Treat your tastebuds to some of the world’s best food and wine.
Miles of coastline offering instant access to fresh, succulent seafood. Rural farms where cheesemaking is a sacred, time-honored tradition. Rolling vineyards where crisp, sparkling whites and velvety, full-bodied reds are born. This is Northern Spain, a paradise for travelers in search of the world’s best food and wine. On this tour designed in partnership with America’s Test Kitchen, you’ll find exactly that, and more. Spend your days exploring bustling food markets alongside local guides, learning the art of Spanish cooking under the watchful eye of esteemed Spanish chefs, and savoring artful dishes dreamed up by the culinary world’s most imaginative minds.
Your tour package includes
10 nights in handpicked hotels
10 breakfasts
6 lunches with beer or wine
3 dinners with beer or wine
3 wine tastings
1 liquor tasting
1 cider tasting
4 food tastings
3 cooking classes
8 sightseeing tours
Expert Tour Director & local guides
Private deluxe motor coach
1 train ride
Included highlights
La Sagrada Família
Passieg de Gracia
Spanish vermouth tasting
Logroño tapas tour
Cava and Rioja wine tastings
Michelin-star dinner
Guggenheim Museum
Pintxos cooking class
Txakoli wine tasting
Idiazábal cheese-making demonstration
Itinerary
Overnight Flight1 night
Day 1: Travel day
Board your overnight flight to Barcelona today.
Barcelona3 nights
Day 2: Arrival in Barcelona
Included meal: Welcome dinner
Welcome to Spain! Meet your Tour Director and fellow travelers at a welcome dinner featuring dishes and wines that are typical of the Catalonia region.
We handpick every hotel to strike the balance of comfort, location, and local charm. Specific accommodations will vary based on your departure date, but these are frequently used hotels for this tour and we're confident you'll be satisfied.
This seaside hotel is located in the El Poblenou neighborhood of Barcelona. Guests enjoy the rooftop pool, spa, and fitness center. Nearby you'll find Bogatell Beach, the Picasso Museum, Ciutadella Park, and the Arc de Triomf.
Eurostars Los Agustinos
This charming hotel is located in the town of Haro in La Rioja region. Guests enjoy comfortable rooms, an on-site restaurant featuring traditional Riojan dishes, and the spacious central cloister. Nearby you’ll find the Theatre...
Hotel Catalonia Donosti
This chic hotel is located in the Donosti neighborhood of San Sebastián. Guests enjoy the rooftop pool and terrace, fitness center, and spa. Nearby you'll find La Concha Beach, the Naval Museum, and Miramar Palace.
Hotel Mayorazgo
This chic hotel is located a short walk away from Madrid’s Plaza España. Guests enjoy individually styled rooms, an outdoor terrace, and on-site coffee house. Nearby you’ll find the Temple of Debod, Royal Palace, and...
Round-trip flights are one more thing we handle to make your journey as smooth as possible. Our team of travel experts will find the best flight itinerary for you at a competitive rate, thanks to our partnerships with top airlines.
Add our airfare and you’ll get:
Round-trip flight for your tour
Airport transfers at your destination
A great price locked in today
24/7 support from our dedicated service team
Options for arriving early, staying longer, or requesting an upgrade
Flexible rebooking options if your tour itinerary changes
In order to enter Spain, U.S. and Canadian citizens need a valid passport with an expiration date extending at least six months beyond the date of reentry.
We recommend having at least one blank passport page for entry stamps.
Beginning in 2025, U.S. and Canadian passport holders must register for an ETIAS travel authorization in order to enter many European countries.
Passport holders from over 60 visa-exempt countries (including the U.S. and Canada) will need to apply for an ETIAS travel authorization in order to visit 30 European countries. That means that even if you’ve previously traveled to any of these European countries without a visa, starting in 2025, you’ll need to get ETIAS authorization to visit them again. If you’re traveling to multiple countries with this requirement, you only need to complete the form once. All Go Ahead travelers are responsible for obtaining their own ETIAS travel authorization before departure. For more details, please visit our Help Center.
If you are not a U.S. or Canadian citizen, you must contact your destination country’s consulate for your specific entry requirements.
You can see the most up-to-date entry requirements for the destination(s) you’ll visit on tour by going to goaheadtours.com/entry-requirementsand searching the code ATS.
You will walk for at least 2 hours daily across moderately uneven terrain, including paved roads and cobblestone streets, with some hills.
Travelers should be healthy enough to participate in all included walks without assistance. Adding optional excursions may increase the total amount of walking on your tour.
You should feel comfortable managing your own luggage at times, as well as getting in and out of trains.
Go Ahead Tours and the Tour Director who accompanies your group are unable to provide special, individual mobility assistance to travelers on tour. The responsibility of the Tour Director is to ensure the group as a whole enjoys a relaxing and informative journey, and he or she cannot be relied upon to provide ongoing, individualized assistance to any one traveler.
If you have any mobility concerns or physical restrictions, please contact our Customer Experience Team.
Round-trip flights booked through Go Ahead Tours arrive in Barcelona and depart from Bilbao (or Madrid on the tour extension). A representative from Go Ahead Tours will meet you at the airport and take you to your hotel. Please remain in the arrival lounge, as the representative might be escorting one of your fellow travelers to the bus at the time of your arrival.
Transfers to and from the airport at your destination are included for travelers who have purchased their flights through Go Ahead Tours. Travelers who purchase their own flights may request airport transfers with Go Ahead Tours for an additional cost.
A train ride from Barcelona to Logroño is included in the price of your tour.
All other included transportation on this tour is by private motor coach.
Please note that our travelers are limited to one checked bag and one personal item per person due to storage limitations on motor coaches and other transfers, which may include train connections or flights.
Contact your airline(s) for baggage size and weight restrictions for your flights, which may include on-tour flights in addition to your round-trip flights to and from tour. Please note that your included on-tour flights may have more restrictive baggage limits.
Some airlines may impose additional charges if you choose to check any baggage or exceed baggage size and weight restrictions. Be advised that you are responsible for any baggage fees incurred on all flights.
Make sure you label your baggage and keep valuables, medication, and documents in your carry-on bag.
Porterage is not included for the train transfers. Travelers must be comfortable lifting and carrying all luggage over steps, onto platforms, and into luggage storage. The storage space on the train is extremely limited, so we recommended traveling with only one suitcase per person (and a personal item such, as a backpack or purse).
We recommend packing lightweight, loose-fitting clothing that can be easily layered to accommodate varying temperatures, as well as a light jacket or rainwear.
A sturdy pair of walking shoes or sneakers is recommended for sightseeing.
You may want to pack dressier attire if you plan to visit a high-end restaurant or attend a special performance.
It is preferable not to visit churches or other religious sites with bare legs and shoulders (and entrance may be denied on this basis).
At least 60 days prior to departure, check with your doctor or healthcare provider for the latest updates and entry requirements, or visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at cdc.gov.
If you take daily medication, be sure you have enough for each day of the tour as well as any possible delays encountered.
If you have dietary restrictions and/or food allergies, please notify Go Ahead Tours at least 30 days prior to departure by logging in to your account and updating your traveler info. To update this information closer to your departure date, please call our Customer Experience Team.
You can see the most up-to-date entry requirements for the destination(s) you’ll visit on tour by going to goaheadtours.com/entry-requirementsand searching the code ATS.
In Spain, enjoy breakfast like a local with just a pastry and coffee. Then, tuck into a three-course lunch featuring a Spanish staple, like savory seafood paella or grilled meat and fried potatoes. Dinner is less hearty than lunch and is served late, between 9pm and midnight. Snack on small plates called tapas any time of day.
Spain produces a wide variety of both white and red wines throughout its many regions, such as sparkling white wine in the Cava region and the full-bodied red Tempranillo in Rioja.
Catalan cuisine, which can be found in Barcelona, is markedly different from food in other parts of Spain. Nearly every restaurant will offer pa amb tomàquet—toasted bread with tomato and olive oil. Fresh seafood, hearty meat dishes, cheeses, and locally grown vegetables, such as wild mushrooms, are culinary mainstays.
Pintxos, small snacks that are usually spiked with a toothpick to a piece of bread, are an especially popular sort of tapas in the Basque Country.
Spain operates on the European standard 220-240 volts and uses Types C, E, or F plugs with two small, round pins.
We recommend packing a universal adapter, as well as a voltage converter if you plan on using your own hairdryer or other device without a built-in converter.
The strength of the air conditioning in European hotels is often not as strong or as cool as what you might be used to in the U.S. or Canada. When air conditioning is available, it is usually regulated seasonally and controlled centrally by the hotel.
Your hotels may provide hairdryers, irons, and other small appliances. However, these amenities cannot be guaranteed.
Wi-Fi is available in most hotels, though some charges may apply.
There is no Wi-Fi on any of the motor coaches.
Please contact your mobile service provider for information on roaming charges.
Spain is one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and six hours ahead of Eastern Time (ET).
When it’s noon in New York, it’s 6pm on tour.
You will use the euro on this tour.
Better rates of exchange are usually available overseas, although it’s worth ordering some currency from your local bank to use when you first arrive.
We strongly advise that you take debit/bank cards and credit cards, which can be used to withdraw cash at local banks as needed.
You can use most debit/credit cards at ATMs on the international networks Cirrus and Plus, but make sure to check with your home bank about withdrawal fees.
Inform your bank and credit card company of your travel plans so that they won’t confuse your international purchases for fraudulent charges.
International banks and businesses primarily accept debit and credit cards that work with the EMV chip system. If you do not already have at least one debit or credit card with a chip in it, we strongly recommend requesting one from your bank prior to your tour.
At the conclusion of your tour, it’s customary to offer your Tour Director and driver a gratuity in local currency. Please keep current exchange rates in mind.
We recommend tipping the equivalent of $10USD to $12USD per person per day for your Tour Director and the equivalent of $3USD per person per day for your driver.
If applicable, we also recommend the equivalent of $2USD per local guide.
Tips can only be paid in cash.
Most optional excursions will be available for purchase while you are on tour.
Your Tour Director will only accept cash (in USD only), Visa, or MasterCard as payment for excursions.
Please be advised that if you pay for an excursion by credit card while on tour, it may take up to three months for your card to be charged.
Some optional excursions may only be purchased in advance. See page four of your tour itinerary for more information.
I don't have enough superlatives for this trip. From the itinerary to the director of the tour, everything was great. Each of the three cooking classes offered something different. The Michelin dining experiences were a first for me. Wonderful food and wine the whole trip....
BEST Tour!
5 out of 5 stars
1st-time traveler Krystle, traveled in Apr 2024
My husband and I enjoyed this tour immensely! This was our long awaited honeymoon and it did not disappoint. We are good and wine enthusiasts and have always wanted to experience the gastronomy of Spain. All the activities we did were carefully crafted and each experience was a...
EF Go Ahead Tours
We are thrilled to hear that you and your husband enjoyed your long-awaited honeymoon with us. It’s fantastic that our tour met your...
Best trip EVER !
5 out of 5 stars
1st-time traveler Lisa, traveled in Apr 2024
Starting with an absolutely wonderful tour director, everything on this trip was superb. America’s Test Kitchen helped EF choose the cooking classes and restaurants we visited. Hotels were first rate, local tour guides gave a depth of knowledge you can’t get on your own. And...
Absolutely my favorite tour!
5 out of 5 stars
1st-time traveler Monica, traveled in Apr 2024
I met such an amazing likeminded travelers on this tour! All the food and wine, as well as cooking classes were first rate. Bernardo was an amazing tour leader, all in all a true pleasure to travel on this tour!
Great people and food
5 out of 5 stars
4th-time traveler Victoria, traveled in Apr 2023
This was an intimate tour with a very special group of interesting, knowledgeable and truly funny people. I enjoyed the whole experience. Best Ef tour yet!! I wish America’s test kitchen would have sent a person just 1 day or recipes or some tangible involvement. Our tour...
Totally enjoyed
5 out of 5 stars
1st-time traveler Anonymous, traveled in Apr 2023
Our tour guide, Leonor, was the kindest, funniest, most knowledgeable, and all around amazing person. She helped make this trip enjoyable. Fellow travelers were all lovely people, who were easy to be around. Accommodations were very good — clean and safe hotels that offered good...
EF Go Ahead Tours
Thank you for your review! We are so sorry to hear about the end of your tour, but are thrilled to know you made the most of it. We hope to...
