Painting-in-Spain-2024
Barcelona-and-Costa-Brava-2024
Extremadura & Andalucia 2024
Are you a Travel Agent?
We pay commission to agents. Book our advertised tours or have us custom design a tour for your clients. Visit the exclusive Travel Agent page.
Need more info?
Contact us
Enjoy two days in Madrid before traveling north into the vineyards. Our tour for wine lovers will expand your knowledge of wines from the Rioja appellation and also from around Spain. The route winds through glorious vineyard country by way of medieval villages, historic bodegas, and new wineries of avant-garde design. Food, wine & art go together-- along the Wine Roads you'll visit private collections and public art, taste from the barrel, and experience nueva cocina/nouvelle cuisine of northern Spain. The pace is unhurried, with time to soak in an open- air spa and stroll through history.
MADRIDRendezvous at your Madrid hotel. Meet your guide for a late afternoon City Tour, followed by an early light dinner in colorful Plaza Santa Ana. Overnight: Hotel Vincci Soho D
After breakfast, meet your local art historian guide for a visit to the Prado Museum. Continue to the Sunday Rastro/Flea Market. Afterwards, sit down to Sunday lunch in an historic coaching inn in the heart of old Hapsburg Madrid. Free afternoon and evening. Overnight: as above B Tapas
After breakfast, depart for Spain's best known wine country, Rioja. Hotel check in and welcome lunch. After lunch, take a walking tour of medieval walled Laguardia, with its complex network of underground wine caves and remarkable parish church. This evening, visit a wine theme center for a brief seminar on the Wines of Rioja, followed by a tour of one of the subterranean bodegas, where wine is still made the artisanal way. Enjoy Rioja reservas and Tapas in the cueva. Overnight: Hotel Villa Laguardia B L Tapas
This morning, you'll compare styles on private
hosted tours & tastings in the alava subzone-one
winery producing new style Riojas in award-winning
facilities designed by Santiago Calatrava, and the other
producing classic-style wines made in one of the
region's most historic bodegas, Bodegas
Remellurí. Enjoy lunch at the bodega, under the
shadow of an ancient convent before continuing to Bodegas
Ontañon. Here you'll experience the marriage of
wine & art in this very unique bodega, followed by a
select tasting. Early evening, explore Logroño, the
region's marketing capital, on a history walk to
include the city's famous street, Calle Laurel, known
for its many tapas bars. Sample appetizers & wines
amidst the crowd of locals, before transfer back to
Laguardia. Overnight: as
above B L Tapas
"Good grief! How can a guide be fluent in Spanish as well as Basque. Also an art historian. Also a gastronome. Also a student of oenology. I swear she knows everyone in Spain—and they all love her. She had a thorough knowledge of every place we visited and a charming person to boot. My highest compliments!" |
Transfer today into the subzone Rioja alta. On a morning visit to two distinct wineries and including a chance to see a cooperage, choose to tour the vineyards on horseback, by bike, or on foot. Picnic with a Rio Oja view beside dolmens and stone lagars/medieval wine vats. After lunch, visit the Dinastia Vivanco Wine Museum, the most comprehensive and enjoyable in Spain, near the beautiful wine town of San Vincente de Sonsierra. Free time in the village before an evening Tasting Course on the Wines of Spain, followed by dinner. Overnight: Hospedería de Briñas B Picnic D
Transfer to the subzone Rioja baja for a bodega tour and tasting in an area bounded by high desert. Follow the Cidacos river, sheltered by red cliffs where eagles soar, to the spa town of Arnedillo. Light lunch by the river with its hot pools. Soak your feet in the river, or enjoy a swim in the mineral pools, before continuing to Enciso, known for its dinosaur remains and old water mills; desert excursion by jeep to see the remains. Return via Santo Domingo de la Calzada, on the historic Camino de Santiago, a town famous for its shrine in the Cathedral and a celebrated hen house. Dinner in a nearby village this evening with a renowned Michelin chef. Overnight: as above B L D
Transfer this morning into the bucolic Valley of San Millán to visit the monasteries of Yuso & Suso with their rich history linked to the wine industry. Continue to Vitoria, capital of the Basque Country, and an environmental-award winning city. Lunch in an historic restaurant, followed by a walking tour of the beautifully preserved old quarter and a private hosted tour with an archaeologist of the Cathedral under restoration. Short drive on into Bilbao. Free evening in Bilbao. Overnight: Hotel Sheraton B L
This morning enjoy a guided tour of the famous Guggenheim Museum. Afterwards, on a walking tour, you'll appreciate some of the other new architecture in this phoenix-like city. Enjoy a free afternoon, exploring and shopping. Farewell dinner on the Cantabrian coast with Bay of Biscay views. Overnight: as above B D
End of tour after breakfast.
Be a Group Leader: reserve a private trip for your local wine society and Saranjan will reward you for your efforts.
Contact us for smaller or larger groups. All prices subject to currency fluctuation adjustment.