minutes from both Madrid and Barcelona and is the most underrated city stop in Spain, worth two days rather than the change of train most people give it. The Spain travel guide for women is the parent for the country and the Spain packing list for women covers a trip across several regions. Either side on the same line, the Madrid travel guide for women and the Barcelona travel guide for women cover the two cities most people are travelling between. North, the San Sebastian packing list for women, the Bilbao packing list for women and the Santander packing list for women cover the green coast. For more inland Spain of the same kind, the Segovia packing list for women, the Toledo packing list for women and the Salamanca packing list for women cover the meseta cities. The travel packing guide for women is the parent for all destinations. For why a thin wool layer beats a thick coat when the wind is the problem, the best merino wool base layers for women explains the fibre, and the Roman Trail collection is where the tops themselves live.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
