The green Spain

Arrival at Vitoria either by train or bus from Bilbao Airport. Once in Vitoria, you

will leave your luggage at the accommodation and enjoy your first Basque

gastronomic experience. With the help of a local chef, you will visit a gastronomic

society to prepare and eat some of the tastiest Alava recipes.

After lunch, you will go for a walk with a nature guide to the Green Ring of Vitoria.

In the evening, there is an atypical pintxos tour waiting for you. You will visit bars,

where the people of Vitoria enjoy these miniature gastronomic delights.

After breakfast, you will go to a region near San Sebastian, Astigarraga—famous for its production of traditional Basque apple and cider. Here, you can do a short hike or use an electric bike to finish your morning enjoying a great meal at the cider farm, where you will be entertained by the animation of the trikitixa and other popular songs.

After lunch, you will go to the Hospitalillo dock to take a boat for the Albaola Foundation, a project that recovers the Basque maritime heritage as well as the reconstruction of a 15th century whaling ship used by Basque arrantzales in Newfoundland. As part of a group, you will sponsor a piece of the future Nao San Juan. Then, you will go back either by bus or train to San Sebastian where you will spend the night.

After breakfast, you will take a bike to visit the most beautiful corners of the city

on your own (with recommendations, such as the visit of the Comb of Winds or

the Museum of San Telmo). Mid-morning departure to Gernika by train where

your private transfer will be waiting for you. You will head to the Urdaibai

Biosphere Reserve, to enjoy the coast and have lunch at the edge of the beautiful

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe.

After lunch, you will head to Gernika to take a little stroll around the village and

visit the Peace Museum, symbol of peace for the resolution of conflicts. Enjoy

some free time at the museum to continue with a guided visit to a refuge of the

Spanish Civil War.

Today’s dinner will be made by you using local organic product.

After breakfast, you will head to Bilbao and leave your luggage at the

guesthouse. You will set for a walk in the old mining area of La Arboleda, to enjoy

exceptional and different views of the city. Here, you will enjoy a traditional

alubiada with sacraments.

Enjoy a free afternoon to visit the lesser known Basque Museum or the Fine Arts

Museum in the historical center of the city, where you can learn about the

famous txikiteo (a bar crawl taking small sips of wine).

Dinner is not included today. However, we can recommend you some of the best places.

Today you will get on the way to Asturias. Upon arrival, you will have free time to enjoy the surroundings of Gijón, Asturias’ largest city, which has emerged like a phoenix from its industrial roots, having given itself a thorough face-lift with pedestrianised streets, parks, seafront walks, cultural attractions and lively eating, drinking and shopping scenes. It is a surprisingly engaging city, and a party and beach hot spot too, with endless summer entertainment. Though it is no quaint Asturian fishing port, Gijón sure knows how to live.

After breakfast, you will depart to the Natural Park of Somiedo, the paradise of the brown bear and an area rich in traditions and landscapes. Venture into the mountains of the Cantabrian brown bear and decipher the glacial heritage of its valleys and lakes. You will make the first stop in the capital of the council, Pola de Somiedo. Following in the footsteps of the great cyclists you will reach the top of the Farrapona for a short walk (one hour round trip) to reach one of the Saliencia lakes.

In the afternoon and after having enjoyed free time for lunch, you will hike up the valley in search of the traces left by the vaqueiros and the transhumancers of sheep.

Ibias is a destination for nostalgic and lovers of the authentic, a universe of slate, wine and honey. Discover places that show the memory of time in the form of precious ethnographic treasures and rural landscapes.

Once you leave behind the Narcea river valley, you will ascend to the port of Conio bordering the nature reserve of the forest of Muniellos, where the landscape turns into forests of rebollos, birches, rowan trees, oak oaks, and strawberry trees. Upon arrival to the valley of the Ibias river, anchored in the slopes of the oldest mountains of Asturias, the villages of Alguerdo, Oumente and Villardecendias will welcome you.

In the afternoon, you will go back to the starting point to look out over the Degaña glacier valley and try your luck with the brown bear sighting in Fondo de Veigas.

After finishing the experience, you will depart to Gijón and enjoy dinner at a certified sustainable restaurant with local cuisine.

You will check in at a very special hotel, where you can contemplate the vineyards and mountains of the Salnés region. You will have some free time to rest in their converted hórreos or in the pool area.

After breakfast, you will go to the island of Arousa to discover the most unspoiled landscapes of the Rías Baixas by your private transport. In the summer season, we recommend you to do a canoe tour around the Islote Areoso, while in the autumn and winter, it will be better to do a combination of kayaking and hiking on the Isla de Cortegada.

After breakfast, your private transport will take you to the Pazo de Rubianes, famous for its gardens of camellias, native trees and vineyards. The visit includes a tour in the pazo, but the icing on the cake will be the excellent tasting session of homemade cheeses and wines.

In the afternoon, you will depart to Cambados.

After breakfast, you will visit the harbour of Cambados to learn about the work of a cultural association of women that raise awareness of the fishing culture and the traditional values of, the sometimes underestimated, life in the sea.

You will join them in the shellfishing route, an activity that consists on heading down the beach and get a real explanation of the shellfishing process, from extraction to commercialization. If you are lucky, you may see the shellfish gatherers in action.

At the designated time, private transfer to catch your departure flight.