Gourmet Delights of Northern Spain with Debbie Thomas

Day 1 – October 10, 2025
Arrive in Madrid

Arrive in Madrid and check into the marvelous Hotel Villa Real. We’ll start our adventures with a walking tour of the old quarter including Plaza Mayor, San Miguel Market, and other specialty shops.

Given the food focus of this trip, the Market will be of particular interest and the guide will point out the best vendors and some of the more unusual offerings. Tonight, enjoy a welcome dinner at Posada de la Villa with wines. Resurrected from a 17th-century flour mill, this restaurant is known for its excellent preparation of traditional Spanish dishes. Specialties include Roast Lamb in a wood-fired oven, the Stew Pot and Hen in Madrilean sauce.

Day 2 – October 11, 2025
Madrid

Start your day visiting one of our favorite food markets, Mercado de la Paz. Your guide will take you to find all the special highlights of this market, with time for individual browsing as well. Next, we will proceed to a Master Class introduction to Spanish wines with a private sommelier at Vinology. This will be accompanied by creative tapas for a light lunch. For your afternoon, you can choose free time for shopping and exploring, or take a guided walking tour of Retiro Park, the “Central Park” of Spain! After your free time, we’ll meet back up for a ham tasting and education. Jamon Iberico is one of the prized foods of Spain. You will participate in a session to learn all about it and be given samples to taste. Just like wine, there are many varieties of jamon iberico, and after this class, you’ll be able to taste the differences and discover your personal favorites. We’ll do this at tapas time, and then you’ll have the evening on your own. We will provide you with a list of recommendations in advance of the trip so that if you want to make reservations in advance, you can do so.

Day 3 – October 12, 2025
Depart for Rioja Wine Country

After breakfast and checking out from our hotel, we will get on the bus and depart for Rioja Wine Country! On the way, we will stop in the medieval village of Pedraza for wine and a roast lamb at our favorite place, La Olma de Pedraza. After finishing our drive, we will check in at the beautiful 4-star spa hotel, Silken Villa de Laguardia, for three nights. After you settle into your Junior Suites, we will have a group dinner at one of our top local restaurants and will be served with local wines.

Day 4 – October 13, 2025
Rioja Exploration

We’ll start exploring this wonderful region with a visit to the famous Marques de Riscal historic winery. Their wines are very popular, but what sets them apart is the colorful and playful architecture of Frank Gehry. They also have one of the best gift shops (and we rarely say that about gift shops), so you’ll have a little time to find your own treasures. Then we’ll proceed to a second winery for a private visit and tasting.

After all the wine tasting, we will most certainly be ready for some lunch. Next, we will enjoy a beautiful meal at Venta Moncalvillo, a Michelin-star restaurant with exquisite cuisine with an emphasis on sustainability.

After lunch, we will explore Laguardia village on foot with a walking tour where we will learn all about the town’s medieval past. Afterwards, dinner will be on your own and you will have free time to relax, enjoy the hotel spa, or do as you please.

Day 5 – October 14, 2025
Marques de Murrieta Winery

Today, we will slow down the pace a bit. We will do a late morning departure giving you time to sleep in, take a hike, or explore the area. We’ll leave for Marques de Murrieta Winery where we will have a private visit of the installations including their own private museum. The afternoon will be a food pairing with a tasting menu and wine pairing of 5 courses, 4 wines, and 3 desserts. The evening will be on your own to do as you please.

Day 6 – October 15, 2025

After breakfast and checking out from our hotel, we will depart for Bilbao. You will be treated to a private half-day tour of Bilbao including the renowned Guggenheim Museum (also designed by Frank Gehry) and the Old Quarter. Afterward, we will enjoy lunch and wine together at a local restaurant.

Then we will leave Bilbao and head to San Sebastian for our last hotel stay. We will check in for the final four nights into the beachfront De Londres y de Inglaterra and you will each have a lovely sea view room of the La Concha Bay.

Tonight, we give you more free time to explore this foodie capital of Spain. We will provide you in advance a list of recommended restaurants so you can make reservations before you depart for Spain. San Sebastian has one of the highest concentrations of Michelin-starred restaurants in the world, and the other restaurants are sensational. You’ll have no trouble finding a place to dine.

Day 7 – October 16, 2025
San Sebastian

This morning, we will go on a private guided tour of San Sebastian to see what makes this city so magical. A highlight will be a visit to a “Gastronomic Society”, which is a private culinary club traditionally limited to men only (although this is slowly changing.) At these clubs, the members shop and cook their own meals, mostly homey local favorites, which are more comfort food than anything fancy.

Afterward, we will get some rooftop views and see the city from above.

Although we could have wrangled an invitation to eat at a Gastronomic Society, we think the better and more enjoyable option is to enjoy a typical Basque lunch in the Old Quarter. Our lunch will be served with wine.

After our Basque lunch, it will be a perfect time for a siesta, just like the locals. Or use your free time to shop, enjoy the spa, or go down to the beach.

Tonight, we will meet back up for the foodie’s dream in San Sebastian. The pintxo tour will take you to the best tapas spots in town as we devour all of the city’s best eats.

Day 8 – October 17, 2025
French Basque Region

No trip to the Basque Region would be complete without spending some time on the French side. Although the crossing is just like traveling, for example, from Paso Robles to Templeton, the culture is quite different when you get into France. We’ll spend the whole day here in France. Top highlights include the sumptuous Biarritz Market with tastings and other local sights, including showing you where all the celebrities used to hang out in this famed beach resort town.

For lunch, we will either eat at a local French Basque restaurant or visit a Ciderhouse to see the unique process used to make the famed Basque (alcoholic) fruit ciders.

After lunch, we’ll head to Bayonne. Bayonne is a city in the Basque Country region of southwest France, which is known for its chocolate production. We will experience a chocolate demonstration and tasting (of course) and then return to our hotel back in San Sebastian.

Day 9 – October 18, 2025
Basque Coast

For our great day exploring the Spanish Basque Coast, we will have a tour that includes a visit to a Txakoli producer, a white wine unique to this region, and perhaps a Basque farmhouse where they make cheese. We will have lunch at a local restaurant, including wine, before returning to our hotel.

Spend your last afternoon as you wish before our farewell dinner. We wanted to make your last night extra festive, so we’re letting you make your own dinner! Our farewell dinner will be a cooking class of local specialties, enhanced with lots of local wine.

Day 9 – October 19, 2025
Adios! Depart from San Sebastian

After enjoying your last breakfast at the hotel, private driver transfers will be available to either the Bilbao or San Sebastian airports, whichever is more convenient for you to journey home or onto an extension of your trip. If you do want to spend additional time in Spain, or anywhere in Europe, Wine Lovers Travel is happy to design a private itinerary for you, with as few as 1 person.