Vitoria Guided Tour and Añana Salt Valley
Bilbao, Spain
- 6 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Discover the verdant vineyards and intriguing history of the Rioja wine region on a full-day tour from Bilbao. Accompanied by a knowledgeable guide, visit charming villages like Harn and Laguardia to see medieval monuments and admire spectacular views of the countryside. Venture to Vitoria in order to wander the sprawling vineyards and descend into atmospheric wine cellars to learn about complex manufacturing processes. Pleasure your palate with the refined taste of signature wines during a tasting session and enjoy a traditional lunch in a locally recommended restaurant (own expense).
- Explore the Vitoria and Rioja region
- Must-see for wine-lovers
- Enjoy a guided tour of a wine cellar in the Rioja region
- Panoramic tour of Victoria and walking tour in the old part
- Local, knowledgeable guide
What's Included
- Professional guide
- Transport by air-conditioned coach or minivan
- Guided panoramic tour of Vitoria
- Guided walking tour of Vitoria’s Old Town
- Standard visit to the salt valley with salt tasting
- Gratuities
- Food and drinks, unless specified
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Mazarredo Zumarkalea, 65, Abando, 48009 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain
Bus station Tourist Office next to the Guggenheim museum (Pick up time: 08:50am - departure time at 09.00am)
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Operating hours.9:00 am
Itinerary
Depart from your Bilbao hotel in an air-conditioned minivan and relax during the scenic journey south to Vitoria, the Basque Country’s capital city. Follow your guide on a picturesque and panoramic tour of the city, exploring the quaint historical quarter and visiting sites like the ambient Virgen Blanca Square and the colossal Cathedral of Santa Maria.
After enriching exploration of Vitoria, return to the minivan and travel to Rioja, a bounteous region in which verdant vineyards sprawl and juicy grapes grow abundantly. Stop at the medieval village of Laguardia and explore the impressive monuments; stroll the ancient streets and navigate the ambient labyrinth of lanes in search of churches and house shields.
Descend to the darkened depths of a traditional underground Rioja cellar to gain insight into the fermentation methods used to produce fine wines. Treat your taste buds to sumptuous samples of the wine then enjoy an afternoon of relaxed free time, dining in rustic restaurants recommended by your guide.
Return to your hotel in Bilbao at the conclusion of the tour and relax during the scenic journey back to the city.
After enriching exploration of Vitoria, return to the minivan and travel to Rioja, a bounteous region in which verdant vineyards sprawl and juicy grapes grow abundantly. Stop at the medieval village of Laguardia and explore the impressive monuments; stroll the ancient streets and navigate the ambient labyrinth of lanes in search of churches and house shields.
Descend to the darkened depths of a traditional underground Rioja cellar to gain insight into the fermentation methods used to produce fine wines. Treat your taste buds to sumptuous samples of the wine then enjoy an afternoon of relaxed free time, dining in rustic restaurants recommended by your guide.
Return to your hotel in Bilbao at the conclusion of the tour and relax during the scenic journey back to the city.
1
Vitoria-Gasteiz
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Salinas de Anana
1 hour 45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infant seats available
- Most travelers can participate
- Minimum numbers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there is not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund
- May be operated by a multi-lingual guide
- Children will have 50% discount if accompained by 2 adults, from 2 to 12 years old.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 50 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.4
based on 49 reviews
Barb_W, Feb 2024
Original itinerary was changed to replace Vitoria with Haro, but we believe Vitoria would have been a better location. Rioja and the rest of the tour was very good.
Declan_P, Oct 2023
The entire day trip was excellent. The day started with meeting at the Guggenheim Museum just before 9 and returning to the centre of Bilbao just after 5. Stephane, our tour guide was very informative, friendly & helpful. The first stop was in the beautiful town of Vitoria, where, after a short but very informative tour of the centre, a coffee and pintxos was enjoyed in the sun. Onwards then to the medevial town of Laguardia, where after another short tour inside the old town walls, we went to a small boutique wine cellar for a 2-glass wine tasting experience. Afterwards, based on Stephane's advice, we had a nice lunch of more coffee & pintxos. A final brief stop in the small town of Elciego to view the Hotel Marques de Riscla & visit their craft shop for a final refreshemnt before making our way back to Bilbao.
Hilton_G, Sep 2023
Excellent commentary by our tour guide Stephane Iriarte who was also our driver. His historical perspective and knowledge of the agriculture and industry of the area was fascinating. He was attentive to our needs and informative and was always ready to answer questions.
David_S, Jun 2023
Stefan, our tour guide was excellent. Very knowledgeable and engaging with his group of tourists. He had a running joke of reasons to come back to the Bilbao/Vitoria region.
Response from Host, Jul 2023
Thank you for your possitive comments.
We are delighted to know that you enjoyed the tour.
Mark_J, May 2023
Stephane provided us with background information to make our visit to each location more meaningful. He was friendly and knowledgeable and presented with a sense of humour as well. Stephane interacted with members of our group in a friendly, polite and helpful manner. He was very positive about the Rioja area and promoted all the sights we visited with enthusiasm.
Would highly recommend Stephane for any other tours which he might lead.
Amanda_Y, Nov 2022
The guide (Nestor?) was really helpful and explained the local sights and history really well. The winery I toured was awesome, super fun seeing a winery that's been running for centuries! Only thing I would change is possibly adding more tastings or towns to see along the way
Richard_M, Sep 2022
Excellent tour with very knowledgeable host. Beautiful countryside. Visit to towns in the Rioja region were interesting. Highly recommend.
Kerry_D, Jun 2022
So glad I did this! Traveling solo, I usually explore on my own, but the area requires a car. Estefan was a fantastic guide, giving us plenty of interesting details along the way. It was a small group which was nice. We saw so much in a day! The winery was a small family one in the middle of town, so we were able to explore LaGuardia as well. We also stopped to see architectural gems by Gehry and Calatrava along the way, a nice extra! If you like medieval villages this is a great tour as well. 100% recommend!
Elizabeth S, Oct 2019
Wine tours are expensive. This one was the cheapest and I feel like we basically paid for the petrol to get to the region and back. Vittoria is a nice place has alot of history and apart from it being close to the wine region and green city of the year 2012 there was not much else to see. Due to the altitude of Vittoria it was also much colder than Bilbao and everyone was underdressed. The tour guide had to split his tour into English and Spanish for the two members of the group that were Spanish speaking which didn't seem fair for anyone including especially our guide as he explained alot of detailed historical facts. La Guardia, the walled was town in the wine region, was genuinely fascinating and well worth a visit but the tour only covered one taster glass of wine, each additional glass cost 2€, no food was included in the cost at all. It wasn't all bad we got to see the region paid the extra and tasted great wine and learned alot, but it should have been advertised properly as a historical tour no food and wine included!
Response from Host, Nov 2019
Dear client,
Thank you for your feedback. Please note that all our regular tours are run on english and spanish basis. Regarding to the wine tasting, we only include one wine tasting, all the aditional food or drinks are available to add and pay on spot. We hope you will have a lovely time in our area.
Barbara_E, Sep 2019
It was a great tour with a knowledgeable guide.
He not only showed us the listed destinations but also drive us to some additional photo stops and recommended some places for lunch.
Response from Host, Nov 2019
Dear client. Thank you for your comments. We will transfer your comments to our guide!
Garth_H, Aug 2019
Our guide Stephan did a great job presenting the tour in two languages. Both destinations were very interesting and the scenery was great.
Response from Host, Nov 2019
Dear client, thank you for your feedback. We hope you will comme back and enjoy other of our tours!
Renny_T, Jun 2019
We chose this tour as a way of exploring the area beyond Bilbao where we were staying. Booking was easy and a pickup location was arranged by the tour company phoning us promptly after booking.
The transportation was in a small bus, clean comfortable and the guide, Stephan was very informative and spoke to the tour group in English, Catalan, and Spanish. He organised the tour well giving each language group attention and time. En-route to Vitoria-Gasteiz, he told us about the Basque heritage, culture and language, as well as pointing out landmarks.
The tour of Vitoria-Gasteiz was informative and allowed time for us to explore ourselves.
The visit to LaGuardia was next with information about the history and culture.
The tour of the wine caves was interesting, though don’t expect it to be a large scale industrial tour with multiple tastings, more a small family business with old-fashioned practices. Again there was ample time allowed to eat lunch and explore the walled town. A key point to note is that most of the shops closed promptly at 2.30pm, leaving only bars and restaurants for food.
Return to Bilbao by around 17.00hrs.
Response from Host, Nov 2019
Dear client,
Thank you for your comments. We are glad to read that you had a wonderful time.
Cathy_M, Jun 2019
Highlight was the tour and history of the wine cellars. Our guide, Stephan, was knowledgeable and helpful. Vitoria is a beautiful city and we loved it's environmental awareness.
Response from Host, Nov 2019
Dear client,
Thank you for your comments. We will be happy to welcome you again in our area!
Bill386, Apr 2019
The trip included a stop in Vitoria. The city was very interesting with the stories told about the churches, the festive annual celebration and the walking about in the narrow, old streets. Next stop was Laguardia where we learned the history of the city and visited a winery. There was a nice intro given by the winery person, which followed by going deep into the ancient cellar and tasting the Rioja wine. Our tour guide Stefan did an excellent job telling about Vitoria, Laguardia and Rioja wine in the area.
Response from Host, Nov 2019
Dear client,
Thank you for your feedback.
Christopher S, Mar 2018
Amazing tour of southern Basque country. Wonderful sights and really worth the day. Out tour guide Stefan was knowledgeable, friendly, and clearly passionate about his job and the area. Wish were back there!
Peter H, Nov 2015
Our guide was great!!
The tour was interesting but not much different than similar tours in other countries.
sylviane b, Oct 2015
tHe only negative was that the guide spoke in Spanish 70 percent and English only 30 percent.We felt like second class citizens.
Paul P, Oct 2015
A very passionate and talkative guide! Great scenery. Vitoria was very interesting. The English speaking wine tour and sampling lasted an hour, and the winery guide was great.
Peter C, Sep 2015
Excellent trip as an introduction to the Basque Country. Pedro, our guide was very good, informative and helpful.
François S, Sep 2015
I enthusiastically give a top rating to Viatour, and to the Vitoria and the Rioja Wine Region tour.
Everything started on the right foot. Viatour notified me a few days ahead that of the pickup time. Pedro showed up precise as clockwork.
The Vitoria leg was superb: gorgeous city. But Guardia was the real treat. A splendid village in a region of breathtaking beauty. Viatour had arranged a visit to a traditional winery, a very interesting tour. We then had lunch in an excellent restaurant.
And Pedro, our guide, is a pure gem. Knowledgeable, relaxed we are, after all, on vacation, and capable of discussing openly and honestly potentially delicate aspects of Basque politics and sociology. Plus ladies, take notice he is very handsome.
So there you have it: great scenery, great organization, great guide. I could never have arranged such a visit by myself. Next time the occasion shows up to take a Viatour excursion, I wont hesitate.
Robert Y, Sep 2015
A very interesting tour. Our guide was friendly and knowledgeable.
sulava50, Aug 2015
Our guide, Pedro, was excellent, very knowledgeable of the region and history. The tour of the winery was interesting and unique! We had a great time!
vvt, Jun 2015
Perfect trip that you should not miss.Pedro is very knowledgeable and very nice. Very well organized.
Barbara G, Jun 2015
The tour of Vitoria was a waste. Not a very interesting or pretty place to be. Would have preferred going to two wineries rather than spending time in an undistinguished city.
irene_m, Jun 2015
very good. thoroughly enjoyed. Pedro the guide was incredible
Taru, Jun 2015
June 2015
We had a wonderful time at this tour. Pedro, our guide, is very knowledgeable of the area and very attentive to his customers. Thank you so much!
Patricia R, Nov 2014
Seeing the wine making process in El Guardia was really interesting. The town of Vitoria was really interesting. The guide was marvellous, a minefield of knowledge, friendly and happy to cheerfully answer all questions.
Debra M H, Sep 2014
There were just 3 of us, and it almost felt like a private tour! Mariano knew his history well and had plenty of little interesting stories and funny antidotes that made it all real. In every town we went he got us maps and pamphlets. The winery and wine tasting was really special and then we had a wonderful lunch at a restaurant he recommended . On the way back he made an un scheduled stop at at the hotel and winery Marques de Riscal, which Frank Gehry designed, and we went into the hotel and had coffee there. We ended up with getting an extra hour of the tour. A wonderful guide and an extraordinary tour.
Erik G, Aug 2014
A wonderful day filled with beautiful scenery, winetasting and intersting information. Our guide Garaia gave us tons of interesting facts about the Basque country and people. He was very enthusiastic and funny!
Will definatly recommend this tour.
James_M, Jun 2014
This was a wonderful trip! Our guide, Garay, was both personable and knowledgeable. Vitoria and Laguardia were so beautiful. The wine tasting was very well done. We learned so much about the history of the Basque people and present customs. The fine print mentioned that the tour could be cancelled if there were not enough people. We were the only couple, but the tour went on-just as a private tour (at no extra charge).
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