Itinerary

Day 1 – Bilbao

Arrive at Bilbao’s Sondica Airport, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. Transfer to the hotel for a day of resting and exploring on your own.

Day 2 – Bilbao

Meet your guide in the morning for a walking tour of Bilbao.  Visit the Old City (Parte vieja) – the medieval section of Bilbao begun in the 13th century. Here you will find the Mercado de la Ribera, said to be Europe’s largest covered food market. Hordes of shoppers select from dozens of varieties of fresh fish, meat, fruit, vegetables, flowers, olives and nuts. Classic pintxos bars are plentiful in Bilbao’s Parte vieja, making this part of town ideal for sampling these miniature works of art.  Next, stroll with your guide to the neighboring 19th-century neighborhood called the Ensanche–the expansion–modeled on Barcelona’s neighborhood of the same name. Bilbao pushed beyond the medieval city walls as the city prospered from sea trade and industry, and many of the Ensanche’s buildings are fine examples of 19th-century grandeur. Today the Ensanche is the central commercial district and home to revered restaurants, pintxos bars, shops, and the Guggenheim Museum.  Designed by Canadian architect Frank Gehry, the groundbreaking titanium-clad museum has been called “the greatest building of our time.” Its sinuous shapes contrast dramatically with the classical core of old Bilbao. Inside, the focus is on artists from the second half of the 20th century. The Museum’s Guggenheim Restaurant makes a fine choice for an introduction to avant-garde Basque cuisine made famous by chefs such as Martín Berasategui and Juan Mari Arzak. Try the multi-course tasting menu or, if you prefer a light lunch, the Bistro run by the same chef offers lighter fare.  After the museum visit and lunch, visit Bilbao’s Metro designed by architect Norman Foster. The stations are surprisingly sleek and light filled, having been located as close to ground level as possible. The entrances are noteworthy, and in Bilbao they are affectionately called “fosteritos” after the architect who designed them.  Consider an evening guided pintxos tour in Bilbao’s Old and New cities.

Day 3 – Bilbao and environs

The northern Basque region is famous for the natural “hard” cider produced there.  Today, travel to the town of Astigarraga, 1.5 hours from Bilbao, to visit an artisanal cider producer, who has been producing cider for about 300 years.  With your guide you will have private access to this traditional cider-making house, and will enjoy lunch with the owner.  Natural Basque cider, called sagardua, has been produced in the Basque Country, and northern Spain, for centuries, although many ciderhouses and apple orchards were largely abandoned after the Spanish Civil War when the wave of industrialization brought families to the urban areas. Traditional cidermaking is now experiencing a revival. Natural Basque cider is non carbonated, and produced without the addition of sugar. The alcohol content is generally around 6%.  The still cider is stored in and served from wooden barrels from winter through early summer, at which time it is bottled. The cider is served by holding the glass far below the barrel spigot or the bottle so that the cider is aerated as it falls. No more than what can be swallowed in one swig should fill the glass.  Return to Bilbao after lunch and spend the rest of the day and evening at leisure.

Day 4 – La Rioja

Head out of Bilbao, ready for two days in scenic La Rioja.  Drive the 1.5 hours to the village of Elciego. Once you catch sight of your hotel slightly outside of town, you will understand why people come from all over the world to stay there. Designed by Frank Gehry, the Marqués de Riscal Hotel shares the titanium cladding and curvaceousness of Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum.  While the Museum stands monolithic next to the river, the hotel is all movement in shimmering silver and purple in a landscape of vines.

Once inside, the grandeur feels cozy, and somehow serenity and quiet dominate.  The rooms in the Gehry wing share only one thing: no two rooms are alike.  Angles, ceiling heights, orientation and furnishings all differ from one room to another and all of the rooms envelop you in otherworldly luxury.  During your stay in the hotel you may wish to take advantage of spa treatments (for an extra fee) in the Caudalíe Vinothérapie® Spa, which offers an indoor swimming pool, steam room, and wine therapy massages and treatments, with appropriately grape-based products.  A most relaxing spot in the hotel is the rooftop lounge and outside bar area. The view is over the adjacent village of Elciego and of the surrounding vineyards.  You may wish to have dinner in the hotel’s 1868 Bistro Restaurant run by Michelin-star chef Francis Paniego of El Portal de Echaurren fame.

Day 5 – La Rioja

Today’s winery visits will make evident the contemporary contrast between traditional winemaking and innovative winery architecture in the Rioja.  The wineries you will visit collectively offer a glimpse of old vines, and traditional methods contrasted with modern ecological technology and cutting edge architectural design in the employ of the ancient art of winemaking.  The wineries each have something special to share with its visitors, whether it is extraordinary architecture, breathtaking views, or traditional production methods.  For lunch or dinner you may wish to visit the town of Ezcaray, home to Echaurren Restaurant run by renowned chef Marisa Sánchez who is Michelin-starred Francis Paniego’s mother.  Chef Sánchez’s restaurant specializes in traditional Riojan cuisine.  If modern Spanish cuisine rooted in the traditions of the Rioja appeals to you instead, simply step next door and find a table at El Portal de Echaurren, run by son Francis Paniego.

Day 6 – San Sebastián: The Gourmet City

Say farewell to La Rioja this morning and head toward the scenic coastline.  On the way to San Sebastián, stop at Chillida Leku, sculptor Eduardo Chillida’s outdoor sculpture park.  Enjoy a late morning private walking tour of La Parte Vieja of San Sebastian with a renowned local expat resident. Visit delightful shops supplying local chefs and gastonomes and La Brecha Market before heading into the pedestrian streets teeming with pintxos bars. Trot between bars for lunch.  Pintxos, wine, and beer are included as your guide shows you where to taste the best traditional and avant-garde bites.  For a highlight meal this evening, consider dining at a Michelin-starred Restaurant such as Arzak, Akelarre, Bersategui, or Mugaritz.

Day 7 – San Sebastián

This morning, partake in a cooking class in a private studio, or in a traditional Sociedad gastronomica.  Enjoy the rest of your day at leisure.

Day 8 – Madrid

Transfer by taxi to the Bilbao airport (1.5 hours) for the short flight to Madrid.  Check in at your hotel in Madrid’s city center, a part of town with restaurants and tapas bars on nearly every corner. Take a stroll through historic Madrid, and enjoy sitting at a table in the Plaza Mayor, the city’s monumental 17th-century Baroque square lined with arcades filled with picturesque cafes. Historically, the Plaza was the site of everything from bullfights to Inquisition burnings, but today its uses are far less sinister.  Madrid is not only the capital city and the reference point for classic Spainish style and sensibility, but has become a dynamic and utterly renovated city making its way into the limelight of modernity alongside Barcelona.  Impressive works of architecture include the Hotel Puerta America with 12 floors, each one designed by a different architect including Norman Foster, Jean Nouvel and Zaha Hadid; and Barajas Airport’s new Terminal 4, designed by architects Antonio Lamela and Richard Rogers.  For dinner this evening, consider Santi Santamaria’s Santceloni, La Terraza del Casino, Michelin one-star Zalacaín, or traditional Casa Lucio.

Day 9 – Madrid

Enjoy a free day to visit Madrid’s splendid Prado Museum, Reina Sofía Art Center, Thyssen Museum, and the newly opened Caixa Forum, all located on Paseo del Prado Street and within walking distance from your hotel.  After a morning of visual culture you might choose to browse the avant-garde shops in the trendy Chueca district with its classic 19th-century buildings revived as restaurants and boutiques.  The city is witnessing a surge in fine dining spots and modern tapas bars serving design tapas and molecular cuisine.  After a day of leisure, you will be picked up at your hotel by your delightful and knowledgeable guide, who is a chef, food and wine historian, and a member of Spain’s Academy of Gastronomy.  Together, you will enjoy an evening walking tapas tour, visiting a selection of tapas bars ranging from turn of the century traditional bars to minimalist spots serving avant-garde tapas.  You will stop at different tapas bars, each specializing in tapas ranging from traditional patatas bravas, jamón ibérico or pescadito frito to cutting-edge minimalist tapas in sleek design bars with fashionable clients.  Madrid is one of Spain’s best cities for tapas hopping.  Basque, Galician, Asturian, Andalusian, and Castilian bars and restaurants are found across the city.  This tapas tour is a true insider’s visit to the on and off the radar, traditional and modern places in Madrid.  While tapas hopping you will pass by many of the capital’s most impressive sights, such as the Plaza de Oriente near the Royal Palace, the 17th-century Plaza Mayor and the narrow streets of Madrid of the “Austrias”, named after the Austro-Hungarian Hapsburg dynasty.

Day 10 – Toledo

Discover historic Toledo today, where an exclusive experience has been specially arranged in this nearby city.  Although now completely overshadowed by nearby Madrid, it is Toledo and its narrow, winding streets and steps, stone houses and churches that embodies Spain’s past.  First, stop outside the city to visit a local winery, where the winemaker will share his expertise and wine-making philosophies while visitors enjoy a private tour of the vineyards, wine cellar, and winery, followed by a special tasting.  Enjoy lunch in the finest restaurant in Toledo, which occupies the ground floor of what was a Jewish merchant’s house in the 1400s, with a fine coffered ceiling supported by granite columns, and dark-red tiled walls.  Savor a specially-prepared tasting menu paired with Spanish wines drawn from the winery’s extensive holdings.  Afterward, continue to Toledo to explore its extensive cultural and monumental heritage sites, all of which are standing testaments to the historic coexistence of Christian, Muslim and Jewish cultures.  In the Middle Ages, Toledo was built on a “convergence” of Christianity, Islam and Judaism, and contains two of the few remaining medieval Spanish synagogues. Visit El Tránsito, a 13th-century synagogue and the adjoining Jewish Museum, devoted to the history and legacy of Jewish Spain.  Join your guide for a private walking tour of this beautiful city; appreciate the historic cobblestone streets of the Jewish quarter and the old city gates, multiple El Greco masterpieces, a private marzipan tasting, and visit the gothic Cathedral and the oldest still-standing European synagogue.  Return to Madrid and consider dining in a Michelin-starred restaurant this evening.

Day 11 – Departure

Prepare for your departure home.  At the airport, plan time to explore and marvel at the new Terminal 4 designed by architects Antonio Lamela and Richard Rogers.

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