Highlights

The María Cristina Hotel in San Sebastián is on Travel + Leisure’s 500 World’s Best Hotels for 2010. Inquire about a stay in this five-star luxury hotel.

The Trip

Join us for a delicious five-day culinary trip. Sample San Sebastián’s famed pintxos–small tapas–during a pintxos tour, cook Basque specialties in a traditional Sociedad gastronómica, taste some of Spain’s best red wines on a Rioja wine tour and hike along the Basque coast on this escorted tour.

The Place

San Sebastián, known as Donostia in Basque, is considered by many to be Spain’s culinary capital due to the dense concentration of Michelin-starred chefs calling the city home. The Basque chefs were responsible for the culinary revolution of the 1970s, not unlike France’s nouvelle cuisine movement. San Sebastián boasts more Michelin-starred restaurants per capita than any place on earth.

The Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Gehry, is in Bilbao, a short distance from San Sebastián. We can add on a day trip to Bilbao for a private guided Guggenheim visit and a traditional lunch in a typical Basque farmhouse.

Itinerary

5 Days, 4 Nights

Day 1

Private transfer from the San Sebastián airport to your hotel in the center of town. You will have time for a stroll along San Sebastián’s famed La Concha beach. As evening falls, your guide picks you up for a private pintxos (tapas) tour in the atmospheric Old Town.

Day 2

Today you will explore Basque cuisine in a venue usually closed to outsiders.

Basque men gather at Sociedades gastronómicas to cook, eat, drink, sing and socialize. Until recently women were excluded from the “cooking societies”. These clubs have nurtured the Basque culinary traditions, resulting in the current proliferation of top restaurants in and around San Sebastián. It is estimated that over 160 Sociedades gastronómicas co-exist in the area.

We are priviledged to offer you private access to the most prestigious gastronomic society of them all. Accompanied by your guide and translator you will enter and learn about the society from the inside.

Your host and instructor is a young accomplished chef working in his native city. He is often called upon to cook lunches and dinners for San Sebastián’s elite. You will spend the morning cooking traditional dishes and discussing Basque cuisine. Once prepared, you will enjoy the lunch you have made accompanied by local wines in the Sociedad’s very egalitarian and modest dining area.

The evening is at your leisure. You may choose to dine at one of the seven Michelin-starred restaurants here, including Akelare, Arzak, and Martín Berasategui.

Day 3

Full-day excursion to La Rioja, Spain’s premier wine region, with a private guide. You will enjoy traditional riojan cooking for lunch, and return to San Sebastián in time for a dinner of pintxos or dinner at one of the many outstanding restaurants.

Day 4

Coastal walk. Walk from the heart of San Sebastián to the fishing village of Pasajes de San Juan. As you climb Monte Ulia, your views of the city and the surroundings become increasingly glorious. From the stunning views of the city below and the mountains on the horizon, you’ll then turn away from the city and follow a picturesque route that hugs the rugged coastline and which remains surprisingly unspoiled. You’ll pass a striking area of rocky cliffs inhabited by seagulls and our guide will point out medieval ruins and the remnants of defense posts that were carved out of the rock during the War of Spanish succession in the 19th century.

After a little over 3 miles, you’ll come to La Plata Lighthouse. Head down to Pasajes de San Juan, a large fishing harbor where your walk finishes. You either take a taxi back to San Sebastián with your guide or take the boat across the short stretch of water to Pasajes de San Juan and enjoy a picnic lunch or lunch in a restaurant with views overlooking the water.

Pasajes de San Juan is an attractive town with a cluster of 18th and 19th century houses near the channel to the sea. It was here that Victor Hugo spent the summer of 1843 writing his Voyage aux Pyrenees.

Day 5

Private transfer to airport.

Dates

Dates available year round upon request. 

Prices

• 2-3 people Call for prices.
• 4-5 people $1920
• 6-8 people $1710
• $380 single supplement

Prices are per person. Minimum group: 2 people. Maximum group: 8 people. Allow us to reserve a table for you at three Michelin-starred Arzak, Akelare or Martín Berasategui in San Sebastián.

What's Included

• Four nights in San Sebastián
• Four-star hotel with sea-view room
• Insiders Pintxos Tour
• Private Cooking Class
• Excursion to La Rioja
• Coastal Walk
• Three lunches, One dinner
• Transfer to/from airport
• All transport during trip

Airfare to/from Spain/ Meals not specified/ Travel insurance/ Gratuities to guides not included

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 Terms and Conditions Agreement and 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 Agreement 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.

Travel Insurance

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