A culinary journey through Spain and the Basque Country - The Basque gastronomy experience

KEY DETAILS

LIVE GUIDE: English, French, Spanish, Basque
INSTANT CONFIRMATION

WHAT YOU´LL DO

Learn all about Spanish and Basque gastronomy and discover the key hidden spots

Day 1: Madrid sightseeing tour
Day 2: Visit Burgos for lunch and city tour and “pintxo tour” in San Sebastian
Day 3: Pintxo Cooking Class and visit Getaria and its wineries
Day 4: Basque Cooking Masterclass, visit Bilbao and the Guggenheim Museum
Day 5: Basque Cooking Masterclass (special about fishes)
Day 6: Cooking Competition & Finale dinner
Day 7: Visit Laguardia and the bodegas of the Marqués de Riscal
Day 8: Free time in Madrid

WHAT TO EXPECT

Day 1 - MADRID

“Welcome to our gastronomic experience”

It´s just the beginning of what is sure to be an exciting culinary journey

Arrival in Madrid, private transfer and check-in at the URSO Hotel & Spa.

At the appointed time, Madrid sightseeing tour specially prepared with all essentials of the city: La Almudena Cathedral, Madrid Town Hall, Plaza Mayor Square, San Miguel Market, Los Austrias district, the Prado Museum, Debod Temple, finishing our tour in one of the coolest Restaurant in Madrid “Restaurante Piñera Madrid”

Transfer to the hotel and free time

Day 2 - MADRID - BURGOS - SAN SEBASTIÀN

Breakfast at the hotel

Let's travel through history! An exciting day through the Crown of Castile finishing at the Basque Country: a great contrast of landscapes, culture, traditions and gastronomy is waiting for you today.

At arrival in Burgos, we´ll connect with a strategic city like so many Castilian towns began its life as a strategic fortress – in 884 – being the frontline between the Muslims and the rival Kingdom of Navarra.

Its rich culinary tradition makes Burgos a wonderful place for food and wine lovers as well. In the pilgrimage city of Burgos, we´ll taste the most popular roast lamb - slow-cooked in ancient wood-fired ovens - with other exquisite dishes whose origin goes back to the era of the Medieval Times pilgrims gastronomy. Restaurant Hotel Landa Burgos will be our hidden gastronomic treasure.

Arrival to Donostia/San Sebastián, also known as the Pearl of the Cantabrian Sea, is one of the cities that best combines food, culture and beauty, joining them all with unique natural surroundings plus making the traveller feel like part of the city.

City tour and “pintxo tour” (miniature dishes tasting), feeling like a “Donostiarra”, which is the demonym of the inhabitants of San Sebastián.

Finishing the day, we´ll enjoy the city walking to the hotel located just on the beach named “La Concha”.

Day 3 - SAN SEBASTIÁN - GETARIA

Breakfast at the hotel.

Lovely walk from the hotel to the Masterclass.

The tiny, delectable bites that line the bar tops of San Sebastian are its trademark—pintxos.

Finding (and eating) the best pintxos in town is a local sport, and in this class, home cooks can learn how to replicate these sophisticated snacks at home. From the simple gilda, the city’s emblematic pintxo, to the elaborate creations that take from avant-garde cuisine, the world of pintxos is demystified and made easy and fun in our brand new purpose build cooking school.

Each Pintxo Cooking Class ends with a delicious lunch with wines in our new cooking school, enjoying what you and your fellow classmates have cooked using your newly acquired Basque cooking.

In the afternoon transfer to Getaria.

A charming seaside village with great fishing tradition, best known for being the birthplace of Juan Sebastián Elcano (Basque explorer who completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth) and but it also hides famous restaurants of grilled fish and small beaches with spectacular scenery.

We will have the opportunity to live a special gastronomic experience with anchovies manufacturing like in the 17th. Let´s go and taste the Getaria’s txakoli (Basque white wine) in a winery called “txakolindegi”.

Finishing the day, we´ll make real all we have learned today. Dinner at a very special restaurant called Kaia-Kaipe an elegant mixture of tradition and modernity with 50 years of history cooking the best-grilled fishes.

Day 4 - SAN SEBASTIÀN - BILBAO

Breakfast at the hotel.

Lovely walk from the hotel to the Masterclass.

If you want to learn the basics of Basque cuisine, this is the class for you.

Basque cuisine is prized for its high-quality ingredients and traditional recipes. One of our flagship classes, the Basque Cooking Masterclass will teach you the ABCs of local cuisine, from pintxos to main dishes. You will visit the market to learn how to select the freshest fish and produce. Then our Basque chefs will teach you authentic preparations, from pil-pil to cooking with fresh squid ink.

Each Basque Cooking Class ends with a wonderful lunch at our beautiful cooking school, enjoying what you and your fellow classmates have cooked using your newly acquired Basque cooking skills.

In the afternoon transfer to Bilbao, the most cosmopolitan city in the Basque Country, a city that offers a formidable cocktail between architecture, tradition, sea and mountains, nature and history combining all of it into perfect performance.

From the narrow streets of the Casco Viejo [Old Town] to the Gran Vía and the New Bilbao, there is a whole world of history and legends that have turned the small port on the banks of the river grow into a world benchmark. The oldest of the European cultures is home to the symbol of the Contemporary Era, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao; without forgetting or overlooking those origins that date back to the time when man began to tread our forests and mountains. Private guided tour.

To finish the day, we will have dinner at the well-known La Ribera Market and taste the seasonal products shown at the market.

Transfer to San Sebastián.

Day 5 - SAN SEBASTIÀN

Breakfast at the hotel.

Lovely walk from the hotel to the Masterclass.

Squid in its ink, salt cod, spider crab...the fruits of the sea are the centrepiece of Basque and Spanish cooking. Every dawn, the fishing boats bring in loads of fresh, cold-water fish to the coastal Basque villages. In this class, you will visit the one-of-a-kind La Bretxa seafood market with our chef before preparing these classic seafood dishes.

The class concludes with lunch enjoying the food you have helped cook in the class around a wonderful large table in our cooking school dining room. Wine is served throughout the experience.

Return to the hotel and free time to continue discovering the city by yourself.

Day 6 - SAN SEBASTIÀN - FUSION DINNER

Breakfast at the hotel.

Free morning to enjoy the city.

A real Basque treasure is going to be discovered today, the traditional “Gastronomic Society”, its history and traditions that continue over time.

In the late afternoon, we will meet for the Cooking Competition & Finale dinner in our cooking school

After the competition, they would have dinner all together.

Day 7 - LA RIOJA ALAVESA - MADRID

Breakfast at the hotel.

Another territory will be explored today “the wine territory” our “Basque Napa Valley”

Let's travel to the 16th Century visiting Laguardia, whose history is written on its stones, which is waiting to be read by visitors. The subsoil of Laguardia is pierced by wineries or ‘caves’, dug under the houses and streets, about 6 feet deep. The oldest building in Laguardia is Casa Primicia, here, in this emblematic space, the church collected the tithes and first offerings, the tax that obliged the servants to pay the tenth part of the harvest and the first fruits. Archaeologists have just discovered the secrets kept in Casa Primicia for more than five hundred years The files relate that in this emblematic XI century building the elaboration wine was started in the Laguardia village (XV century).

A visit to such a singular building is a walk through history and through wine. To visit Casa Primicia is to travel through the time tunnel, searching for the essence of a shore that has made the fruit of the vine its reason for being. Wine tasting.

Lunchtime in another winery called Torre de Oña showing us another way of working and making wine.

In the end, we´ll travel to the modernity visiting Marqués de Riscal winery. The best representation of the innovative spirit of Marqués de Riscal and its world of sensations is, without a doubt, the building designed by Frank O. Gehry. It is a work that, although full of distinct forms, is in perfect harmony with the landscape of the area. Like the Guggenheim Museum, the building designed by Gehry is covered with titanium. In this case, however, the architect wanted to infuse his work with the signature colours of Marqués de Riscal: pink like the wine, gold like the mesh on the Riscal bottles, and silver like the bottle top.

At the appointed time, transfer to Madrid, arrival and free time.

Day 8 - MADRID

Breakfast at the hotel.

Last shopping in Madrid and free time until the airport transfer time.

BEFORE GOING

With a private tour guide, the schedule, duration and activities can be adjusted to meet your needs. Please, provide any special requests you have.

Please note that this tour is a culture and food tour. But, you will get a pair of local snacks as well as a walk through the old quarter of San Sebastian in order to learn about the Basque culture and gastronomy. Please note that you will not receive a full meal.