We are finishing our 14 day tour with rick steve’s in Seville.
What is the best way to get to rioja from Seville? Should we get the train to Madrid and rent a car! Or maybe hire a guide to drive us from Madrid?
Is it better to stay in logorno for two or three nights and go out exploring from there? Or migrate around the area and stay in different locations?
Thanks for any suggestions on winery tours, logistics, hotels, etc.
Martha
A long way...it may be a good idea to get a plane to Bilbao and then train or bus to Haro, or rent a car and drive for just one hour from Bilbao. Instead of Logroño, I would rather choose Haro or Laguardia as base, as there are many more wine options close by. Just for info, there is a La Rioja autonomous community, that "took" its name in the 80s from the Rioja wine region (Rioja DOC, Denominación de Origen Calificada) but only has wine in a small part of it. Rioja DOC is divided into Rioja Alavesa (IMHO, where you can find the best wines and wineries, it´s the Basque area of Rioja DOC, most relevant town Laguardia); Rioja Alta, with Haro as the most important town, also with great wineries and wines; and Rioja Oriental, the eastern side of Rioja DOC, that also includes a small part of Navarre.
The high speed rail is smooth and nice so I'd at least take train as far as Madrid.
A couple we made friends with on Camino de Frances ended their 1 week walk in Longrono and went on a wine tour. Longrono is a pleasant small city. You might want to consider following the camino path from Pamplona to Longrono- (stop in Estella if driving-- if walking add Puenta Le Reina, Los Arcos). You will walk through miles and miles of grapes. Just outside of Estella there is free wine water fountain in Ayegui. Vino tinto everywhere!
Wine is good, cheap, and plentiful all throughout this area
I’d follow Mike’s suggestion about staying in Haro, but Logroño is nice too. There are plenty of Bodegas in the area. If you were going to be in area area for more than a couple days, you may want to consider a rental car as some bodegas are not right in town. Do not drink and drive. It isn’t worth it.
Logroño has some wineries in town and is known as a great place for tapas. It is larger than Haro and more to do in the evening.
While in the area, there are plenty of places to visit in the small towns in that area, so I recommend not limiting your activities to wineries. When we were there, we had a rental car.
The wine fountain on the Camino is at Bodegas Irache right by the Monasterio de Santa María de Irache. While the wine is free, it is new wine and actually pretty nasty tasting. If you do go there please remember that the wine is there for the pilgrims walking the Camino, not for tourists. Be respectful and sample some, but don’t go filling your 2-liter bottle. There have been occasions where tourists come in busses and do exactly that. FYI, there is a live webcam of the fountain if you want to see it.
@mjs, when would you be going to La Rioja?
As for getting here, from Madrid the best way is to take a bus. They leave from the Avenida de Americas station. It is about 4 hours. La Rioja really isn't set up for trains, you have to go to Zaragoza and then up to Logroño or to Miranda del Ebro and down to Logroño.
While Mikel makes some good points, I think Logroño would be a better base. Laguardia is very nice and worth the visit (and not just for the wineries, the church is beautiful too), but probably not a good choice to stay for a few nights. It is is quite small, not much to do in the evening. In Logroño you have a wide range of places to eat and things to see. And of course there are Calle del Laurel and Calle San Juan for you pintxos and wine.
You can use Logroño as a base to visit the wineries. You have various options. You can take public transportation to Laguardia, Haro, Santo Domingo, etc. You could rent a car and drive. Or you can hire a guide who will take you visit the wineries. In Logroño there are two wineries in walking distance (about 1km) from the old town; Bodegas Franco Espanolas and Ijalba.
