I've been on many wine tours in my time - Napa, Tuscany, Bordeaux, etc. - and I must say, this tour…read morewas truly something special. Inma, our guide for the day, was the best tour guide I've ever had; yes, THE BEST. She's truly an expert when it comes to Rioja - we found she often knew more than the wineries' own tour guides! And, importantly, she caters the experience to each client (and I should mention she speaks absolutely perfect English). Sure, she'll take you to the bigger, more commercial wineries like Marques de Riscal & Bodegas Ysios, which are both visually stunning and worth going to - but, because she takes the time to learn your tastes she'll introduce you to wineries right up your alley that you'd never otherwise know about, many of which aren't open to the public. And thanks to her local roots & connections, the vintners quite literally give her the keys to their private operations (Gontes comes to mind). Inma caps the day with a delicious late lunch in a private wine cave at Castillo de San Vicente - again, not something you can just go and do; only the locals have access. The cherry on top: her tortilla de patatas is absolutely delicious. All in all, one of the best single days I've had on vacation my entire life. A fantastic experience that I'd recommend to absolutely anyone.

Incredible Rioja Wine Experience with Inma-…read more My boyfriend and I did the Unusual Suspects private tour with Inma. This experience was the highlight of our trip to Spain and a huge part of that was Inma. She taught us about Rioja wine and the region without overloading us with information, made us feel so comfortable, and the experiences at the incredible wineries were due to her relationships with each of the owners, which is a testament to her as a person. We visited three different wineries and had the best lunch that Inma prepared herself with fresh ingredients from our own garden. My boyfriend still talks about her Tortilla de Patatas. We had an additional day in Logrono before heading to San Sebastian and Inma sent us a detailed list of recommendations and even helped us book a bus to San Sebastian, which was a much better option than the train we had booked. I cannot praise Inma and this experience enough.

This tour was simply the best travel and gastro experience in a long time! Our tour guide was top…read morenotch expert on authentic local Basque cuisine and culture. She catered to our dietary needs/preferences and customized the gastropub tour to fit our needs. I loved everything she had us try, not a single pintxo was anything less than superb (which by the way she ensured was freshly made for her tour guests once we arrived). I am still daydreaming about this experience and already planning my next visit in the near future.

When I originally began to design our Northern Spain European vacation, I was overly excited about…read morediscovering San Sebastian. The scenic resort town is on the Bay of Biscay in Spain's mountainous Basque Country. There are two popular beaches also that one can enjoy either on the Bay or on the ocean. These beaches are bordered by a charming Bayfront boardwalk, and popular restaurants with creative chefs. Anyone that is not a seafood lover will have challenges eating in these popular restaurants. Most of our time invested in this fabulous city was in the Old City where we enjoyed pintxos and at one time an awesome cheese cake for desert. San Sebastián was surly well worth the visit. The magnitude of people and their energy draws out the dynamic appeal and absolutely wonderful culture of this delightful city.

We had a wonderful 14 days trip to Spain and Portugal through Totally Spain. All the pickup, drop…read moreoff worked well. Guides were exceptional. Hotel rooms were as per our expectations except one. The hotel at Sevilla had overwhelming sewer smell at the reception and the breakfast area. It was not a pleasant experience having breakfast with the over powering smell. The room we stayed had no issue.

Just completed a 2 week tour of the Basque country and Barcelona. The entire trip was planned by…read moreTotally Spain, including hotels, transportation and timing for each locale. I was extremely pleased with the entire trip and itinerary. I had to make a transportation change during the trip, and their response time was immediate and exactly as needed. I will suggest Totally Spain to any and all.

I'm pleased to be FTR for this wonderful food tour that I took today here in Bilbao. It's five…read morestars all the way for the lovely Patrizia who had an organized and diverse food experience for me. She was super responsive to my emails and our arrangement went smoothly. We started right on time (actually a little early) and made a good number of stops as we toured around Bilbao on foot. Great bites, terrific wines and a very tasty beer on the way. I didn't need to customize my food preferences, but if you do, that's not a problem. Our pinxtos included a delicious crabmeat, Spanish omeletas, something made with fresh cod and olive oil, a super fresh spinach croquet, fresh beer at a local brew pub and even a tasty kalimotxo (which you'll just have to look up yourself or you won't believe what it is). When it was done, I was stuffed. Super stuffed. But, um, I still managed to go out to dinner later (after a two hour siesta!) to the seafood restaurant that Patrizia recommended. Patrizia clearly knows this city and she knows the food culture here. Her willingness to share it with me made for a wonderful experience and has me wanting more, more, more of Bilbao. Her English was excellent and completely understandable. My Spanish? Not so much, lol. If you're looking for a good deal on a great food tour in Bilbao, you'll do no better than this one.

From my first email to Kepa at Basque Cooltour, I knew we were going to have a great time. We knew…read morewe wanted to do the cider tour and the cheese tour, but we were also looking around San Sebastian/Bilbao area for a jamon tour. I emailed Kepa about the possibility of putting together a custom cider, cheese, and jamon tour and after some research on his part got back to me with a custom itinerary. On Day 1, Kepa kindly picked us up from the apt. we had rented. He took us to the cider museum where we we treated to a tour that allowed us to try out apple-picking using traditional tools, taste 5 types of their over 70 varieties of apples, drink fresh apple juice, learn the importance of txotx, and taste both cider and apple liqueurs. Kepa then took us to a cider house for a traditional meal. There we had a massive 2-hour lunch that included tons of cider, bread, some amazing fried cod, a cod omelette (so much better than it sounds), Spanish chorizo and a T-bone steak (although not the same T-bone cut Americans are used to seeing), and a local dessert consisting of cheese, nuts, and an apple/quince jam of sorts. It was all delicious, if not overwhelming. Sufficiently stuffed, we then headed to the sheep farm. Ainhoa and her brother Mikel greeted us there, and we were treated to a demonstration of how their sheepdog works, saw some adorable 6-day old lambs, and got a tour of the milking and cheese making process. Ainhoa made it all seem so easy and described how different cheeses are made, even making some of their fresh cheese and "yogurt" right before our eyes. We got to taste the fresh cheese (we bought some to eat over the next few days with breakfast), the "yogurt" which was more like a custard (it was my favorite), and the local idiazabal cheese (which we brought home to the US with us). On Day 2, Kepa again picked us up from the apartment and took us a little further inland to see a pig farm. The scenery was amazing and we got to see the farmhouse and barns built in the 1500 and 1600's still in use. The farmer took us on an great tour and shared with us his farming philosophy which focused on letting the pigs forage and live in a natural habitat. He taught us about the heritage breed of pig that he works with and we got to see a litter of adorable piglets. After a great walking tour of his farm, we sat down to enjoy 4 types of cured meat that come from his pigs. All of which were incredible, but because of US Customs Laws we couldn't bring any home. This might have been the biggest disappointment of the trip. I only we could have brought jamon, lomo, and chorizo home! I would highly recommend using Basque Cooltour. They put together amazing tours for us, speak very good English, were pleasant tour guides, taught us not only about cider, cheese, and jamon, but also gave us tips about the local area, and were a good value for the money. Amazing, amazing time!

My boyfriend and I just finished the French Coast tour to Biarritz and San Jean de Luz and had a…read moremarvelous day. Kepa, our fabulous tour guide gave our group of four people a narrated walking tour of these two French-Basque cities. He told us about the history, architecture and customs. Both villages were quite different. In Biarritz we viewed the castle that Napoleon built for his bride and was told they spent seventeen summers in a row there (I would too!) We walked up to many beautiful areas with abundant sea views that were quite breathtaking. There was a musical festival going on in the main square and we could hear the wonderful live jazz playing as we walked through the square. I even bought a very beautiful pair of espradrilles! San Jean de Luz was a very quaint and it was the village where Louis XIII was married in 1660. The church where he was married is still in the square. This village is very quaint with winding cobblestone streets, outdoor cafes, chocolatiers, and various shops. I would love to stay here for a week or so. The ride though the countryside was very beautiful with lush greenery, rolling hills and quaint villages. We plan on doing the cheese tour next!

Small operation with no tasting fee. No tour fee. Really helpful people who worked with us on our…read moreschedule. Idoia was our tour guide and tasting manager. One of the best tours in three weeks of touring la Rioja. Spectacular wines. Nearly the best we tasted among the 30 wineries we visited. They age their wines longer than the required for the la Rioja DOC designation. It results in very special wines at a great price point. Examine the photos for the story of this 90 minute visit. Included is a way you can acquire these wines in the USA.