Embark on a captivating 16-day self-driven road trip through the lesser-explored gems of Northern Spain, catering to travellers seeking unique cultural and gastronomic experiences. If guests prefer not to drive, a personalized driver service can be arranged for seamless exploration.

The tour, conceived as a loop, starts in Santander (via Bilbao airport) and spans cities like Oviedo, Santiago de Compostela, Ribadavia, Leon, and Burgos and concludes in Bilbao, ensuring a convenient and well-rounded journey. It seamlessly blends cultural exploration, gastronomic delights, and scenic beauty, each day promising a unique experience.

During the tour you will meet expert guides to accompany you, not just providing information but delving into the meaning and stories behind each site visited, adding depth and context to your cultural immersion. Adding to your delight, enjoy guided tours of modern art galleries, food markets, historic old towns, and Gothic cathedrals.

As regards the gastronomic side of the tour, indulge in authentic regional cuisines, from Asturian fare to Galician wines, enhancing your gastronomic journey. Sojourn at exclusive charm hotels in historic city centres with fantastic restaurants at walking distance. Explore wine regions, unwind in a countryside retreat, and revel in the fusion of tradition and modernity. Culminate the adventure with art-filled encounters at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

If you like, you can customize this tour for a further personalized exploration, catering to your specific interests and preferences.

In the coastal province of Cantabria, with its picturesque landscapes, lies the historic city of Santander, adorned with elegant architecture. This is an inviting place for you to explore its cultural and gastronomic treasures.

The city’s setting in the Bay of Santander is beautiful, framed with superb sandy beaches and views across the bay to rolling green hills and high mountains. The old city centre has an excellent collection of restaurants and tapas bars. Its central market Mercado de la Esperanza is a highlight, frequented by everyone from students to top chefs, as it a beautiful food temple dedicated to top quality produce. The Cento Botin, a new major modern art gallery, is a lovely landmark. It reconnects the old city to its waterfront, and inside the views over city and ocean are most seductive.

Two hundred km east of Santander lies Oviedo, the capital of the Asturias region. it’s a hidden gem, boasting a wealth of architectural wonders. Its attractive old town offers many delights through its squares and palaces built of honey coloured stone. The regal, uncluttered Cathedral and the pre-Romanesque Santa María del Naranco church are mightily impressive. These structures narrate the tale of Asturian artistry across the centuries. Our guides will share with you the meaning and stories behind it.

As you drive through Cantabria and Asturias and you will note a rugged coastline and lush greenery. The Picos de Europa mountain range straddling Cantabria and Asturias, often visible, forms a stunning backdrop. Both regions share a passion for gastronomy, making this tour a feast for the senses. Cantabria’s culinary landscape is an ode to the sea, with succulent seafood dishes like Cantabrian octopus salad with red peppers, and anchovies from Santoña.

In Asturias, indulge in the robust flavours of apple cider, which the locals drink after waiters pour it from high above their heads to introduce air into the cider. You can savour traditional specialties such as the Fabada Asturiana, a hearty bean and cured pork stew that reflects the region’s rustic charm. And of course Cabrales, a flavoursome semi-hard blue natural cheese, the number one cheese in Asturias.

Santiago de Compostela and Ribadavia are situated in Galicia, at the northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula. The land offers the visitor again beautiful, intensely green landscapes, but here there are many vineyards too.  A shoreline like fjords whereby the estuaries known locally as Rías provide dramatic coastal scenery.

The spectacular city of Santiago de Compostela is a key attraction of Galicia. This is one of the most beautiful cities in all Spain. It is a famous ancient pilgrimage centre and, thanks to a large and lively student population, remarkably unstuffy. There are many great places to eat and drink.

In a densely packed historic town, Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque buildings that grew around the St James Cathedral make for a very atmospheric cityscape – UNESCO World Heritage listed. The city is not stuck in time though. Through careful architectural additions a modern side to Santiago has been created with spectacular projects designed by various star-architects.

The enchanting town of Ribadavia, inland from Santiago, offers a captivating blend of history and architectural splendour. You guide for a carefully calibrated tour will unveil the secrets of its heritage, where medieval charm meets artistic treasures. Roam through cobbled streets lined with centuries-old buildings, each narrating a story of Galician history. Highlights include the grand Castle of the Counts, and the timeless allure of the ancient Jewish Quarter, leaving many visitors enchanted.

Galicia is famous for its great gastronomy. The seafood and fish here is hard to match in terms of quality and diversity. Think vieiras (scallops) mexillónes (mussels) xoubas (sardines), centollas (spider crabs) and pulpo – Galicia’s most famous dish may be Pulpo a la Gallega (Octopus dressed in olive oil and paprika). There is also an abundance of local meat dishes, and a tradition of making cured hams and sausages. Rich and buttery local cheeses like the Tetilla are a good match for the local Albariño white wines, thanks to its spritzy quality and peachy fruit.

Finally, this is a land of pazos – grand manor houses surrounded by vineyards with Albariño grapes. In the Rías Baixas wine region, some fabulous Albariño wines are made of these grapes. Inland, in the Ribeiro wine region, there is more grape diversity, think Treixadura, Godello and Loureira – you will taste some satisfying full-bodied whites.

A lovely drive eastwards from Galicia through undulating countryside brings you to the architectural jewel that is Leon, in the expansive Castilla y León province.

Leon is the former capital of the ancient kingdom of León, which became Castilla y León when it merged with Castille. Castilla y León is considered the heartland of Spain as its rulers were the driving force for in the 15th century towards unification with other regions. As a result, the country of Spain was created as a single political entity.

Leon is a most attractive historic city with a sublime old centre. It’s also very lively as it is a major university town. Leon’s architectural splendours are rooted in centuries of history. The city has many outstanding medieval buildings and artistic marvels unfold at every turn. The spectacular Cathedral constructed over old Roman baths, is a masterpiece of French-inspired Gothic architecture. The interior invites you to marvel at its intricate stained-glass windows, offering a palette of colours that change the building’s look and feel depending on the sunshine outside. Another captivating monument is the royal pantheon, a Romanesque gem with astonishing crypt that is the resting place of the Leonese kings.

Leaving Leon, heading northeast towards Burgos, you’ll traverse bucolic landscapes across the heartland of Spain in old Castile. This region is adorned with numerous monasteries and historic small towns, and as you continue your journey, the grand medieval city of Burgos unveils itself, almost unexpectedly.

Burgos, we believe, is a truly delightful place. Serving as the capital of old Castile for centuries, its splendid cityscape is replete with monuments. Even more so than in Leon, the city centre is dominated by an extraordinary cathedral, and the surrounding old town exudes undeniable charm. One can discern the prosperity that once graced this city during the 15th and 16th centuries when Burgos evolved into a vital business centre, controlling the monopoly of the Castilian wool trade. The wealth of that era funded the great art and architecture still adorning the city today. Wandering through the medieval town, you’ll discover charming streets lined with enticing shops, lively squares, alluring esplanades, and welcoming coffee bars.

The regional Castilla y León cuisine relies firmly on roasted meats. The main roles here are for suckling pig, and lamb. Cured hams, spicy sausages, and a diverse set of cheese varieties are excellent. Classic eateries offer rustic breads, bean dishes, and hearty soups or stews given extra flavour by local cured meats. There is innovation too, with internationally minded young local chefs giving traditional recipes a new twist. Always there are good wines; prime wine regions like Ribera del Duero and Rueda are nearby.

Our curated tour delves into the depths of Burgos and Leon’s gastronomic scene, allowing you a proper taste of the region’s culinary heritage. In Leon, savour Cecina, a delicacy of cured beef that epitomizes the artistry of local charcuterie. In Burgos, feast on traditional cuisine with a strong focus on red meat and vegetables. The roast baby lamb and local Morcilla are a treat.

Bilbao in the northeast of Spain, is the main city of the food obsessed region of Basque Country. This is an iconic city, a real urban success story. Here one encounters striking contemporary, neo-classical, Beaux-Arts and medieval architecture, agreeably blended. It is also a serious food town with Michelin star restaurants as well as many pinxtos bars (Basque-style tapas bars) serving often extraordinarily innovative finger food. Like salt cod fritters with romesco sauce or, more substantial, Merluza a la Koxkera: hake with clams and peas. Like in that other famous Basque city San Sebastian, food is often elevated to a fine art.

In Basque Country a mostly rocky and wild coastline shelters the land from the Atlantic Ocean. The hillsides close to the sea are famous for the Txacoli vineyards, producing a fresh, lightly sparkling white wine low in alcohol but with good acidity. But perhaps the most renowned aspect of Basque Country is its superlative cuisine: the produce is often fantastic, with meats, fish and seafood often cooked over charcoal. Adding to this, a plethora of innovative chefs have been creating innovative dishes of local ingredients for decades. The high quality of the frequently Michelin starred restaurants of this region is one of the pillars of the current international prestige of Spanish cuisine.