Segovia/wine tour, Am I just so out of touch? ;)

That is a grotesque price. It's obviously a tour being market to a different demographic from mine. (Also, I don't like wine.) Anything food- or alcohol-related (even walking tours) always seems to be twice as expensive as non-food tours. Surely some of the extra cost covers the included food/drink. But still.

In case you're in the market for other day-trip destinations, Toledo and Cuenca are also great. Cuenca is far enough away that you need to travel by AVE, and you might be too late to get a promo fare at this point; I haven't checked. Much closer to Madrid and with extremely frequent cheap trains, even on Sunday, is Alcala de Henares. It has a really pretty historic district and seems to get very few foreign tourists.

You can easily go to Segovia on a train from Madrid and there is a restaurant in the aqueduct area that is highly recommended-I don't remember the name but I think it's in Rick's book. It's not cheap(we didn't want to pay their lunch prices) but nothing like that bus tour.

Good to know, that it is not just me. I'll probably go back to my original idea and just take the train to Segovia. The wine tasting just kind of peaked my interest. As much as I like to taste wine, the appeal of wine tasting in Europe is more to talk to winery employees and to learn about a wine region and to get into the country where the grapes are grown. Hard to do without a car or some other transportation. It's all good, in general, I do avoid tours because I like to do my own thing and I don't necessarily need to be with people, though I do like to talk to the locals when possible.

@acraven, we are doing Toledo on our way back to Madrid from Cordoba although we have to go into Madrid to take the train to Toledo. We will still over night and use some of your great suggestions for our Toledo visit.

I agree Segovia is an easy day trip. This restaurant http://www.restaurantejosemaria.com/en/ is justifiably famous for suckling pig, a regional specialty. They have a full menu as well with many non-pork options and a great wine list. If you eat pork the suckling pig is not to be missed!

So we love Spain and have fallen in love with Spanish wines, to the point where 95% of the wines in our home are from Spain. When traveling we stop in small shops and inquire as to what wine is selling the most and purchase a bottle. Using this tactic we have tried a variety of wines with predominently positive results. We also are able to engage in dialogue which has lead to being directed to a variety of experiences inclusive of restaurants, local concerts and some great wine shops.

Hi Jules,

We have taken the Winebus excursions that you are considering last October. It may be more than people may want to spend, but I would not characterize the pricing as grotesque. There is good value for the money and I will say it was one of the most memorable experiences for us in Spain. There are certainly less expensive ways to explore Segovia and folks on the forum have given you some great recommendations.

To give you a little more color on the tour to help you if you decide if you want to go, I thought I would share a bit about our tour. The trip is really designed for wine lovers who have only a little time in Madrid and want to wine taste, but who also want to visit Segovia. Ignacio is the owner and a native of Madrid who loves the region and wine. The typical tour has no more than 8 people, but we went on a weekday and it was just my husband and I. It lasts about 10 hours.

We started the tour with a stop at a roadside restaurant where they were just putting lamb in the wood fire oven for lunch later in the day. It was a restaurant that we would have never found on our own. Ignacio introduced us to the owner and we tried three Ribera del Duero wines with some crackling pork and fresh bread. The wines were different expressions of the Tempranillo grape. The Ribera del Duero region is home to some of Spain’s most sought after and applauded wines. We tasted three different wines (2012, 2014, and 2015). The 2012 reserve was over $75/bottle if we purchased it in the US.

We then drove to an organic winery with a full tour and tasting. We were the only English speaking people on the tour (Ignacio translated). After the tour, we went to a small town and had lunch in a local restaurant built ontop of unground caves of a now defunct winery from the turn of the century. Again, we were the only English speaking people in the restaurant. We had lamb from the wood fire oven, Gallacian wood-fired Octopus, and the most amazing local mushrooms, plus a tour of the wine caves. While we needed to pay for the meal, it was a minor incremental costs for excellent food and wine. This was the only thing we paid for outside of a gratuity.

From there we drove to Segovia and toured the cathedral and castle. We ended the day on a bluff overlooking the castle drinking a bottle of wine (courtesy of Igancio). Igancio was kind enough to drop us at our hotel, recommend local restaurants for the rest of our Madrid stay. He is truly a lovely man and great host. My husband videoed our experience and we sent it to Igancio to share with potential guests.

Everyone who travels makes their own decisions on how much they want to spend on any travel experience. I am sure that you will choose what is best for you. For me, it was money well spent to have this unique experience—something that I could not replicate on my own and one that I will treasure.

Have a great trip,
Sandy