This itinerary is a Genuine Spain proposal, we can tailor it to suit your needs!

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

 

• Delve your senses into the gastronomic heritage of Spain hidden in beautiful corners.

• Taste the most traditional Madrilenian dish in Madrid's house.

• Discover some of the best wine regions in Spain.

• Learn about Spanish cultural heritage.

• Try your best at a Basque pelota game.

• Stroll around lush forests where goblins and mythological characters live.

• Visit some of the real scenarios of series such as Game of Thrones in the Flysch of Zumaia.

• Make your own preserved fish as Basque women do by the seaside.

• Enjoy a traditional meal in the txoko of a txakolineria.

• Learn about the different shades and tastes of salt and give yourself a little foot wash in a natural footbath.

• Find yourself walking in between beautiful vineyards and lagoons bursting with local wildlife.

• Get lost in the little streets of the beautiful medieval village of Laguardia.

 

ITINERARY

 

Day 1 

 

Welcome to Spain 

As you arrive in Madrid, you will be greeted by our local host who will take you to your hotel in the center of the city. Check-in and free time to discover the city.

At dusk, you will enjoy your first tapas experience in an alternative city guided walk through the Barrio de las Letras. Here, you will get a taste of real Spanish taverns and food corners that only locals know and, of course, you will taste the popular tapas of Madrid.

 

Day 2 

 

Madrid

After breakfast, our local guide will meet you at your hotel to go for a bicycle tour of the city, to end up having a picnic in the famous Retiro Park. (There is an option to have traditional Madrilians lunch in a local home, usually the dish called cocido, instead of the picnic in the Retiro).

At dusk, you will enjoy a guided rooftop experience in the city, offering a very special angle of the husstle and busstle of this vibrant destination.

Dinner in a traditional restaurant of Madrid.

 

Day 3 

 

Toledo

After breakfast, you will take a day trip to Toledo by train, where you will join a guided tour by electric bicycle to stop at the main viewpoints.

At lunchtime, you will enjoy a traditional Castilian lunch before heading back by train to Madrid.

 

You’ll have the rest of the evening free to rest or walk around Madrid.

 

Day 4 

 

Segovia 

After breakfast, you will take a day trip to Segovia by train where you will visit this World’s Heritage city and the 16th century Jewish neighbourhood.

At lunchtime, you will taste the famous roast suckling pig or join in for a Sephardic meal in a local house of the Jewish quarter.

 

You’ll have the rest of the evening free to rest or walk around Madrid and shop the last souvenirs.

 

Day 5 

 

Ribera de Arlanza

After breakfast, you will go to the province of Burgos where we will visit one of the most famous vineyard areas in Spain. Here, you will enjoy your first wine tasting experience at Bodega de la D.O. Ribera (Ribera winery Designation of Origin) with some food (salads, local peppers and asparagus, chorizo, black pudding, dried meats, grilled meats or roast lamb). In the afternoon, you will visit the farm where you are staying.

 

Day 6 

 

Tierra Estella-Quinto Real 

After breakfast, you will head towards Navarre, home of exceptional gastronomy and culture. On the way, you will visit an ecological winery in Tierra Estella where you will enjoy the traditional gastronomy of the Navarrese riverside.

You will continue towards Quinto Real, a beautiful region near Roncesvalles and Irati that has wonderful forests perfect for an evening walk.

Dinner will be served at your accommodation, a rural guesthouse, with local products.

 

Day 7 

 

Quinto Real-Malerreka 

After breakfast, we will have a very authentic experience with Fernando, former Basque pelota champion. He will show you all the ins and outs of this traditional sport in his town’s fronton (designated area to play Basque pelota) and you will play a game and place the winner at the champion txapela.

After lunch, you will head towards one of the most unknown and magical valleys of Navarre, Malerreka. Here, Tito will be waiting for you to make you on a mythological slow hike through the forest to learn to find the Iratxoak (elves of the forest) and the lamiak (fairies of traditional mythology)

Dinner will be served at your accommodation, a rural guesthouse, with local products.

 

Day 8 

 

Malerreka-Zerain

After breakfast, you will head towards the neighbouring Gipuzkoa to go to the town of Segura, next to the famous town that gives its name to the world’s famous cheese of Idiazabal. You will visit a cheese factory, where you will also enjoy some tastings.

When the tour is finished, you will go to Zerain to have lunch experience in a traditional cider house.

 

Day 9 

 

Flysch de Zumaia-Getaria 

After breakfast, you will head to Zumaia to take a boat trip and experience the immensity of the Flysch geological landscape from a different perspective.

Near lunchtime, you will visit the small but coquettish Getaria, home of Juan Sebastian Elcano and Balenciaga to enjoy a superb grilled sea bream by the sea.

In the late afternoon, you can take the opportunity to visit a canned fish factory and make our own preserved anchovies, which you can take as a souvenir of our trip.

 

Day 10 

 

Urdaibai 

After breakfast, you will head towards the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve to visit the marshes of the Urdaibai estuary with guides from the Euskadi Biodiversity Center.  When you are done, you will visit one of the local txakoli wineries and meet the owner who will happily give you some tastes and cook you a traditional mean in the txoko of the txakolineria.

In the afternoon, after visiting the beautiful San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, you will return to Gernika to visit the Museum of Peace, and old refuge of the Spanish Civil War.

In the evening, we will collect our own organic vegetables and eggs from the rural guest house where you are staying and you will make our own dinner at the txoko of the house.

 

Day 11 

 

Salinas de Añana-Rioja Alavesa 

After breakfast, we will head towards the Salt Valley of Salinas de Añana, a unique landscape of indoor salinas with a history that comes from the Romans.

Our visit will finish with a special foot and hand bath experience with salt water and a salt tasting.

 

Optional: Instead of this activity, you can visit the Azurmendi restaurant, the best restaurant in Europe in 2016 that won three Michelin stars. This restaurant is led by the young Eneko Atxa, who will show us around his sustainable restaurant and taste a 3* menu.

 

If you do not take the second option, we will arrange a meal for you in a local restaurant.

 

After lunch you will head towards the region of Rioja Alavesa, where we will visit the beautiful medieval town of Laguardia, capital of the region.

 

Day 12 

 

Rioja Alavesa 

After breakfast, you will visit and learn about a traditional family winery that is also the first one to become carbon neutral. You will also enjoy a delicious lunche on with local products topped up with their wines.

Afternoon free to walk among vineyards or around the Lagunas de Laguardia, protected area within the Ramsar Network.

Optional: treatment with wine therapy in spa.

 

Day 13 

 

Rioja Alavesa-Madrid 

After breakfast, we will visit a traditional olive farm of a native variety called Arroniz. We will visit a local almazara and enjoy a delicious olive oil tasting.

For our last meal, we will head to a traditional local txoko.

After lunch, departure to Madrid to take your flight.