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Bordeaux, Rioja and The Pilgrim's Trail

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Spain's spectacular northern shores, rising proudly from the Atlantic Ocean

12 days Sold out

2021 Tour code: SJJ21

About the tour

Spain's northern shores boast a beautiful stretch of untouched coastline rising proudly from the Atlantic Ocean. This holiday begins in the refined wine city of Bordeaux before curling down across the border into Spain, where we explore Bilbao, Santiago de Compostela and Madrid as well as Rioja and its delicious wines.

Highlights

What’s included

Itinerary

Day 1 - London and Bordeaux

We meet at London St Pancras for the Eurostar service to Paris. On arrival, we change trains for Bordeaux, home for two nights.

Includes
  • Day 1 - Eurostar Meal, Dinner
  • Day 2 - Breakfast, Lunch
Day 2 - Bordeaux

On Day 2, we set out on a guided tour, seeing the Place de la Bourse and the cathedral. Later, we head to the famous Saint-Emilion wine-making region, visiting a traditional wine château for lunch with the owners of the estate. We continue to the village and vineyard of Saint-Emilion for a tour and time to explore.

Includes
  • Breakfast, Lunch
Day 3 - Bilbao

Departing Bordeaux today, we cross over the border to Spain where we travel by coach to San Sebastian. After some time here to explore, we head on to Bilbao and check into our hotel before dinner. 

Includes
  • Day 3 - Breakfast, Dinner
  • Day 4 - Breakfast
  • Day 5 - Breakfast, Lunch
Day 4 - Bilbao

We visit the iconic Guggenheim Museum on Day 4 before enjoying a tour taking in the historic heart of beautiful Bilbao. 

Includes
  • Breakfast
Day 5 - Rioja

On Day 5, we discover the spectacular viticulture of Rioja. The towns here produce world-famous wines, and we enjoy tastings at La Guardia and Marques de Riscal, winner of a Michelin star, alongside a lunch of local specialties.

Includes
  • Breakfast, Lunch
Day 6 - León

We take the train to León, checking into our hotel on arrival. After settling in, we set off on a guided walking tour of the Old Town, seeing the city's architecture, from the stained-glass windows of the Gothic cathedral to the vibrant frescoed ceilings of its Romanesque basilica. 

Includes
  • Day 6 - Breakfast, Dinner
  • Day 7 - Breakfast, Dinner
Day 7 - Santiago de Compostela

On Day 7, we travel to historic Santiago de Compostela for three-nights at a 5-Star hotel.

Includes
  • Breakfast, Dinner
Day 8 - Santiago de Compostela

We uncover the elegance of Santiago de Compostela on a guided tour. The iconic cathedral here is of enormous importance, with its steps being the final destination on the pilgrimage of St James.

Includes
  • Day 8 - Breakfast
  • Day 9 - Breakfast, Dinner
Day 9 - The Galician Coast

On Day 9, we head out into the countryside on an excursion to discover the Galician Coast. We visit Pontevedra, Combarro, and O Grove, where we enjoy a catamaran cruise. We continue to Cambados before returning to Santiago for dinner at a traditional parador.

Includes
  • Breakfast, Dinner
Day 10 - Madrid

Boarding the train to Madrid, we check into our centrally-located hotel in the Spanish capital for two nights.

Includes
  • Day 10 - Breakfast, Dinner
  • Day 11 - Breakfast, Dinner
  • Day 12 - Breakfast
Day 11 - Madrid

 A guided walking tour on Day 11 introduces us to the city's main sights, including the beautiful Royal Palace and 17th-century Plaza Mayor. With free time afterwards, a visit to one of the city's celebrated museums or art galleries is a must. The most famous is the Prado Museum, regarded as Spain's leading art gallery and featuring one of the best collections in the world. Amongst its exhibits, you'll find works by leading Spanish artists such as Goya, Velázquez, Tizian, Rubens, and Bosch. 

Includes
  • Breakfast, Dinner
Day 12 - London

On Day 12, we transfer to the airport for our flight to London Heathrow.

*Please Note: You will need to take your luggage back to the UK with you on your flight, rather than it travelling via our luggage transfer service.

Includes
  • Breakfast

Additional information

Departure times

Provisional departure and return times, where available, can be found together with our dates and prices by clicking on the 'Prices & Availability' button. We write to all booked customers approximately 10 weeks prior to the start of their tour to advise the exact departure and return time for their particular group.

Mobility information

Due to the nature of our tours they are generally unsuitable for those with restricted mobility. If you’d like to discuss any particular holiday with us in this respect, then please don’t hesitate to call us.

Hotels

Ercilla Hotel, Bilbao

Ercilla Hotel, Bilbao

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Mercure Bordeaux Chateau Chartrons

Mercure Bordeaux Chateau Chartrons, Bordeaux

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NH Collection Leon Plaza Mayor

NH Collection Leon Plaza Mayor, Leon

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Mercure Plaza Espana

Mercure Plaza Espana, Madrid

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Eurostars Araguaney, Santiago de Compostela

Eurostars Araguaney, Santiago de Compostela

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Trains

Eurostar
TGV

Enhance your holiday

Upgrades

Inclusive Luggage Upgrade
London Hotels
UK rail connections

Reviews

3.0 stars3.0 / 5 · 1 review

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Mr C Mason

3 stars

Submitted 02 Nov 2017

Excellent itinerary, good hotels. Poor evening meal arrangements with two notable exceptions. Arranged evening meals out entailed considerable hikes and were poor to indifferent. On evenings where we had to fend for ourselves, we had little time to identify where to eat because of the hour of arrival. Lack of porterage was also an error in this price of holiday. Whilst no porterage on stations and trains is accepted (nowadays), lack of porterage in hotels and particularly over distances in getting from train/coach to hotels leaves many of the guests struggling and is unacceptable.

Collected by Great Rail Journeys

Europe by Rail 2022

Europe by Rail 2022

The definitive guide to our 2022 summer rail holidays to a wide range of destinations in Europe. When ordering for postal delivery, you will only receive our collection of European holidays. If you are interested in UK holidays, these are available on the website.

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Bordeaux, Rioja and The Pilgrim's Trail

Spain's spectacular northern shores, rising proudly from the Atlantic Ocean

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Luke Simpson
Luke
Lynne Broadley
Lynne
Helen Laverack
Helen