Camino de Santiago
Flexible dates/deluxe or moderate hotel plan/easy walking

Experience a stretch of the 1000 year old pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, commencing in Bilbao and ending in the Holy City, on this walking-for-softies tour through northern Spain. Walk 45km of carefully selected highlights. Enjoy Rioja wine country; El Cid's Burgos; medieval towns in Old Castile and ancient monasteries; shrines sites and thatch-roofed Celtic villages as you wend your way through ghost towns, stands of eucalyptus, fields of corn, alongside rivers and through bucolic valleys to the shrine at Santiago. Maximum group size is 20. Tour begins in Bilbao and ends in Santiago, with options for deluxe or moderate accommodation.

All inclusive land only:
Departure:
(2006 dates by arrangement to fit your schedule)
from 1575 euros per person, double occupancy.
Due to currency fluctuations, contact us for a current price quote in dollars.

Wines & Shrines in Galicia
Deluxe Tour

For a thousand years, pilgrims have traveled to this remote northwest corner of Galicia, in Spain, to the great shrine at Santiago. A thousand years ago, French and German monks were among the first travelers on this sacred road, and they carried precious vinestocks with them. The first vineyards grew around monastic communities along the Way. Today Galicia produces Spain's most expensive grape, the albariño, and with it some of the country's most prized wines. This Celtic corner of the country also produces wines from other varietals in its several DOs/denomicaciones de origen. Follow the grape in Galicia and you'll explore Celtic hill forts, ancient dolmens, coastal dunes and glorious beaches, historic villages and great monuments, and along the road hear Celtic music, taste wines from the barrel in small family-owned bodegas, dine like a bishop in some of the area's most select restaurants, and sleep like a king in the paradors of this remote corner of Iberia.

All inclusive, land only
(departure dates by arrangement)
Due to currency fluctuations, contact us for a current price quote in dollars.

The Wines & Cuisine of Andalucia
4 days/ 3 nights
Private custom tour

Discover the old world of famous sherries and authentic local cuisine. From your boutique hotel in the Barrio Santa Cruz, explore the city of Carmen…meander the plazas and patios, and tour the monuments and gardens of this most romantic of southern cities. Select ingredients from the market for your cooking class by the emblematic Cathedral of Sevilla. Drop in on historic tabernas on a tapas walking tour of the old quarter. Travel northwest into the Sierra de Aracena Mountains, home to artisan ham and cheese producers, and a center for arts and crafts. Venture south to Jerez/Sherry Country; taste from the barrel as you learn about the unique soler wine-making method. Then traverse the vineyards around Sanlúcar to the coast from where Columbus set sail to discover the New World.

All inclusive land only, tour begins and ends in Sevilla.
Due to currency fluctuations, contact us for a current price quote in dollars.

One Day Wine Tour in Andalucia

Enjoy a full day in DO Xères-Sherry Country. Meet your private guide/driver at your Sevilla hotel, and depart for the south, into the vineyard country. Learn about the soler wine-making method of these historic wines, and taste finos, amontillados, olorosos from the barrel on two distinct bodega visits. See the UNESCO World heritage town of Jerez and historic Sanlúcar, and sample Andalucian cuisine over lunch in a restaurant enjoyed by wine-makers.

Included: English-speaking driver/guide; transfers; tastings and touring; lunch.
Due to currency fluctuations, contact us for a current price quote in dollars.

Cooking in Sevilla
Private custom tour

Join our local host/chef on a market visit, in this colorful city in southern Spain. The market displays an abundance of Mediterranean fish and spices, fresh vegetables and fruits from the nearby huertas, and breads and cheeses from artisan producers. With our chef, select ingredients for three signature dishes. In our cooking school by the Cathedral, roll up your sleeves and prepare your lunchtime menu, alongside your instructor. When you sit down to a leisurely Andalucian lunch, with a view to the Giralda, toast your success with a copa from the sunny South.

Due to currency fluctuations, contact us for a current price quote in dollars.

Penedès Short Break Wine Tour  

Extend a stay in Barcelona with a full day in one of Catalunya's eight wine regions/DOs, denominaciones de origen--DO Penedès, the Land of Monks & Wine. Only an hour's train ride from downtown Barcelona, the region has a pre-Roman viticultural tradition, with distinctive terroir and indigenous varietals.

Arriving at Sant Sadurni train station, meet your local wine country guide and host. On leaving the station, vineyards appear-in pocket holdings, larger estates, around medieval walled villages, and alongside the winding roads of this region whose climate is influenced by both the mountains and the sea. Begin your tour with a vineyard visit and gaze towards the Pyrenees. Tour bodegas/wineries, meet the enologists and learn about their products and the future for the region. Enjoy a professional tasting of several wines in each bodega, and record your impressions on your tasting notes.

As elswhere in Spain, Cistercian friars were the first, in the modern era, to replant vineyards once stocked by Romans and Phoenicians. Step inside the cool stone walls of one of these ancient monasteries surrounded by vineyards, and learn about the community from one of the monks.

Along the way, enjoy a full lunch in a Catalan masía/farmhouse, outside a medieval walled village. Return with your guide, at day's end, to the station and transfer back to Barcelona.

This is an all inclusive tour from Sant Sadurni.

Similar day tours available from Barcelona:
Services included: Hotel pick up/drop off; transport; entrances; 3 course lunch; wine tastings + visit to 2 bodegas; one cultural visit; wine tasting notes; English-speaking guide/driver.

• Empordà & Costa Brava
• Priorat:

Contact us for a current quote, or if you would like to be notified when new specials are announced here.