CLASSICAL WINES AND NORTHERN SPAIN TOUR
MADRID, RIOJA, RIBERA del DUERO, SAN SEBASTIAN AND BILBAO - 5 days

SUMMARY: Special tour combining Wine, Architecture, Art and Gastronomy. The tour starts in Madrid and finishes in Bilbao, and covers, Madrid, Ribera del Duero, Burgos, Rioja, San Sebastian and Bilbao. The tour will take you through the history of Spain, from the cathedral of Burgos to the new Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, including the wonderful town of San Sebastian. .

LODGING: Lodging will be in a 4 start hotel in Madrid, Burgos and Bilbao, in a cute 3 star hotel in Rioja in a small town home of winemakers, and a bed and breakfast in San Sebastian.

Day 1: Madrid. Night in Madrid

  • Free day in Madrid

Day 2: Ribera de Duero. Night in Burgos

  • Morning. Pick up from the hotel and introduction to the tour starting the drive to Ribera del Duero
  • Visit a winery of the Ribera del Duero region.
  • For lunch you will enjoy the typical meal from Ribera, roasted lamb in a wood fired oven with Ribera del Duero wines.
  • Visit another winery after lunch
  • Drive to Burgos.
  • Hotel check in. Dinner on your own, we suggest tapas dinner. Tapas are small dishes that you have in bars or casual restaurants instead of a formal meal

Day 3: Burgos and Rioja. Night in Rioja

  • Burgos cathedral, begun in the 13th century and completed in the 15th and 16th centuries. Our Lady of Burgos sums up Gothic architecture in all its beauty with a unique collection of reredos, tombs, choir, stalls, stained glass, etc. It has been also declared World Heritage monument by UNESCO.
  • Drive to Rioja. Lunch.
  • Afternoon winery visit
  • Guided tour in the medieval walled village of Laguardia (13th century), capital of La Rioja Alavesa. Under the stone paved streets and homes of Laguardia it is full of old subterranean bodegas, and over them there are many historic monuments and sites, like the Gothic facade of Santa Maria de los Reyes church from the 14th century.
  • Dinner on your own

Day 4: Rioja and San Sebastian. Night in San Sebastian

  • Morning. Visit to a traditional winery with wine tasting in Haro or nearby villages. The tradition of Rioja is very well represented by these centenary wineries, that keep in their cemeteries bottles from the time of their founders.
  • Optional visit to the Wine Museum Dinastia Vivanco.
  • Lunch
  • Depart for San Sebastian.
  • Hotel check in and dinner on your own. San Sebastian is one of the gastronomic capitals of the world with many Michelin starred restaurants. We can make reservations for you.
Day 5: Bilbao. Night in Bilbao
  • After breakfast you will have some free time to enjoy San Sebastian.
  • Depart for Bilbao. Lunch on your own
  • Visit to the famous Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao designed by architect Frank Gehry.

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