Small group holiday in Rioja, Spain
| country: | Spain |
| departures: | 2009: 3 Oct |
| price: | From £1690 (9 days) excluding flights. |
| more info: | Price includes twin/double en-suite accommodation, guide, all activities and entrance fees as per itinerary, private transport, a la carte meals |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
La Rioja region - Bilbao city visit - beautiful scenery - world heritage sites - wine tasting course - vineyard visits - relaxed walking - varied routes - private guide - small groups - exclusive restaurant meals - boutique hotels.
Experience the full variety of Rioja’s scenery, culture, wine and food in the company of your expert local guide. Walk at a relaxed pace though beautiful and varied landscapes from the fertile vineyards of the Ebro River valley to the forests and mountains of the south.
Enjoy La Rioja’s rich culinary tradition with meals out in some of the region’s finest restaurants. Increase your appreciation of wine with a tasting course led by a leading winemaker. Sleep in a carefully selected range of small hotels and inns as you move across the region.
Experience the full variety of Rioja’s scenery, culture, wine and food in the company of your expert local guide. Walk at a relaxed pace though beautiful and varied landscapes from the fertile vineyards of the Ebro River valley to the forests and mountains of the south.
Enjoy La Rioja’s rich culinary tradition with meals out in some of the region’s finest restaurants. Increase your appreciation of wine with a tasting course led by a leading winemaker. Sleep in a carefully selected range of small hotels and inns as you move across the region.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Fly to Bilbao and spend one night in the city, staying in a first class hotel in the city centre. This evening you might like to head out into town to try one of the city’s famously good restaurants. |
| Day 2: | Explore the old centre of Bilbao as well as Frank Gehry’s famous titanium clad Guggenheim museum. Drive to La Rioja and settle in to your boutique hotel near Haro. |
| Day 3: | Visit the winery of Muga, walk through vineyards to a medieval castle and then enjoy a private wine tasting with one of the region’s foremost winemakers. |
| Day 4: | This morning you visit the fascinating wine museum at ‘Dinastía Vivanco’. Continue to the ridge of the Sierra de San Lorenzo, from where you have spectacular views of the plains of Rioja and a series of 2,000m peaks. |
| Day 5: | Visit a bodega this morning on the outskirts of Logrono, the main city of La Rioja. Have free time to wander the pretty streets of the old town near the cathedral. This afternoon, carry on to the east of the region to spend the next two nights in the vill |
| Day 6: | Despite the dry land around you, a short drive away is the verdant beech forest of the Hayedo de Santiago. Walk though the woodland before soaking in the thermal baths near your hotel. |
| Day 7: | Walk to the Penas de Islallana, a series of sheer red rock formations which are home to dozens of eagles. Return to your new, four room hotel to relax before dinner in a first rate restaurant in your village. |
| Day 8: | Walk through a natural park with a difference, as you follow a route combining natural landscapes with art. Eight different artists were commissioned to create sculptures from raw materials of the forest. |
| Day 9: | Head back to the airport for your journey home. |
small group cultural tours
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends it's good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as experiencing new cultures.how this holiday makes a difference
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Community
Our company is Anglo-Spanish so all of our trips to the country are run with a passion for the destination. Our holidays are run by our own dedicated team on the ground in Spain providing employment for locals. La Rioja is one of the few regions in Spain which is not suffering dramatic movement of young people out of the villages to the cities. A major factor in this is that young people can make a good living by entering the hospitality industry, market gardening or viticulture. You are looked after by a team on the ground in la Rioja. The hotels we use are small, family owned and run in small villages. All payments and bookings are made directly with the hotels so the communities benefit directly from your visit. Meals are similarly eaten out in a variety of restaurants, again spreading the economic benefit of your visit as widely as possible. You visit family run wineries. All of this helps contribute to the continued development of a sustainable long term future for the rural population of La Rioja. Environment Groups are limited to just eight people to help minimise environmental impact as you walk remote routes to the south of the region. We are passionate about the places it visits. To help preserve the integrity of these destinations we: Keep groups small to minimise environmental impact, work directly with local businesses and organisations to directly benefit local economies, we use small, locally owned hotels and restaurants, work with local guides so that our holidays are more interesting for clients and more beneficial locally. As with all of our Spanish holidays, your booking directly benefits the mountain conservation charity Quebrantahuesos. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |