14 Days / 13 Nights
Bilbao
Price from: 8450.00 euros
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. Our stay in Bilbao would 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.Ca. 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. Take a stroll thru the old part of town and even have lunch at one of the many sidrerias (cider houses).
Now moving west we continue along the picturesque Asturian coast, making our way into Galicia's Mariña Lucense. Did you know that some of best faba beans in Spain come from the Val do Lourenza in the Mariña Lucense area of the province of Lugo, Galicia? Their neighbors in Asturias have claim to fame as the best (They are good!), but in our opinion after taking a fabas route tasting tour in Lourenza we beg to differ! An area rich in gastronomic traditions and really off-the-beaten path, with beautiful trails as the Camino de Santiago del Norte (Northern Camino Way) passes thru here. It is still really a hidden gem to be explored! Which we will do following the part of the Camino trail between Ribadeo to Lourenza and learning about the Faba bean production of the area, even tasting them on our special Show-Cooking faba bean lunch in a historic fort/tower. No visit to this area is complete without stopping in Mondoñedo to walk the ancient streets and before leaving a taste of the famed Tarta (Cake) de Mondoñedo.
In A Coruña we climb the stairs to the top of the tower of Hercules. The tower is in fact the oldest Roman lighthouse in the world that's still in use, and it's originally built in the 1st century during the time of the Emperor Trajano. Over the centuries it has been repeatedly modernized and the lighthouse is in working order. It is the only Roman lighthouse in working order and its image appears on the city´s coat of arms. The tower has been declared UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009. We will walk along the coastal beach promenade passing by Orzan and Riazor beaches then arriving at Mercado de la Plaza de Lugo. A local fish market with a wide variety of fresh fish and seafood. After our morning walk now time for some lunch in the old town where we will stop at a few stops for some tapas and wines. We will get to taste red and white Galician wines at two or three different locations sampling food like tetilla cheese, traditional Galician Empanada Pie, Zamburiñas (baby scallops), polbo á feira (octopus fair-style), etc..
Santiago de Compostela, the end of the ways of St. James and the historic capital of Galicia on the Atlantic North-western coast of Spain. Explore the Pilgrimage Cathedral and the old quarter. Savour a Galician Michelin-starred lunch after visiting the monumental old town.
Moving away from Santiago 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-starred 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.
DAY 1:
BILBAO - ARRIVAL AND WELCOME PINTXOS COOKING CLASS DINNER
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DAY 2:
BILBAO - GUGGENHEIM AND OLD QUARTER
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DAY 3:
BILBAO - HARO, LA RIOJA WINE COUNTRY - BILBAO
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DAY 4:
BILBAO - SANTILLANA DEL MAR - PEAKS OF EUROPE, CABRALES CHEESE AND CIDER COUNTRY - CANGAS DE ONIS
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DAY 5:
CANGAS DE ONIS - COVADONGA - LAKES OF COVADONGA - CANGAS DE ONIS
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DAY 6:
CANGAS DE ONIS - OVIEDO - LUARCA - RIBADEO
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DAY 7:
RIBADEO - LOURENZA - MONDOÑEDO - VILALBA
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DAY 8:
VILALBA - A CORUÑA - SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA
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DAY 9:
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA
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DAY 10:
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA - RIBEIRA SACRA WINE COUNTRY - AS NEVES
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DAY 11:
AS NEVES - RIBEIRO WINE COUNTRY - AS NEVES
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DAY 12:
AS NEVES -BAIXO MINO RIVER WINE COUNTRY - VIGO
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DAY 13:
VIGO - O MORRAZO COASTAL FISHING VILLAGES & COOKING CLASS - VIGO
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DAY 14:
VIGO, SANTIAGO OR PORTO TRANSFERS
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COVID-19: UPDATES HAVE BEEN MADE TO OUR PAYMENT AND CANCELLATION CONDITIONS.
Payment Schedule:
Change of Booking Dates due to Covid-19:
Minimum/Maximum Group Size Requirement:
NOTE: *Or similar type vehicles in the same class as mentioned above. If group is under 6 people the tour will be done in Mercedes V-Class Minivan.