Wine Routes in Spain
Fabulous Enotouristic Route N-120
The “Fabulous Route N-120” follows the route from Logroño to Vigo and is the backbone of what could be the best wine tourism route in the world.
This is one of the best wine routes in Spain you can find. This route covers the entire northern area of Spain encompassing 12 appellations of origin of Spanish wines. Probably, the most representative wine regions in our country, with well known ones such as: Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Txakoli or Rías Baixas, among others.
This tour also combines the gastronomic diversity of all the areas that it goes through, seasoned with an extensive historical, monumental and scenic heritage which make of this route, not only something different and unique, but also of great interest for the traveler, eager to have unique and memorable experiences. Another interesting feature of this fabulous rote, is that much of it coincides with the legendary and millennial, “Camino de Santiago”.
The fabulous route N-120 is reversible, and can be started from either Galicia or Bilbao, also visiting Navarra, La Rioja and Castilla León, with the northern Portugal extra option.
A 10-day tour that will allow you not only to enjoy the wines of the different regions, such as, Rías Baixas and its famous Albariños, the Ribeiros, Ribeira Sacra, Valdeorras, Bierzo, Tierras de León, Cigales, Ribera del Duero, Arlanza, Rioja, Navarra and Txakoli, but, also the experience of doing so, in a calm and leisurely way. The other incentive of this route are the culinary delicacies that each of these wine-producing areas have to offer in a wonderful synergy.
The route can be adapted to your tastes and needs in terms of times and places to visit, offering the wonderful extension to the north of Portugal, with Porto and the Douro Valley, in which case we will swap the order of some days of the route.
Details of the route that can be started in Bilbao or Santiago de Compostela
Day 1 from Bilbao to Pamplona
Pick up and a brief tour of the city of Bilbao, from where we move to Guetaria to visit one of its interesting wineries where the famous Txakoli is made. Later you’ll enjoy its wonderful fish in this well known fishing port, after which, we will start our journey towards Navarre, but not before making a stop at the spectacular viewpoint of the Nervión River, a detour that you will surely appreciate, to then head to Pamplona where we will spend the night and visit the old part of town, well know for the running of the bulls, while enjoying a tapas dinner combined with the local wines.
Day 2 from Pamplona to Logroño
After visiting the old town of this city famous for its San Fermín bull runs, with its stories and anecdotes. We will eat in a typical cider house where we can enjoy its relaxed and friendly atmosphere, and then leave the city towards Logroño.
In our way, we’ll be making a couple of stops to visit wineries of the D.O. Navarre. We will then continue towards Logroño following the Camino de Santiago, with stops at some of its most interesting points. Check-in Logroño, rest and later take a tour of its famous Laurel street and enjoy its Rioja wines and great tapas. Always in a relaxed atmosphere in order to fully enjoy the experience.
Day 3 from Logroño to Laguardia (La Rioja)
We will make a small tour of the old town of Logroño visiting its cathedral and then explore the most famous wine region of Spain for its Rioja wines, visiting some of its most spectacular and traditional wineries such as Marqués de Riscal or Viña Tondonia in Haro, where we will eat lunch, to later direct our steps towards Laguardia, a beautiful medieval walled town perched on a hill, with spectacular views of the surroundings including the Sierra Cantabra. We will stay in a charming hotel in the town and visit the church of Sta. María de Los Reyes with its spectacular polychrome pórtico. We will have dinner in one of the many cave wineries that are located underneath the town.
Day 4 from Laguardia to Burgos
On this day, we will head towards Castilian lands following the N-120 to Burgos, passing and stopping in Santo Domingo de la Calzada, where we will visit its wonderful cathedral, also on the Camino de Santiago. Our tour today will be more historical, as we will visit Covarrubias, Santo Domingo de Silos, and a movie location, the Sad Hill cemetery, the filming set of a famous western. Later we will go to Lerma to visit a winery of the D.O. Arlanza eating in this pretty town. In the afternoon we will go to Burgos where we will spend the night and visit its most important monuments, such as San Pedro de Cardeña, the burial place of the Cid. We will visit the cathedral and have dinner in a typical Burgos restaurant to enjoy the local gastronomy.
Day 5 from Burgos to León through the Ribera del Duero
Today we will turn south to visit another of the most important wine regions in Spain, La Ribera del Duero. We will visit an important winery in the area, in Peñafiel, where we can admire its wonderful castle. To continue towards another wine area such as Cigales, to eat lunch in a winery cave in the area.
Later we will go to Frómista, an important place on the Camino where we can contemplate the Canal de Castilla, the most important work of the Spanish Enlightenment era in the XVIII century, in this case, its construction was based on models by Leonardo da Vinci.
We will return to the N-120 route to arrive in the afternoon in León, which obtained in 2018 the title of gastronomic capital of Spain. We’ll spend the night there, and do a walking visit of its streets with buildings such as Gaudí’s house of Botines and visit its cathedral famous for its impressive stained glass windows. At night we will enjoy tapas in the well-known “humid neighborhood”, filled with bars serving local wines and delicacies.
Day 6 from León to Villafranca del Bierzo
Our tour today will first take us to visit the producing area of the wines of the land of León, so we will go to Valdevimbre, a town completely filled with cave wineries, with a few very interesting ones and visit a winery where they will show us the elaboration process and have the chance of tasting their wines of the autochthonous varieties, Prieto Picudo and Albarín. Later we will go to Astorga, an important city from Roman times that also has one of the few splendid buildings by Gaudí, the archiepiscopal palace. For lunch, we will head to Castrillo de Los Polvazares, a charming nearby town, and taste a forceful “cocido maragato” before continuing along the Camino de Santiago to reach its highest and emblematic point, the Cruz de Ferro. We will follow the “Camino” towards Ponferrada and its Castle, to end the day in Villafranca del Bierzo.
Day 7 from Villafranca del Bierzo to Monforte
We will visit 2 Denominations of Origin, on this day, Bierzo, and Valdeorras, starting from Villafranca, we will visit a winery in Cacabelos tasting its Mencía and Godello Wines. To later approach the most important Roman open-pit gold mine in the world and a world heritage site (Las Medulas). Then we will go to the Valdeorras area, also famous for its Mencías and Godellos. There we will visit one of the most significant wineries and enjoy a meal in the winery itself, accompanied by the winemaker. In the afternoon we’ll head to Monforte de Lemos, passing through another of the landmarks of Roman engineering, Montefurado. In Monforte, we will visit its most important monuments and spend the night at its Parador / monastery. For dinner, we will go to an attractive restaurant with dishes from the area.
Day 8 from Monforte to Tuy
A new day in which we’ll visit the Ribeira Sacra and its «Heroic Viticulture» will be at the beginning of our day. We will visit some of its wineries and take a catamaran ride through its canyons, to enjoy the beautiful landscapes and views. Visit a winery in which its owner will explain the characteristics of this region and let us taste his wines while we eat lunch in the winery while enjoying the views of the vineyards.
Then we will visit the magnificent monastery of Oseira, to later go to the Ribeiro area where we will again visit one of its wineries and taste its wines. We will continue to Tuy to spend the night, having dinner in the beautiful walled, neighboring town of Valença do Minho, in Portugal, just on the other side of the river that gives it its name.
Day 9 from Tuy to Cambados
On our 9th day, we will begin our journey along the Miño river, the natural border with Portugal, to reach its mouth, visiting a winery of the D.O. Ribeiro the oldest in Spain and one of the oldest in the world. Continue towards the Rías Baixas in the Rosal sub-area, where we will visit another cellar and taste the famous Albariño. We will continue to Mount Sta. Tecla to visit the Celtic village remains found in it and enjoy the fantastic views of the Atlantic and Portugal that it has to offer.
The route will continue along the coast in this case along the Portuguese Way to Santiago, until we reach Oya, to relax with a wonderful lunch in front of the sea. We will continue north passing and stopping by Bayona, Pontevedra, Combarro to end the day in Cambados where we will spend the night and have dinner based on typical delicacies of the area.
Day 10 from Cambados to Santiago de Compostela
This is our last day, and we will visit a winery in the Valle del Salnés sub-area whose wines are normally made of 100% Albariño grapes, with different elaborations. Later we will approach the fishing port of the O Grove to embark on a catamaran that will show us the mussel farms while we taste them accompanied by local wines, also visiting the island of La Toja.
For lunch, we will go to the island of Arosa to enjoy a meal based on local products in a wonderful environment. After lunch we will start our march to Santiago, passing through Padrón and arriving in Santiago and after touring its streets and monuments, our trip will conclude with a dinner accompanied by the ritual of the “queimada” as the end of our wonderful journey. The next day you can request a transfer to the airport if need be.
Day 11 and 12 extension to Porto and Douro Valley
This extension would change our route on the 9th and 10th, since it would depart from Tuy. To know more details about this extension, click on the button below.
* This extension will be charged at the price described in it.
Included:
- Tour in private vehicle with English speaking guide
- Visits to wineries
- Visits to the monuments
- Wifi in the vehicle
- Digital photo album of the entire tour
Price:
Per day 580€
As it is a private tour, this tour is limited to a maximum of 3 people. In case of being more, please ask, as a van can be provided for more people and give you a price.
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