The Best Basque Country Cooking Vacations in Bilbao and San Sebastián

Spend four nights in one of Spain’s most fascinating cities, Bilbao, in the heart of the Basque Country. Bilbao is an intriguing mix of quaint medieval streets and avant-guard urban architecture, coupled with some of Spain’s best food, which you will explore during hands-on cooking classes and a wonderful variety of meals.

Day One

Please note that depending on the dates booked the order of events and specific activities may change. For example, the Guggenheim Museum is closed on Mondays, and  many restaurants are closed on Sundays. 

• Arrival at Bilbao International Airport and transfer to your centrally-located hotel.
• Time to settle in and start exploring on your own.
• Dinner this evening will be at a local restaurant within walking distance of your hotel.

Day Two

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• This morning meet your guide for a full day tour of Bilbao. Visit the Old Quarter with its “seven streets” and interesting architecture. The old medieval heart of the city, the Old Quarter features narrow pedestrians streets and lanes lined with Renaissance, Baroque, and Modernist buildings. Your guide will point out some of the most famous sites, such as the fourteenth-century gothic Cathedral of Santiago, the bridge and church of San Anton, and the arcaded Plaza Nueva.
• You might also visit visit the famous Ribera Market, one of the largest markets in Europe with over 400 stands and almost 38,000 square feet. From its stained-glass entryway to its small catwalks over the river, the market is sure to enthrall. The farmer’s market is located on the top floor, full of bountiful produce, and the bottom floor houses some of the freshest fish in Spain, brought in on the morning’s boats.
• Enjoy a tapas lunch during the day’s activities.
• You will also tour the Abandoibarra quarter, a prime example of urban restructuring and vanguard architecture. You will see how an industrial city was transformed into a city famed for its culture and tourism, witnessing the urban evolution of Bilbao through a visit of the most relevant projects undertaken during the transformation, which are now some of the Spain’s leading urban landmarks.
• Any tour of Bilbao’s modern architecture must include the city’s Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Gehry and considered an architectural masterpiece. The massive titanium, glass, and stone-sculpted building houses nineteen galleries, which you will visit with an official guide.
• A bit of time to rest back at the hotel before you make your own way to a special cooking class at a private “txoko,” “or a typical Basque gastronomic venue where locals come together to cook. Prepare traditional dishes of the region, then taste your creations with wine.
• Enjoy a short walk back to the hotel and overnight.

Day Three

• Breakfast.
• Meet with your guide and you are off on a full day excursion either to the Biscay Coast OR to la Rioja wine producing area.
• Biscay Coast: first visit a winery located in the center of the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, for a lesson on “Txakoli,” the famed Basque white wine that is slightly sparkling and very dry, produced only in a few Northern provinces of Spain.
• Continue your culinary vacation in Spain with a guided tour along the coast, including a panoramic visit of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, a small rocky island that is connected to the mainland by a causeway and that houses one of Spain’s most striking sites, an 11th-century chapel built to honor St. John. (Note that there is normally not time to hike the route around the islet. If you are avid hikers and want to include this, we can customize the day.)
• Lunch out during the day’s activities.
• Head to Guernica (Gernika), a town that is especially dear to the Basques. The town and its central oak tree were for centuries home to the political assembly in the region, but its most famous historical legacy is the 1937 bombing by German aircraft during the Spanish Civil, when Hitler’s planes sent to support Franco’s troops razed the city. The bombing inspired one of the greatest works of modern art, Picasso’s painting Guernica (which is housed in Madrid’s Museo Reina Sofia). During your visit to Guernica you will see the petrified remains of the symbolic oak tree that miraculously survived the bombing, as well as the Casa de Juntas, where the Basque parliament has met since 1979.
• La Rioja: If you prefer, we can substitute a full day excursion to la Rioja, including guided visits of 2 or 3 wineries (at designer, boutique, and/or modern wineries), with lunch out during the day’s activities.
• Return to Bilbao and time to rest before dinner.
• This evening, your very special dinner will be at a the Michelin-star restaurant in your hotel. (If unavailable, the dinner will be at another Michelin-Star restaurant within walking distance or a short taxi ride from your hotel.)
• Overnight.

Day Four

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Today enjoy an excursion to nearby San Sebastián (Donostia in the local language), one of Spain’s most famous cities and one of Europe’s gastronomic capitals.  Meet your driver and transfer to San Sebastian for the day. Upon arrival, your guide will meet you and lead you on a walking tour of this famous seaside city.
• Lunch out at one of San Sebastian’s famous Michelin-Star restaurants (including wine pairing).
• Return to Bilbao and rest of day and dinner on your own.

Day Five

• Breakfast and checkout.
• Transfer to Bilbao International Airport.

Additional days/tours and hotel nights can be arranged for an extra cost.