Spain - la Rioja Wine… (trip)

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Spain - la Rioja Wine Country

  • Laguardia Airport, Spain
  • Culinary & Wine Travel
Spain, Europe

To check availability or book,
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Period offered: March-October. The provider (view their profile) can provide you with specific departure dates, final prices, and other information.


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Contact provider for price6 DaysMarch-October
Boutique accommodations Exertion level: 4
Operator: Pure Adventures 24 people max
This trip goes round one of the most beautiful landscapes of Spain. It's a top chance of fully enjoying the charming villages, vintage and cellars, small castles, religious art and the best gastronomy and wine.

Wine has been the backbone of the economy of La Rioja since the time of the Romans, and it's not difficult to see why. A microclimate bordered by two impressive mountain ranges, with the Ebro River cutting through the middle, its gentle hills are perpetually covered in vineyards and wheat fields. In six days and five nights, our Rioja tour introduces you to the region's most outstanding highlights: wineries, both historic and modern; kilometre after kilometres of quiet country roads that wind along the banks of the Ebro; the presence of the Camino de Santiago (Saint James Way); and the beauty of the Sierra de la Demanda mountains to the south. This is the perfect tour for people who are newcomers to cycle touring and Spanish wines, providing an amazing combination of scenery, tastes and wide-open spaces that will leave you with great memories for years to come.

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Locations visited/nearby

Spain, Europe

0 testimonials about this trip.

3 testimonials about the provider, Pure Adventures:

  • Reviewer: Andy C.
    'The trip was great! I lived in France for 5 years and took many great trips around Europe, but this may well have been the most memorable!'
  • Reviewer: B. Van Hook
    The trip exceeded my expectations in just about every way. It was awesome and challenging to be alone on a bike in a foreign country. I would recommend it to anyone with a sense of adventure who is in good health.
  • Reviewer: Heidi Ray located in CO USA
    Costa Brava Explorer - This is a WONDERFUL tour.  Bo was amazing and helpful, as were his directions and additional information in the hand-outs of things to see and recommended stops and restaurants.  I will recommend Pure Adventures to my bicyclist friends, and will certainly return to you for our next European bicycle adventure!

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Special information

  • This is a custom departure, meaning this trip is offered on dates that you arrange privately with the provider. Additionally, you need to form your own private group for this trip. The itinerary and price here is just a sample. Contact the provider for detailed pricing, minimum group size, and scheduling information. For most providers, the larger the group you are traveling with, the lower the per-person cost will be.
  • You need to form your own private group for this trip. It will be scheduled for a date you arrange with the provider. The itinerary here is just a sample.
  • Self-guided (includes hotels, maps, luggage transfer, etc but no guide).
  • Offers some solo-only/singles departures.

Itinerary

Day 1 | LAGUARDIA (ALAVA)

Laguardia is the unofficial capital of the Rioja Alavesa - the Basque section of La Rioja - and many of the 320 wine cellars dating back from the late 18th century are still functioning today. This medieval town Hill match your eye, it stands perched high, still ringed in part by ramparts, towers and fortified getaways. After arrival, you'll have a chance to sample some famous Rioja vintages in a nearby wine interpretation centre, located in a traditional Basque farmhouse. Orientation between 4-6pm.

Day 2 | ABALOS (RIOJA) Riding through the Rioja Alavesa (32 km)

After breakfast, we'll hold the orientation session, where your bike will be specially fitted for you and you'll be presented with all the documentation and things you need for your trip. Afterwards, it's downhill (almost!) all the way as you skirt the banks of the Ebro River, winding your way through vineyards. That evening, you'll stay in a converted 17th-century bishop's palace and get to sample some of the region's best cuisine.

Day 3 | ABALOS (RIOJA) - Discovering the winery towns (50 km)

Almost all of today's route follows small, quiet country paths along the Ebro River, giving you a chance to roam through some of the area's most beautiful and historic little towns. We go through San Vicente de Sonsierra and see its internationally-famous Church of the True Cross; Haro, the city that wine built; and a fifteenth-century monastery that's been converted into one of the region's most memorable wineries.

Day 4 | SAN MILLAN (RIOJA) - Along the Camino de Santiago (46 km)

Long acknowledged as the oldest tourist trail stretching throughout Europe, the Camino de Santiago (Saint James Way, in English) is the dividing line between the upper and lower Rioja regions. After a leisurely tour along the Ebro, ride through the atmospheric town of Briones and head along quiet secondary roads to the town of San Millan. This day's purposely a little on the short side to allow you to visit the surrounding towns and monasteries at your own pace; or to stretch your legs and take in some of the marvellous walking opportunities throughout the valley.

Day 5 | EZCARAY (RIOJA) - Riding the Rioja Rail Trail (46 km)

Many of Spain's most remarkable monasteries and convents are located in and around the Sierra de la Demanda, the southern boundary of the Rioja Region, and today's route will take us through this scenic and architecturally stunning region, little-visited by tourists. From the town of Alesanco we'll move south through the Cárdenas Valley to the town of San Millán de la Cogolla, home of the thirteenth-century Yuso Monastery, where the first Latin-Castilian dictionaries, the Glosas Emilianenses, were compiled. The Monastery itself is an architectural gem, and no one should leave without visiting its astounding library and sacristy. From there, we'll skirt the lower ranges of the Montes de Suso hills to Santo Domingo de la Calzada, established by Saint Domenic in the twelfth century to aid pilgrims making their way to Santiago de Compostela. Once we've had a chance to explore the streets of Santo Domingo, we'll take advantage of the excellent Via Verde del Rio Oja rail trail - fifteen kilometres of pure biking pleasure that stretch deep into the Oja Valley, ending in the charming town of Ezcaray.

Day 6 | End of the trip - But not of our memories!

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