Spain cooking vacations Tapas

Typical Spanish paella on a cooking vacation in Spain

View of the cathedral of Madrid on a culinary tour of Spain.

Tortilla española and other tapas on a cooking vacation in Spain

Spanish tapas on a cooking vacation in Spain

Mixed Spanish tapas on a culinary vacation in Spain

Gambas pil pil on a culinary tour of Spain

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Overview

Capital Culinary Adventures and Wine Tastings in Madrid

If you are looking for a cooking vacation or food and wine tour of Spain, a Madrid food tour might be just the thing for you. Did you know that Madrid is not only the capital city of Spain, but also of the region surrounding it, called the Community of Madrid, as well as home to amazing gastronomy that you can explore on our gourmet Madrid wine tours or culinary vacations? Whether you want fine dining or tapas, Madrid is full of amazing food to explore, always paired with excellent wines that you can taste as part of our Madrid wine tours. Stop for a churro with rich hot chocolate, a vermouth aperitif, and some tapas, or a gourmet dinner paired with Rioja wines, and you’ll understand why Madrid is a capital of gastronomy.

Madrid is a modern city in that it has all the necessary infrastructure to support its robust tourism market, but it keeps the feel of an old-world city. It is a place of stately grandeur, incredible art, and rich gastronomy on par with that of Paris or Rome. Madrid is known for its elegant boulevards, its impeccably maintained parks, and of course its museums. It’s home to the Royal Palace, as well as the “golden triangle of art”: the Prado Museum (pre-20th-century art), the Reina Sofia (20th-century art), and the Thyssen-Bornemisza (a national collection of historical to contemporary art). You can see some of the world’s most prized masterpieces in this one city, including works by famous Spanish artists such as Pablo Picasso, Francisco Goya, Diego Velàsquez, Joan Mirò, and Salvador Dalí.

Madrid is also famously the home of the Real Madrid football club, as well as such cultural sites as the National Library, the Royal theater, the Plaza Mayor, the Puerta del Sol, El Retiro Park, and of course numerous churches. The feel of Madrid is that of vibrancy steeped in history, it has an energy about it that compares to the other great capitals of the world.

Madrid Culinary Tours Details

The region surrounding the capital city is well worth an exploration during any of our gourmet Madrid tours, olive mill visits, hands-on cooking classes featuring regional dishes such as cocido madrileño (a pork stew), bocadillos de calamares (fried squid sandwich), callos a la madrileña (a hearty stew of sausage and offal), tortilla (Spanish omelette), and more. And don’t forget the wonderful wines that you will taste on vineyards near Madrid, many of which feature such famous Spanish varietals as Granache, Tempranillo, and Syrah.

Some of the communities you can visit outside the capital city are Chinchón, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Alcalà de Henares (birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote), and Aranjuez, each of which offers world and cultural heritage sites of note as well as gastronomic products that make them ideal places to explore on Madrid food tours.

Experience the capital city during a Madrid food and wine tour and explore the amazing culture of one of Europe’s most fashionable and cosmopolitan cities.

Day One

Enjoy welcome drinks followed with some free time to settle in.
Meet your guide for a foodie walking tour of Madrid, with wonderful samples and tapas that will make up your dinner tonight.

Day Two

Breakfast, then meet head to your instructor’s home for a cooking class featuring traditional Spanish gastronomy. Lunch will follow based on your efforts, accompanied by Spanish Sangria or top Spanish wines.
Afternoon and evening on your own.
Overnight.

Day Three

Breakfast at the hotel.
After breakfast, you will head to Toledo on the high speed train. Toledo is a popular destination due to its great wealth of Spanish monuments. It has a long history of diversity, and is known as the “city of the three cultures” because Christians, Arabs and Jews cohabitated there together for centuries. Toledo ‘s artistic and cultural legacy is preserved through its architecture, and the city is rich with stunning churches, palaces, fortresses, mosques and synagogues. Your guide will teach you about the history of the area and help you to enjoy the regional specialties of Castile.
Before lunch you will take part in a workshop on the famous artisan “marzipan” of Toledo.
Lunch at a gourmet restaurant, followed by some time on your own to do some shopping.
Back to Madrid

Day Four

Breakfast at the hotel.
Your guide will meet you in the lobby for your gourmet tour of Madrid.
You will discover one of the finest and most luxurious neighborhoods of “Salamanca”. You will have the opportunity to visit some of Madrid’s best gourmet food stores selling delicatessen products, as well as its fabulous local market.
Leisure time in the afternoon.
Dinner on your own.
Overnight.

Day Five

Breakfast at your hotel.
Head to your instructor’s home for your second cooking class. Today you will venture out to a local market together in order to gather fresh ingredients. Your meal will be based on local culinary traditions and seasonal specialties. Afterward you will enjoy lunch based on your efforts.
Afternoon at leisure.
Dinner on your own.
Overnight.

Day Six

After breakfast at the hotel, departure on a full-day excursion to the outskirts of Madrid.
Your first stop will be a family winery dating back some hundred years that produces fine D.O. wines. Enjoy a visit of this winery that uses ancestral wine traditions, and of course a tasting of 3 of its fine wines.
Next, head to Chinchón, a charming medieval town known for its cluster of hilltop houses. The square is beautiful and totally characteristic of Spanish medievalism. Enjoy a wonderful lunch based on the town’s specialities, including roasted lamb or suckling pig, Castillian soup, “monk” sweets, and the local “anis.”
After lunch visit the last of the four old olive producers in the valley of the river Tajunña. The mill dates from the end of the 18th Century, and the olive groves are just as old, and the cradle of the “cornicabra” variety of olive. Of course you will have the change to taste this fantastic oil. (Note that the if the olive grove visit is not available in the winter you will spend extra time in Chinchón.)
Transfer back to Madrid. Dinner on your own.
Overnight.

Day Seven

Breakfast and private transfer to the Madrid airport or train station.

Experience the capital city during a Madrid food and wine tour and explore the amazing culture of one of Europe’s most fashionable and cosmopolitan cities.