Rioja Alta & Alavesa
Maribel’s Guide to the Rioja ©
Maribel’s Guides for the Sophisticated Traveler ™
"Rioja is living its most authentic moment... It is not a passing trend; it is a change that is here to stay. Rioja belongs at the world's top table and has done it for some time” Tim Atkin Rioja Report 2026.
The Rioja Wine Region
No adventure in Spain would be complete without a visit to Spain's oldest and best known wine region, considered the "benchmark" of Spanish winemaking. The Rioja is a stunningly beautiful and ancient land inhabited since the Neolithic era where you’ll find atmospheric fortress towns sitting on a hill, some with their medieval walls still intact and filled with Noble homes displaying heraldic shields. There are enormous Gothic churches, each with its own amazing, ornately gilded Baroque altarpiece, but seldom seen, because these churches are kept tightly shut other than for mass. Ancient burial markers (dólmenes), scattered about the fields and vineyards, intermix with the wineries; traditional, boutique and the larger, industrial wineries. Here is where you’ll also find a number of charming family run country inns, along with superb Riojan and Basque cuisine.
Proposed for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage Listing in 2013, it’s three distinct sub-zones make up the wine-producing region of Spain’s oldest DO - the Rioja Alta, whose capital is Haro, the Rioja Alavesa, that section of the Rioja in the southern portion of the province of Álava, the Basque Country, the smallest of the three sub-zones, and the Rioja Oriental (formally known as the Rioja Baja), the majority of which lies in the dryer and much hotter southeastern portion of the Rioja, and is the largest sub-zone. A small section of southern Navarra, La Navarre Rioja Alta, often referred to as the “other Rioja”, the undiscovered part of the Rioja, also belongs to the Rioja Denomination de Origen, as does a small area of Castile y Leon, on the western edge of the Rioja Alta.
There are 144 municipalities in the DOCa Rioja: La Rioja, Navarra and País Vasco (Basque Country), which runs some 100 kilometers from end to end. Spain’s largest, the Rioja DOCa has more than 66,000 hectares of vineyards currently under harvest with nearly 16,700 winegrowers and thousands of wines.
Planning Your Visit
When to come? Although the Rioja makes an excellent year round destination, for the best weather and the most scenic beauty, you should plan your visit from either early April through May or from September through late October. You will find the vineyards exploding in vibrant colors as fall approaches and will be at their most spectacular by mid to late September. Because of climate change, the fall harvest is beginning earlier, now as early as late August and will be completed in most of the Rioja mid October.
Most wineries in the Rioja offer guided tours, and all but a handful require you to schedule your visit in advance. Tours and tastings are conducted in Spanish, a few in French, with some offering one, if not two tours a day, in English, particularly those wineries in and around Haro, Laguardia and Logroño, which has been thoroughly discovered by English-speaking visitors. Visiting hours are normally restricted; some are open mornings only and nearly all will be closed for lunch (1:30 to 4:00 pm). Many of the wineries have an online booking request form detailing visiting hours and available languages. Be sure to request a tour in the language you are most comfortable with. Tours and tasting can be a short as 90 minutes, with many exceeding two hours. A few wineries have opened wine bars to accommodate those who don’t have the time to take a walk in the vineyard or visit the bodega, but reservations are still required at most of these wineries, with only a few allowing walk-ins.
The closest one gets to doing a “on-the-fly”, à la California’s Napa Valley, the “Wine Ghetto” in Lompoc, or hitting the Urban Wine Trail in Santa Barbara are the local food, wine and music events such as the Villabuena Wine Fest in May and Haro’s Barrio de la Estación in June. Or you can start the year off with the Uztaberri Eguna in Lapuebla de Labarca in early February when the village welcomes the new vintages with up to 20 wineries opening their doors to visitors.
For several years the area was slowly changing, adapting its mind set with the opening of flamboyant "designer" wineries designed by world class architects or “starchitects” to attract larger scale wine tourism such as Santiago Calatrava's striking pavilion designed for Bodegas Ysios, the over-the-top Frank Gehry designed Marqués de Riscal City of Wine, Bodegas Baigorri by Basque architect Iñaki Aspiazu Iza, and the dramatic and enormous Bodegas Campo Viejo by Ignacio Quemada which sits in the hills outside Logroño. But most wineries in the Rioja remain strictly no-nonsense business operations, not set up for massive wine tourism like many their counterparts in the sherry region of Jerez de la Frontera, or the cava growing region of northeast Spain, the Penedès in Catalunya.
If this is your first time in the Rioja, we recommend doing a private tour and tasting, scheduling no more than two tours in a day, one for mid to late morning and one around noon. You can then add a stop at one of the new wine bars where you can do a tasting without a tour of the cellar and/or vineyard, before enjoying a leisurely lunch Riojan style. And remember, most shops will be shut down until after lunch. Three days in either the Rioja Alavesa, Alta, or the Rioja Oriental, will give you time to visit several wineries, but we feel five days in either the Alavesa, Alta or Oriental is optimum, allowing you to alternate winery visits with cultural tours and enjoy this uniquely beautiful wine region. Just note that here still remains a language issue in areas outside of Haro, Laguardia, Logroño and Alfaro.
Hotels can arrange some tours but don’t rely entirely on your hotel staff to do this for you is you have something special in mind, and particularly if you plan on traveling in or around harvest time or during the very busy summer season. And please note that during the hectic harvest season some of the small, family-owned wineries may not open for visits at all, although the “major players”, such as Marqués de Riscal, Bilbaínas, Muga, CVNE, López de Heredia, Ysios, Finca Valpiedra and LAN will continue to provide tours. Some wineries will even allow you to join the harvest for a few hours.
We have put together a profile of the bodegas in 69 villages in the Rioja Alavesa, Alta, Oriental and Navarre Rioja Alta, plus 13 more in the 6 villages in the Ribera Baja de Navarra that we consider interesting and worth visiting. We haven’t been to all of them ourselves as yet, but have visited a large number over the last twenty plus years. Not all of the bodegas are open to the public, but you will be able to visit the vast majority listed on the following pages, each unique in their own way.
Very few wineries offer a complimentary visit. The cost of a standard tour and tasting can be as low as 8€ to 10€, or as high as 50€, while premium tours and tasting can be easily exceed 150€/person.
If you don’t have the time or desire to plan your own tour, to do the needed preparation, then you can put yourself in the hands of Iberian Traveler, as we are superbly well-equipped to help arrange your entire visit to the Rioja and provide you with an excellent, informative English-speaking local guide.
Getting To The Rioja Alta & Alavesa
The Michelin Regional Map #573; Basque Country-Navarra-La Rioja, is very detailed and extremely helpful when planning your route to and from the three regions of the Rioja, the Alavesa, Alta and Oriental.
By Car From Madrid
The drive from Madrid to Logroño normally takes about 4 hours without stops if you are taking the A1/E5 north past Burgos. It’s a few minutes shorter if you take the E-90/N-111 through Soria and the Cameros, a more scenic drive. If you are driving to the Rioja on the A1/E5 from the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport after an a long international flight, we recommend stopping overnight in Burgos or at the Parador de Lerma. If you are taking the E-90/N-111 from the airport, then you can stay overnight at the Parador de Soria, or take a slight detour and spend your first night in Spain in Sigüenza, at the Castle of the Bishops, the Parador de Sigüenza.
By Car From San Sebastián-Donostia
If you’re staying in sophisticated, stately San Sebastián, follow the highway to Bilbao, turning south toward Haro as you reach the city, or head toward Pamplona on the A-15, and south on the A-12. Following either route will take about 2-1/2 hours, but the road through Navarra will take you to Logroño then Laguardia after passing through Navarra’s major western wine producing region which starts just south of Pamplona. If you have the time, this route gives you a chance to taste some of Navarra’s excellent vintages from Bodega Otazu, Pago de Larrainzar, Irache, Arinzano, Castillo de Monjardin, Señorío de Sarría and Bodegas Nekeas, to name just a few.
By Car From Pamplona
If you’re planning on staying in Pamplona, Navarra’s capital is just over an hour’s drive from Logroño on the A-12. There is an easy connection to Laguardia and Haro without having to go into Logroño if you want to start your visit in Haro. One-day guided tours are also available from Pamplona.
By Car From Bilbao
The Basque Country’s vibrant city on the coast is just over a one hour drive from the Haro, in the Rioja Alta wine producing region, and about 1-1/2 hours from either Logroño, capital of the Rioja Alta, or Laguardia, capital of the Rioja Alavesa, the Basque Country. Haro makes for a easy one-day self-guided tour, or you can take a guided tour from Bilbao with our friend Mikel of Tours by Basque if you don’t want to drink and drive.
By Car From Barcelona
If driving from Barcelona, the quickest route would be to take the AP-68, which will take you directly to Alfaro. Since the drive is a little over 4 hours without stops we recommend you take a lunch break before reaching Alfaro in the Rioja Oriental, either in Tudela (Navarra) at Restaurante Treintaitrés or Trinquete, with one Repsol sun. If you want to take a short detour to Cintruénigo, then you can have lunch at Restaurante Maher. In Alfaro, we recommend Graccurris, Morro Tango or San Roque Asador. When driving from Barcelona we often spend the night at the AC Hotel Ciudad de Tudela so we can explore the city, see what’s new. The rather unique Hotel Aire de Bardenas, located outside of the city, is also a good option, especially if you have a couple of days and want to explore the Bardenas Reales.
Arriving By Bus
The Alsa Bus runs from Madrid at Avenida de América, or from the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, Terminal T4 to Logroño. Tickets are 24,76€ one-way. The trip takes 4 hr 15 min from the airport or 4 hr 5 min from downtown at Avenida de América, with three stops. There are two departures/day, Monday-Saturday, at 8:00 am and 3:00 pm. Bus service between Bilbao and Haro or Logroño is offered by CuadraBus with at least 4 departures/day. The trip takes a little over one hour to Haro and 1 hr 45 min to Logroño. The cost is between 6€ and 10€, one-way. The bus also stops in the Riojan villages of Labastida, Ábalos, Samaniego and Laguardia.
Arriving By Train
Most visitors to the Rioja arrive by car, but there is currently an AVE departing Madrid at 8:30 am, arriving in Logroño at 12:52 pm and one in the afternoon departing at 12:30 pm, getting you to Logroño at 4:51 pm. There is also a daily departure from Barcelona Sans Station at 8:45 am on the Alvia train that will get you into Logroño at 12:52 pm. There is another departure at 12:50 pm, getting you to Logroño at 4:51 pm. See Renfe to book your tickets.
Flying To The Rioja Oriental
The closest international airport to the Rioja Alavesa and Alta is Bilbao (BIO). The smaller regional Logroño-Agoncillo airport in Logroño, the capital of La Rioja, only handles Air Nostrum and Iberia flights to and from Madrid and Barcelona, on a limited basis, plus private aircraft. Taxi service is available at the airport; Radiotaxi (+34) 941 222 122. There is a supplement of 0.49€/bag if carried in the trunk. Zaragoza (ZAZ) is the closest international airport to Alfaro, a little over a one-hour drive away. The airport is serviced by Air Europa, Binter Canarias, Iberia, Ryanair, Volotea, Vueling, Wizz Air. Taxi service is available at the airport; Radio Taxi Aragón (+34) 976 383 838, Radio Taxi Cooperativa (+34) 976 757 575 and Radio Taxi Zaragoza (+34) 976 424 242.
Where To Base Your Stay
While the temptation exists to choose a base in a city, and the provincial capital of Logroño does have many charms, but if you come to the region by car, we strongly suggest that you base yourself in the countryside in one of the charming medieval stone villages, some of which are surrounded by vineyards, so you can experience the real flavor of this enchanting land. There are several options to choose from depending on the type of accommodation you’re looking for. They range from a 5-star luxury property to a more modest Casa Rural.
If you feel you don’t want to stay at the Frank Gehry designed Hotel Marqués de Riscal in Elciego, you have a few more excellent options to choose from, including one of our favorite places, the popular but modest 3-star 12-room Hotel Villa de Ábalos where you can dine on the best Riojan gastronomy at “La Cocina de Merche”. Some of the newer upscale properties available in the Rioja are the luxury 9-room Palacio de Samaniego, with its French-Basque restaurant and pool. It belongs to the Rothschild Family. The 16-room boutique Hotel Santa María Briones, a comfortable, renovated 16th-century manor house, belongs to a local Riojan family. The chef here is Juan Cuesta, a native of Logroño who trained in Etxaurren’s El Portal in Ezcaray, Venta de Moncalvillo and Martín Berasategui’s MB Tenerife. Hotel Palacio de los Ángeles, a 5-star 18th-century baroque palace, opened recently in the heart of Haro with a restaurant by the Echapresto Brothers of Venta de Moncalvillo.
Options of where to stay in the Rioja for wine touring with a car include bodega hotels Finca de los Arandinos with 14 rooms near Entrena and Eguren Ugarte with 21 rooms in Páganos. Other excellent choices include the avant-garde 35-room Hotel Viura in Villabuena de Álava, Eurostars Los Agustinos in Haro, and the Silken Villa de Laguardia, in Laguardia. And if you’re a Marriott-type, the Palacio Tondon, with a wine bar and restaurant, sits along the Ebro River in the small village of Briñas, not far from Haro. The Bodega-Hotel FyA, belonging to Grupo Piérola, is located near Navarrete.
If you need to rely on public transportation, then Logroño is your only practical choice with a few good options including the 54-room Fuerte Ruavieja , 30-room Hotel Calle Mayor, the boutique 41-room Áurea Palacio de Correos and the luxury boutique 4-suite hotel Ibiza Rooms in the "Plaza del Espolón”. Although the city itself doesn’t exude the feel of a wine town, that all changes with the Rioja Wine Harvest Festival (20-26 September 2024) and the Festival of San Mateo celebrated on September 21, when the city bursts with merriment. You can join in the fun of daily parades, outdoor lunches of grilled baby lamb chops, bullfights, concerts and fireworks, but be sure to book your hotel far in advance of the festival. If you must have easy access to large scale shopping and some nightlife, yes, then choose Logroño. But if you can do without dance clubs, tapas bars at your beck and call and you enjoy communing with nature, driving through vineyards, then you will be happier staying outside the city and do as we do; spend the early evening in Logroño’s historic quarter, especially along the famous Calle Laurel dining on tapas, then return to the country for a restful night’s sleep. Remember, this is farming country, so it tends to be rather quiet after 10:00 pm, except during fiesta.
For those wanting something different, then you can check out what’s available through the Association of Casas Rurales de la Rioja.
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