Stop 01 · about 3 nights
Golden route · Spain
The northern table
BilbaoSan SebastianLogrono
7 nights, 8 days, 3 stops. Bilbao, San Sebastian and Rioja in seven nights, eaten standing up at the counter. No form to fill in. Pick a start date and send it over.
¶ 01 · The stops, in order
Where this route actually goes.
Each stop earns its nights. The nights below are the ones this route actually runs, not an average.
Stop 02 · about 2 nights
San Sebastian
Stop 03 · about 2 nights
Logrono
¶ 02 · Day by day
The whole route, already written.
Every day below is authored, not generated. If something does not suit you, say so when you book and we change it before anything is confirmed.
Day 01
Landing in Bilbao, one gilda, nothing more
Bilbao
Bilbao's airport sits twenty minutes from the centre and someone meets you there. Nothing is scheduled after that. If you are still awake in the evening, Plaza Nueva is the introduction the city gives everyone: an arcaded square of pintxo bars where the standard first order is a gilda, one anchovy, one guindilla pepper and one olive on a single stick.
- Morning
- Arrival and transfer, whenever you land.
- Afternoon
- Settle in. The Casco Viejo is walkable end to end and needs no plan at all.
- Evening
- Plaza Nueva. A gilda and a glass of txakoli poured from a height, then bed.
Day 02
A market, a Gehry, and the long counter crawl
Bilbao
One full day, front loaded with food and back loaded with the crawl. The Mercado de la Ribera is the largest covered market in Europe and it is at its best before the lunch trade takes it over. The Guggenheim sits in the middle of the day where an indoor thing belongs, and the ridge above the river closes it.
- Morning
- Mercado de la Ribera on the water, close to two hundred stalls under one roof, then the Siete Calles behind it.
- Afternoon
- The Guggenheim, then the Artxanda funicular up to the ridge for the whole city laid out underneath. The return ride costs about a euro.
- Evening
- The Casco Viejo crawl properly: bacalao al pil pil and morcilla con txipiron at Gure Toki, jamon croquetas at Sorginzulo, one plate and one glass in each and then out the door.
Day 03
An hour along the coast to the Parte Vieja
San Sebastian
The coast motorway covers Bilbao to San Sebastian in about an hour and a quarter, which leaves the whole afternoon intact. La Concha is the introduction and it is best walked in full, from the Kursaal round to the Peine del Viento sculptures wedged into the rocks at the far end. The evening belongs to the old town and to standing up.
- Morning
- Slow breakfast, then the transfer east along the Bizkaia coast.
- Afternoon
- La Concha walked end to end, on the sand if the tide is out, finishing at the Peine del Viento.
- Evening
- La Cuchara de San Telmo in the Parte Vieja. No seats and no reservations, so you either go at opening or you wait cheerfully.
Day 04
Surf in the morning, tortilla with a waiting list
San Sebastian
Gros, across the river, is the city's working surf beach and boards go by the hour. The rest of the day sits high up and then comes back down: the 1912 funicular to Monte Igueldo for the whole bay in one frame, then a counter where the tortilla has to be claimed before it exists.
- Morning
- Zurriola beach, rental boards and a consistent beach break, then coffee in Gros afterwards.
- Afternoon
- The funicular up Monte Igueldo, belle epoque viewpoint and a slightly rickety old amusement park that is part of the deal.
- Evening
- Bar Nestor. Put your name down for the tortilla an hour before it comes out; the txuleta and the tomato salad need no list. Gandarias afterwards if there is room to stand.
Day 05
A half day with nothing in it, then the ramparts
San Sebastian
Seven nights of counters earns one morning off and this is it. The afternoon climbs Monte Urgull behind the old town, which is free, short, and drops the harbour straight underneath you. The evening is the full crawl, run the way it is meant to be run.
- Morning
- Unscheduled.
- Afternoon
- Monte Urgull, the old fort and the Cristo statue, ramparts timed for the sunset hour. Getaria and its txakoli cellars along the coast are an easy swap if you would rather be out of the city.
- Evening
- The Parte Vieja end to end. Pintxos run roughly two and a half to four and a half euros each, more for the foie and veal cheek ones. One pintxo and one drink per bar, then move; standing room is the point of the whole thing.
Day 06
Inland to Rioja and straight onto Calle Laurel
Logrono
Two and a quarter hours by road takes you off the Atlantic and into wine country. Logrono is smaller and flatter than either Basque city and its entire eating culture is compressed into one street. Calle Laurel is about the length of a football pitch, and almost every bar on it makes one thing and makes it all night.
- Morning
- Last coffee in San Sebastian, then the transfer south.
- Afternoon
- Arrive in Logrono, bags down, and a walk through the old town to the cathedral and back along the Ebro.
- Evening
- Calle Laurel. The matrimonio at Blanco y Negro, anchovy cured two ways with a fried green pepper in a warm roll, and the garlic soaked grilled mushroom caps at Bar Soriano, which is the only thing Bar Soriano has ever made.
Day 07
Haro, where the bodegas are all on one street
Logrono
Thirty five minutes by regional train up the Ebro puts you in Haro, and the reason to go is the Barrio de la Estacion: seven historic wineries clustered within a walk of the station, several of them founded in the 1870s. Two visits are booked with lunch in between, and you are back in Logrono in time for a second run at the street.
- Morning
- Train to Haro, then the first cellar. Lopez de Heredia has been making wine on this block since 1877 and the cellars smell like it.
- Afternoon
- Lunch on the bodega terraces, then a second cellar and the train back down.
- Evening
- Calle Laurel again, different bars this time. Thursday is the local pintxo night and the street is at its busiest then.
Day 08
Out from Rioja
Logrono
Nothing scheduled. Logrono has no useful airport of its own, so departure is either a road transfer back to Bilbao, about two hours, or the train down to Madrid, which is closer to three and a half. Either one is arranged around your flight rather than the other way round.
- Morning
- Breakfast, and a last walk along the Ebro if the timing allows it.
- Afternoon
- Transfer to Bilbao airport or to the station, timed to your onward travel.
¶ · What is included
- Accommodation for all seven nights
- Breakfast every morning
- Airport pickup in Bilbao and the departure transfer out of Logrono
- All transfers on the route: Bilbao to San Sebastian, San Sebastian to Logrono, and the Haro trains
- Guggenheim Bilbao entry
- The Artxanda funicular in Bilbao and the Monte Igueldo funicular in San Sebastian
- Two booked bodega visits in Haro's Barrio de la Estacion, with lunch between them
- A local contact reachable for the whole trip, and the written itinerary with the bar order on it
¶ · What is not
- International flights
- Schengen visa and the application fees
- Travel insurance
- Pintxos, lunches and dinners other than the bodega lunch. This is a food route and the eating is where the money goes
- Board and wetsuit hire at Zurriola
- The Getaria half day, and anything else marked optional
- Any local tourist tax charged at the property
- Personal spending, drinks and tips
¶ 03 · Book it
No form. Just a date.
Seven nights along the Basque coast and inland into Rioja, planned around counters rather than dining rooms. You start with a gilda and bacalao al pil pil in Bilbao's Plaza Nueva, work the Parte Vieja one pintxo and one glass at a time, and finish among the century old cellars at Haro. It moves slowly, keeps the evenings loose, and assumes you would rather stand up eating for two hours than sit down for one.
We come back within 48 hours with availability and your exact price. Nothing is charged until you have seen that number and said yes.
RouteThe northern table
Length7 nights
You would return2026-10-21
Nothing on this route is priced upfront. Send your dates as a request and the team comes back inside 48 hours with availability and the full cost for those dates, before anything is committed. A deposit holds them after that.
The north is green because it rains, so pack for weather in every month, including August. The upside is real: this route works through high summer, when the Andalusian ones do not. Bodega visits in Haro are booked in advance and the best cellars fill at weekends, so give us your dates early.