Igeldo
Hotel Akelarre
A five-star house of 22 rooms on Monte Igeldo, every one looking out to sea, with Pedro Subijana's restaurant and an adults-only spa.
Itinerary · 11 days
Spain's Culinary Heritage
A journey through Spain's food and wine, from the Bay of Biscay to the markets of Madrid.
By Ramin Jafari · Facts checked
A private journey through northern Spain at the table: the pintxo bars and three-star kitchens of San Sebastián, the wineries of Rioja and the Ribera del Duero, and the markets and taverns of Madrid. It suits travellers who come to Spain to eat and drink well, and every part of it can change.
The route
From San Sebastián to Madrid, by road
The order of the journey, and how you travel between its four places.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Days 7–8 · two nights
An abbey among its vines, the Ribera's estates, Peñafiel and lechazo.
Every leg is a private transfer with your own driver: south from the coast to the Rioja Alavesa, across Castile to the Duero, and down to Madrid by way of Segovia. Arrive at San Sebastián’s airport or Bilbao’s, or by train from Madrid, and fly home from Madrid.
Highlights
Six moments on the way
Pintxos in the Parte Vieja
An evening between the old town's bars with a guide: one or two at each, and a glass of txakoli.
Three stars, at lunch
A tasting menu at Akelarre, Martín Berasategui or Arzak, each with three MICHELIN Stars.
The market, then the kitchen
La Bretxa in the morning with a chef, and a Basque lunch you cook yourself.
Laguardia, on its hill
The walled town and the cellars beneath its streets, and Calatrava's winery outside it.
A day with the winemakers
Two wineries with a driver, a tasting at each and a long lunch among the barrels.
The taverns of old Madrid
A vermouth at about one, as Madrid takes it, and tapas and wine between the taverns at night.
Days 1–3
San Sebastián, at the bar and the table
San Sebastián first: the pintxo bars of the Parte Vieja, Chillida’s sculpture and his museum, a three-star lunch, the market and a Basque kitchen, and a cider house.
Day 1
Arrival, and the pintxo bars
A private transfer from San Sebastián’s airport at Hondarribia, or from Bilbao’s, and the afternoon by the bay. In the evening, the Parte Vieja with a guide of your own, the way the city does it: several bars, one or two pintxos at each, the gilda first, and a glass of txakoli, the white wine of the coast.
Day 2
Chillida, and three stars at lunch
Eduardo Chillida’s Peine del Viento, his steel sculptures on the rocks where the city meets the sea, then Chillida Leku, his own museum, with a guide: his large works set in the gardens of an old family homestead a few kilometres out, at Hernani. Lunch at one of the three houses with three MICHELIN Stars in the 2026 guide: Akelarre over the Bay of Biscay, Martín Berasategui over the countryside, or Arzak in the city. We reserve the table.
Day 3
The market, a Basque kitchen and a cider house
La Bretxa in the morning with a chef: the old town’s market since 1870, where the city’s best-known cooks choose their produce. Then a private class in Basque cooking, from bacalao al pil pil to the cheesecake, and lunch on what you made, with txakoli and cider; or lunch at a gastronomic society, one of the members’ kitchens of the old town, on request. In the evening, a cider house in the orchards at Astigarraga or Hernani, the cider poured straight from the barrel.
Where you stay
Centro
Hotel María Cristina
A five-star house on the Urumea at the edge of the Parte Vieja, a short walk from La Concha, with two restaurants, a cocktail bar and river-view suites.
Days 4–6
Rioja, among the wineries
South to Rioja: Laguardia on its hill, a day with the winemakers, Haro’s century-old bodegas and a starred table in Logroño.
Day 4
Laguardia and the Rioja Alavesa
South with your driver to the Rioja Alavesa, on the Basque bank of the Ebro. In the afternoon, Laguardia with a guide: a walled town on its hilltop, palaces along its streets and cellars dug beneath them, and the painted portico of Santa María de los Reyes. Then Ysios, Santiago Calatrava’s winery outside the town at the foot of the Sierra de Cantabria, visited by arrangement.
Day 5
A day with the winemakers
Two wineries with a driver: a family cellar, with the winemaker to host the tasting where one is free, and a larger estate, through its vineyards and its cellars. Between them, a long lunch among the barrels: potatoes Rioja-style and lamb cutlets grilled over vine prunings. To end the day, the monasteries of San Millán de la Cogolla, where the first literature in Castilian was written. More on Rioja’s wines in our guide to Spanish gastronomy.
Day 6
Haro, and a starred table
Haro’s station quarter, the bodegas built around the town’s railway station, which the regional tourist board counts the greatest concentration of century-old wineries in the world: a visit to the cellars and a tasting at one that receives guests. In the evening, Logroño: pinchos along the Calle Laurel, a bar at every door, or a tasting menu at one of the city’s Michelin-starred tables. We reserve the table.
Where you stay
Villabuena de Álava
Hotel Viura
A four-star house of 33 rooms in stacked concrete cubes on the church square of Villabuena de Álava, with its cellar in an old underground passage.
Elciego
Hotel Marqués de Riscal
Sixty rooms in and beside Frank Gehry's ribboned building, in the grounds of the Marqués de Riscal winery at Elciego.
Days 7–8
The Duero, its wines and its castles
Across Castile to the Duero Valley: an abbey among its own vines, an estate of the Ribera del Duero, lechazo from the wood-fired oven and Peñafiel’s castle.
Day 7
Across Castile to the Duero
From the Ebro to the Duero with your driver, to Abadía Retuerta among its vineyards. In the afternoon, its winery with a guide: the 12th-century abbey, the vines and the barrel rooms, and a tasting of the estate’s wines, which carry a designation of origin of their own name, Abadía Retuerta.
Day 8
The Ribera del Duero and Peñafiel
A private visit and a tasting at an estate of the Ribera del Duero, a Denominación de Origen since 1982, where Tempranillo goes by Tinta del País or Tinto Fino. Lunch of lechazo, the milk-fed lamb roasted in a wood-fired oven, in a 16th-century water mill on the Duratón at Peñafiel; we reserve the table. Then the castle above the town, built in the 15th century, with the Provincial Wine Museum inside it.
Where you stay
Sardón de Duero
Abadía Retuerta
A five-star house of 30 rooms in the restored 12th-century abbey of Santa María de Retuerta, on its own wine estate beside the Duero.
Days 9–11
Segovia, then Madrid's markets
Down by way of Segovia to Madrid: its markets in the morning, the taverns of the old town at night, and the Prado before you fly.
Day 9
Segovia, and into Madrid
South to Segovia, to walk it with a local guide: a Roman aqueduct of about AD 50 strides across the town, and the Alcázar, begun around the 11th century, stands at its far end, both on the World Heritage List. Lunch on the town’s roast suckling pig, raised on its mother’s milk alone, then on to Madrid for the evening.
Day 10
The markets and the taverns
Chocolate con churros for breakfast, Madrid’s own morning ritual. Then the markets with a food guide: the Mercado de San Miguel by the Plaza Mayor, an iron market of 1916 that has sold food to eat on the spot since 2009, and La Latina’s own Mercado de la Cebada, opened in 1875, its stalls of meat, cold meats, fish and fruit. A vermouth at about one, as Madrid takes it. In the evening, tapas and wine between the taverns of La Latina and Habsburg Madrid, with a sommelier, on request.
Day 11
The Prado, and home
If your flight allows, a last morning at the Prado with an art historian: Velázquez’s Las Meninas and Goya’s Black Paintings, in a museum open since 1819. Then a private transfer to Madrid-Barajas, a short distance from the centre.
Where you stay
Justicia
Urso
A five-star boutique hotel in Justicia, near Chueca and Las Salesas, in a towered corner building with a spa and a water area.
Palacio
Palacio de los Duques
A five-star 19th-century palace between the Plaza de Oriente and Gran Vía, with a historic garden and a pool on the roof.
What the journey includes
From $15,365 per person
Plan this journeyYour proposal sets out the arrangements included in your trip.
- Planned with you — by Ramin Jafari, who shapes the order, the pace and the days around you; every part can change.
- Ten nights’ accommodation — in the hotels we recommend at each stop, shown with each one.
- Private transport — a private transfer on arrival, a car and driver for every leg between the regions, and the transfer to Madrid’s airport at the end.
- Private guides — for the pintxo bars, Chillida Leku, Laguardia, the wineries, Segovia and Madrid’s markets.
- Tables and tastings — the three-star and starred tables, the cider house and the lechazo, and the winery visits, reserved ahead.
- Experiences on request — the cooking class or a gastronomic society, the tapas walk with a sommelier and the Prado with an art historian, each arranged for your dates, subject to availability.
- Support while you travel — if a transfer is delayed or a booking changes, we coordinate with the partners involved and take you through the options.
What travellers say
Some times you don't know what you're going to get online and I cannot compliment Ramin enough — this was FIRST CLASS treatment. I would most certainly use him again.
Melissa Cameron
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Guides for the route
- San Sebastián food and cuisine
The Basque table, where to eat, and the market, the txakoli and the cider.
- Wine tasting in Rioja
Design wineries, vineyard lunches, the harvest, where to stay and a three-day plan.
- Wine travel in Spain
Rioja and the Ribera del Duero: the tastings, the hotels and the season to go.
- Madrid food and cuisine
Madrid's own dishes, where to eat, the Mercado de San Miguel and the wines around the city.
- Things to do in Madrid
The Royal Palace and the Prado with a guide, the city's architecture and tables, and Toledo and Segovia.
- Food and wine tours
Where to taste Spain, its wine regions, and sample culinary itineraries.
Plan this journey
As it is set out here, or shaped around your dates, your pace and who is travelling. Tell us when you would like to go.
Plan this journeyOur Spain page
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