Best places to stay?
Best things to see?
Best wineries?
Should we try to fit in Bordeaux?
Suggestions?
We are driving up from Madrid and back after a week.
Posted by
11156 posts
With only a week just do the Spanish Basque Country or Aquitaine. Don’t add Bordeaux with so little time.
Posted by
Bilbao
641 posts
There are around 1000 wineries only in the Basque Country (Spanish side), so the question on the best ones needs some narrowing.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
In the Rioja area.
Thx.
Posted by
la rioja
531 posts
Skip Bordeaux. If it is a must, make it a day trip from Saint Jean de Lux, the TGV will take you there in 2 hours.
Be aware that there are two different Riojas. There is the autonomous community of La Rioja and there is the Rioja DOC wine area. While there is a lot of overlap, the DOC includes La Rioja Alavesa (the Basque Country) and a bit of Navarra.
Laguardia, for example, is a nice place to stay, is in Rioja Alavesa. Briones, another fine place to stay is in La Rioja.
If you are on a wine center trip, I would say you should visit Dinastia Vivancos in Briones. Lecea winery has a good tour and is very interesting to visit.
Posted by
Bilbao
641 posts
There are 600 wineries in Rioja, which is divided into Rioja Alta (with Haro as the most well known town); Rioja Alavesa (belonging to the Basque Country) and Rioja Oriental, to the east. It´s hard to say which wineries are best, as it´s a large area and you should decide on where you´re staying. You´ll need a car to visit most wineries, are you planning to drive?