Zaragoza has it’s own airport served by Ryanair from Stansted, there is a regular bus service which stops near the old town. Getting around most things are easy to see on foot although for some of the sites such as the Aljaferia and also Delicias Station and the Expo site you need to use the very good local buses.
It is a city well worth a few days, you will not come across many English speaking tourists, the majority of the visitors are Spanish.
Hotel San Valero, C/Manifestacion 22, is a very smart boutique hotel in the old part of the city, the rooms are very well appointed and the staff very helpful, it has a café, bar and restaurant attached. Check www.venere.com for bargain rates. Free wi-fi in the rooms.
There are some fabulous Tapas Bars in Zaragoza, some with really unusual specialities, there are also a lot of restaurants which offer very reasonably priced set lunches – menu del dia’s.
Casa Juanico, Plaza Santa Cruz 21, very popular bar with a wide range of excellent tapas and also serving larger plates.
La Republicana. C/Mendez Nunez 38, a lovely quirky bar and restaurant with great food and really friendly staff and with some great vegetable dishes..
La Ria, CV/Torrenueva 35, modern bar and restaurant doing a very reasonable menu del dia.
Taberna Dona Casta, C/Estebanes 6, is a fabulous bar, incredibly popular with a range of croquettes which are fantastic, and get freshly cooked to order, it does a range of other tapas/raciones as well.
Vinos Nicolas, is opposite Dona Casta, at present shrouded by scaffolding don’t miss it – it is a great bar with a speciality of delicious small pastry parcels of amazing combinations, the staff are really great.
On the corner diagonally opposite Nicolas, and opposite Dona Casta is a bar which only does one tapas, a skewer of grilled mushrooms with a prawn on top and enough garlic to keep away the vampires.
Bodegas Alamau, C/Estebanes 10, is about 3 doors down from Dona Casta and is an exceptionally smart old fashioned bar and wine shops with an excellent range of canapés.
The corner on which three of the above four sit must be one of the best corners in any Spanish city for tapas and wines.
Los Vitorinos, C/Jose de Las Heras 6, is a fantastic old fashioned bar with a selection of canapés of a variety I have never seen anywhere else in Spain, it is not cheap but worth every euro/cent, one word of warning there is one member of staff who could do with a course in customer care.
Bar Marty. Plaza Santa Marta, is in a great square packed with bars. This is a very popular bar, with memorabilia of bull fighting, with tapas and raciones.
Casa De Mar, C/San Andres 9 , this a modern very brightly lit place which does what it’s name says specialises in seafood, very cheaply with no frill, try the prawns, clams, and razor clams.
Calle Heroismo and the surrounding streets are at the end of the old part known as El Tubo, a lot of the bars specialise in cold meats, cheese and pate. Some of the recommended ones are
Taberna El Escabeche, C/Manuel Sancho 1, at the bottom of C/Heroismo, is a very old fashioned locals bars specialising in pickled things, fish etc. Far more appetising than it sounds.
Alta Taberna Pedro Saputo, C/Antonio Agustin 19, is a very smart bar and restaurant which does great tapas such a monkfish brochettes to order.
Casa Luis, C/Romea 8, is just round the corner and also does some excellent tapas, and seems popular with people having full meals
Pantagruel, C/Herosimo 35, reputed to be the best in this street for toast with meats, cheeses and pates, incredibly popular and very cheap.
Gran Café de Zaragoza, C/Alfonso 1, an institution worth visiting but seemed a bit expensive late at night.
Bar Bacarach, C/Espoz y Mina, is a very smart late night bar with a oldish crowd, fine for a nightcap.
Zaragoza has one of the most important religious buildings in Spain, the Basilica de Nuestro Senora del Pilar which should definitely be visited as the building dominates the old part of the city, the square where it sits has some great buildings and monuments.
There are some excellent Roman remains including an amphitheatre and a ticket can be bought for all three/four sites.
Finally the Aljaferia, is a Moorish palace which predates the Alhambra in Granada and is certainly worth the walk or short bus trip, to visit.
