Explore the Southern Basque Region: Bilbao, the Bardenas Reales and Rioja

Included in the itinerary - Bilbao with an expert guide. Enjoy a guided walk around Bilbao to discover its history and culture. It will be an opportunity to share a small slice of life, to discuss everyday life in Bilbao, to discuss society, the arts, cuisine or to learn the history of this maritime city's industrial past, which has become the height of modernity in a few short years. The tour can be completely tailored to your interests.

Take the car and drive to Tudela. Enjoy accommodation for two nights on the edge of the desert. The hotel, designed by Monica Rivera and Emiliano Lopez, is made up of white cubes that create a striking shape against the skyline and stony landscape. In the distance, there's a line of wind turbines on the hills. Each room is perfectly equipped and comfortable, and opens to the outside, while still remaining private. The hotel's vegetable garden is located in the grounds of the estate and provides the kitchen with the finest fresh vegetables for the chef to whip up into delicious dishes. Pair your vegetable-focused meal with some delicious local wines. The hotel's pool is beautiful. All of this is done with sustainability and contemporary aesthetic values in mind.

Already included in the itinerary - Les Bardenas. There are more than 100,000 arid acres between Tudela and Carcastillo - it is the largest Spanish desert. Here the jutting peaks carved out from erosion create a dramatic landscape with striking and contrasting shapes and colours. The Castil de Tierra is the national park's iconic fairy chimney. Steppes, juniper and rosemary scrub, Aleppo pines, garrigue oaks and tamarisk are the predominant vegetation, and flying above are Egyptian vultures and eagles. A four-wheel-drive trip, accompanied by a geologist guide, provides a better understanding of a majestic and troubled environment that is constantly evolving.

Drive to Villabuena. Enjoy accommodation for two nights in a hotel that looks like a set of building blocks, or like it's been toppled by an earthquake. In fact, we soon discover that this architecture, far from being random, is the result of careful planning and calculated balance. The interior spaces are extremely comfortable and pleasant. The light wood of the barrels gives everywhere a warm feel. Rooms overlook the village houses and Cantabrian Mountains. The chef's cuisine combines produce from the Basque earth with oriental fruits and spices (such as pigeon with dates and figs) and results in some unusual dishes (we're talking pig's trotter carpaccio or wild boar tartare); which are excellent when paired with local wines. Take a trip to the spa for a pampering treatment to complete the indulgence.

Take a pleasant stroll around nearby Villabuena, to walk past the noble houses with their baroque or Renaissance facades. Behind the hotel, the church of San Andres deserves a visit. But it is undoubtedly its rolling countryside and the vineyards on it which are of most interest in the small town. This wine-rich region is beautiful when it comes to both natural landscapes and stunning architecture. And then, from the river to the Cantabrian mountains, the landscapes hold many secrets waiting to be explored, from vineyards, vast spaces for woods and pastures, and rivers that have carved out charming little valleys..
Already included in the itinerary - A horse ride through the Rioja vineyards, accompanied by an instructor.