Post Basque Country Tour recommendations

Burgos and Laguardia are both very worthwhile. Be aware that the area right around the cathedral in Burgos can feel very touristy because of the many pilgrims. The city is notoriously windy, so you may be glad to have some sort of windbreaker if you plan to walk around outdoors in the evening in late September.

Laguardia is charming. It requires a bit of advance planning/map research. Be sure you know where you can leave your car. I arrived by bus but would guess you cannot drive to the top of the hill. There's at least one lift that will take you up to the town; you'll want to park somewhere that's reasonably close to the lift(s). If you can manage to arrive in Laguardia early enough, stop by the tourist office to see if it still has the key to the historic church with the amazing portal. I missed that because I arrived on the day of a local festival, and the T.O. was closed.

Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of the interior Basque province, is also interesting. It, too, has a historic center perched on a hill, but there are outdoor escalators to eliminate most of the climbing that would otherwise be necessary. It's a city rather than a little town, though, so not really a substitute for Laguardia.

Those are wonderful suggestions, I appreciate you taking the time to provide! I hope to incorporate your ideas into our plan, thank you

Laguardia is not in La Rioja, not to be confused with Rioja Alavesa wine region, in the Basque province of Araba (or Álava). Rioja wine region is divided into Rioja Alta (in La Rioja), Rioja Alavesa (in the Basque Country) and Rioja Oriental (in both La Rioja and Navarre). I would stay overnight in Laguardia and profit the time to visit any of the hundreds of old wineries in the area (or on any of the three that have underground cellars under the town). Labastida is also a very nice town on the way to Laguardia.

The tourist office does not leave you the key anymore, it´s scheduled visits now (worth it!). And you can drive to the top of town (there´s a small parking there), but better to leave it half way to the top on the big parking lot.

We stopped in Laguardia a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately we arrived there just as things were closing for the afternoon. If you look on Google maps at the town, there is the Ascensor de Laguardia (elevator). Right by it is a Parking público gratuito (free public parking). It looks like it’s parking for a couple apartment buildings, but is open to anybody. We parked in a spot in front of the Polideportivo Laguardia. To me, Laguardia was worth a half day visit so would make a nice day trip from Burgos. The church with the portal, Church of Santa María de los Reyes, was open by reservation only and via guided tour. It closed for the day at 2pm so if you wanted to see the portal, plan ahead. On that same afternoon we also stopped in San Vicente de la Sonsierra for lunch and visited its castle, and nearby Briones. When we stayed in Burgos in 2017 we stayed at the Abba Burgos hotel. It’s in a nice location and has a parking garage.

If the parking spaces have white lines, they are free. Blue lines mean paid parking, so look for the pay machine. Yellow lines, if I remember correctly, is permit parking.

Remember that late September is the harvest time. In Logrono from the 17th to the 25th is the San Mateo Harvest Festival. In general many wineries are very busy at this time, so check on times for the visits to wineries. As mentioned there are many in and around Laguardia.

Since visiting Laguardia is well covered, I'd like to make a suggestion from the trip to Segovia. After Laguardia spend the next night in Burgos. If you take the N120 it should be just a bit over an hour. You could stop in Sto Domingo de la Calzada. If you have time before you have to be in Segovia, take the N234 and go through Covarrubias, Sto Domingo de Silos and then on to Burgo de Osma. (If hubby is a Spaghetti Western fan, very close to Silos is the Sad Hill Cemetery where they filmed The Good, the Bad and the Ugly).
Depending on the time you have you could stay in Burgo, or from they head west and stay in the village of Pedraza. It is a similar to Laguardia but with out the wine. They have used the town to film movies and tv series. It is only about 25miles from Segovia.

I am blown away by all these great suggestions! Thank you all so much, this makes planning the trip so much easier and more fun. We plan to add an additional evening based on your comments on the area, my thanks

To follow up on dlindstrom’s post, if coming from Burgos on the N234, after just under an hour you’ll see a sign that simply says “Sad Hill,” Turn right and go through a hamlet on a narrow one lane paved road. That road will turn into a dirt road and you’ll be on it for about two miles. There are some drainage ditches crossing the road, so drive slowly. It goes straight to the cemetery filming location. When we were there, there was a herd of cows sharing the area and we had to wait for them to clear the road before we could leave. Near it is the nature walkway of Desfiladero de La Yecla. We didn’t make it there due to time constraints.

In Sto Domingo de la Calzada, visit the cathedral. In it is a very nice nativity scene, Belén, displaying the entire town not just the place where Jesus was born. It’s occasionally covered by a screen, but if a tour is going through it will be available for all to see and will be lit up. Also in the cathedral is the tomb of Sto Domingo de la Calzada and a chicken coop with two chickens. You’ll need to read the legend surrounding them.

Continuing on the N234 from sad hill, head south at San Leonardo Del Yagüe on to SO-920. Down the road is Cañón Del Río Lobos and the Ermita de San Bartolomé. The park cost 2€ to enter. Once you park your car the chapel is about a half mile walk. The chapel was built by the Knights Templar and is location equidistant between the easternmost and westernmost points in Spain. If you like hiking, there are plenty of trails to walk on.

From the canyon, El Burgo de Osma is a short drive away. En route you’ll pass the castle of Ucero. El Burgo de Osma was a walled city and some of the walls can still be seen. Some have been incorporated into the new town. It has a couple nice plazas and makes for a great place to stop for lunch or just a refreshment.