6-Day Madrid to Bilbao Wine Tour: Ribera del Duero, Rioja, San Sebastián and Guggenheim

This is a wine trip first and a Basque one second: six days that begin with hotel pickup in Madrid and end with a drop-off in Bilbao. Winemakers do much of the talking. The first day is Ribera del Duero, with a small family winery and a guided tasting led by the person who made the wines, then an underground winery in Aranda del Duero with 7 km of tunnels dug more than 9 m deep.

Two days in Rioja follow. Rioja Alta covers an estate winery, where classic and modern styles are tasted side by side, a 19th-century winery from the time Rioja producers began aging wine in oak barrels, and a small family winery run by the third generation. Rioja Alavesa has a chateau-style winery among the vineyards, an avant-garde winery by a famous architect, and a 15th-century underground cellar where the sixth-generation winemaker still treads the grapes by foot.

The last days turn to the coast: San Sebastián on foot, the French Basque villages of Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Hondarribia and the Jaizkibel viewpoint, then Bermeo, Gaztelugatxe and Bakio on the way to Bilbao and the Guggenheim. The tour runs for a minimum of 2 people, and a larger vehicle can be arranged for groups.