Basque Country and La Rioja Alavesa, Spain

Landing in Bilbao felt like a victory before the trip even began. United recently added direct flights from Newark, which effectively removes the logistical headache of a Madrid or Barcelona layover and puts you right at the gateway to Basque Country. We picked up a car at the airport, our chariot to explore Basque Country/La Rioja region, Pamplona, the Pyrenees, and San Sebastian area (stay tuned for more blog posts exploring each location!), and made the 90-minute drive south to Samaniego, a tiny village in the Rioja Alavesa region that feels like it hasn’t changed much since the 15th century when viticulture first took over the local economy.

We checked into the Palacio de Samaniego, an 18th-century stone palace that was converted into a nine-room boutique hotel by Ariane de Rothschild. It manages to be incredibly high-end without feeling stiff—more like staying in a very wealthy friend’s country estate than a hotel. We settled in with a delicious, flavorful but accessible lunch on the patio outside, which gave us a glimpse into the high quality service at Palacio. A heat wave was rolling through Basque Country, so we enjoyed a dip in the small, but aesthetic pool and made use of the lawn chairs as a lovely place for a jetlag nap.

Just across the street is Bodega Remírez de Ganuza, where we spent our first afternoon. The winery was founded in 1989 with a philosophy centered on old vines and grape selection; it’s a great introduction to the region's more modern, high-precision style of winemaking. We learned about the Reserva process. Behind the tasting room, we wandered through the vineyards to get our bearings, taking in the views of the rolling hills that have been the lifeblood of this town for centuries.

For dinner, we took a short drive to Haro, and ate at Restaurant Terete, a local institution since 1867. They specialize in wood-fired roasted lamb, and it was a perfect casual but traditional first meal. Haro’s main square was surprisingly lively, filled with music and people out for a nightcap. It was exactly the kind of energy we needed to stay awake and power through the initial jet lag.

The next morning, we decided on a DIY vineyard tour. To avoid the "who’s driving?" debate, we rented e-bikes from the hotel. The 30-minute ride through the hills is stunning, though "hilly" is a bit of an understatement when you're on two wheels, and decide to bike through the rocky paths between vineyards instead of sharing the main road with speeding cars. Eventually, the silver-topped wave of Bodega Ysios appeared on the horizon.

Designed by Santiago Calatrava and finished in 2001, the avant-garde structure is meant to mimic the silhouette of the Sierra de Cantabria mountains directly behind it. 

We parked our car and tried to dry our sweat as we watched fellow wine enthusiasts arrive dressed in their finest vineyard tour garb, looking chic and picture ready.

We checked in and realized we accidentally booked a tour in Spanish—an occupational hazard of traveling without a translator—but the staff was incredibly gracious and let us swap the tour for a flight of wines, a cheese board, and a pamphlet that we could self-teach whatever we were missing on the tour!

From there, it was a quick 15-minute ride to Laguardia, a medieval hilltop fortress town founded in the 10th century. Because the town is built over a labyrinth of ancient wine caves, cars are largely banned from the center to prevent the streets from collapsing. While waiting for our reservation, I spent some time exploring the narrow alleyways and stumbled into a local clothing boutique. The owner was a chic woman in her 50s who spoke very little English, so I put my high school Spanish to the ultimate test. We had a funny, slightly lost-in-translation moment when she insisted that a pair of low-rise jeans would look great on me. I had to politely but firmly explain that my jeans needed to be mas alta—I am a high-rise-only girl. She was incredibly patient with my stumbling vocabulary, and it was one of those small, human interactions that makes traveling so much better. I bought a sweater I didn’t need just to commemorate the experience and to thank her for her grace with me!

We had a lunch special at SVGAR—a steal at 35 euros for wine, an appetizer, and an entree. The tomato salad was the kind of "tastes like it was picked five minutes ago" experience you only get in rural Spain. Afterward, we spent some time exploring the narrow alleyways and the town’s old walls, which offer some of the best panoramic views of the valley.

On our way back, we stopped at Marqués de Riscal in Elciego. The winery dates back to 1858, making it the oldest in the region, but it’s best known now for the Frank Gehry-designed hotel that sits atop it. Frank Gehry also designed the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao. The structure is a wild explosion of pink, gold, and silver titanium ribbons—pink for the wine, gold for the mesh of the bottles, and silver for the foil over the cork. While there is a dedicated tourist center for official tours, we found a better route: we asked to go up to the hotel bar for a glass of rosé. It was a casual way to see the "sculpture" up close without the crowds.

The final stretch back into Samaniego was a highlight. Closing out a day, making it home in one piece, biking through the vineyards we walked through the day before, seeing Samaniego’s main church off in the distance, we really felt the joy of the day (ok, maybe it was the wine.) 

Biking home from our self-guided vineyard tour day

By the time we biked back to Samaniego, we were exhausted. We had dinner at the hotel’s restaurant, Tierra y Vino, which was a sophisticated meal capped off with a glass of Champagne Barons de Rothschild. Looking back, Rioja completely exceeded our expectations. The food was consistently excellent, the natural landscape was gorgeous, and the contrast between the ancient stone villages and the ultra-modern architecture was fascinating. It’s a region that feels both deeply rooted in history and surprisingly avant-garde.

Practical Tips for Rioja Alavesa

• The Biking Reality: While biking through the vineyards is romantic, the terrain is hilly. If you aren't a regular cyclist, check if your hotel offers e-bikes—your quads will thank you.

• The Language Barrier: Even at high-end wineries, tours are often divided by language. Double-check your confirmation to ensure you didn't accidentally book the Spanish-only slot (unless you're looking to practice your espanol).

• The "Bar Shortcut": At famous architectural sites like Marqués de Riscal, you don't always need a tour ticket to see the building. Often, a polite request to visit the hotel bar for a drink is the best way to see the interior and the structure up close.