A 10 Day Road Trip through Basque Country

Arrive in Madrid via an overnight flight from the United States. Pick up your rental car and hit the road towards the Rioja region. You can drive straight through (about three to three and a half hours) or you can make some pit stops along the way — Burgos, Logrono and Laguardia are a few examples of towns along the way to explore. Check into your hotel - Hotel Marqués de Riscal, set on the vineyard of the same name with a spectacular display of architecture by Frank Gehry. Get yourself settled and then head out for your included wine tasting and tour on property.

Today promises a full day of experiencing what the La Rioja wine region has to offer. Your private guide will pick you up after you’ve fueled up with a delicious breakfast spread at the hotel. Since Marques de Riscal is one of the largest and most well-known producers in the region, today, we are focusing on smaller producers. Visit three different wineries, each with their own history and story to tell. Finish off the tour with a delicious lunch at a local restaurant.

Head back to the hotel for an afternoon of relaxation, including a visit to the hotel’s Caudalie Spa for treatments that take advantage of local products like grapeseed oil.

Say goodbye to Rioja and head north into Basque Country. Make a stop in Bilbao to visit the Guggenheim Museum and see another masterpiece by Gehry. Weave your way outside of the city to Gaztelugatxe, featured in Game of Thrones. Make sure you have a timed ticket reserved in advance or you won’t be able to enter the reserve. Even if you don’t walk the steps, you can still enjoy amazing scenic views. Continue your journey from here and come to your final home base for the next four nights, San Sebastian. Stay at Hotel Villa Favorita, a small and stylish boutique hotel set right on La Concha beach.

You won’t have a shortage of food to choose from in this town, but I recommend sticking with a full-service restaurant tonight in preparation for tomorrow afternoon’s tour. Try Rekondo for a delicious dinner and be sure to ask to see their 80,000-bottle wine cellar - one of the largest collections in the world.

Enjoy a morning relaxing on the beach or exploring the town to work up your appetite for lunch. Join a group pintxos tour for your first introduction to this city and region's version of tapas. Try a variety of pintxos and local drinks while learning all of the insider tips on how to order on your own and get recommendations from your guide on the best spots to come back and try again.

After you’ve had your fill of delicious bites, walk it off and do some shopping, but keep in mind that a lot of stores will close for a period of time in the afternoons. Make your way back to the hotel, which offers a daily happy hour at the bar and offers a great spot for people watching from their patio along the boardwalk.

Today you are heading out of town on a private tour. First stop is to a local cheese maker’s farm who specializes in the local cheese — Idiazabal. Learn how this unpasteurized sheep’s cheese is made and then try some for yourself! The next stop is to a winery specializing in txakoli, another local specialty, and taste the difference from the wines produced not too far away in Rioja. Then head to the fishing village of Getaria for lunch.

This town is one of the few that still allows restaurants to operate charcoal grills outside on the streets, where they cook up simply prepared and delicious whole fish. For dinner, try heading back into Old Town to try out some more delicious pintxos from the endless options. Of course, you have to end the evening with a slice of Basque Cheesecake from La Vina.

There are a few different directions you can choose to take for this day. If you’re up for another trip out of town — try going to Zumaia to see the flysch (be sure to check the tide times) or head to a traditional cider house (some are open year-round while others are only open during cider season). If you want to stay in San Sebastian but explore more of the city — try an e-bike tour or take the funicular up to Mt Igueldo. Get a great view from above and even ride some of the attractions for the 100+ year-old amusement park.

For dinner, I recommend trying one of the area’s Michelin-rated restaurants as San Sebastián has the highest number of Michelin-starred restaurants per capita in the world. There are several options, so be sure to research menus and pricing to see what fits your interests most.

Today we are going to be leaving Spain behind and crossing over the French border but remaining in the Basque Country. You will notice that signs will go from Euskara (Basque) first with Spanish second to French first with Euskara second (if at all). On your journey over to Biarritz, make stops along the way. Stop in Hondarribia in Spain and Saint-Jean-de-Luz in France. Walk around to take in the beautiful villages with the colorful shutters and explore the shops and have lunch. Your destination for the day is Hotel du Palais in Biarritz.

This was a summer home for Napoleon III and his wife, Eugénie. The grand building is impossible to miss in town and sets up for a beautiful sunset looking out over the beach.

Another private tour awaits you today. First, we will head out of town to the village of Espelette. This village shares the same name with the peppers that you will see all over town — hanging from homes and shops, peppers drying in the sun and then turned into a wide variety of products. From there you can either drive or walk Le Pas de Roland — a narrow mountain pass with lovely wild nature views. From there, head back to Biarritz and take a moment to take in the views from the lighthouse. Cross town to see Rocher de la Vierge and all the sunbathers out on La Petite Plage. We’ll end the tour at the Biarritz market.

A walk through the front building, with all kinds of meats, cheeses, fruits and more, but what we’re looking for is in the next building, the seafood building. Head to the stall all the way in the back - Chez Jerome. Order fresh oysters, mussels, snails and more. You will place your order at the small table near the shop and then they will bring everything up to a table on the 2nd floor for you. It’s all very casual — no plates, just one small fork as a utensil, but everything is of the freshest quality.

Today is the last full day, so we are going to take it easy. Well, deserved. Spend the morning relaxing by the hotel pool or down on the beach, watching the surfers or sipping on espresso from a nearby cafe. Spend some time walking around the shops in Biarritz as there is plenty of shopping to do from the usual tourist shops but also lovely local boutiques and big-name designers (don’t forget your passport for larger purchases so you can get the ever-important VAT refund).

Later that day, take the last flight out of Biarritz to Paris. Stay in an airport hotel near CDG and then you will be perfectly positioned for your flight back to the US the following morning.