# Laguardia and the Rioja Alavesa A medieval town above wine cellars, the painted portico of Santa María, Marqués de Riscal in Elciego, lagoons and dolmens among vineyards, 15 km from Logroño. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/basque-country/laguardia-and-rioja-alavesa · Revisado: 2026-11-12 ## What the Rioja Alavesa is The Rioja Alavesa is the part of Álava south of the Sierra de Cantabria, between the mountains and the Ebro. It is wine country in the Rioja DOCa: vineyards as far as the eye can see, stone villages on the heights and wineries from every era, from medieval caves to architect-designed buildings. The sierra acts as a wall to the north and leaves the comarca with a drier, sunnier climate than the rest of Álava. Laguardia is its main town. It stands on an elongated hill, enclosed by a wall, with three parallel streets into which cars do not go. Beneath those streets there are more than 300 calados, caves dug to make and store wine; in some, wine is still made. Above, the church of Santa María de los Reyes holds a 14th-century Gothic portico that has kept its polychromy. ## How to get there Laguardia is 15 km from Logroño, on the other side of the Ebro: about 20 minutes along the A-124. From Vitoria-Gasteiz you get there crossing the sierra over the Herrera pass, in about 45 minutes, or along the motorway towards Logroño. We estimate, by road: from Bilbao, an hour and twenty; from Pamplona, an hour and a quarter; from Burgos, around an hour and a half; from San Sebastián, an hour and three-quarters; from Soria, nearly two hours. Haro is half an hour away along the Sonsierra road. Without a car, Alavabus line 9 links Vitoria-Gasteiz and Logroño via Laguardia, with about ten departures a day in winter, also at weekends, and an hour's journey from Vitoria. From Logroño there are also lines 8, 10 and 11. The main stop is next to the Villa de Laguardia hotel, at the foot of the old town. Elciego and the dolmens are off the lines: for them you need a car or a taxi. ## Where to park The old town is pedestrian-only. Leave the car in the public car parks next to the wall or on Avenida de la Diputación, in the lower part, where a public lift takes you up to the old town. At harvest time and on long weekends they fill up early: arrive before mid-morning. In Elciego, park at the entrance to the village or at the winery if you have a visit. ## How much time and when to go Half a day is enough to walk the old town, see the portico of Santa María and go down to a winery. With a full day you add Marqués de Riscal in Elciego and a long lunch. With two, the lagoons, the Chabola de la Hechicera and the road along the foot of the sierra to Samaniego, Labastida and Haro. The best time is autumn, from September to early November, when the grapes are harvested and the vineyards turn red and yellow. Spring is also good, with mild temperatures. In summer midday hits hard: do your visits in the morning and leave the afternoon for the wineries, which are cool. In winter the village is quiet and almost everything stays open. Bear in mind that many restaurants close one weekday: Amelibia, Tuesday and Wednesday; Héctor Oribe, Monday and Tuesday. ## Wine, from the cave to titanium In the old town itself you have three ways of going down into a calado. The tourist office shows one at 13:00 for €3, without a tasting. El Fabulista, beneath the Samaniego palace, has a guided visit every day with two wines for €14. And Mayor de Migueloa, on Calle Mayor, tastes five wines in its cellar from €25. Outside the old town, the Villa-Lucía museum explains wine with games for all the senses. In Elciego, about ten minutes away, Marqués de Riscal is the big visit: a winery from 1858 with the hotel by Frank O. Gehry on top, open every day, with a three-wine tasting from €30. Always book: wineries work by appointment and in autumn they fill up. ## Beyond wine The portico of Santa María de los Reyes is under restoration, with scaffolding in front that, according to the tourist office, will last about two years; the guided visit continues. Next to the church, the Torre Abacial has a daily slot at a fixed time. At the foot of the village, the Laguardia lagoons are a wetland with a flat trail through the Prao de la Paúl, with more birds from September to March. And in the surrounding countryside, the comarca holds nine dolmens; the best known is the Chabola de la Hechicera, in Elvillar. ## Dónde está - Zonas: Rioja Wines - Cerca: Haro (a 21.6 km), San Millán de la Cogolla (a 34.2 km), Laguna Negra and Picos de Urbión (a 65.3 km), Olite (a 77.0 km) ## Qué hacer - **Walk round Laguardia's walled old town** (1 h 30 · Everyone; pushchairs on the main streets · Free): Laguardia stands on a long hill, surrounded by vineyards and enclosed by its wall. Inside are three parallel streets, linked by alleys, where cars do not enter. The walk has no entrance fee or opening hours: it takes an unhurried hour, and two if you stop at the viewpoints and in Plaza Mayor at clock time. A hill with five gates The town was walled in the 13th century, in the reign of Sancho VII the Strong of Navarre, with sandstone blocks. Four gates connected it with the outside: Páganos, Mercadal, San Juan and Santa Engracia. The fifth, the Puerta Nueva or Carnicerías gate, was not opened until the 15th century. The wall keeps its original layout and quite a few turrets; two of them now serve as bell towers. Use it as a guide: enter by one gate, walk a street to the other end and come back by another. To the south is the church of San Juan, a fortress-church whose Gothic tower was a gate in the wall; to the north, that of Santa María de los Reyes and the Torre Abacial, which are visited through the tourist office. From Plaza del Gaitero to the Collado promenade Inside the old town, look out for Plaza del Gaitero: it is home to "Viajeros" by Koko Rico, two bronze plaques with suitcases and bags on one and shoes on the other, a tribute to the traveller. Near the southern end is the Celtiberian pond of La Barbacana, about 2,100 years old: it stored some 300,000 litres of water from a spring on the hill and is the largest Iron Age pond found in Europe. It has an interpretation centre, and the visit is booked through the tourist office. Outside the wall, to the north, the Collado promenade runs between the Santa Engracia and Páganos gates. Below, the villages of Rioja Alavesa spread out and, in the distance, the Sierra de Cantabria. In the middle, an iron bandstand holds the bronze bust of Samaniego. Opposite the Páganos gate, the Portal de Páganos viewpoint has a fountain, tables and a photographic panel for identifying the villages and mountains in view. On a clear day it is the place for the sunset. The hour of the dancers Plaza Mayor, with its arcades, is the centre of the town. It is presided over by the Town Hall, from the 19th century, with a carillon clock whose automata dance the festival pasacalles at 12:00, 14:00, 17:00 and 20:00; from June to September, also at 13:00 and 22:00. Arrive a few minutes early. At one side is the old Town Hall, from the 16th century, with the coat of arms of Charles V, and on its façade a plaque with the official measures of the vara, the roof tile and the brick, put there to prevent abuses by merchants. Climbing up from the car or the bus Leave the car below, in the public car parks beside the wall or on Avenida de la Diputación, where a public lift takes you up to the old town. If you arrive by bus from Vitoria or Logroño, the stops are at the foot of the town. Inside, the streets are flat with smooth paving; the climbs from the car parks are steep. - **Church of Santa María de los Reyes and its polychrome portico** (40 min · Everyone · €5 (reduced €3.50)): Santa María de los Reyes is the church at the far northern end of Laguardia's old town, the upper part of the town. What people come to see is its Gothic doorway, from the end of the 14th century, with 17th-century polychrome very well preserved. It is shown only on a guided visit with the tourist office, and now with one condition: the portico is under restoration, with a scaffold in front of it. Twelve apostles on the doorway The doorway is carved in stone. On the jambs are the twelve apostles and on the central pillar, the image of Santa María de los Reyes. The tympanum is filled with scenes from the life of the Virgin and the archivolts with plant motifs and figures. It is preserved so well because in the 16th century the portico was closed in and was sheltered from the weather. That is why it is seen from inside an enclosure, and why it cannot be seen freely from the street. Four centuries of building The church was begun in the 12th century and not finished until the early 16th, so it mixes styles in every corner. Inside, the high altarpiece is from the 17th century and is considered one of Juan de Bascardo's best works. Attached to the church, the Torre Abacial, from the town's old defences, is visited separately. Scaffold in front of the portico The portico has damp problems and is undergoing restoration and maintenance work. According to the tourist office, it has a front scaffold that will stay in place throughout the work, about two years. The visit continues, but you will not see the doorway unobstructed: bear that in mind before planning a trip just for it. Tickets, times and capacity Duration: about 40 minutes. Price: €5. Reduced, €3.50, for over-65s, people with disabilities, children aged 6 to 17 and students. Capacity: 40 places per session; a maximum of four can be bought per connection. Times: they change with the season and are shown in the online sales of Turismo de Laguardia. Booking: on that website, at the office on Calle Mayor 52, on 945 600 845 or at turismo@laguardia-alava.com. According to Álava Turismo, the guided visits to Santa María are inclusive and the church has a wooden ramp to get over the entrance step. Before and after The office sells the Torre Abacial and the municipal cellar on the same website, so the three visits can be linked in one morning. From the church, the Collado promenade and the Portal de Páganos viewpoint, on the walk round the walled old town, are a few steps away. - **Visit to the El Fabulista underground winery** (Adults; children may come along · Desde 14 € per person): Beneath the streets of Laguardia there are more than 300 caves dug for making and storing wine, the calados. El Fabulista is one of the largest that can be visited: it lies seven metres down, beneath the 17th-century palace where the fabulist Félix María de Samaniego lived, and it is one of the few where wine is still made, by carbonic maceration, as it has always been done in the region. Seven metres beneath Samaniego's house Samaniego was born in Laguardia in 1745 and died here in 1801. The winery occupies the ground floor and the subsoil of his house, in Plaza de San Juan, and owes it even the names of its wines: a young white and a young red, and the reds Ilustrado, Sabio and Fábula. What sets it apart from other visits in the old town is that the cave is still at work: one of its cellars is for making wine and another for ageing. From the street press to the four cellars The visit starts in front of the palace, with a little history of the house and the town. It continues in the stone vats at street level, where the grapes were trodden and how it was done is explained. Then you go down to the four cellars: one for winemaking, one for ageing and two for tasting. In the last one the wines are served with an appetiser of local cheese, home-made chorizo and bread. There are two prices, VAT included: €14 with two wines and €17 with three. If you want to taste more wines or have pintxos with them, the winery arranges it on request; ask when you book. The website does not say how long the visit lasts or in which languages it is given: if it matters to you, ask when you book. Morning and afternoon sessions There are visits every day: Sunday to Thursday: 11:30, 13:00, 16:00 and 17:30. Friday: 11:30, 13:00, 17:30 and 19:00. Saturdays: 11:30 and 13:00. Outside those times you can request visits for groups or individuals. The dramatised visits, "de fábula", in which an actor played Samaniego on Saturday afternoons, are not available at present according to the winery itself. For children and school groups, Villa-Lucía, from the same group as the winery, offers the experience "¡Pásalo de Fábula!", which follows Samaniego around Laguardia and Villa-Lucía; ask about dates and ages. How to get to Plaza de San Juan The winery is inside the walled old town, next to the church of San Juan, in the southern part of the town. The old town is pedestrianised: leave the car in the car parks outside the wall and enter through the San Juan gate, which is right beside it. To eat afterwards without taking the car, Amelibia is on the Barbacana road, a few steps from that same gate. - **Visit to Marqués de Riscal and Gehry's hotel in Elciego** (1 h 30 · Adults; children's rates on the basic visit · Desde 30 € per adult (11–17 years €14, 3–10 years €4)): Elciego is about 7 km south-west of Laguardia, already close to the Ebro: ten minutes by car. There Marqués de Riscal, a winery founded in 1858, built its City of Wine, with the hotel designed by Frank O. Gehry: sheets of coloured titanium and steel above the town, opened in 2006. The building can be seen from all over the town and from the road, and it is what many people come to see; the visit, however, is of the winery and vineyard. Four visits and what you taste on each All tour the winery and the Elciego vineyard and finish with a tasting. The wines and the time vary: Marqués de Riscal Visit 1: 90 minutes. You taste Marqués de Riscal Verdejo Sobre Lías Finas, Arienzo Crianza and Marqués de Riscal Reserva, with Riojan chorizo and salchichón. €30 per adult. Sublimme Visit: the same, with an extra glass of Sublimme by Riscal. €31. Marqués de Riscal Visit 2: 1 h 45 min. Finca Montico, Finca Torrea and Marqués de Riscal Gran Reserva, with cheese and cured meats. €45. Marqués de Riscal Visit 3: 1 h 45 min. Marqués de Riscal Limousin, XR de Marqués de Riscal and Barón de Chirel, with cheese, chorizo and Iberian ham. €60. The winery opens every day of the year, including public holidays, from 10:00 to 19:00, and gives its visits in Spanish, English, French, German, Chinese and Romanian. Choose the language when you book. With children, and with the Salt Valley The two 90-minute visits admit children at their own rate: €14 from 11 to 17 years, €4 from 3 to 10 and free up to 2. Visits 2 and 3 are only for over-18s. If you are going as a family, the basic one is the one that fits. The winery also offers a combined visit with the Salt Valley of Añana, a salt works about 75 km away: €40 for adults, with prices by age band down to free from 0 to 2 years. The Salt Valley is booked separately, at vallesalado.com or on 945 351 111. It is a full day by car: do not combine it with more wineries. Booking and getting to Calle Torrea Visits are bought online on its website, on 945 180 888 or at reservations.marquesderiscal@marriott.com. The switchboard is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 19:00 and on Saturdays from 9:00 to 17:00. If you are staying at the Marqués de Riscal hotel, the visit is booked with the reservations department, not on the website; members of its club do the same. Animals are not allowed on the premises, except guide dogs. The winery is at Calle Torrea 1, in Elciego. The Laguardia bus does not go there: come by car or taxi, and if you are going to taste, let someone who is not drinking drive. - **Climb the Torre Abacial** (45 min · Ages 6 and over; there are stairs · €3 (reduced €2)): The Torre Abacial is the tower of the old fortress, attached to the church of Santa María de los Reyes. The tourist office shows it in a daily session with advance booking: Monday to Saturday at 10:45 and on Sundays and public holidays at 11:45. Entry costs €3, or €2 reduced, with 40 places per session. It fits well before the visit to the Santa María portico, which is next door. From the top you can see how the town watched over the pass between Navarre, Castile and the Ebro valley. The stairs are narrow: do not take a pushchair up. A defensive tower Laguardia was born as a stronghold. The Basque Government recalls that in the 10th century Sancho Abarca ordered a castle to be built on top of the hill to defend Navarre, and that in 1164 Sancho VI granted the town the charter that would govern its residents' lives. The north of the old town, the highest part, was the seat of power: there stood the castle, the church of Santa María and this tower, which with the wall protected the town on that side. The castle was destroyed in the 19th century; the tower still stands. The Torre Abacial was begun in the 12th century, when Laguardia obtained its charter. It is a free-standing tower, separate from the church, square in plan and with ashlar walls, divided into four sections. The two lower ones are closed and solid, as befits a defensive tower; the two upper ones open on all four sides. The oldest parts, from the end of the 12th century or the start of the 13th, are the paired windows and the arch between the second and third sections, in transitional Romanesque style. The wall that went with it had eight turrets and five gates, of which the San Juan gate is the only one that keeps its medieval appearance. The visit Sessions: Monday to Saturday at 10:45; Sundays and public holidays at 11:45. Price: €3; reduced, €2. Capacity: 40 places per session. Booking: compulsory, on the Turismo de Laguardia website, at the office on Calle Mayor 52, on 945 600 845 or at turismo@laguardia-alava.com. At the top, the tower serves as a viewpoint over the rooftops of the old town and the vineyards around it. Go up in comfortable shoes and without hurrying, because the staircase is narrow. How to fit it in As the session is first thing, the tower is a good way to start the day. Afterwards you have the guided visit to Santa María de los Reyes, next door, and at midday the tourist office cellar, at 13:00 on weekdays and Sundays. In the afternoon, a tasting at the El Fabulista winery or a walk round the lagoons. Leave the car outside the wall: the old town is pedestrianised. - **Cellar visit with the tourist office** (30 min · Everyone · €3 (reduced €2)): The tourist office shows a calado cellar, one of the caves dug beneath the old town's streets to make and store wine. It is the cheapest and shortest way to go down into one, without a tasting: €3, or €2 reduced. There is a session at 13:00 from Monday to Friday and on Sundays; book on the Turismo de Laguardia website or on 945 600 845. If you want to taste wine, combine this visit with a tasting at El Fabulista or at Mayor de Migueloa, which also have their own cellars. What a calado is Laguardia stands on a long hill, and beneath its three streets there are more than 300 calados, caves dug for making and storing wine. In the wineries that still use them, such as El Fabulista, the grapes were trodden in stone vats at street level, and the wine was made and aged below, in the caves. It is a part of the town you cannot see from the street: you have to go down. The tourist office visit is the simplest way to get a glimpse of one in half an hour, with no tasting or shop. It is a cultural visit, designed to understand what lies beneath the old town before or after walking round above. Times, price and booking Session: at 13:00, Monday to Friday and on Sundays. There is no Saturday session on the office's calendar. Duration: about 30 minutes. Price: €3; reduced, €2. Booking: in the bookings section of the Turismo de Laguardia website, with a maximum of four places per purchase, on 945 600 845 or at turismo@laguardia-alava.com. The tourist office is at Calle Mayor 52, inside the old town. Tickets for the Torre Abacial and for the visit to Santa María de los Reyes are also bought there, so you can link all three in one morning. Tips It is cool underground all year: bring something warm even if it is hot outside. If you are going with a pushchair or with someone with reduced mobility, ask about access when you book. With children it works well because it is short. If you want to taste wine The office visit does not include a tasting. To try wine in a cellar, you have two options in the old town itself: the El Fabulista winery, seven metres beneath the Samaniego palace, with two wines and an appetiser from €14, and the tasting at Mayor de Migueloa, in a palace on Calle Mayor, from €25. To understand the town, start with the walk round the walled old town. - **Tasting at the Mayor de Migueloa winery** (1 h · Adults · Desde 25 € per person): Mayor de Migueloa is a house, restaurant and winery at number 20 Calle Mayor. They make their wine in the traditional way in centuries-old spaces beneath the palace, and show it with a one-hour visit that ends in a tasting. The simplest, with five wines and a tapa of local cheese, costs €25. With a board of Idiazabal cheese it goes up to €35, with acorn-fed Iberian ham to €45, and with a Riojan menu or a chuletón menu in its restaurant, to €110 or €135. In summer there are sessions every day at 12:30 and 17:30; the rest of the year, ask. Book on its website at least a day in advance. The winery beneath the palace Mayor de Migueloa is a medieval palace inside the wall, which today is at once an inn, a restaurant and a winery. The house presents its winery with an idea: traditional winemaking in centuries-old spaces. Beneath the palace is the calado, the dug cave where the wine is aged, and in the photos on its website you can see wines aged in the calado and in damajuanas, the big glass demijohns. Like other houses in the old town, the winery is part of that network of more than 300 calados beneath Laguardia's streets. In 2023 the winery received a Best of Wine Tourism award and the public's prize from the Great Wine Capitals network, according to the logos shown on its website. The five experiences All begin with the winery visit and a tasting of five wines, and last about an hour: 5-wine tasting: with a tapa of local cheese, €25. 5 wines with a cheese board: with a board of Idiazabal cheese, €35. 5 wines with Iberian ham: with a plate of 100% acorn-fed Iberian ham, €45. Tasting with winery menu: the tasting ends with a typical Riojan menu in the restaurant, €110. Tasting with chuletón menu: the tasting ends with a premium chuletón menu, €135. The booking form asks for the day, time, number of adults and experience, at least a day in advance; the house then contacts you to confirm. The website does not give languages or rules for children: if you are going as a family, ask on 945 600 187 or at reservas@mayordemigueloa.com. Their wines The shop on its website shows its labels: Juliett Golf, also as a rosé and a white; G de Jaime; the Colección Damajuanas; and El Foehn, with a white from centenarian vines and vintages from 2020 and 2021. Prices range from about €20 to over €100 a bottle. If you like one at the tasting, you can buy it right there or order it on the website. How to fit it in The 12:30 session leaves the afternoon free; the 17:30 one fits after a day of visits. If you choose one of the options with a menu, go hungry and without a car to drive. Before or after, visit the Torre Abacial and Santa María de los Reyes, a few steps away. For comparison, the El Fabulista winery, also in the old town, shows another calado with a tasting from €14. Leave the car in the car parks outside the wall. - **Villa-Lucía wine museum** (Everyone; accessible): Villa-Lucía is a gastronomic space on the Logroño road, on the way out of Laguardia, with gardens, a grill restaurant, a shop and a wine museum, "Villa-Lucía con los 5 sentidos". It presents itself as a fully inclusive wine theme centre, and it is capped by an accessible 4D experience. What the museum is The museum presents itself as the world's first wine museum that is one hundred per cent inclusive in Spanish. The idea is to get to know wine with the five senses: touching it, smelling it, seeing it and tasting it, as well as hearing its history. The visit covers the history and rituals of winemaking in Rioja Alavesa, told in a way that is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. The finale is a 4D experience, which the museum describes as the world's first one hundred per cent inclusive and accessible in Spanish. The museum says it has received more than thirty national and international awards, and belongs to networks such as gastroMuseums, Slow Food and Euskadi Gastronomika. It is in the same complex as the Villa-Lucía grill restaurant, the gardens and the shop. Opening hours It opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 19:00, but closes on Sunday afternoon and on Monday. The sessions are at 11:00, 12:30, 17:00 and 18:30; the 18:30 one only with a reservation, and booking is recommended for all, on 945 600 032. The website does not publish the price: ask when you book. As the visit is at a fixed time, arrive a few minutes early. The website also does not say how long the visit lasts with the 4D experience: ask when you book if your day is tight. With children It is one of the visits in the area that works best with kids: it explains wine through games and senses, and Villa-Lucía has green areas, play rooms and a children's menu at the grill. The perfect plan with children is the 12:30 session and then lunch at the grill, which has dishes for them on the menu: pizzas, home-made burgers, skewers and free-range chicken. The gardens give them room to run around for a while. In addition, Villa-Lucía organises activities for children with the El Fabulista winery; ask at either. Getting there It is on the Logroño road, no number, on the way out of Laguardia: you can walk there from the old town or drive in a couple of minutes. If you come on the Alavabus bus from Vitoria or Logroño, get off in Laguardia and walk to the exit towards Logroño. From here you have the walk round the lagoons close at hand, because the path also leaves from the Logroño road, and the walled old town for the afternoon. - **Walk round the Laguardia lagoons** (1 h 30 · Everyone; flat · Free): At the foot of Laguardia there is a small complex of wetlands: Carralogroño, Carravalseca and Musko, natural lagoons that fill and dry according to the rain, and the Prao de la Paúl, a freshwater pond. They can be seen from the town itself. Four different lagoons The Laguardia lagoon complex is a protected biotope and is on the Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance. Turismo Euskadi explains that not all the lagoons work in the same way. Carravalseca and Carralogroño are endorheic basins: no river or stream flows into them and the water has no outlet, they only receive rain and run-off from the hills. They stay dry for much of the year, flood in the rainy season and, as the water evaporates, leave a crust of salt: that is why they are salty. Musko was a lagoon that was drained to be farmed and whose recovery is being negotiated. And the Prao de la Paúl is a small artificial pond filled with water dammed from a stream, and works differently. To the north, the Sierra de Toloño closes the landscape, and all around is vineyard. The path Álava Turismo recommends the Prao de la Paúl, because a path runs round its shore with spots where birds are easy to see. The tourist office suggests the Lagoons route from the town. It is a flat walk, among vines, that can be done on foot or by bike. The path round the Prao de la Paúl circles the pond in about 2.5 km and is accessible for people with disabilities, although Turismo Euskadi does not recommend it when it rains. There is a bird hide for 18 or 20 people; the key is requested at the Laguardia tourist office, at Calle Mayor 52 (945 600 845). The biotope has a picnic area. To get there from the town, take the road towards Logroño and follow the country tracks among the vines. The GR 38, the wine and fish route, which crosses Álava from south to north, also passes through the area. Birds At least a dozen species live here and many more pass through. September to March is when most are seen. They are elusive birds: speak quietly and bring binoculars. The lagoons are a resting place for birds on their migrations. In summer, in contrast, the spectacle is different: Carravalseca and Carralogroño dry out and the white salt crusts appear. When and how to go In summer, go first thing or in the late afternoon, when it is cooler, and bring water and a cap. With children, the circuit of the Prao de la Paúl is short and flat, and the hide helps them watch without scaring the birds. If you prefer to go on wheels, the Posada Mayor de Migueloa rents mountain bikes. Afterwards, go up to the old town for the Torre Abacial or the walk round the walled old town, from whose Collado promenade and Portal de Páganos viewpoint you can see the lagoons from above. - **Chabola de la Hechicera dolmen** (30 min · Everyone · Free): Rioja Alavesa has one of the greatest concentrations of dolmens in Álava: the provincial council counts nine, collective tombs built between 6,000 and 3,000 years ago and used from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. The most visited is the Chabola de la Hechicera, in Elvillar, about 6 km from Laguardia, with its chamber of great slabs in the middle of the countryside. It is outdoors and can be seen at any time. Near Laguardia there are also the one at Alto de la Huesera, where the remains of about 130 people were found and which was built about 5,500 years ago, and the one at El Sotillo. The provincial council has a leaflet and an audio guide for the Hechicera on its website. What the dolmen is like It was discovered in 1935 and Turismo Euskadi considers it one of the most important dolmens in the Basque Country, probably the largest and best preserved in its area. It is a passage dolmen: a burial chamber made of nine slabs forming a polygon, and an entrance passage of five more slabs plus the closing ones. The stones are sandstone from the surroundings. The great cover slab had been broken into three pieces; in the restoration it was put back in the position believed to be the original, so today you see the tomb with its roof. The excavations turned up human remains and numerous objects: axes, pottery fragments and rings. Turismo Euskadi places it in the Chalcolithic, although the use of these collective tombs spans several millennia. The name and the legend Chabola de la Hechicera means "the witch's hut". In Elvillar, on the eve of the August festivities of the Virgin, an akelarre (witches' sabbath) is staged beside the dolmen, with witches and a billy goat. If you go on those days, you will see the tomb in an atmosphere very different from the rest of the year. Getting there and visiting The dolmen is beside the Laguardia to Elvillar road, the A-3228, in the municipality of Elvillar. You get there in a few minutes by car from Laguardia. It is in the countryside, with no fence, no opening hours and no entrance fee, so it can be seen at any time. Allow half an hour. It is a good stop with children: it is short, outdoors, and the witch story helps. Respect the monument and do not climb on the slabs. For more information, Elvillar town council can be reached on 945 604 011. What to combine Do a short dolmen route: the Chabola de la Hechicera, Alto de la Huesera and El Sotillo are all near Laguardia. Then go back to the town for the walk round the walled old town or a walk round the lagoons. If you are with children, the Villa-Lucía wine museum is on the way out of Laguardia on the Logroño road. - **Through the Sonsierra: Samaniego and Labastida** (3 h · Everyone · Free): The road from Laguardia to Haro along the foot of the Sierra de Cantabria passes through Leza, Samaniego, Ábalos, San Vicente de la Sonsierra, already in La Rioja, and Labastida. They are stone villages, with big churches and wineries at the entrance, and the sierra behind like a wall. Samaniego is about 12 km from Laguardia and Labastida about 25. In Labastida, climb to the Santo Cristo hermitage, above the village, for the views of the vineyards and of Haro, which is 5 km away. It is a good way to link Laguardia and Haro in the same day. Without a car, Alavabus line 10, from Logroño to Haro, stops at all these villages. Samaniego Samaniego is a small village, of about 330 residents, at the foot of the Sierra de Toloño, as this stretch of the Sierra de Cantabria is called here. Turismo Euskadi highlights three things. The church of the Asunción, from the 15th century, which was also born as a fortress and has a Baroque façade and a Churrigueresque high altarpiece. The Samaniego palace, a 17th-century manor house now converted into a hotel. And the hermitage of the Virgen del Valle, on the outskirts. All around are vineyards and numerous wineries, because the village is on the Rioja Alavesa wine route. If you coincide with Holy Week, on Easter Sunday a figure, the Judas, is burned to ward off bad luck: it is one of its oldest traditions. Labastida Labastida is bigger, about 1,470 residents, between Mount Toloño, 1,271 metres high, to the north, and the Ebro, which forms the border with La Rioja, to the south. It has two historic areas. Above, the oldest part, with the church of the Santo Cristo, Romanesque and Gothic: the Basque Government dates it to the 12th century and says that excavations have uncovered remains of an earlier pre-Romanesque temple. Below, in Plaza de la Paz, opposite the Town Hall, the church of the Asunción, from the 16th century, with Renaissance and Baroque elements. Around the old town remain the arches of Toloño and Larrazuria, which were gates of the town. Wine is the village's economy, and you can visit everything from ancient caves and calados to modern wineries. In mid-November, at the end of the harvest, Labastida celebrates its thanksgiving festivities, with music and street life. The tourist office is in Plaza de la Paz (945 331 015). In winter it opens Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 13:30 and from 16:30 to 19:00, and at weekends from 10:00 to 14:00; in summer, Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 20:00. It organises guided visits to the old town, the two churches and the village's wineries, as well as walking routes and tastings. How to organise the day By car, leave Laguardia westwards along the Sonsierra road, stop at Samaniego, continue to Labastida and finish at Haro: without stops it takes about half an hour. It is best to book a guided visit in Labastida beforehand, because the churches are shown through the office. Without a car, Alavabus line 10 stops at all these villages; check the timetables under the Alavabus bus. Back in Laguardia, close the day with a tasting at the El Fabulista winery or at Mayor de Migueloa. If you continue into La Rioja, Haro is 5 km from Labastida. - **Visit to Bodegas Baigorri, the winery beneath the glass cube in Samaniego** (1 h 30 · Adults; children pay €15 for the visit · Desde 25 € per person): From the Vitoria to Logroño road, at Samaniego, all you see is a glass box on the hillside, with the Sierra de Cantabria behind. It is the entrance to Bodegas Baigorri. Everything else is below: floors dug into the earth where the grapes enter at the top and the wine goes down by gravity, without pumps, to the barrel room. The visit is the best way to understand that idea, and lunch in its dining room, between the window onto the vineyard and the glass floor over the barrels, is one of the most complete in the Rioja Alavesa. What you see You go down from the glass cube, where the grapes are received, through the production floors: sorting tables, tanks, the barrel room. What the guide explains is simple to see: each step is one floor lower than the last. The classic tasting is two house wines with two of the cook's pintxos; the premium, in the afternoon, three top-range wines. Prices, slots and booking Tuesday to Saturday, always by reservation. Classic tasting at 10:30 and 13:00, €25 for adults and €15 for children. Premium tasting at 16:00, €35. Visits are in Spanish and English, and in other languages for groups if a guide is available. On Sunday and Monday there are no slots. The 13:00 visit also serves as the entrance to the restaurant: the tasting menu, with starters, first course, main and dessert, costs €70 with four classic wines and €80 with five premium ones, visit included. Under-18s have a €30 menu. Book on the website, on 945 60 94 20 or at mail@bodegasbaigorri.com. Getting there It is about 12 km from Laguardia along the A-124 and the Samaniego road. The bus does not stop at the door: without a car, the practical choice is a taxi from Laguardia or sleeping nearby, in Villabuena or Samaniego. If you eat the five-wine menu, nobody in the group should drive. ## Dónde comer - **Amelibia restaurant** (Restaurant, Laguardia, €€€). Qué pedir: the hake kokotxas in pil-pil, the pig's trotters with foie gras or the confit suckling pig - **Héctor Oribe restaurant** (Restaurant, Páganos (Laguardia), €€€). Qué pedir: the eight-course tasting menu; from Wednesday to Friday, the short five-course one - **Villa-Lucía grill restaurant** (Restaurant, Laguardia, €€). Qué pedir: something from the vine-cutting and vine-stock grill, and at the wine bar, pintxos with a Rioja Alavesa wine ## By car: Laguardia on foot, the wineries by car A car gives you the whole of Rioja Alavesa: Elciego, the dolmens, Páganos and the Sonsierra road to Labastida and Haro. Leave the car outside the wall on arrival and explore Laguardia on foot; pick it up again for the wineries outside. If you are going to taste, let whoever is not drinking drive. Presupuesto orientativo: 90–170 € por persona y día. ### Dónde dormir if you're driving - **Hotel Silken Villa de Laguardia** (Spa hotel): The Silken Villa de Laguardia is the town's big hotel: four stars and 84 rooms on Paseo de San Raimundo, at the foot of the walled old town and surrounded by vineyards, 15 km from Logroño. It has what the houses in the old town cannot offer: its own parking, an outdoor pool and a 1,000 m² spa. On Paseo de San Raimundo, beneath the wall The hotel is in the lower part of the town, outside the wall. That means two things: you drive right up to the door and leave the car in its car park or garage, and to enter the old town you walk a few minutes uphill. For anyone travelling with suitcases, with children or with a car loaded with wine, it is more convenient than accommodation inside the pedestrianised town. Around you have what can be done without climbing: the Villa-Lucía wine museum, on the Logroño road, and the path to the Laguardia lagoons, which leaves along that same road among vines. Wine Oil Spa The spa covers about 1,000 m² and bases its treatments on wine and olive oil: massages, facials, circuits, baths and wraps. We have not been able to confirm prices, circuit hours or minimum age: ask when you book. Rooms for families and groups The 84 rooms are spacious and the hotel presents them as designed for families and groups too. There is a restaurant and café, with a breakfast buffet, a terrace, a gym and laundry. It is a smoke-free hotel in all its areas. Among the Laguardia accommodation in this guide, it is the one with a pool. A bus at the door Without a car, the bus stops in front: Alavabus line 9, between Vitoria-Gasteiz and Logroño, has the "Laguardia (Hotel)" stop on Paseo de San Raimundo. From Vitoria it takes about an hour; check the season's timetable on the Alavabus website before setting out. Check-in, dogs and garage, to be confirmed We have not been able to confirm on its website the check-in and check-out times, whether dogs are allowed, or the prices of the car park and garage. Ask on 945 600 560 or at reservas.laguardia@hoteles-silken.com. - **Posada Mayor de Migueloa** (Small hotel): Mayor de Migueloa is a medieval palace at number 20 Calle Mayor in Laguardia, right in the walled old town. It is a hotel, restaurant and winery at once: you sleep above the calado where its wine is aged and you have lunch or dinner in its restaurant without going out into the street. Walls, beams and palace floors The rooms keep the stone, the wooden beams and the old floors of the house. All are for two people and with one bathroom, but none is the same. There are three kinds: Standard: a double bed or two singles, with views of the street or an inner courtyard. Each differs in style, size and decor. Superior: the largest and the one that keeps the most of the palace, with two double beds or one extra-large and a small sitting room. Junior: bright, with a 1.35 m bed, views over the town, a small sitting room and a bath. They have heating, air conditioning, television, hairdryer, bed linen and towels, internet, and are non-smoking. The website does not publish the number of rooms or the prices, which are shown on the booking engine. Chuletones by breed and a tasting beneath the house The restaurant specialises in grilled meat and fish, with seasonal vegetables and Riojan dishes such as the menestra or the stuffed chard stalk. Its chuletón menu goes by breed: Galician ox, Tudanca ox, Galician blond, black Angus, Simmental, Minhota, Highland, Hereford, Friesian and Swami. Desserts are home-made: chocolate sponge, torrija and cheesecake. The website does not publish prices. In November and December it opens Monday to Sunday from 13:00 to 21:00, with continuous service, and rests on Thursdays. From April to October it opened every day at the same hours; for the rest of winter, confirm. Beneath the palace is the house's winery. The Mayor de Migueloa tasting starts at €25 with five wines and cheese, and is booked a day in advance. Conditions worth reading beforehand The room is available from 14:00 and is vacated before 12:00; if you will arrive after 18:00, let them know. The full cost of the stay is paid when you book, and special offers and rates are not cancellable or refundable: choose your rate carefully. The tourist tax is paid at the hotel. Under-18s need written authorisation from their parents or guardians. Pets are not allowed. The car, outside the wall The old town is pedestrianised: leave the car in the public car parks outside the wall and walk in. The hotel's conditions mention parking as an extra that is booked and charged separately; ask when you book what they offer. Without a car, the bus from Vitoria and Logroño stops a few minutes away. Bikes for the lagoons They hire out mountain bikes at €15 an hour, with a minimum of two hours. With them, the Laguardia lagoons are a flat ride among vines. On foot, from the door, you have Santa María de los Reyes at the northern end of the old town. - **Casa Rural Erletxe** (Country house): Erletxe, "house of bees" in Basque, is a country guesthouse inside Laguardia's walled old town, on Rúa Mayor de Peralta, one of the old town's streets. It is a small house whose owner lives in the same building, and it suits anyone who wants to sleep inside the wall and do everything on foot. Two floors for guests and a double upstairs Guests occupy the ground floor and the first floor. On the second lives the owner, and there is also an independent double room there that looks onto the open patio and the valley, to the south. The website does not publish how many rooms there are in total, nor their sizes or prices: they are shown when you book through its direct booking link or by asking. A library lounge, a garden and a lift for two What the house does detail is its services: breakfasts, daily cleaning, its own garden, free wifi and a small lift, for two people, that saves the stairs with suitcases. The lounge has a large bookshelf and armchairs for reading for a while after coming back from the wineries. There is free space to store motorbikes and bicycles, and they will tell you about bike hire in the town. The website does not make clear whether breakfast is included in the price. No car at the door The old town is pedestrianised, so the car stays in the car parks outside the wall or on Avenida de la Diputación, with the public lift that goes up to the old town. Take from the car whatever you will need. If you arrive without a car, the Alavabus bus from Vitoria-Gasteiz or Logroño stops at the foot of the town, a few minutes' walk away. On foot from Rúa Mayor de Peralta From the door you have the whole old town at hand: the El Fabulista winery, in Plaza de San Juan; the tourist office on Calle Mayor 52, with the visits to Santa María de los Reyes and the Torre Abacial; and for eating, Amelibia, next to one of the gates of the wall. Sleeping inside lets you taste in the afternoon and walk back. Times, dogs and cancellation, by phone The website does not publish check-in and check-out times, whether dogs are allowed, whether there are beds for children or the cancellation conditions. Ask before booking on 945 621 015, on 657 799 311 or at erletxe@gmail.com. - **Hotel Marqués de Riscal** (Spa hotel): The Marqués de Riscal hotel occupies the titanium building that Frank O. Gehry built over the Elciego winery, founded in 1858, about 7 km from Laguardia. It is Rioja Alavesa's luxury stay: a night inside the building that can be seen from all over the region, with the winery beneath and the vineyards all around. Titanium over a winery from 1858 The hotel opened on 10 October 2006 in Marqués de Riscal's City of Wine. Gehry, the architect of the Guggenheim in Bilbao, designed the building, with sheets of coloured titanium and steel, and also the interior decor. It belongs to Marriott's The Luxury Collection and has the Green Key environmental certification. Sixty-one rooms and a walkway There are 61 rooms, ten of them suites, spread across two buildings joined by a cantilevered walkway. At the top, a lounge for guests serves as a viewpoint: on one side, La Rioja; on the other, the Basque Country. The winery's website does not publish sizes, types or prices: they are shown when you book on the hotel's page at Marriott. Francis Paniego's table and the Caudalie spa There is no need to leave to eat. There are three places: the gastronomic restaurant, with Francis Paniego as culinary adviser; 1860 Tradición; and the Vinoteca & Bistró. The Caudalie Vinothérapie spa works with grape extracts, brown sugar, honey and essential oils, in massages and treatments. The hotel also has a 100-seat auditorium and ten event spaces. Visiting the winery as a guest The winery visit is the same one any visitor takes, with a three-wine tasting from €30, but guests do not buy it on the website: it is requested from the reservations department, on 945 180 888 or at reservations.marquesderiscal@marriott.com. The €45 and €60 ones are only for over-18s. The winery opens every day from 10:00 to 19:00. How it fits into the trip Elciego is about ten minutes by car from Laguardia; the Alavabus bus does not go there, so you need a car or taxi. The plan Sunday in Laguardia leaves the winery for the afternoon, after the old town. If you prefer a smaller hotel among the wineries, the Hotel Viura, in Villabuena de Álava, is about 6 km away. Breakfast, parking and children, not published The winery's website does not publish check-in and check-out times, breakfast, parking or conditions for children. On animals, the winery says they are not allowed on its premises except guide dogs; confirm with the hotel if you are travelling with a dog. Hotel telephone: 945 606 000. - **Hotel Viura** (Hotel): A hotel among wineries Villabuena de Álava is a small village in the Rioja Alavesa with a figure that explains it: the Hotel Viura counts 43 wineries around it. The hotel is a pile of coloured cubes fitted into the hillside, beside the church, and can be seen from afar among the stone houses. It has four stars and only 35 rooms, larger than usual; some with a terrace and views of the village or the Sierra de Cantabria. Wine, bistro and rooftop Beneath the hotel, former escape tunnels have been turned into its wine cellar, and the wine list is long. You eat in the bistro, reached down a staircase, with informal cooking of local, seasonal produce; the bar serves pintxos and the terrace and the rooftop are for an aperitif, with the bell tower beside you. The hotel organises wine tourism and gastronomy experiences and proposes routes through the wineries and villages of the region. Why sleep here Because it solves the problem of every winery route: getting back. From Villabuena, Bodegas Baigorri, in Samaniego, is about 4 km away, Laguardia about 12 and Elciego, with Marqués de Riscal, about 6. You do the tastings, dine in the bistro and do not touch the car until the next day. Booking on their website they offer a best-price guarantee, late check-out and a welcome drink. What the website does not say It does not publish check-in and check-out times, whether animals are allowed, or the parking: ask when you book. - **Hotel Eguren Ugarte, in the winery at Páganos** (Hotel): A hotel inside the winery Eguren Ugarte is on the A-124 road, in the area of Páganos, on the outskirts of Laguardia, with the Sierra de Cantabria behind and the vineyards of the Rioja Alavesa in front. The hotel is part of the winery: 21 rooms, fifteen comfort, four deluxe and two premium, with views of the vines. All bookings include breakfast, buffet and à la carte, with the day's pastries. Why it is a wine hotel Because the visit starts beneath your feet. The winery has 2,000 metres of excavated galleries, and its guided tour walks through them, shows the winemaking and ends with three wines and an aperitif, for €22. With a traditional lunch with wine pairing, €55; the children's menu, €20. There is also a tasting in stages of four premium wines in four different corners with four pintxos (€50), an introductory tasting course with five wines (€45), a horse-drawn cart ride through the vineyards with lunch in the vineyard (€90, minimum four) and, at harvest time, a family grape harvest on Sundays in late September and early October (€40 adults, €25 children). The house's two restaurants are the traditional Martín Cendoya and the gastronomic Victorino Eguren. What the website doesn't say It does not publish the category, prices, check-in and check-out times or whether animals are allowed: everything is checked when booking, on 945 600 766 or on the form on its website. How it fits From here, Laguardia is a few kilometres away, with its underground cellars, and Héctor Oribe is in Páganos itself. Sleeping at the winery, the visit with lunch is done without going back to the car. ## Car-free: By bus from Vitoria or Logroño Laguardia is easy to do without a car. Alavabus line 9 links Vitoria-Gasteiz and Logroño through the town, with about ten departures a day, also at weekends, and an hour's journey from Vitoria. From Logroño there are more lines. In Laguardia, the old town, the calados, the tastings and two of the restaurants are within walking distance. Presupuesto orientativo: 80–140 € por persona y día. ### Dónde dormir without a car - **Hotel Silken Villa de Laguardia** (Spa hotel): The Silken Villa de Laguardia is the town's big hotel: four stars and 84 rooms on Paseo de San Raimundo, at the foot of the walled old town and surrounded by vineyards, 15 km from Logroño. It has what the houses in the old town cannot offer: its own parking, an outdoor pool and a 1,000 m² spa. On Paseo de San Raimundo, beneath the wall The hotel is in the lower part of the town, outside the wall. That means two things: you drive right up to the door and leave the car in its car park or garage, and to enter the old town you walk a few minutes uphill. For anyone travelling with suitcases, with children or with a car loaded with wine, it is more convenient than accommodation inside the pedestrianised town. Around you have what can be done without climbing: the Villa-Lucía wine museum, on the Logroño road, and the path to the Laguardia lagoons, which leaves along that same road among vines. Wine Oil Spa The spa covers about 1,000 m² and bases its treatments on wine and olive oil: massages, facials, circuits, baths and wraps. We have not been able to confirm prices, circuit hours or minimum age: ask when you book. Rooms for families and groups The 84 rooms are spacious and the hotel presents them as designed for families and groups too. There is a restaurant and café, with a breakfast buffet, a terrace, a gym and laundry. It is a smoke-free hotel in all its areas. Among the Laguardia accommodation in this guide, it is the one with a pool. A bus at the door Without a car, the bus stops in front: Alavabus line 9, between Vitoria-Gasteiz and Logroño, has the "Laguardia (Hotel)" stop on Paseo de San Raimundo. From Vitoria it takes about an hour; check the season's timetable on the Alavabus website before setting out. Check-in, dogs and garage, to be confirmed We have not been able to confirm on its website the check-in and check-out times, whether dogs are allowed, or the prices of the car park and garage. Ask on 945 600 560 or at reservas.laguardia@hoteles-silken.com. - **Posada Mayor de Migueloa** (Small hotel): Mayor de Migueloa is a medieval palace at number 20 Calle Mayor in Laguardia, right in the walled old town. It is a hotel, restaurant and winery at once: you sleep above the calado where its wine is aged and you have lunch or dinner in its restaurant without going out into the street. Walls, beams and palace floors The rooms keep the stone, the wooden beams and the old floors of the house. All are for two people and with one bathroom, but none is the same. There are three kinds: Standard: a double bed or two singles, with views of the street or an inner courtyard. Each differs in style, size and decor. Superior: the largest and the one that keeps the most of the palace, with two double beds or one extra-large and a small sitting room. Junior: bright, with a 1.35 m bed, views over the town, a small sitting room and a bath. They have heating, air conditioning, television, hairdryer, bed linen and towels, internet, and are non-smoking. The website does not publish the number of rooms or the prices, which are shown on the booking engine. Chuletones by breed and a tasting beneath the house The restaurant specialises in grilled meat and fish, with seasonal vegetables and Riojan dishes such as the menestra or the stuffed chard stalk. Its chuletón menu goes by breed: Galician ox, Tudanca ox, Galician blond, black Angus, Simmental, Minhota, Highland, Hereford, Friesian and Swami. Desserts are home-made: chocolate sponge, torrija and cheesecake. The website does not publish prices. In November and December it opens Monday to Sunday from 13:00 to 21:00, with continuous service, and rests on Thursdays. From April to October it opened every day at the same hours; for the rest of winter, confirm. Beneath the palace is the house's winery. The Mayor de Migueloa tasting starts at €25 with five wines and cheese, and is booked a day in advance. Conditions worth reading beforehand The room is available from 14:00 and is vacated before 12:00; if you will arrive after 18:00, let them know. The full cost of the stay is paid when you book, and special offers and rates are not cancellable or refundable: choose your rate carefully. The tourist tax is paid at the hotel. Under-18s need written authorisation from their parents or guardians. Pets are not allowed. The car, outside the wall The old town is pedestrianised: leave the car in the public car parks outside the wall and walk in. The hotel's conditions mention parking as an extra that is booked and charged separately; ask when you book what they offer. Without a car, the bus from Vitoria and Logroño stops a few minutes away. Bikes for the lagoons They hire out mountain bikes at €15 an hour, with a minimum of two hours. With them, the Laguardia lagoons are a flat ride among vines. On foot, from the door, you have Santa María de los Reyes at the northern end of the old town. - **Casa Rural Erletxe** (Country house): Erletxe, "house of bees" in Basque, is a country guesthouse inside Laguardia's walled old town, on Rúa Mayor de Peralta, one of the old town's streets. It is a small house whose owner lives in the same building, and it suits anyone who wants to sleep inside the wall and do everything on foot. Two floors for guests and a double upstairs Guests occupy the ground floor and the first floor. On the second lives the owner, and there is also an independent double room there that looks onto the open patio and the valley, to the south. The website does not publish how many rooms there are in total, nor their sizes or prices: they are shown when you book through its direct booking link or by asking. A library lounge, a garden and a lift for two What the house does detail is its services: breakfasts, daily cleaning, its own garden, free wifi and a small lift, for two people, that saves the stairs with suitcases. The lounge has a large bookshelf and armchairs for reading for a while after coming back from the wineries. There is free space to store motorbikes and bicycles, and they will tell you about bike hire in the town. The website does not make clear whether breakfast is included in the price. No car at the door The old town is pedestrianised, so the car stays in the car parks outside the wall or on Avenida de la Diputación, with the public lift that goes up to the old town. Take from the car whatever you will need. If you arrive without a car, the Alavabus bus from Vitoria-Gasteiz or Logroño stops at the foot of the town, a few minutes' walk away. On foot from Rúa Mayor de Peralta From the door you have the whole old town at hand: the El Fabulista winery, in Plaza de San Juan; the tourist office on Calle Mayor 52, with the visits to Santa María de los Reyes and the Torre Abacial; and for eating, Amelibia, next to one of the gates of the wall. Sleeping inside lets you taste in the afternoon and walk back. Times, dogs and cancellation, by phone The website does not publish check-in and check-out times, whether dogs are allowed, whether there are beds for children or the cancellation conditions. Ask before booking on 945 621 015, on 657 799 311 or at erletxe@gmail.com. ### Servicios - **Alavabus buses to Laguardia**: Line 9 Vitoria-Gasteiz–Laguardia–Logroño, about ten departures a day and an hour's journey from Vitoria · Lines 8 and 10 from Logroño ## Luxury: Gehry, a spa and a tasting menu Rioja Alavesa has a well-put-together luxury weekend: a night in the Gehry building, a top-end tasting, a wine spa and a long tasting-menu lunch in a small village. Presupuesto orientativo: From €300 por persona y día. ### Dónde dormir in style - **Hotel Silken Villa de Laguardia** (Spa hotel): The Silken Villa de Laguardia is the town's big hotel: four stars and 84 rooms on Paseo de San Raimundo, at the foot of the walled old town and surrounded by vineyards, 15 km from Logroño. It has what the houses in the old town cannot offer: its own parking, an outdoor pool and a 1,000 m² spa. On Paseo de San Raimundo, beneath the wall The hotel is in the lower part of the town, outside the wall. That means two things: you drive right up to the door and leave the car in its car park or garage, and to enter the old town you walk a few minutes uphill. For anyone travelling with suitcases, with children or with a car loaded with wine, it is more convenient than accommodation inside the pedestrianised town. Around you have what can be done without climbing: the Villa-Lucía wine museum, on the Logroño road, and the path to the Laguardia lagoons, which leaves along that same road among vines. Wine Oil Spa The spa covers about 1,000 m² and bases its treatments on wine and olive oil: massages, facials, circuits, baths and wraps. We have not been able to confirm prices, circuit hours or minimum age: ask when you book. Rooms for families and groups The 84 rooms are spacious and the hotel presents them as designed for families and groups too. There is a restaurant and café, with a breakfast buffet, a terrace, a gym and laundry. It is a smoke-free hotel in all its areas. Among the Laguardia accommodation in this guide, it is the one with a pool. A bus at the door Without a car, the bus stops in front: Alavabus line 9, between Vitoria-Gasteiz and Logroño, has the "Laguardia (Hotel)" stop on Paseo de San Raimundo. From Vitoria it takes about an hour; check the season's timetable on the Alavabus website before setting out. Check-in, dogs and garage, to be confirmed We have not been able to confirm on its website the check-in and check-out times, whether dogs are allowed, or the prices of the car park and garage. Ask on 945 600 560 or at reservas.laguardia@hoteles-silken.com. - **Hotel Marqués de Riscal** (Spa hotel): The Marqués de Riscal hotel occupies the titanium building that Frank O. Gehry built over the Elciego winery, founded in 1858, about 7 km from Laguardia. It is Rioja Alavesa's luxury stay: a night inside the building that can be seen from all over the region, with the winery beneath and the vineyards all around. Titanium over a winery from 1858 The hotel opened on 10 October 2006 in Marqués de Riscal's City of Wine. Gehry, the architect of the Guggenheim in Bilbao, designed the building, with sheets of coloured titanium and steel, and also the interior decor. It belongs to Marriott's The Luxury Collection and has the Green Key environmental certification. Sixty-one rooms and a walkway There are 61 rooms, ten of them suites, spread across two buildings joined by a cantilevered walkway. At the top, a lounge for guests serves as a viewpoint: on one side, La Rioja; on the other, the Basque Country. The winery's website does not publish sizes, types or prices: they are shown when you book on the hotel's page at Marriott. Francis Paniego's table and the Caudalie spa There is no need to leave to eat. There are three places: the gastronomic restaurant, with Francis Paniego as culinary adviser; 1860 Tradición; and the Vinoteca & Bistró. The Caudalie Vinothérapie spa works with grape extracts, brown sugar, honey and essential oils, in massages and treatments. The hotel also has a 100-seat auditorium and ten event spaces. Visiting the winery as a guest The winery visit is the same one any visitor takes, with a three-wine tasting from €30, but guests do not buy it on the website: it is requested from the reservations department, on 945 180 888 or at reservations.marquesderiscal@marriott.com. The €45 and €60 ones are only for over-18s. The winery opens every day from 10:00 to 19:00. How it fits into the trip Elciego is about ten minutes by car from Laguardia; the Alavabus bus does not go there, so you need a car or taxi. The plan Sunday in Laguardia leaves the winery for the afternoon, after the old town. If you prefer a smaller hotel among the wineries, the Hotel Viura, in Villabuena de Álava, is about 6 km away. Breakfast, parking and children, not published The winery's website does not publish check-in and check-out times, breakfast, parking or conditions for children. On animals, the winery says they are not allowed on its premises except guide dogs; confirm with the hotel if you are travelling with a dog. Hotel telephone: 945 606 000. - **Hotel Viura** (Hotel): A hotel among wineries Villabuena de Álava is a small village in the Rioja Alavesa with a figure that explains it: the Hotel Viura counts 43 wineries around it. The hotel is a pile of coloured cubes fitted into the hillside, beside the church, and can be seen from afar among the stone houses. It has four stars and only 35 rooms, larger than usual; some with a terrace and views of the village or the Sierra de Cantabria. Wine, bistro and rooftop Beneath the hotel, former escape tunnels have been turned into its wine cellar, and the wine list is long. You eat in the bistro, reached down a staircase, with informal cooking of local, seasonal produce; the bar serves pintxos and the terrace and the rooftop are for an aperitif, with the bell tower beside you. The hotel organises wine tourism and gastronomy experiences and proposes routes through the wineries and villages of the region. Why sleep here Because it solves the problem of every winery route: getting back. From Villabuena, Bodegas Baigorri, in Samaniego, is about 4 km away, Laguardia about 12 and Elciego, with Marqués de Riscal, about 6. You do the tastings, dine in the bistro and do not touch the car until the next day. Booking on their website they offer a best-price guarantee, late check-out and a welcome drink. What the website does not say It does not publish check-in and check-out times, whether animals are allowed, or the parking: ask when you book. ## As a family: A walled town to explore without cars Laguardia works with children because the old town is pedestrianised, small and full of nooks: wall gates, alleys, a tower and underground wineries. Outside there are lagoons with birds and dolmens in the countryside. ### What works best The Villa-Lucía wine museum, designed for all the senses Going down into a calado winery with the tourist office The Torre Abacial, with a fixed-time session The lagoons and the Chabola de la Hechicera ### Where to sleep Silken Villa de Laguardia, with a pool and spacious rooms Casa Rural Erletxe, with a garden ### Where to eat Asador Villa-Lucía, with pizzas, burgers and chicken for children Amelibia serves half portions ### Worth knowing At Marqués de Riscal children aged 3 to 10 pay €4; from 11 to 17, €14 It is cool in the winery: bring a jacket ### Qué hacer as a family - Walk round Laguardia's walled old town - Church of Santa María de los Reyes and its polychrome portico - Visit to Marqués de Riscal and Gehry's hotel in Elciego - Climb the Torre Abacial - Cellar visit with the tourist office - Villa-Lucía wine museum - Walk round the Laguardia lagoons - Chabola de la Hechicera dolmen ## With young children: Car-free streets and a museum to touch With small children, Laguardia is comfortable: the old town has no traffic and the distances are short. The visits are brief and there are green spaces on the outskirts. ### What works best The walk round the old town, with a pushchair along the main streets The Villa-Lucía museum and its gardens The tourist office's calado winery, a short visit The lagoons, flat, with binoculars ### Where to sleep Silken Villa de Laguardia, with a pool in summer ### Where to eat Asador Villa-Lucía, with play rooms and a children's menu ### Worth knowing The climbs from the car parks are steep: there is a public lift Do not take a pushchair up the Torre Abacial ### Qué hacer with young children - Walk round Laguardia's walled old town - Cellar visit with the tourist office - Villa-Lucía wine museum - Walk round the Laguardia lagoons - Chabola de la Hechicera dolmen ## With teenagers: Caves, towers and a titanium building Teenagers are more drawn to tunnels than to wine. The wineries dug beneath the streets, the tower and the Gehry building have appeal; the tastings, for them, without alcohol. ### What works best The El Fabulista calados, seven metres below ground The Torre Abacial and the painted portico of Santa María The Gehry building in Elciego Cycling round the lagoons and the vineyards ### Where to sleep Silken Villa de Laguardia, with a pool and gym ### Where to eat Chuletón at Mayor de Migueloa ### Worth knowing At Marqués de Riscal, ages 11 to 17 pay €14 Riscal visits 2 and 3 are only for over-18s ### Qué hacer with teenagers - Walk round Laguardia's walled old town - Church of Santa María de los Reyes and its polychrome portico - Visit to the El Fabulista underground winery - Visit to Marqués de Riscal and Gehry's hotel in Elciego - Climb the Torre Abacial - Cellar visit with the tourist office - Villa-Lucía wine museum - Chabola de la Hechicera dolmen ## With friends: Cellar Tunnels, a Glass Cube and Signature Wine Rioja Alavesa is a comfortable setting for a group that wants wine without losing the plan: wineries dug out beneath Laguardia, signature architecture in Samaniego and Elciego and stone villages ten minutes from each other. A weekend is split between the wineries and the town: in the morning, a visit to a signature winery; at midday, lunch with views of the vineyard; in the afternoon, the walled old town with its cellar tunnels. The next day, Samaniego, Labastida or Elciego. As visits are concentrated and booked by the hour, it is worth settling them before the accommodation. ### What works best The El Fabulista underground winery: cellar tunnels beneath the Samaniego palace, with grape treading and a tasting of two wines from €14 Baigorri, seven floors beneath a glass cube, with a tasting and pintxos or a menu for €25; Tuesday to Saturday with booking Marqués de Riscal, the 1858 winery and Gehry's hotel, from €30 and every day The tasting at the Mayor de Migueloa winery: five wines and cheese, one hour and from €25 The walk around the walled town, free and car-free The route through Samaniego and Labastida, half a day by car among vineyards and stone villages ### Where to sleep The Posada Mayor de Migueloa, in a medieval palace within the walls, with its own restaurant and winery The Hotel Viura, in Villabuena de Álava, with a winery, bistro and rooftop among 43 wineries ### Where to eat Amelibia, next to the wall, with views of the vineyard and a tasting menu; open on Sunday at midday Asador Villa-Lucía, with vine-cutting grills and a wine bar Héctor Oribe, signature cooking in Páganos, with two tasting menus ### Keep in mind The best-known wineries are visited by reservation: confirm the time and language The cobbled slopes of the old town are tiring: bring comfortable shoes Name the driver before starting the tastings: the villages are a few minutes away by car ### Qué hacer with friends - Walk round Laguardia's walled old town - Visit to the El Fabulista underground winery - Visit to Marqués de Riscal and Gehry's hotel in Elciego - Tasting at the Mayor de Migueloa winery - Through the Sonsierra: Samaniego and Labastida - Visit to Bodegas Baigorri, the winery beneath the glass cube in Samaniego ## Consejos ### Buy the cultural visits online The tourist office sells the portico, the tower and the calado on its website, with limited capacity and a maximum of four places per purchase. ### Bring a jacket to the wineries The calados are several metres underground and the temperature is cool all year. ### Combine Laguardia and Haro in the same trip The road along the foot of the sierra passes through Samaniego and Labastida: half an hour between the two without stops. ### If you are going to taste, someone should not drink Or come by bus and sleep in the old town. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### What is there to see in Laguardia in a day? The walled old town, the portico of Santa María de los Reyes with a guided visit, an underground winery such as El Fabulista and, in the afternoon, Marqués de Riscal in Elciego or the lagoons. ### Can you drive into Laguardia? Not into the old town, which is pedestrian-only. There are public car parks next to the wall and a lift from Avenida de la Diputación. ### How do you get to Laguardia without a car? By Alavabus bus: line 9 from Vitoria-Gasteiz, in an hour, and lines 8, 9, 10 and 11 from Logroño. ### How much does it cost to see the portico of Santa María de los Reyes? €5 for the guided visit, of about 40 minutes; €3.50 reduced. It currently has scaffolding because of the restoration. ### Which wineries can you visit without a car? In the old town, El Fabulista and Mayor de Migueloa, and the tourist office's calado winery. Marqués de Riscal, in Elciego, needs a car or taxi. ### Where do you eat on Sunday in Laguardia? Amelibia, next to the wall, and Héctor Oribe, in Páganos, are open on Sunday at lunchtime; book.