Northern Green Spain Slow Food, Wine & Camino Walking Tour

Join our co-founder on a special gastronomic journey across Northern Spain. You could call it an active gourmet food tour walking thru some amazing landscapes... mountain trails, coastal paths, wine country roads, etc... We have added in a mix of experiences that will keep your taste buds excited, starting off with the famed Basque cuisine our welcome dinner in Bilbao will be a hands-on pintxo cooking class with our local chef. What better way to get to know each other in our small group! Art will be tied into the trip as well with a detailed visit of the Guggenheim Museum also visit the Ribera Market. Our stay in Bilbao wound not be complete without dining at one of the Michelin-starred restaurants in the city.

We will take a side trip to the most famous wine region in Spain D.O. Rioja, stopping in Haro for a tasting at a distinguished winery, then a group lunch in the countryside at another amazing winery surrounding by vineyards! 

Continuing west across Cantabria stopping in Santillana del Mar, then heading deep into the Peaks of Europe. The dramatic mountains dominate the landscape now as we weave thru the road arriving at a small village to learn from the locals how the apple cider and cabrales cheese are made! For a bit of exercise in between all the eating, we have planned a day walking around the peaks of Europe in the Lakes of Covadonga with our mountain guide who knows all the spots for the best photo ops that you will definitely want to remember! 

On to Oviedo the capital of Asturias visiting the Pre-romanesque monuments on Monte Naranco. Dine out on the town at one of the many cider houses.

Now moving south we connect on to the Camino de Santiago French trail starting in Leon. With our guide, will tell us the legends of the Camino and history of Leon´s Cathedral and old quarter.  We will walk a scenic portion of the trail today stopping in picturesques typical villages of the pilgrimage way of St. James like; Astorga, Castrillo de Los Polvazares, Rabanal del Camino, etc... and we must try for lunch today since we will be in the area the Cocido Maragato (Maragato stew). Following the way, we arrive in Villafranca del Bierzo land of the Mencia wine of D.O. Bierzo. We still stop to sample of of the local wines well deserved after our Camino walk today.

Entering into Galicia thru the mountains continuing our path to Santiago enjoy another day of scenic walking and a picnic-style lunch ending at the end of the trail... Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. We leave the detailed visit till tomorrow with our guide now to rest and savour a Galicia Michelin-starred dinner tonight.

Moving away from the Camino today we travel down to a sacred wine country... D.O. Ribeira Sacra. The Romans first cultivated the vineyards alongside the banks of the rivers Sil and Miño. The monks continued it on, but then the area was abandoned for years. Fortunately, Ribeira Sacra has undergone a renaissance over the last three decades since people been coming back and replanting the terrace and making some of the best wines in the world. Such a hard land to cultivate taking years to build and with a steep slope incline of up to 86 degrees! No wonder the area is known as heroic viticulture. The most well-known grapes varieties are Mencia (red) and Godello (white), but Albariño (white) is also planted here as well as other local indigenous varieties. We will take a wine country walk to a lookout point to admire the views of the river and vines then visit a winery with a VIP tasting including a lunch at the restaurant of the winery. Then down to Sil river to take a boat ride to admire the vines from a different angle.

Our journey continues on to the neighbour wine region D.O. Ribeiro. Another day of walking thru old wine country roads visiting the wine museum to learn the history of the oldest Appellation of Origin in Galicia. The heart of the wine country is a quaint town called Ribadavia with an interesting Jewish past which played a big part in the production of wine and is part of the Sephardic routes in Spain. Here we will taste the blended whites and reds as well the mono-varietal of the Treixadura grape (white).

Following the course of the river Miño into the sub-zone of Condado de Tea (Tea County) which is part of the D.O. Rias Baixas. Down at the river, we will follow along a beautiful woodland path coming out where the rapids are and we will see the wall-like construction (Pesqueira) jutting out into the current tides with conical nets hooked to them. They have been used since Roman times to catch the lamprey eel a delicacy in the area. People come from all over at the season of the lamprea to taste it. On both sides of the river miño which separates Galicia from Northern Portugal, they prepared the lamprey eel and they both make wine from the same grape Albariño/Alvarinho We will get a taste of the wine made on each side of the river border, we will actually walk right across into Portugal's D.O.C. Vinho Verde wine country!

Reaching the North-western coast of Galicia we make the urban coastal city of Vigo our base for last few days exploring the Rias Baixas. Take a boat ride to a fishing village for a walk around the market to learn about the different varieties of fish and seafood caught locally in the bay. Then a hands-on Galician Coastal Cooking class with a chef specializing in traditional seafood dishes of the area.

Ending our gastronomic journey of Northern Spain with a farewell dinner in Vigo at a Michelin-stared restaurant and a cocktail at the skyline bar of our hotel with amazing night views of the bay, a great way to end a memorable trip.

For those who will like to extend their trip, we have add-ons down to Porto, Lisbon over to Seville and could end up in Madrid the capital city of Spain. Let us know and we can suggest the best way to combine the add-on either pre-tour of post-tour just ask one of our tour specialists.

We will take a side trip to the most famous wine region in Spain D.O. Rioja, stopping in Haro for a tasting at a distinguished winery, then a group lunch in the countryside at another amazing winery surrounding by vineyards! 

Continuing west across Cantabria stopping in Santillana del Mar, then heading deep into the Peaks of Europe. The dramatic mountains dominate the landscape now as we weave thru the road arriving at a small village to learn from the locals how the apple cider and cabrales cheese are made! For a bit of exercise in between all the eating, we have planned a day walking around the peaks of Europe in the Lakes of Covadonga with our mountain guide who knows all the spots for the best photo ops that you will definitely want to remember! 

On to Oviedo the capital of Asturias visiting the Pre-romanesque monuments on Monte Naranco. Dine out on the town at one of the many cider houses.

Now moving south we connect on to the Camino de Santiago French trail starting in Leon. With our guide, will tell us the legends of the Camino and history of Leon´s Cathedral and old quarter.  We will walk a scenic portion of the trail today stopping in picturesques typical villages of the pilgrimage way of St. James like; Astorga, Castrillo de Los Polvazares, Rabanal del Camino, etc... and we must try for lunch today since we will be in the area the Cocido Maragato (Maragato stew). Following the way, we arrive in Villafranca del Bierzo land of the Mencia wine of D.O. Bierzo. We still stop to sample of of the local wines well deserved after our Camino walk today.

Entering into Galicia thru the mountains continuing our path to Santiago enjoy another day of scenic walking and a picnic-style lunch ending at the end of the trail... Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. We leave the detailed visit till tomorrow with our guide now to rest and savour a Galicia Michelin-starred dinner tonight.

Moving away from the Camino today we travel down to a sacred wine country... D.O. Ribeira Sacra. The Romans first cultivated the vineyards alongside the banks of the rivers Sil and Miño. The monks continued it on, but then the area was abandoned for years. Fortunately, Ribeira Sacra has undergone a renaissance over the last three decades since people been coming back and replanting the terrace and making some of the best wines in the world. Such a hard land to cultivate taking years to build and with a steep slope incline of up to 86 degrees! No wonder the area is known as heroic viticulture. The most well-known grapes varieties are Mencia (red) and Godello (white), but Albariño (white) is also planted here as well as other local indigenous varieties. We will take a wine country walk to a lookout point to admire the views of the river and vines then visit a winery with a VIP tasting including a lunch at the restaurant of the winery. Then down to Sil river to take a boat ride to admire the vines from a different angle.

Our journey continues on to the neighbour wine region D.O. Ribeiro. Another day of walking thru old wine country roads visiting the wine museum to learn the history of the oldest Appellation of Origin in Galicia. The heart of the wine country is a quaint town called Ribadavia with an interesting Jewish past which played a big part in the production of wine and is part of the Sephardic routes in Spain. Here we will taste the blended whites and reds as well the mono-varietal of the Treixadura grape (white).

Following the course of the river Miño into the sub-zone of Condado de Tea (Tea County) which is part of the D.O. Rias Baixas. Down at the river, we will follow along a beautiful woodland path coming out where the rapids are and we will see the wall-like construction (Pesqueira) jutting out into the current tides with conical nets hooked to them. They have been used since Roman times to catch the lamprey eel a delicacy in the area. People come from all over at the season of the lamprea to taste it. On both sides of the river miño which separates Galicia from Northern Portugal, they prepared the lamprey eel and they both make wine from the same grape Albariño/Alvarinho We will get a taste of the wine made on each side of the river border, we will actually walk right across into Portugal's D.O.C. Vinho Verde wine country!

Reaching the North-western coast of Galicia we make the urban coastal city of Vigo our base for last few days exploring the Rias Baixas. Take a boat ride to a fishing village for a walk around the market to learn about the different varieties of fish and seafood caught locally in the bay. Then a hands-on Galician Coastal Cooking class with a chef specializing in traditional seafood dishes of the area.

Ending our gastronomic journey of Northern Spain with a farewell dinner in Vigo at a Michelin-stared restaurant and a cocktail at the skyline bar of our hotel with amazing night views of the bay, a great way to end a memorable trip.

For those who will like to extend their trip, we have add-ons down to Porto, Lisbon over to Seville and could end up in Madrid the capital city of Spain. Let us know and we can suggest the best way to combine the add-on either pre-tour of post-tour just ask one of our tour specialists.

BILBAO 

DAY 2:
BILBAO

DAY 3: MON.,
BILBAO - HARO, LA RIOJA - BILBAO

DAY 4:
BILBAO -  SANTILLANA DEL MAR  - ARENAS DE CABRALES -  CANGAS DE ONIS 

DAY 5:
CANGAS DE ONIS - COVADONGA  - LAKES OF COVADONGA  - CANGAS DE ONIS

DAY 6:
CANGAS DE ONIS - OVIEDO

DAY 7:
OVIEDO - LEON - RABANAL DEL CAMINO - FONCEBADON - MANJARIN - MOLINASECA - PONFERRADA - VILLAFRANCA DEL BIERZO

DAY 8:
VILLAFRANCA DEL BIERZO - CEBREIRO - TRIACASTELA - SAMOS - SARRIA - MELIDE - ARZUA - LAVACOLLA - SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA

DAY 9:
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA

DAY 10:
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA - RIBEIRA SACRA WINE COUNTRY - AS NEVES

DAY 11: 
AS NEVES  - RIBEIRO WINE COUNTRY - AS NEVES

DAY 12:
AS NEVES - CONDADO DE TEA, RIAS BAIXAS WINE COUNTRY - VIGO

DAY 13:
VIGO - COSTAL FISHING AND COOKING CLASS - VIGO

DAY 14:
VIGO

END OF SMALL GROUP TOUR