The Spanish Tour June 2027
14th - 19th June 2027
Five nights in northern Spain, from the Basque coast to the Duero and into Rioja. Two nights in a twelfth-century Cistercian monastery, a day over four mountain passes north of Madrid, and a night at Frank Gehry's Marqués de Riscal. 1,037 kilometres, four driving days and a small group of drivers who understand the point. Drive one of our cars or bring your own.
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Tour Itinerary
14th June
15th June
16th June
17th June
18th June
Day 1
Arrival on the Abra. We gather on the Basque coast at the Palacio Arriluce, a restored palace looking out over the bay at Getxo, a few minutes from Bilbao. Drinks on the terrace as the light goes, dinner together, and the only briefing of the week.
Day 2
South, over the mountains. Our first driving day. Out through the Nervión valley, climbing south over the range that rings Bilbao, then down through Burgos and Lerma – mountain roads first, then long sweeping bends through vineyard country to the Duero. Two nights at Castilla Termal Monasterio de Valbuena, a twelfth-century Cistercian monastery and now one of the finest spa hotels in Spain.
Day 3
The Guadarrama loop. A loop out from the monastery and back: over the Navacerrada into the Lozoya valley, the Morcuera down to Miraflores de la Sierra for lunch, back over the Canencia and north across Somosierra. Four passes, and no bags to pack. Or stay behind – the thermal spa, the cloister and a long lunch are a perfectly good alternative.
Day 4
Gehry, in a vineyard. The motorway does this in two hours. We take four – up to the monastery at Santo Domingo de Silos, through the pine forests of Urbión, over Cebollera and down the Cameros valley into Rioja. It ends at the Hotel Marqués de Riscal in Elciego, Frank Gehry's ribbon of titanium dropped into a nineteenth-century wine estate.
Day 5
Back to the coast. The shortest day and arguably the best. Up the escarpment to the Balcón de la Rioja with the whole vineyard plain behind you, then north between the Urkiola and Gorbeia parks to the coast and back to the Palacio Arriluce for a final dinner together. Breakfast and goodbyes on Saturday 19th June.
