/tro͞oˈvī/ noun. a lucky find. Foodie finds, quirky adventures, & travel off the beaten path
/tro͞oˈvī/ noun. a lucky find
Foodie Finds, Quirky Adventures, & Travel Off the Beaten Path
There’s chance encounters so visually jaw dropping, food so beyond mouthwatering, and hikes so joy inducing it’s crimeful not to share these lucky fortunes. Sharing some new travel adventures, delicious eats, and fun jaunts and can’t wait to hear all about your discoveries in the comments too.
If you could eat your way through a place this would be the one. Basque Country is located in North Eastern Spain, and brimming with sleepy winery towns, rolling hills, and snow capped mountains greeting gorgeous lively sandy beaches, best of all worlds for surfers, wine connoisseurs, foodies, music lover, hikers, really travelers of all kind. If you’d like to dine at the most outstanding restaurants in the world, renting a car is a must in Basque Country. There are nearly 40 Michelin star restaurants with about 16 in San Sebastian alone, lacking in pretentiousness, the people are the most humble, friendliest, and happiest I have met while traveling. Driving is relaxing, right sided, and smooth to navigate, with some of the best paved empty roads ever cruised making the perfect road trip. Flying into Bilbao 2 nights are plenty and car rentals at the airport or in Bilbao are accessible, Europcar and Hertz had some of the best deals and return locations if you do not want a car your entire trip, I suggest starting off in Bilbao to recoup from travel for 2-3 days in this artsy city before starting the road trip.
STAYS: Bilbao is nearly a tourist free beautiful and very walkable small city nestled between mountains, along a river and homes its’ own Guggenheim by architect Frank Gehry.
Exploring : There’s plenty of other things to explore besides the Guggenheim Bilbao:
FOOD: Pinxtos and more, boasting 13 michelin star restaurants and other delicious eateries Basques take pride in their culture and food deeply.
The journey from Bilbao to San Sebastian takes approximately 75 minutes , on the way you will want to make a well advanced reservation at Asador Etxebarri nestled in the mountains by surrounding farms, for a 2-3 hour lunch, well worth the stop. Chef Victor Arguinzoniz is a grilling genius with direct flame beautifully caramelized steaks, oysters on a bed of seaweed, and prawns from Palamos, sticks to the most pure , humble, and pristine culinary experience, so good you will want to cry. Beyond special and worth every penny.
https://www.asadoretxebarri.com/en/home
STAYS SAN SEBASTIAN: you will likely want to stay in San Sebastian for at least 4-5 days if you love food as much as I do, I stayed 6 and never ran out of things to do or food to explore. Just so happened to plan my trip during the Jazzaldia which is a week long Jazz and blues festival in the end of July, there are many concerts for low cost throughout the city, Zurriola beach and the Kursaal terraces put on free concerts, seeing Jimmy Cliff on the beach in the rain for free was pure magic.
“A barrigo llena, corazon contento”
A full belly, makes a happy heart
EXPLORING SAN SEBASTIAN:
FOOD SAN SEBASTIAN there’s a reason this vivacious city is on every foodie’s and chef’s bucket list. Second to Kyoto, Japan it homes the most amount of Michelin star restaurants per square kilometer, with unlimited amazing pinxtos bars and in my opinion it’s a place where Basque heart and soul meets culinary dreams.
Driving through the pristine empty roads of Rioja is every car enthusiasts or road trippers dream, taking just under 2 hours to complete if staying near Laguardia. The mountains and endless, often family owned, 500 small wineries are an incredibly special way to experience the slower authentically preserved Basque pace of life. Exploring walled cities, new tasty libations, and hiking Ebro Valley, bordered with different mountain ranges – Sierra de Cantabria in the north, Sierra de la Demanda in the south, then the mountains of the Basque Country and Navarre. Stayed in
A night at the above Bodegas Marques de Riscal makes for a very special experience. Hotel, Spa, and Winery in one created by the famous architect Frank Gehry; just 2 hours from San Sebastian, the food and views were incredible as well as the relaxing spa experience, and bikes on premise to cruise the wine fields and hills of Rioja. It also homes one of the best wineries in the area La Rioja Alta. https://www.marquesderiscal.com/en/marques-de-riscal-hotel
Also adventure to Laguardia, Spain a beautiful and charming walled medieval city, there’s a wonderful hotel 10 minutes away, Hotel Viura. https://www.hotelviura.com/en/
There are little ‘Asador’ restaurants, meaning ‘grill’ or ‘spit’ which Basque is known for tucked in throughout Rioja towns and dirt roads, stumbled on one at the top of a mountain, unmarked on google, that looked like someone’s home and very well could have been.
Exploring all the wineries in the Haro area, has many solid choices, such as personal favorite Bodegas Gomez Cruzado and López de Heredia Viña Tondonia
Ending the trip heading back to Bilboa Airport the main international airport in the area is about 75 minutes from Haro, Spain.
Traveling to Basque you’ll leave with a full belly and a happy heart, as any where you wind up eating in the Spanish Basque country due to such naturally fertile land and produce, along with the most incredibly hospitable salt of the earth people who cherish it.
Trouvaille 