(800) 308-3483 Local: (805) 484-2863
2310 Ponderosa Drive Suite 3 - Camarillo, CA 93010
Abercrombie & Kent
OFFER ID 1504762
Bilbao to Bordeaux: Cuisine & Culture
Immerse yourself in a cultural and culinary exploration of Spain’s vibrant Basque country and France’s celebrated Bordeaux region, two spectacularly scenic destinations renowned the world over for their fine food and wine.
8 nights from $10,795 per person
Abercrombie & Kent: Bilbao to Bordeaux: Cuisine & Culture
Day 1 Bilbao, Spain
Arrive in Bilbao, where you are met and transferred to your hotel. This evening, gather for cocktails and a welcome dinner at the hotel.
Start your day with a visit to nearby Guernica, a city inextricably linked to the brutality of war and nationalism as vividly portrayed in Pablo Picasso’s masterwork, Guernica. Delve into the poignant history that inspired the master, seeing ground zero of the infamous bombing raid that leveled the city in 1937. Next, explore Guernica’s renowned market, one of the finest in all of Basque Country, where growers from across the province display their freshly harvested produce for locals and visitors alike. Then, return to Bilbao to explore the fascinating streets of its Old Town, followed by a relaxing evening at leisure.
Explore the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and its world-class collection of modern and contemporary art. Next, visit a cellar where the wines are aged more than 60 feet below the surface of the sea, to sample these special vintages paired with pintxos. Proceed to San Sebastián for an A&K-exclusive dining experience at a local gastronomic society, a members-only social club where Basque cuisine and culture are passed from one generation to the next.
Explore San Sebastián’s local cider culture, learning how this delightful regional staple is brewed, poured and quaffed in the Basque tradition. After some time at leisure to relax or explore, join a Chef’s Table experience, preparing and tasting regional favorites.
Visit a family-run dairy farm and taste their fresh cheeses. Continue to Pamplona — home to the annual festival of San Fermín (the running of the bulls) that inspired Hemingway’s classic The Sun Also Rises. After time for lunch at leisure, stroll the city’s medieval lanes with a local expert, and then return to San Sebastián. Tonight, you may opt to explore the city’s world-renowned culinary scene independently, with advice from A&K if you like.
Cross the border into France, pausing to take in the scenic fishing village of Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Proceed to coastal Bayonne for an expert-led chocolate tasting. Continue northward to Bordeaux, where your guide reveals the city as you walk to a local restaurant for dinner.
Today, explore some of Bordeaux’s iconic chteaux, enjoying privileged access to areas otherwise closed to the public. Savor expertly curated tastings of some of the world’s most coveted wines, and pause for lunch at one of the chteaux.
Travel to Arcachon, a charming seaside town renowned for its oysters. Join an oysterman to Ride Like a Local around his beds, savoring fresh oysters plucked straight from the sea. After lunch on board, head to shore for a guided tour of The City of Wine, celebrating the region’s deeply rooted wine culture with a Scenic Sundowner. Tonight, enjoy a farewell dinner in a private salon of your hotel overlooking the opera house.
After breakfast, you are transferred to the airport for your departure flight.
Bordeaux - About Grape Varietals… - 8 hours
Bordeaux - Wine Architecture in Saint-Emilion - 8 hours
Bordeaux - Gourmet tour - 8 hours
Bordeaux - Cultural tour - 8 hours
Bordeaux -Saint Emilion Wine Tour - 8 hours
Bordeaux - A Wine, a Vintage, a Tasting… - 8 hours
A Wine, a Vintage, a Tasting…
Taste and identify the differences between the great Bordeaux wines, according to the vintage…
Wine experts give a great importance to Vintages. Why is it so important? How to recognize the quality of the vintage? How to guess the vintage? Should we agree or is it a matter of taste? Let us taste 4 vintages from the same wine property and comment. The expert guides you and shares his knowledge while you comment and learn tricks of the trade.
Château Grand Vertical Tasting Workshop
The privilege of tasting 6 great vintages dating back as far as 20 years:
• Château de Ferrand 1988 & 1989
• Château de Ferrand 1998 & 1999
• Château de Ferrand 2008 & 2009
This workshop includes a private tour, an initiation into aromas, a tasting of 6 vintages, and a food/wine pairing with our “Assiette Gourmande”.
Schedule:
09:00am - Departure from the harbor of Bordeaux
10:00am - First winery tour such as Château Faugères
11:30am - Discover the enchanting medieval village of Saint-Emilion, classified by Unesco in 1999. A luminous, ochre-colored jewel built of limestone and Roman roof tiles, it is perched on a plateau and completely surrounded by a sea of vineyards.
The steep and narrow cobblestone streets are lined with remnants of monasteries and convents dating from the 11th to 18th centuries that tell the story of the village. A Unesco World Heritage-inspired scavenger hunt will bring you face to face with the art, wine and stunning landscapes of Saint-Emilion.
12:30pm to 02:00pm - Time to stroll and have lunch
02:30 pm - Wine tasting at Chateau La Dominique
05:00pm - End of the tour
Tour Duration: 8 hours
Wheelchair Accessible: NO
Physical Activity Level: Light,
Package price includes
Also known by its Basque name of Iruna, Pamplona, Spain, is a proud, prosperous, devout and usually conservative town with city walls and cobbled streets. The city, 195 mi/315 km northeast of Madrid, is the capital of the green province-region of Navarra, which borders France.
The central square is the Plaza del Castillo, dominated by the Neo-classical Palacio del Gobierno de Navarra and also home to one of Spain's finest cafes, the Cafe Iruna. The streets of the old town fill the space between this square and the cathedral, largely Gothic in style but with a facade added in the 18th century. The other main sight not to miss is the Museo de Navarra in a converted hospital, which has some large Roman mosaics among its other historical and archaeological exhibits.
The town's sedate personality gets turned upside down during the fiesta of San Fermin that runs 6-14 July each year. Immortalized in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, the fiesta's most famous event is the running of the bulls. Each day at 8 am, the brave, foolish or drunk take to the narrow, barricaded streets to run alongside (or away from) six fighting bulls.
Less dangerous (but still exhausting) are the other activities that run the full week of the festival, including parades of giant figures, marauding bands, fireworks, endless dancing and lots of drinking.
If you can handle only a day or two of such merriment, try to make it to the first day or two of the fiesta (the weekend is the busiest time). The celebration that explodes at noon on 6 July is an incredible sight (plan to be soaked by champagne).
If you hope to stay in the city, accommodations should be booked at least a year in advance—be sure to get a room facing away from the street because the noise is relentless. Temporary campsites are set up on the outskirts of the city, and shuttle buses provide transport into town. Note also that petty crime is rife at this time.
Pamplona makes a good base from which to explore the rest of Navarra. Highlights of the province are the restored fairy-tale castle at Olite, the carved portal of the church at Sanguesa, the medieval town of Estella (Lizarra), the pilgrim bridge at Puente La Reina, the two monasteries of La Oliva and Leyre, Javier Castle (birthplace of St. Francis Xavier) and, near the French border, the tiny town of Roncesvalles, a traditional starting point for pilgrims heading across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia via the Saint James' Way.
All fares are quoted in US Dollars.