Tasting Spanish Traditions

Highlights

Guaranteed Departure
We have spaces available on this culinary adventure in Sevilla, Córdoba, Sanlúcar, and culinary hotspot Madrid.

Interested in tapas–the real thing? Would you love in-depth tapas tours in Sevilla and in Madrid? How about private cooking classes with Chef Willy Moya? Do you want to taste aged Sherry right out of the barrel? Do you want to explore Madrid’s cocina de vanguardia tapas?

Join us! You can sign on for all or for part of the trip. No single supplement, great food, two tapas tours, cooking with Chef Willy Moya in Sevilla and Gabriela Llamas in Madrid, Sherry tours, olive oil making, Atlantic seafood…It’s a mouthwatering trip. March 14-25.

Take a journey revealing the classic flavors of Andalucía in southern Spain. We will explore the tapas of Sevilla (the Spanish city that best embodies the tapeo as a way of life), sherry making, an artisanal olive oil mill, and the Moorish architectural heritage in the hilltop pueblos blancos on guided private tours of Andalusian towns, wineries, and olive oil mills. Take a few private Spanish language classes. Visit Sevilla’s market and cook meals with a professional chef. High-speed train Sevilla-Madrid and private gourmet tour in Madrid with award-winning chef. 

See the Itinerary “here.”

Day 1
Arrive Sevilla

Check in to your historic hotel located in Sevilla’s central Barrio de Santa Cruz, its medieval Jewish Quarter and one of Spain’s largest intact historic districts, mostly a pedestrian zone. Short introductory visit of city center with English-speaking guide.
The Petit Palace Marqués Santa Ana Hotel is in a renovated mid 19th century building near Sevilla’s Cathedral.

Day 2
Barrio de Santa Cruz

Private Spanish class at a Spanish language school close to your hotel. A two-hour private class (9:00-11:00 AM) practicing your spoken Spanish. (Optional)
After class you meet Willy Moya, one of Sevilla’s renowned chefs, for a market tour. Willy explains some of the most typical ingredients used in Andalusian cuisine, including the many types of fish and shellfish from both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. You then go to the chef’s restaurant for a cooking class where you will prepare traditional dishes such as Salmorejo, Gambas al ajillo, Arroz con mariscos or paella, and Torrijas de Pedro Ximénez confitada en naranja amarga. Willy’s restaurant, Poncio Cartuja is located on the Isla de la Cartuja, a 20 minute walk or 5 minute taxi ride from Sevilla’s center.

In the early evening your tapas tour guide, a Welshman transplanted to Spanish soil, who has many years of experience with Spanish wine and cuisine, will pick you up at your hotel for a walking tapas tour through the Barrio de Santa Cruz and the Triana district across the river. You will sample a variety of tapas and wine at a number of tapas bars, each with their own specialty.

Day 3
Sanlúcar de Barrameda on the Atlantic coast

Today´s excursion takes you to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, the second most important sherry town, unknown to the majority of foreign visitors. It is around 100 kilometers from Seville and is a beautiful place at the mouth of the Guadalquivir estuary. It looks across to the Doñana National Park and out on to the Atlantic Ocean.

Among the many styles of sherry wine produced here manzanilla stands out as a style of sherry made in a similar way to fino but lighter with a salty hint to it. The town is also known for very fine seafood being one of the best places for this in Spain. We will pass by the vineyards before arriving in the town and  proceed first of all to the old part of town where we will take a short walk to see the fantastic local market with its great array of seafood, meats and local fruit and vegetables.

It’s then on to one of the local bodegas (wineries) where we will be taken around what are spectacular buildings with their rows and rows of sherry butts stacked one on top of the other. These buildings are often compared to cathedrals and it is certainly true that they give the impression of being sanctified places.  You will get to learn about the special ageing process for sherry wines and taste all the different styles directly from the cask, a rare treat! Some of the wines tasted will be over 30 years old. These are the jewels in the crown of the winery and are reserved for privileged visitors. 

After the bodega visit we will go to one of the fantastic seafood restaurants along the bank of the estuary where we will indulge in a meal of great seafood washed down with the finest manzanilla or other wine of your choice. There will be time to wander along the beach before  returning to Seville.

Day 4
Sevilla

Private Spanish class at a Spanish language school close to your hotel. (Optional)
After your class you meet your guide for a guided walking tour of historic Sevilla and the astonishing monuments including the Gothic Cathedral–the third-largest church in the world–the Alcázar–a Moorish-built palace complete with traditional patios and fountains. Afterwards a walking tour of the labyrinthine narrow streets of the historic district.

Evening flamenco performance in one of Sevilla’s flamenco performance centers.

Day 5
Sevilla

Private Spanish class at a Spanish language school close to your hotel. (Optional)
Your second cooking class with chef Willy Moya will focus on tapas or on dishes of your choice such as traditional Spanish rice dishes, tapas, or seafood dishes. Enjoy the food you cook with wine.

Day 6
Córdoba

You will take the high-speed train to Córdoba, 1 hour away. Ana, your guide for the day, will meet you at the train station.

Córdoba is home to the Mezquita, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is an 8th century Moorish mosque with a 13th Christian Cathedral inserted within it. La Mezquita is a marvel set in what was the capital of Islamic Spain. In the 10th century Córdoba was one of the most advanced cities in the world.

Your guide will take you on a tour of La Mezquita, the Jewish synagogue and the medieval Jewish quarter which is even more exotic than Sevilla’s Barrio de Santa Cruz. You will enjoy a lunch of small plates–tapas–in one of Córdoba’s best tapas restaurants.

Day 7
Ronda

Your guide picks you up at your hotel for a full day trip to Ronda, known for its dramatically deep gorge and as one of Hemingway’s haunts. At 120 km to the south-east of Seville, Ronda is one of Andalucia’s most beautiful white towns. It is famous throughout Spain for the gaping river gorge with a sheer drop of 120 meters which divides the medieval from the 18th century parts of the town. A spectacular bridge constructed in the 18th century spans the gorge and the view looking down from it is not for the faint-hearted!

As well as the town being an obvious tourist attraction, the area around Ronda is becoming well-known among enthusiasts as a producer of very good red wines and to a smaller extent whites, which are being made in what are principally boutique wineries with every attention to detail. We will be visiting two of the recently established wineries where the winemakers will be showing us around and sharing their incredible enthusiasm with us. When you taste their wines you’ll realize why they are so upbeat and why they think that although production in the area is small, Ronda is going to become a hallmark for fine wines.

You will visit a traditional olive oil mill in the hills on the way to Ronda where they make olive oil in much the same way as they have for hundreds of years.

Lunch will be at a fine local restaurant sampling local dishes accompanied by some great local wine. You will then have time to explore the wonderful town of Ronda town with its Moorish and Christian legacy. Ronda’s previous incarnations were as the capital of a 14th century Moorish kingdom and as the central hideout spot for roaming 18th century bandits. You will visit the finely preserved Arabic baths and the Neoclassical bullring as well as taking in some superb views of the surrounding mountain ranges and of course the plunging gorge. You will then head back to Seville after a very full day.

Day 8
Madrid

High speed train transfer to Madrid. Check in at Hotel Villa Real, a five-star hotel in the heart of old Madrid.

Day 9
Madrid

Private tapas tour with a delightful Spanish food and wine specialist, Gabriela Llamas, through Madrid’s historic Hapsburg and Latina districts. You will stop at different tapas bars, each specializing in one type of tapa ranging from traditional patatas bravas, jamón ibérico or pescadito frito to cutting-edge minimalist tapas in sleek design bars with fashionable clients.

In your free time visit Madrid’s fine art museums including the Prado, one of Europe’s best museums housing an astounding collection of Spanish and European art, the Reina Sofia Museum, and the Thyssen Museum.

Day 10
Madrid

Private cooking class in the chef’s studio near Madrid’s Royal Palace. The chef is a member of Spain’s Academy of Gastronomy and a knowledgeable and delightful companion. Meet the chef in the morning for a visit to one of Madrid’s markets. Then cook your meal and enjoy the food and the paired wines in the company of your chef.

Day 11
Toledo

Board the AVE high-speed train to Toledo. In 30 short minutes you are in the beautiful medieval town, the former center of the three cultures: Christian, Jewish and Moslem.
Private tour of Toledo, including medieval Jewish synagogues and El Greco paintings, and tastings of traditional marzipan still made in convents.

Day 12
Departure

Depart for home.

2010 Dates

• March 14-25
• May 23-June 3

Participants can travel on Andalucía portion or on Madrid portion or both. 

Price

• Single occupancy
• 1 person $6430
• 2 people $4665
• 4 people $3770
• Double occupancy
• Price per person, DO
• 2-3 people: $3750
• 4-5 people: $3345
• 6 people: $3175

Prices are per person based on single occupancy. Double occupancy prices available.

Included

• Eleven nights hotel
• Breakfast daily
• Three private cooking classes
• Tapas tours in Sevilla and Madrid
• Guided walking tours: Sevilla, Córdoba and Madrid
• Sanlúcar, Ronda, Córdoba and Toledo visits
• Private Spanish lessons

Not included: Train tickets, Travel insurance, Meals not listed, Flights

Reservation

Please fill out the form below to reserve your place on the tour.

Terms and Conditions

All Terms and Conditions and Waiver and Release of Liability apply to each trip participant once the reservation form has been submitted. Read Terms and Conditions.

Forms

The Disclaimer Form and the Waiver and Release of Liability Form must be signed and returned via email, fax or mail to Epicurean Ways with your trip reservation. See the Disclaimer Form here. See the Waiver and Release of Liability Form here.

Deposit

A deposit of $750 per person is required in order to reserve a trip. After we receive your reservation form we will send you an invoice via email for the deposit. You may pay securely through PayPal via credit card or bank transfer, or with a check sent through the mail. We never see your financial information. We will confirm your reservation upon receipt of the deposit.

Full payment for the trip is due 60 days before the program begin date. For reservations made less than 60 days before the program begin date, full payment is due at the time of booking.

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You must indicate on this form whether you accept or decline travel insurance. We strongly recommend that you purchase travel insurance because of the protection it offers you in the case of travel emergency or need to change your travel plans. Epicurean Ways offers our travelers TravelGuard travel insurance. Click on the TravelGuard logo at the bottom of the Epicurean Ways homepage for a customized no-obligation quote, or contact us and we will give you a quote for insurance. You may purchase travel insurance through Epicurean Ways or independently.

Thank You

We are pleased that you have decided to travel with us. Do not hesitate to call or email with any questions you might have about your trip.

Toll free: 866-642-2917
Mobile: 434-228-0641
In Spain: 951-190-478 or 635-468-938

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Trip Info for Classic Spanish Food and Wine in Andalucía and Madrid

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