Traditional & Exclusive
Rioja Gourmet Wine Tour

  • PRICES: FROM €849 PP


  • WHEN: April to October

  • DURATION: 5 days

  • NEAREST AIRPORT: Bilbao

  • La Rioja, gastronomy, wine and culture at its best, mixing together the New Rioja and The Traditional Rioja
  • This luxury tour focuses on the heart of the wine-growing and gastronomic centre of Rioja: Haro and Logrono.
  • Splendid local food, wine, culture, and landscapes. Try the Tapas.
  • Spectacular scenery, a hill top fortress set against the Sierra de Cantabria, the medieval village of Laguardia.
  • Wealth of epicurean delights.
  • Excellent diversity of wineries: from Chateaux style and traditional wineries to boutique or avant-garde wineries. Visits guided by some of the owners of these prestigious estates.
  • Visit the largest wine museum in the world: Dinasti­a Vivanco. Guided tour through the history and culture of wine.
  • Excellent wine tastings.

Tour Summary

La Rioja, Gastronomy, Wine and Culture at its Best, mixing together the New Rioja and the Traditional Rioja.
Splendid local food, wine, culture and landscapes. Try the tapas.

This luxury tour focuses on the heart of the wine-growing and gastronomic centre of Rioja: Haro and Logrono. Both on the River Ebro, just 20 minutes apart by road yet the difference “ the food, the wine, the culture, the landscapes “ is fascinating: Less traveling time, more variety. The charm of picturesque Haro contrasts with the boulevards of Logrono. And then there is romance of Laguardia, a hilltop fortress set against the Sierra de Cantabria.

This gastronomic-wine tour will appeal to those with an insatiable appetite to learn more about the regional food and wine of Northern Spain. Whilst the region is known worldwide for its wines, it hides a wealth of epicurean delights can only be experienced in person in the restaurants and bodegas of Rioja.

We visit an amazing range of wineries, all different with their own special features, from Chateaux-style and traditional wineries to boutique or avant-garde wineries all regarded as the current leaders in both the New Rioja and the Traditional Rioja.

Winemakers and winery owners will guide you through their prestigious estates explaining their unique wine-making methods and sampling their renowned wines with you.

Gastronomy plays an important role in our thrilling wine journey. You will experience delicious gourmet meals in top wineries overlooking the vineyards, and distinguished traditional restaurants. Renowned cooks will entertain you with their typical regional meals and new innovative culinary creations.

For our accommodation you will be staying in a beautiful building founded as a convent, now its walls house a lovely hotel in which it is a true privilege to be a guest and a carefully selected boutique hotel, beautifully decorated with a truly impeccable service.

The visit to The Dinastia Vivanco Museum is a must on our tours. A privileged guided tour through the history and culture of wine not only in Spain but also in Europe. After visiting this astonishing temple of wine you will be delighted with a truly outstanding gourmet lunch.

We have also included a guided walking tour of two amazing cities and a unique medieval village full of wine history, landmarks, historic mansions, glorious views of the Cantabrian Mountains and surrounded by a valley of vineyards.

If you want to visit remarkable wineries, sample splendid wines, enjoy unforgettable meals ingorgeous surroundings, improve your knowledge about the history and culture of wine combined with striking medieval village tours, in one of the most tourist-free areas in Spain: La Rioja, this a journey that you must not miss.

PLACES

Modern Bilbao home of the Guggenheim Museum with its lustrous exterior and collection of modern art. Haro is a graceful town on the banks of the River Ebro. It has a lively old quarter where elegant wine mansions meet lively pavement cafees. Logrono, the regionals capital, has wide boulevards reminiscent of Bordeaux from where the migrants wine makers came. Laguardia is a medieval hilltop city with encircling ramparts, towers and fortified gateways. Its narrow cobbled streets are flanked by bodegas and tapas bars.

FOOD

Just as the wines of Rioja have a unique character, so does the regional gastronomy. Some say the food here is more sophisticated and varied than anywhere else in Spain. So, as you dine in fine restaurants, tapas bars and the famous gastronomic societies of Rioja, it will dawn on you how Riojas food and wine really is a marriage made in heaven.

Day One - Bilbao-Haro

You are welcomed and escorted by our guide to our carefully selected hotel in La Rioja in our vehicle. Evening free.

-Optional: Guggenheim Museum visit in Bilbao Subject to arrival time.


Day Two - Haro-Labastida-Haro

Extraordinary guided tour of the worlds largest wine museum, Dinastia Vivanco, experiencing the wine culture of centuries. A unique experience learning the history of wine not only in Spain, but in Europe.

First guided visit to a winery, you will either visit one of the most prestigious wineries in La Rioja for its successful style of blending the modern technology with the wine-making traditional methods or one of the most reputable, traditional and oldest wineries in La Rioja with very high quality.

Superb typical lunch from the area, and visit one of the picturesque villages in the area such as Haro or Briones.

-(Optional) Tutored wine tasting of a selection of the best wines of La Rioja conducted by a wine expert at a historic building. You will learn different techniques to taste wine as well as the unique characteristics of the wines of Rioja wine region. Free evening.


Day Three - Haro-Logrono

Second visit to a winery. Spectacular guided tour to one of the best wineries in Rioja situated in a medieval town. Wine tasting.

Next and third visit to a winery. A visit to this traditional wine estate will show you what tradition in making wines means nowadays.

Lunch at a traditional restaurant in La Rioja. Guided tour of the old quarter of Logroño, capital of La Rioja, visiting Calle Laurel one of the most famous gastronomic streets in Spain. A unique guided tour seeing hundreds of small bars, each one specialising in a different tapa (small portions of food, an authentic delicacy). Free evening in Logroño, Bars and restaurants recommended.


Day Four - Logrono-Elciego-Laguardia-Logrono

Fourth visit to a winery. Guided tour of one of the Pioneers wineries in the Rioja wine region. Its wines have earned some of the most distinguished international awards including the amazing Hotel Marquess de Riscal, designed by world renowned architect Frank Ghery. Wine tasting.

Private guided tour conducted by local expert of one of the most astonishing medieval towns in Europe.

Privileged visit to one of the best underground cellars in the medieval town of Laguardia where they tread the grapes like in ancient times.

Gourmet lunch based on fresh ingredients and excellent service. Free afternoon. Time to relax in the hotel or go shopping in Logrono.

-(Optional) Guided tapas tour of the best tapas of the area some of them never seen before. You will sample authentic fresh food from the North of Spain, while you mix with the locals. Highly enjoyable.


Day Five - Logrono-Bilbao

Private transfer back to the Airport.

-Optional-Private guided tour to The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (subject to flight times)

Schedule Tour Prices

TRADITIONAL Rioja Wine Tour

Price per Person: 4 Nights / 5 Days

2 persons      1399.00

4 persons     1039.00

6 persons     919.00

8 persons     849.00

EXCLUSIVE Gourmet Rioja Wine Tour

Price per Person: 4 Nights / 5 Days

2 persons      1499.00

4 persons    1099.00

6 persons     989.00

8 persons     899.00

The difference between the traditional and the exclusive Rioja tour lies in the rating of accommodation, quality of meals,
upmarket wineries and type of restaurants.


Supplements

Single supplement: 299.00 EUROS

Per person supplement: 199.00 EUROS

Wine festival 22nd-26th September 2021 and 21st-25th September 2022

Upgrade of Accommodation on request.


This tour operates every week from April to October. November to March on request.

- For the scaled pricing system, the total number of people in the tour refers to how many are actually booked for the particular week, and not to how many people you must have in your party. For example if you call to book two people and we already have four people booked, you will be paying the price designated to six people, if at a later day we book two more clients you will eventually pay the price designated to eight people.

This tour can also be arranged privately applying the above price of the number of people in the private party. We can also organize a similar tour subject to your requirements of number of people and days, budget etc, please e-mail us on [email protected].

(*) SPECIAL PRICES for groups with 4 people or more.


Departures for Scheduled Tour

May 2022: 4th May - 11th May - 18th May – 25th May

June 2022: 1st Jun - 8th Jun – 15th Jun – 22nd Jun - 29th Jun

September 2021: 1st Sep - 8th Sep – 15th Sep – 22nd Sep – 29th Sep

September 2022: 7th Sep - 14th Sep – 21st Sep – 28th Sep

October 2021: 6th Oct - 13th Oct –20th Oct – 27th Oct

October 2022: 5th Oct - 12th Oct – 19th Oct – 26th Oct

Other days/months on request.

We can also organize a similar tour subject to your requirements of number of people and days, budget etc,
please e-mail us on [email protected].

BOOK NOW e-mail us at [email protected] with the departure date and number of people.


Hotel Supplements

Single supplement: 299.00 EUROS

Per person supplement: 199.00 EUROS

Wine festival 22nd - 26th September 2021 and 21st - 25th September 2022

Upgrade of Accommodation on request.


Price Includes

Transport for 3 full days.

Transfers from and to Bilbao Airport.

Personalised English/Spanish speaking expert guide throughout the tour.

Four nights Accommodation based on double occupancy with private bath.

Four full breakfasts.

Five exclusive wine estate visits.

Three premium wine tasting.

Three gourmet lunches including wine.

Visit to the world largest wine museum.

Three towns and medieval villages guided walking tours.

All Taxes.


What is not Included

Travel insurance.

Flights (Bilbao or Vitoria airports).

Tips.

Meals not specified.

Personal expenses.

Optional visits.

Note: If any of the published accommodation, range of wineries or restaurants in the tour becomes unavailable,
others of similar category will be allocated.

Note: Upgrade of wineries and/or restaurants will have a supplement. Please request.

By booking your trip with The Unique Traveller you agree to our Terms and Conditions

EXAMPLE OF ACCOMMODATION IN MADRID AND LA RIOJA (*)

Hotel Los Agustinos (Haro-La Rioja)

Historic Building, 4 Star

   

Location:

This four star property is located right in the historic centre of Haro, centre of the wine production in Rioja, surrounded by a valley of vineyards and the Cantabrian Mountains. Walking distance you can experience numerous and excellent tapas.

General Facilities:

Founded as a convent in 1373, Los Agustinos hotel is a beautiful and protected building, now its walls full of history play host to exceptionally comfortable facilities where it is a privilege to stay. It has an impressive courtyard where you can relax reading your favourite book or having a glass of Rioja.

Particular mention should be made of the Las Duelas Restaurant; the Bistrot de las Duelas; Bar-Cafeteria; 24-hour room service; and free WIFI throughout the Hotel. They offer conventional, modern and regional cuisine based on fresh products from the area and also having an outstanding wine-list and everything in historic surroundings.

The rooms:

There are 62 guestrooms, most of which are outward-facing, whilst the Hotel's most salient feature is the impressive, glass-domed cloisters, which are air-conditioned and enclosed. All rooms are decorated in a rustic style and enjoy all the modern comforts: satellite TV, wifi, private bathroom with hairdryer. Guests also have access to the hotel's fitness center.


Hotel Marques de Vallejo (Logrono)

Boutique Hotel

Location:

This boutique hotel is located right in the centre, in the historic and cultural heart of Logroño, at a walking distance of the main gastronomic streets, where you can find the best pinchos and tapas in northern Spain, the old part with the cathedral and numerous churches and the outdoor dining area full of terraces where you can have delicious meals accompanied by excellent wines.

General Facilities:

Built in 1911, was known popularly as Posada de Las Animas (Inn of the souls).

In May 2004, Hotel Marques De Vallejo had a meticulous work of restoration, interior design and decoration, always with the aim of offering a more comfortable and pleasant stay to our guest.

Nowadays they keep on working/betting on the innovation and the improvement of our services and facilities with the aim of satisfying each and every need of our guest.

The rooms:

The 50 contemporary rooms at Hotel Marques de Vallejo feature parquet floors and air conditioning. They contain an LCD TV, and the private bathrooms come with a hairdryer. Wifi access, safe and temperature controller as well as mini bar, are also available in the rooms.

(*)Accommodation will be in these hotels or in others of similar category. Will be confirmed when making the booking. Upgrade available on request.

 
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