La Rioja, century-old wineries and the monasteries of Castilian.

La Rioja is the smallest region on the peninsula and can be crossed from end to end in a little over an hour. The Ebro runs through it from west to east and on both its banks are the vineyards that give the wine its name. To the south rise the valleys of the Sierra de la Demanda and Cameros, with mountain villages, beech woods and monasteries. Logroño, the capital, is in the middle of it all: Haro is about forty minutes away, San Millán de la Cogolla three-quarters of an hour and the Rioja Alavesa, which is already the Basque Country, almost at the gates of the city.

Which part should you choose?

• Haro and the Rioja Alta. In Haro the century-old wineries cluster in the Barrio de la Estación, next to the railway line along which they sent wine to Bilbao and France. Several open for visits with a tasting if you book on their website, and Muga also offers balloon flights over the vineyards. The old town, up above, has the Plaza de la Paz and Calle de la Herradura, with wine bars and pintxos. Nearby are Briñas, with its coat-of-arms houses beside the Ebro, and the Conchas de Haro, the gorge through which the river enters La Rioja.
• San Millán de la Cogolla and the Cárdenas valley. The monasteries of Suso and Yuso are a World Heritage Site: the Glosas Emilianenses were written there, the first written testimony of Castilian, and Gonzalo de Berceo studied there. Yuso can be visited Tuesday to Sunday; Suso is under restoration until summer 2027, with special visits that must be booked. On the same outing you can fit Santa María la Real in Nájera, the monastery of Cañas and a meal in Ezcaray.
• The Rioja Alavesa, across the Ebro. Administratively it is Álava, but the wine is the same. Laguardia, fifteen kilometres from Logroño, is the walled town above wine cellars, and Elciego has the Marqués de Riscal winery with its titanium hotel.

How do you get there and get around?

The AP-68 motorway runs along the Ebro valley from Bilbao to Zaragoza through Haro and Logroño; the A-12 links Logroño with Nájera and Santo Domingo de la Calzada, on the way to San Millán and Burgos. From Vitoria-Gasteiz, Haro is about forty minutes away; from Burgos, an hour; from Bilbao, a little more.

Without a car, Haro has a bus from Vitoria-Gasteiz on Alavabus line 12, in an hour. San Millán has a bus from Logroño, line VLR-108 to Estollo, with one departure in the morning and a return in the afternoon, also on Sunday; check the current timetable before you go. Laguardia has Alavabus line 9 between Vitoria and Logroño. To link wineries, villages and monasteries in a day, the car gives much more freedom, but remember that at tastings the driver is someone who doesn't drink.

When should you go?

The grape harvest, from mid-September to October, is the time of year in La Rioja: the vineyards turn yellow and red and the wineries are in full swing. Spring brings green countryside and mild temperatures. In summer midday is hot in the Ebro valley, but wineries and monasteries are cool inside. On 29 June, Haro holds the Wine Battle on the Bilibio cliffs, dressed in white and soaked in wine. In winter the countryside is bare, but wineries stay open by reservation and it is easier to find a place.

What do you eat?

Riojan-style potatoes with chorizo, lamb chops roasted over vine cuttings, piquillo peppers and menestra of Ebro vegetables. In Haro, pintxos on the Herradura and roasts at the grill restaurants of the old town. In the Demanda valleys, meat and game; in Ezcaray, historic eateries such as Echaurren. And Rioja appellation wine, which in the wineries of the Barrio de la Estación you taste in the same hall where it ages.

Sunday outings and short breaks

From Logroño, Haro, San Millán and the Rioja Alavesa are outings of under an hour. From Vitoria-Gasteiz, Burgos and Bilbao, Haro is the easiest Sunday, with a winery visit in the morning and lunch in the village. With a night, combine Haro and Laguardia, half an hour apart along the Sonsierra road, or San Millán with Ezcaray.