PSGMARTINO

I'm still developing an itinerary for a trip next summer after a week in Tuscany. I thought about Croatia, Greece, Portugal, and now it seems we are headed to Spain!

Please let me know if this seems like a good mix of cities and a good travel pace.

Fly into Bilbao-

3 nights San Sebastian. We were here for a week in 2015 for a wedding and loved it! We may day trip to Biarritz or Santander one day from here. Pick up car for the remainder of the trip.

2 nights Laguardia. We are wine lovers and hope to visit some wineries in the area. Bodegas Roda in Haro; El Solar de Samaniego - Any other suggestions? I think I read here that Laguardia was a good base, which is why we chose that. If anyone recommends somewhere else to stay for exploring Rioja please tell. Also, suggestions for picturesque villages in the area...great restaurants, etc.

2 nights Valladolid - We hope to stay at a winery Hotel Pesquera AF and visit other wineries in the area. I've used Maribel's Guide of La Rioja for suggestions in both Rioja and Ribera del Duero. One of her suggestions is Bodegas Protos. Any other suggestions for winery visits or other things to see/do in this area?

2 nights Salamanca - We hope to stay in the old center and explore. It looks like a beautiful city and gets high reviews from folks here on Fodors.

Finally, we have 2 more nights and I'm not sure where we go next. We have spent a week in Madrid and loved it, so that's why it isn't included. I had read recommendations for Oviedo, and it is close to an airport which is important but in looking around that area I'm not sure it's calling to me. Does anyone recommend Oviedo? What did you like/see? Would Segovia be a better place for our final 2 nights or should we add nights to any of the other destinations and leave from Salamanca? Salamanca to Madrid to catch a flight is over a 2 hour drive, so if we have any early morning flight that might be difficult.

So, please if you have any advice or suggestions I would love to hear them and would appreciate them so much.

Thank you!

ekscrunchy

Spent four nights in Oviedo last fall before our foray into the rest of Asturias. I'd recommend three nights in Oviedo and visits inland and to the coastal towns nearby.

On another recent trip we spent a few nights at Le Domaine hotel in the Abadia Retuerta vinyard, which is among the best hotels we've ever stayed in Spain. You can use that as a base for Protos, and for the marvelous restaurants in the area specializing in suckling roasted lamb. Le Domaine is expensive but well worth the price, I thought, and their wine is among the best in that region.

How interested are you in restaurants? Because there are some real gems in Asturias and around that area.

Have you looked into Pedraza and Sepulveda for your last nights? I wrote a report on my visit to those places which remain embedded in my memory.....ooooh, the lamb!

PSGMARTINO

eks - I only have 2 nights left, so do you recommend Oviedo over Sepulveda and Pedraza?

I checked out the Le Domaine hotel - it's beautiful - not sure if it fits the budget however. I took a look at your trip report from Asturias and already am looking forward to a dinner at Casa Fermin if we do go to Oviedo.

Our vacation is just a little less than a year away. When trying to check out hotels and prices, I regularly get "no accommodations available" Do you think it's because they are not booking that far out, or do you think they really are already fully booked? It's a little confusing.

kja

2 nights is not much for Laguardia. Note that you will need reservations for many wineries. My trip report notes the wineries I visited and the restaurants I patronized.
Four Awesome Weeks in the North of Spain and Catalunya

While it depends on what you want to see and experience, I'd also say that 2 nights is not much for Salamanca.

PSGMARTINO

kja: I am looking through your trip report and gaining lots of good ideas. You are recommending more than 2 nights in Laguardia, and it seems like that is what you had there. Did you find that it wasn't enough and you wanted to stay longer to see or experience more?

kja

I would have loved more time in Laguardia. What's more, I travel HARD, so I used every moment of my time on the way there, while there, and then moving onwards. I think it would be hard for anyone who is not a solo traveler committed to being on the move during every waking moment to fit as much in as I did. I could be wrong!

PSGMARTINO

Reading your trip reports - you're not wrong I'll have to talk with my travel peeps to see if they want to see both Rioja and Ribera del Duero, because if I add on to Laguardia and also Salamanca, we'll need to cut something out. Either Oviedo or Valladolid.

ekscrunchy

I doubt if the hotels are booked a year out. I tried to book last week for Seville in February and at first, the hotel would not take my reservation. They said they did not yet have their 2019 rates. But I asked again and they ended up giving me a discount rate for booking early. Send an e-mail directly, do not depend on the online booking forms.

Pedraza is gorgeous (very quiet during the week) and a good stop before a flight from MAD as long as the flight is not too early. We always take the last iberia flight to JFK so we had time. But for me the main lure of those two towns is the roast lamb (lechazo) and you will be in lamb country near Valladolid so unless you are a lamb fanatic, Oviedo might be a better choice cause from there you can visit one or two of the small coastal towns, or go inland to Cangas. Also a lovely small art museum in the city, and lots of superb statutes including the famous one of Woody Allen. But this area is a bit weather dependent. So if it is pouring, it is not so much fun to drive around to the smaller towns. Even so, I loved Asturias..just loved it but we were very lucky with weather and only had about 1 days of rain. We did fly out of the airport last time and it was perfect, connecting in MAD. Again, my trips are always so focused around food that's it's sometimes hard to advise others.

PSGMARTINO

eks - I'm hoping the weather should be good, as we are going in July but it seems like they can still get some rainy days. Which coastal towns would you recommend visiting from Oviedo?

What do you think of staying in Burgos rather than in Laguardia and Valladolid? Would it be possible to day trip to those areas and maybe have the one base rather than 2 bases, or would we lose some of the wine country feeling of those areas?

PalenQ

Not sure about surrounding area but to me Burgos was a real surprise as a city.

kja

Your trip, your call, and I'm sure you've checked some of the travel times. FWIW, I enjoyed Burgos, but it is not, IMO, in any way representative of the wine region of la Rioja. The terrain is different, the architecture is different, the overall experience seemed -- to me -- incredibly different.

PSGMARTINO

I think I’ll keep at least Laguardia in the mix rather than stay in Burgos.

csf

We were in northern Spain last fall during the grape harvest and had wonderful tours at Muga and Cune in Haro as well as Luis Canas (viewpoint tour) and Bodegas Baigorri (with lunch). We thoroughly enjoyed all of those wineries and each one was quite different: Muga had it's own cooperage, Cune had the most unique caves, Luis Canas is a smaller, family-run operation, Baigorri is very modern. We chose to stay 4 nights at Los Agustinos in Haro in La Rioja so we could walk to some of the tours and tasting rooms. We'd go to other tours or villages in the morning and then return to Haro so we didn't have to worry about tasting too much wine and having to drive back. Haro is very genuine and less touristy than LaGuardia. It seemed like the whole town was out in the main square on a pleasant Saturday night, from families with strollers to Grandma with her walker, and everyone was friendly and helpful as we enjoyed our wine and pintxos. We also enjoyed a few nights in San Sebastian, at Hotel Niza, and a trip to the Guggenheim in Bilbao, but La Rioja was the highlight of the Spain part of our trip.

PSGMARTINO

csf - Thank you for your post. I had not thought of staying in Haro, but I will check it out. I love the idea of a genuine and less touristy destination. We visited the Baigorri winery and had their lunch in 2015 when we were in San Sebastian for a wedding and loved it. We really like Muga wine, so we'll have to visit that one and Cune sounds great with the caves. Would you recommend Los Agustinos?

csf

Yes, we enjoyed the hotel and the building has an interesting history. The staff were very pleasant and generally spoke English. Many bars and restaurants were just a few blocks away near the main square. The train station area where most of the wineries are located was about a 15 minute walk, mostly downhill. The breakfast was good and one of our best meals was at the hotel restaurant, Las Duelas. The atrium where breakfast is served is also a nice place just to sit and enjoy a glass of wine. It was easy to drive to and from there when visiting the surrounding villages.

joannyc

Not sure what your itinerary looks like at this point. Maybe you could post it as it looks now?

I, too, enjoyed Haro. Stayed at Los Agustinos for 2 nights and highly recommend it. I was able to walk to CVNE, Muga, La Rioja Alta, and R. Lopez de Heredie Vina Tondonia. There are more bodegas nearby but I had "tasted" enough after those 4 if I was going to walk back to town! LOL!

I then moved onto LaGuardia for 2 nights which I also very much enjoyed. Went to Bodega El Fabulista, Bodegas Casa Primicia, and Bodegas Campillo for tastings. Went to Bodegas Ysios and Bodega Marques de Riscal just for the photo ops.

I have been to most, if not all, of the places that you mention on this thread albeit over 2 trips, one to Northwestern Spain and the other to Northeastern Spain. Salamanca and Segovia were visited on a 3rd trip to Central Spain. Here are links to my NW and NE Spain trips, many of the pics have text included but you have to open up the pic to see it. Hopefully, something in them will help you. Good luck with your planning!

Northeastern Spain - A TR in Pictures

Northwestern Spain - A TR in Pictures

csf

In case you haven't tried them yet, Maribel's Guides are AMAZING to help you plan a trip to Spain.

PSGMARTINO

csf - thanks for info on the hotel and restaurant. It's great to get a recommendation and a second one from joannyc.

joannyc - thank you for the links to your photos, they are beautiful! Since you stayed in both Haro and Laguardia, can you tell me which you preferred if you had a preference or was it worth it staying in both? Also, my nephew's wife is from Zaragoza and it was their wedding that we attended in San Sebastian in 2015. She has never mentioned how beautiful her city is! That was a real surprise. Were those waterfalls also in Zaragoza or nearby?

RIght now the itinerary is:

San Sebastian - 3 nights
Laguardia or Haro - 2 nights
Valladolid - 2 nights
Salamanca - 2 nights

And we are still deciding what to do with the final 2 nights. Salamanca to Oviedo is a long drive but I am interested in seeing the green part of Spain, and there's a nearby airport to fly home from. But I am also interested in doing Segovia after Salamanca, and flying home from Madrid. Recommendations anyone?

joannyc

Thanks very much, PSGMARTINO! Glad you liked them.

The waterfalls are in the park at the Monesterio de Piedra, about 1-1/2 hours southwest of Zaragoza. I did the monastery and park as a daytrip from there.

How set are you on Valladolid? I spent a couple of nights there and liked it. You can see my pics from there in the NW Spain link. But, given a choice, I might do 2 nights in Haro, 2 in LaGuardia and the surrounding wineries, 3 in Salamanca and 1 in Segovia. I preferred having 2 nights in Segovia but maybe you could do 1 in LaGuardia and 2 in Segovia stopping in Avila and La Granja Palace on the way.

Very difficult to chose between Haro and LaGuardia. Haro has the best wineries, I think, but LaGuardia has the medieval town feel. Should add that Haro does have the old medieval feel too on it's back lanes but LaGuardia has the impressive wall surrounding the town with gorgeous portals, etc.

Oviedo is another great town, especially the Cider street! LOL! It has some excellent medieval sites very close by. But, like Valladolid, I think I would give it a miss on this trip unfortunately. Close by are some great ocean front towns/cities/villages such as Gijon and Luarca, for example.

So many choices. It take multiple trips to see it all!

kja

I'm very glad I visited Oviedo, but there's a LOT to see in that part of Spain. Its a very personal choice, of course, but I, personally, would not shortchange my time in places I've committed to seeing (like La Rioja) just to try to fit in something else that I would see in only a frustratingly short time. JMO. That said, no bad choices here -- just difficult ones!

And like joannyc, I wanted a night -- so a full day -- for Segovia.