Did some digging and at least dont see any recent posts on Rioja threads. Im hoping to include it in my next itinerary, but I have a couple questions:
-Where to fly in if Rioja is on the itinerary? Madrid or Biblao? Mostly wondering about convenience of getting to Rioja from each but I guess also which makes the better trip overall too.
-Stay in Logrono or Haro?
-Do you need a car while there? Is it way more convenient than trains and hiring a driver for a wine tasting day?
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Bilbao. We spent 2 days in Madrid before and took Air Europa to Bilbao. We did a Duvine cycling tour. At the end we spent 2 days in San Sebastian.
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2nd on Bilbao. Bilbao Gug in Bilbao is awesome and there is fantastic wine bar in the city as well.
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+3 on flying into Bilbao
You’ll want a car, but driving around there is super easy.
Personally, I think you’ll have more dining and non-wine options in Logrono than in Haro.
You can easily get around Logrono and Navarette with taxis, but a car to get to Haro is a must.
Don’t overlook spending an afternoon and evening in Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
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I wish I had spent more time in Bilbao when we visited in 2022. Museum is a must.
We stayed in Haro when visiting Rioja- the visits were great- CUNE especially is right in town. I will say, Haro was really sleepy-but it was December-maybe that mattered. There is a good michelin starred place in the village but it was closed when we were there. The food in Haro proper was uninspiring at best. I hear I hear Longrono is the place to stay for food and drinking options.
Beautiful area.
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We enjoyed Logrono as a base of of operations. Seemed more lively with a couple of different tapas crawls available. Food was good.
Definitely get a car or driver to get around for wine tastings. We hired a driver for tastings and drove ourselves in a rental for other stuff.
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Was there in October and agree that Logrono is a good base with 70+ restaurants. Wine varies so go by sight when scoping out. You’ll know a good wine place when you see it and usually the food is very good also. Some places are just for tapas/pintxos and you can skip the wine.
There is a good shop with jamon and cheese as well.
We drove around in rent a car (parking is good in Logrono under main town square) but you uber also.
Nublo in Haro was terrific. They have/had a Michelin star and the wine list is great. They had some hard to find wines made by monks at a nearby abbey that are worth seeking out. All these monks do is make wine (and pray). Limited production that likely doesn’t get out of Haro
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We stayed in LaGuardia and ate both nights in Logrono. LaGuardia is a charming walled hill town and Logrono is a much larger city.
We flew in to Madrid and out of Barcelona. Pretty sure a car is going to be a must.
Logroño has much better restaurants. Stay there. If you want I can send you some restaurants that were recommended to me by a winery owner and were spot on.
Please send them! Always love suggestions like that over the same travel website every other person looks at tll
These were recommended by Jesus Martinez Bujanda Mora, owner of Valdemar and we also enjoyed them.
In Logroño, Ikaro and Kiro Sushi. Also Ajo Negro which is a Spanish/Mexican fusion restaurant and was probably my favorite. All three have one Michelin star. Kiro Sushi is BYO. Ikaro is Spanish/Ecuadorian food.
In towns very near Logroño, Alameda which Jesus thinks is the best restaurant in Rioja. We enjoyed it but enjoyed others better. Echaurren is very traditional Rioja food and a Michelin two star.
Others he recommended in Logroño but we didn’t eat there were Aitor Esnal, En Ascuas, Sabores and Tastavin. Outside of Logroño, Nublo (Haro), Casalarreina, Amelibia, and Samaniego.
Also if you visit only one winery, make it Lopez de Heredia and you will need to book it well in advance.
Have fun researching these and enjoy your trip!
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We spent a week in Haro during the harvest in 2019. Everyone in the centralized wine district were very friendly and welcoming. Unlike the residents of the town. For the most part they seem to dislike tourists.
I speak a bit of French and a bit of Spanish but that didn’t help at all. Even in bars and restaurants the staff were very difficult and it became almost impossible to get even counter service.
We had a great visit at LdH. The tasting rooms at Muga and La Rioja Alta were great. Rioja Alta offered back vintages of all their bottlings in a pay as you go style.
The best part of our visit was lunch on the deck of the Frank Geary JW Marriott in Elciego. The view of the town is wonderful.
I would recommend flying into Bordeaux and driving to the Rioja. I must warn you though the traffic camera enforcement is very serious, Sixte sent me three receipts for tickets.
We also visited Vitoria Gastiez which is beautiful but the language barrier was even worse, it turns out Basquaise (sp) is prevelant. In the end we probably weren’t ready culturally for the Spanish countryside.
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Been to Rioja a few times and although Basque is prevalent, speaking in Spanish which wife and I are able to get by with, is never a problem with the locals. In fact menus and signs everywhere will be in both Basque and Spanish.
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I am sure speaking Spanish at a more advanced level would certainly help. To be honest I wasn’t surprised to hear about the Barcelona protests this weekend. The residents feel that the economy is too dependent on tourism.
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It depends on what you want to get out of the trip. I’ve been twice, based in Haro both times, once with a car and once without.
Without a car we took the train from Bilbao. It’s a couple hours and beautiful journey, and then about a 15 minute walk into town from the train station. Plenty of restaurants and wineries within walking distance.
That said, I did prefer having a car, so we could visit more wineries outside of the city.
Not sure what happened there, wow. We went twice, 21 and 23, speak very little Spanish but had zero issues anywhere.
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