Spanish Culinary, Wine & Cultural Tours
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About Spain
Fill yourself in on everything that makes Spain such a luxuriously delicious and gorgeous place to experience. Discover hidden gems of Spanish history in Barcelona, Madrid, Girona, San Sebastian, Seville, Toledo, Alt Emporda, etc., develop your artistic sensibility visiting with us Dali's house and museum, or have an unwinding stroll at quiet cobblestoned streets of Pals or Cadaques. From Gaudi's masterpieces and the colorful stands at La Boqueria market in Barcelona to the vineyards and archaeological sites across Catalonia; from the exclusive museums and art galleries of Madrid to the glorious histories of Seville and Toledo; the tapas bars and Michelin starred restaurants of San Sebastian to the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao and the wondrous colours of rich, delicious and tantalizing wines in La Rioja. Our descriptions will summarize what you've got to look forward in this treasured country of Spain. If you see something that isn't on the tour you're planning to take, remember one important thing: We can customize tours to meet your interests. Bienvenido!
Catalonia—a gastronomic goldmine hugging Spain’s northern Mediterranean
coast—stretches from the Pyrenees at the southern border of France to Tarragona, once the capital of the Western Roman Empire. In between is its cosmopolitan capital—Barcelona—a number of quaint cobble-stoned villages and several internationally renowned wineries. Catalonia produces more quality wines than any other region in Spain, selling about 200 million bottles of cava and 180 million bottles of other wines a year. Today Catalonia is also one of the biggest culinary hotspots in the world because of both its traditional and avant garde cuisine.
Though all inhabitants speak Spanish, this region has its own unique culture complete with its own language, Catalan, and a national dance called the sardana that has persevered through hundreds of years of political change.
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As you stand in the middle of the vibrant Boqueria market--entranced by colorful spices, desserts, fruits, vegetables, seafood and other meats from every angle--know that this is only where the sensual diversity and energy of Barcelona begins. From here, fashionable Ramblas lined by the legendary works of architects like Antonio Gaudi take you through the Eixample District. Labyrinthine streets of the Gothic Quarter take you on a historical adventure through empires of Carthaginians, Romans (especially near Plaça Sant Jaume), Visigoths, Moors, Charlemagne, the Aragon kingdom and beyond.
But today, the combination of avant garde culinary genius, local world-class wines and traditional Catalan cuisine makes Barcelona the best place for a gastronomic tour one can find.
Any culinary authority today will tell you the chefs of Barcelona are the leaders in developing original gourmet menus. You’ll be served dishes you have never seen—like clams with grapefruit sorbet and Campari or sea bass lightly smoked with kefir—but you’ll love it. Barcelona chefs are able to work with a diverse set of fresh local produce and seafood thanks to nearby farmlands and one of the most accessible ports in Europe. This, in addition to creative chemical experiments, ensures that each dish fulfills its potential to all five senses.
Gourmands can also drop into boutiques across the city specializing in local wine, olive oils, cheeses and meats for exclusive tastings. Through the flavors themselves—perhaps authentic Iberic ham, Siurana olive oil or Mató cheese—you will go through a gastronomic tour of the unique Spanish regions each product originates in.
The capital of Spain, located in the heart of the peninsula and right in the center of the Castillian plain has a population of over three million. A cosmopolitan city, a business center, headquarters for the Public Administration, Government, Spanish Parliament and the home of the Spanish Royal Family, Madrid also plays a major role in both the banking and industrial sectors.. Madrid is characterized by intense cultural and artistic activity and a very lively nightlife.
The grand metropolis of Madrid can trace its origins to the times of Arab Emir Mohamed I (852-886), who ordered the construction of a fortress on the left bank of the Manzanares river. At the end of the 17th century, a defensive wall was built for the protection of the new outlying areas, tracing the roads of Segovia, Toledo and Valencia. During the 18th century, under the reign of Carlos III, the great arteries of the city were designed, such as the Paseo del Prado and Paseo las Acacias.
Madrid is famous for its Museums: Located in an 18th building designed by Juan de Villanueva, the Prado is considered one of the most important art galleries in the world. It houses masterpieces by for example, Velázquez, Goya, El Greco, Botticelli among others. The Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza houses a splendid collection ranging from primitive Flemish to contemporary works. The Reina Sofia Museum is a cultural center containing a permanent collection of Spanish contemporary art and offering a wide variety of temporary exhibitions covering diverse modern artistic styles. The Palacio Real or royal palace is no longer used as a residence, but it has been kept intact since it last functioned as home to the king, primarily serving as a tourist attraction. The palace is interesting in its own right, in particular its architecture and gardens
Bilbao is the largest city in the Basque Country and the capital of the province of Biscay, Spain. The city is the most financially and industrially active part of Greater Bilbao, the zone in which almost half of the Basque Country’s population lives. Greater Bilbao’s 953,152 inhabitants are spread along the length of the Nervión River, whose banks are home also to numerous businesses and factories, which during the industrial revolution brought heightened prosperity to the region. A major seaport and industrial centre, the city is located on the Estuary of Bilbao, the city's suburbs extending to the Bay of Biscay.
Bilbao was founded as a village by Don Diego Lopez de Haro V, Lord of Biscay, on 15 June 1300 on the opposite river bank of an existing fishing settlement (now known as Bilbao la Vieja or Bilbo Zaharra, "Old Bilbao"). Prior to formal establishment as a township, a village and port called "Bilbao" (the name designated in the founding village charter of 1300) is believed to have been located near an ancient wall (circa XII century) recently discovered by the "San Anton" Bridge. Other evidence suggests that first settlements in Bilbao came earlier near the "Malmasin" promontory. The name of the city has unclear origins, some think it may come from "bel vado", ancient Spanish for "good river crossing" while others proclaim it stems from Basque "bi albo" meaning "two river banks".
Bilbao is famous for the Guggenheim Museum, which is a museum of modern and contemporary art designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, built by Ferrovial and located alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Atlantic Coast. The Guggenheim is one of several museums belonging to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. The museum features permanent and visiting exhibits of works by Spanish and international artists. The curves on the building were designed to appear random. The architect has been quoted as saying that "the randomness of the curves are designed to catch the light". When it was opened to the public in 1997, it was immediately hailed as one of the world's most spectacular buildings in the style of Deconstructivism, although Gehry does not associate himself with that architectural movement. Architect Philip Johnson called it "the greatest building of our time".
Computer simulations of the building's structure made it feasible to build shapes that architects of earlier eras would have found nearly impossible to construct. It is also important to note that while the museum is a spectacular monument from the river, at street level it is quite modest and does not overwhelm its traditional surroundings. The museum was opened as part of a revitalization effort for the city of Bilbao and for the Basque Country. Almost immediately after its opening, the Guggenheim Bilbao became a popular tourist attraction, drawing visitors from around the globe. It was widely credited with "putting Bilbao on the map" and subsequently inspired other structures of similar design across the globe, such as the Cerritos Millennium Library in Cerritos, California.
The building was constructed on time and budget, which is rare for architecture of this type. In an interview in Harvard Design Magazine Gehry explained how he did it. First, he ensured that what he calls the "organization of the artist" prevailed during construction, in order to prevent political and business interests from interfering with the design. Second, he made sure he had a detailed and realistic cost estimate before proceeding. Third, he used CATIA and close collaboration with the individual building trades to control costs during construction.
The exhibitions in the museum itself change often, the museum hosts thematic exhibitions, centered for example on Chinese or Russian art. The museum's permanent collection concerns 20th century art—traditional paintings and sculptures are a minority compared to installations and electronic forms. The highlight of the collection, and its only permanent exhibit, is The Matter of Time, a series of weathering steel sculptures designed by Richard Serra and housed in the 430-foot (130 m) Arcelor Gallery (formerly known as the Fish Gallery but renamed in 2005 for the steel manufacturer that sponsored the project). The collections usually highlight Avant-garde art, 20th century abstraction, and non-objective art.
Seville is located in the South of Spain. The city of Seville is located on the plain of the Guadalquivir river which crosses the city from North to South. The river can be navigated from Seville all the way to its outlet near Sanlúcar de Barrameda, on the Atlantic coast. In the past the port of Seville played an important role in commerce between Spain and the Americas and it remains today one of the most active river ports of the Iberian peninsula.
The long Moorish occupation of the Iberian peninsula, from 711 A.D. to 1248 A.D., left indelible traces in Seville as in all of Al-Andalus. La Giralda, the tower of an important mosque, is the most well-known of the remaining Islamic monuments. In 1492 Seville played an important role in the discovery and conquest of America. Painters such as Velázquez, Murillo and Valdés Leal, and sculptors like Martínez Montañés were born in Seville and left behind important works. The city also assumed an important role in world literature and was the birthplace of the myth of Don Juan. For all its important monuments and fascinating history, Sevilla is universally famous for being a joyous town. It is the largest town in Southern Spain, the city of Carmen, Don Juan and Figaro
Located between the Jardines de Murillo and the Cathedral, the Alcazar or Royal Palace in Seville is still a vacation spot for the King and Queen; it is one of the best examples of mudéjar architecture in all of Spain. Barrio Santa Cruz originated as Seville’s old Jewish Quarter. Once Saint King Ferdinand III conquered the city, one of the largest Jewish communities in Spain came to Seville, second only to that of Toledo. The streets of Barrio Santa Cruz wind into an enchanting labyrinth, they are narrow and deep to keep out the burning sun of Sevillian summers and create currents of fresh air that relieve high temperatures and make any visit pleasurable. The courtyards, shaded and intimate, lush in plants and flowers, wrap us in their peace and freshness. At the beginning of the last century the decision was made to redevelop Barrio Santa Cruz, under the auspices of the first Regal Commissioner of Tourism, the Marquis de Valle Inclán.
The city of Toledo has its origins in Toletum, the name the Romans gave to this settlement on the banks of the River Tagus after its conquest in 190 BC. The arrival of the Arabs in the 8th century, together with the presence of Christians and Jews, made Toledo the “city of the three cultures”. Synagogues, mosques and churches jostle in the narrow streets of Toledo, which is characterised by the mixture of artistic styles.
Remains of the Jewish community are still preserved in the city in the synagogues of Santa María la Blanca and El Tránsito. The former, built possibly in the 12th century, is also a good example of Toledo's Mudejar art. It has five naves with decreasing heights as well as the characteristic geometrical and botanical decoration and horseshoe arches. Meanwhile, in the synagogue of El Tránsito, built in 1357, you can admire one of the best Mudejar coffered ceilings of all those preserved in Toledo, along with walls richly decorated with geometrical and botanical designs and Hebrew inscriptions. Nowadays, this Jewish place of worship houses the Sephardic Museum, in which an interesting collection of pieces of art and various objects used in Jewish ceremonies are exhibited.
One of the most outstanding buildings in the city is the Cathedral, considered one of the high points of Gothic art. The construction of this monumental building, with a basilica floor plan and five naves, commenced in 1226, although it was not finished until the 15th century. On its main facade the outstanding feature is the doorway, made up of three doors: Infierno (Hell), Perdón (Forgiveness) and Juicio (Judgement). The exterior is topped by the two cathedral towers, one of them in flamboyant Gothic style and the other in Gothic-Renaissance.
The Walled City of Carcassonne is known first and foremost as a fortified medieval town; but this rocky outcrop has been occupied by man since the 6th century B.C., first as a gaul settlement, then as a Roman town fitted with ramparts as early as the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. On the western face of this primitive fortification rests the castle, built in the 12th century by the vicomtes Trencavels.In the early 13th century, Carcassonne was taken by Simon de Montfort during the Albigensian Crusade, then annexed to the royal estate. Fortification works lasted throughout the 13th century, with the construction of the outer wall and the modernisation of the inner rampart, making this place an impregnable fortress.
The Cité lost its strategic importance after the signing of the Pyrénées Treaty in 1659. In the second half of the 19th century, it underwent a major restoration project supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and was included by UNESCO in the World Heritage List.
The jewel of today's Town, the bastide is hemmed by boulevards built in the 18th and 19th century over the old, once fortified town ditches. The military enclosure and the gates protect the ville basse or lower town. Its surrounding wall was built betwen 1355 and 1359, under the orders of the comte d'Armagnac; it was 2,800 metres long; the bastions were built after 1359; at that time, people simply erected in the corners some round-shaped towers, greater than the other parts of the wall.
Toward the end of the 16th century, during the wars of religion that devastated the South of France, the town was flanked with 4 bastions located at each corner: the bastion of Saint-Martial in the northwest, the bastion of la Figuières in the northeast, of Montmorency in the southeast, of la Tour Grosse or les Moulins in the southwest (now called du Calvaire).
On the eve of the French Revolution of 1789, the lower town had yet only 4 gates:
- the western gate, porte de Toulouse or des Augustins (rue de Verdun), adorned with two handsome towers forming like a manor, which were restored in 1749. But because of a Council decree issued on 31 May 1778 ruling that the walls, towers, ditches, ramparts and walkways were to be handed in perpetuity to the Lower Town Community, the consuls let this monument fall into decay, and it was entirely destroyed in 1806.
- The northern gate, porte des Carmes (located at the end of today's rue Georges Clemenceau).
- The western gate, porte des Cordeliers, located at the eastern end of today's rue Aimé Ramond (formerly rue de la Mairie).
- The southern gate, porte des Jacobins, currently preserved and registered on the additional Historical Monuments inventory, together with its surroundings. In the early stages of the Town's construction, the porte des Cordeliers was originally located on the premises of the old Court House gate, at the eastern end of rue Mage (now called rue de Verdun). In 1571 it was moved to the end of rue de la Pellisserie (now rue Aimé Ramond).
The "bastide" has a regular shape, that of a chessboard organised around a central square, Place Carnot adorned with the Fountain of Neptune (1770). The market takes place every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning around this fountain and in the splendid grain exchange, Halle aux Grains (featuring an 18th century frame).
A small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees, famous for the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes that are reported to have occurred in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous. At that time, the most prominent feature of the town was the fortified castle that rises up from a rocky escarpment at its centre. Since the apparitions, Lourdes has become one of the world's leading Catholic Marian shrines and the number of visitors grows each year. It has such an important place within the Roman Catholic church, that Pope John Paul II visited the shrine twice on 15 August 1983 and 14–15 August 2004. The five-domed St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Lourdes was designed by Myroslav Nimciv, while its Byzantine interior polychrome decorations were executed by famed artist Jerzy Nowosielski. The church is about a 10-minute walk from the basilica and the grotto, on a street named in honor of Ukraine, situated on a narrow piece of property close to the railroad station. Visible from the basilica, the height of the building makes up for its breadth.
Biarritz has long made its fortune from the sea: as a whaling settlement from the twelfth century onwards, in the 18th century doctors recommended that the ocean at Biarritz had therapeutic properties, inspiring patients to make pilgrimages to the beach for alleged cures for their ailments. Biarritz became more renowned in 1854 when Empress Eugenie (the wife of Napoleon III) built a palace on the beach (now the Hôtel du Palais). The British royal family regularly took vacations in Biarritz: European royalty such as Queen Victoria, Edward VII, and Alfonso XIII of Spain were frequent visitors. Biarritz's casino (opened 10 August 1901) and beaches make the town a notable tourist centre for Europeans.
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