1of10
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, located 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.
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.
Our story started in 1994 when Thomas visited Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia. There he met Diego, who was working as a ranger, and also Xabi who was (and still is) a Torres del Paine guide. Together they trekked pretty much every trail in the park. Thomas returned to the UK with an enormous love of Chile and a plan for a new travel company. Much time was spent preparing the ground for an operator specialising predominately in Chile, Peru and Spain. In 1999 we launched, focused on delivering bespoke holidays to amazing destinations. From the outset we did things differently – we wanted to create something special and outstanding, so our clients can best experience exceptional places. Nothing we do is ‘off the shelf.’ Since then, our range of destinations has grown to take in many Latin American countries, and more of Spain. What hasn’t changed is the way we create your holiday. A great deal of thought and care goes into each day of your holiday, blending the best ingredients together. For that reason we describe our holidays as handmade. This is the ethos behind everything we do, and what we believe makes us different.
You can trust responsibletravel.com reviews because, unlike many other schemes, reviews can ONLY be written by people who we have verified have been on the holidays. In addition, we don't run these holidays ourselves - our only interest is giving you the best independent advice.
