{"id":857795,"date":"2026-03-29T08:00:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T08:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/857795\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T08:00:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T08:00:19","slug":"the-beautiful-city-in-spain-thats-a-barcelona-dupe-without-the-crowds-europe-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/857795\/","title":{"rendered":"The beautiful city in Spain that\u2019s a Barcelona dupe without the crowds | Europe | Travel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Logro\u00f1o<\/p>\n

Visitors often fall in love with the beautiful city (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

Spain<\/a> has no shortage of beautiful cities<\/a>, with stunning spots scattered all across the country. But despite that, many tourists<\/a> still choose to visit the same overcrowded places year after year. Cities like Barcelona<\/a> and Madrid<\/a> are often packed with people and, at times, can feel far from welcoming because of the sheer number of visitors.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of alternatives to places struggling with overtourism<\/a>, and some of them offer just as much, if not more. One city in particular is now being described as not only a Barcelona dupe, but actually better by those who have visited. It offers the same lively food scene, walkable streets<\/a> and strong local culture, but without the crowds that can take away from the experience.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Spanish villages will pay you \u00a313,000 to relocate and enjoy 80% more sunshine <\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Foreign Office issues Portugal travel update for Brits ahead of Easter <\/a><\/p>\n

\"Street<\/p>\n

The city is much quieter than Barcelona (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

The city is Logro\u00f1o, the capital of La Rioja in northern Spain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One person wrote on TripAdvisor: \u201cHaving been to both, I would highly recommend Logro\u00f1o over Barcelona<\/a> any day. It has that same amazing social culture and food scene but with about 90% fewer crowds. You can actually walk through the historic core near Calle Portales without being shoved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another added: \u201cStunning city with so much history. We loved walking across the Stone Bridge (11th century!) just like the pilgrims. Don\u2019t miss the Cathedral of Santa Mar\u00eda la Redonda – they actually have a Michelangelo painting inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, check out the Cubo de Revell\u00edn tower to see the old city walls. Very walkable and the honey-colored stone buildings at sunset are a dream for photos.\u201d<\/p>\n

A third wrote: \u201cIf you love wine, this is your mecca. The wine is cheap and world-class. We spent every night in the old town eating stuffed peppers and patatas a la riojana.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Locals<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s old town is filled with small bars and restaurants (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

\"Spanish<\/p>\n

There is a similar tapas culture in Logro\u00f1o and in Barcelona (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

Like Barcelona<\/a>, Logro\u00f1o is built around a strong social culture where food and drink are an extremely important part of daily life.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s old town is filled with small bars and restaurants, where people move from place to place trying different dishes, similar to the tapas culture found in Barcelona.<\/p>\n

It is also very easy to explore on foot, with most of the main sights located close together in the historic centre.<\/p>\n

Both cities<\/a> have a clear identity shaped by their regions, with Logro\u00f1o reflecting La Rioja’s traditions just as Barcelona reflects Catalonia’s.<\/p>\n

However, the key difference is scale. Logro\u00f1o is far smaller, with around 152,000 residents, which means it does not experience the same level of tourism.<\/p>\n

The streets are quieter, there are no long queues, and visitors can move around without feeling rushed.<\/p>\n

\"Landscape<\/p>\n

The River Ebro runs through Logro\u00f1o, with the Stone Bridge acting as one of its best-known landmarks (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

The city also has a long history, especially linked to the Camino de Santiago. It became an important stop on the route from the 11th century, bringing people from across Europe<\/a> through its streets. That history is still visible in its buildings and layout today.<\/p>\n

The River Ebro runs through Logro\u00f1o, with the Stone Bridge acting as one of its best-known landmarks.<\/p>\n

Parts of the old city walls remain, including the Cubo de Revell\u00edn tower and the Charles V gate.<\/p>\n

At the centre is the Cathedral of Santa Mar\u00eda la Redonda, which overlooks one of the main squares.<\/p>\n

Nearby, visitors can also find the Church of Santiago and the Church of San Bartolom\u00e9, the oldest church in the city.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, the region is famous for its wine, and visitors can easily try local varieties across the city.<\/p>\n

Traditional dishes such as patatas a la riojana and stuffed peppers are widely available, often served in small portions across different venues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Visitors often fall in love with the beautiful city (Image: Getty) Spain has no shortage of beautiful cities,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":857796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5312],"tags":[199,5719,2000,299,244307,244306,2863,8937,104,244308,244309,5006],"class_list":["post-857795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-barcelona","tag-cities","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-la-rioja","tag-logrou00f1o","tag-overtourism","tag-pubs-and-bars","tag-spain","tag-tapas-culture","tag-the-beautiful-city-in-spain-thatu2019s-a-barcelona-dupe-without-the-crowds","tag-tourism"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116311413839495689","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}