Logroño, Burgos, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Haro

The 9th of June is the Day of La Rioja, so most of the community of La Rioja will be shut. Especially since it is a Friday, making a three day weekend. In Logroño, the 11th is San Bernabe, the patron of Logroño. The 11th of June 1521 the siege of Logroño by the French was lifted by Charles V. This year, from the 8th to the 12th Logroño will be in full fiesta mode. The city goes medieval, with the streets full of "medieval" markets. There is a French camp by the river, a Spanish base in the old town, and there are daily reenactments of the siege, and there is a ronda, or guards who go walking around the old town shooting off their blunderbusses. On the 11th the Cofradia del Pez, serves a grilled fish and a small cup of wine for around 2.5€. From the Cofradia's web page, last year
"La Cofradía ha dispuesto unos 900 kilos de peces-truchas, unas 25.000 unidades de pan -de ellas unas 600 especiales para celíacos- y unos 1.000 litros de vino, con los que ha preparado las raciones"
That's about 2000 lbs of trout, and 250gallons of wine.

Later in June, the 23rd, is the feast of St. John. It is the shortest night of the year and in most places there will be some kind of celebration, usually a bonfire where, for example, students burn their class notes. In Logroño the calle San Juan has music and activities on the 21st and 22nd, and most of the bars have special tapas, or special offers.

And at the end of the month, the 29th is the battle of wine in Haro.

Hope that helps

I visited that area in 2016.

The hill town of Laguardia is very atmospheric. I was there on Friday, June 24, 2016, which was a festival day. They blocked off some of the streets and turned baby bulls loose to run along them. It was fun, but it made getting back to my bus stop a challenge. It also meant that the local tourist office was closed. The T.O. is apparently the keeper of the key to the church, which I would have liked to see. The town has multiple wine bars. I think it would be a cool place to spend one night, but you probably don't need more than an hour or so to walk every street (when they aren't blocked off).

Vitoria-Gasteiz is a an attractive city with a large medieval district on a hill. Escalators assist you in moving up and down. You could spend hours just wandering around up there. The cathedral was under heavy reconstruction during my visit, but it was possible to take an English-language tour, which I found quite interesting. The city has a playing-card museum (which I didn't see) in the upper town and two art museums down below (not close to each other). Finding a moderately-priced hotel in Vitoria-Gasteiz can be challenging.

Burgos is on the pilgrimage route. The cathedral is impressive, and the historic center is very pretty, but that area is very touristy (or perhaps the term should be "pilgrimy"). The river running through the city is pleasant to stroll along. On the outskirts of town--in different directions--are two religious institutions, of which I preferred the Cartuja de Miraflores. I felt it was worth the trip just to see Berruguete's "Anunciation". I think Rick recommends the other one because it's just a bit closer to central Burgos. He accurately warns that Burgos is an extremely windy place.

I recommend all of the above. I have no interest in wine, so cannot help there.

I knew acraven would chime in since she has visited a couple of those places. I thoroughly enjoyed Burgos and also recommend Cartuja de Miraflores, but haven’t been to the other places.

Thanks for all your thoughts so far. I love festivals, and while those suggestions sound great, they don’t generally fit into my calendar. I have one night available on Tuesday June 19 when I will have a car and will be traveling from Alcaniz toward Hondarribia; I have so far been planning on Logrono for that stop. Then I will have another night on Saturday June 30 when I will be traveling by bus or train, starting that morning in Bilbao and headed toward Zaragoza. I was thinking of Burgos then. I could also make one or more short mid-day stops along the way, easier when I have the car (I was thinking of Vitoria for that.) For June 30, I could also choose to spend an extra night in Bilbao or Zaragoza instead of making a 1-night stop in one of the places listed. (I could even spend the extra night in Bilbao, and make a day trip to Vitoria, but that would likely drop Burgos from the trip). Any more ideas would certainly be welcomed!
Note: From June 22 to 30, I will be on the RS Basque Tour.

Of these towns, the only one I've seen is Vitoria. I enjoyed it, mainly for its museums (because for much of the day it was raining, so I couldn't enjoy walking around). The Museum of Playing Cards is good, but the Museum of Fine Arts is a real wow - fantastic art, by artists I've never heard of or seen before, and uncrowded to boot.

If you want all my impressions, including a great hotel find, skip to the Vitoria sections of my trip report: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/basque-country-trip-report-bayonne-san-sebastian-vitoria-gasteiz-and-bilbao-may-2017

I haven't been to Logrono (other than perhaps in transit on a bus), and I believe it does have some sort of historic district. Still, I liked Laguardia and Vitoria-Gasteiz enough to suggest that you spend the night in one of those places instead. I realize that Laguardia takes you off the direct path to Hondarribia, but it's small and you might recover some of the expended time by avoiding the need to drive into Logrono. I still recommend Laguardia even though you won't hit the festival. Best of all would be to have a short stop in Laguardia and drive on to Vitoria-Gasteiz for the night, but I'd only do that if there was time for some sightseeing in V-G the next morning. And this assumes you can find affordable lodging.

Alternatively, you have the option of overnighting in Logrono or Laguardia and adding on a brief stopover in V-G, as you mentioned. I think about a half-day will be enough in Hondarribia, but our interests are different (I'd never list "history" but would always include "art"), and I don't know what your plans are after you arrive in Hondarribia.

As to whether you should forego Burgos and spend extra time in Bilbao and Zaragoza, that's a tough call. If you don't have an interest in the Fine Arts Museum in Bilbao, your free time on the last full day of the tour may be reasonably adequate for seeing Bilbao. The Casco Viejo is rather large, but if you just grab something quick for lunch, you should have time for it and perhaps some walking through the attractive downtown area and/or along the riverfront.

You'll probably want a good chunk of a day in Zaragoza, since you have both the Moorish palace and the historic district.

Be sure you have air conditioning in Zaragoza. You will note a shocking difference between the weather there and what you've been experiencing in the Basque Country. And don't stay near the train station unless you're good with having nowhere near your hotel to eat. If you don't care about that, you might get a really good rate at the nice business-class Eurostars Hotel right in the station. I suspect there's not a lot of demand for hotel rooms in furnace-like Zaragoza in the summer

It looks as if an ALSA bus is your best bet for traveling from Bilbao to Burgos. The 8 AM departure is great; it would give you almost an entire day in Burgos. From Burgos to Zaragoza there are decent rail options at 12:40 PM and 3:08 PM in May, and I have no reason to doubt that they will be available on July 1.

Larry, is Acaniz Alcaniz? If I understood correctly, you will be driving. So I suggest you go to Vitoria first. Then up to Hondarribia. After, from Bilbao, the Cuadrabus line has a service that leaves Bilbao at 09:00 and arrives in Laguardia at 10:42. From Laguardia the Rioja Alavesa line has regular service to Logroño. There is a direct bus at 14:41, 16:21, and 18:21. It is a 20 min ride. Send the night in Logroño and there is good bus and train service to Zaragoza.

Laguardia is very nice, and has a lot of atmosphere. The church, Santa Maria de los Reyes has an amazing polychrome portico, and there are some great views from the walls. Should you stay there? It depends on what you are looking for. In the evening is will be calm and you can have a nice dinner there.

The old town of Logroño is also worth a visit though (there is even a Michelangelo in the Cathedral). And if you are interested in going to tapa bars, Calles Laurel and San Juan have more bars than Laguardia, and in late June there will be a really lively atmosphere, as the good weather brings everyone out. You should be able sit at an outdoor café and enjoy a glass of wine in the early evening and then go for tapas.

As for going to Burgos, I would advise against it as it is going away from Zaragoza. So you will have more travel time.

Not a wine drinker, but did enjoy my visits to Logrono and Burgos.
There was a wine fest in Logrono that went on until 6 in the morning so make sure the place where you stay at night is either sound proof or away from the city center. The party gets loud.

Burgos was one of my favorite towns and spent 2 days here. Gorgeous cathedral! The Evolution Museum is outstanding, and with all of the text in English. Had the best tapas here too. They were having a huge 3 day Renaissance Festival here and it was a lot of fun to see all the costumes, the horses, and the crafts on sale.

Thanks again, but you guys sure make these final decisions tough. Here is my current planned itinerary for Spain, arriving June 9, departing July 5, sadly at dawn. I have rented a car for a week to visit a bunch of smaller, but apparently beautiful and wonderful, towns. I have also abandoned my usual aversion to one night stops, in order to include more of these towns.

Barcelona (3 nights) — to do some things I missed in 2016.
Valencia (2)
Cuenca (1) where I will pick up my rental car.
Teruel (1)
Albarracin (2)
Alcañiz (1)
Logroño (1) — tentative
Hondarribia (2) — return car
June 22 to June 30 — RS Basque Tour (8)
Burgos (1) — tentative
Zaragoza (2)
Girona (1)
Barcelona (1) — from late afternoon, only due to a 6 am flight

Still trying to schedule a few hours or a night in Vitoria-Gasteiz, trying to absorb your suggestions. My car and some of the hotels are locked in, some of the hotels can still be canceled or re-arranged.

All the news that’s fit to print, Larry

Great places, great variety. Please come back and tell us about it after you return.