Laguardia is a small walled town on a hill in the south of the Basque province of Álava, and the capital of Rioja Alavesa, the Basque slice of the Rioja wine region. Come for a day or a night: walk the medieval streets, go down into a family cellar beneath them, then visit one or two of the striking modern wineries in the vineyards below. You will want a car, or a booked tour, to see more than the town itself.
The walled town
Laguardia received its town charter in 1164 under King Sancho VI of Navarre, and the stone walls built around it still enclose the old town. Several of the old gates survive, including the Puerta de San Juan and the Puerta de Páganos, and the town is only a few streets wide, so you can cross it on foot in minutes. Cars are kept out of most of the historic centre; the town's official site points visitors to public car parks just outside the walls.
Things to look out for:
- Santa María de los Reyes. The church's Gothic portal, carved in the late 14th century and painted in the 17th, is one of the few in Spain that has kept its colours. It sits inside a later porch, and visits are normally guided, so ask at or book through the tourist office.
- The town hall clock. On the Plaza Mayor, the clock on the old town hall has little figures that come out and dance to a traditional tune at set times, usually around midday and in the afternoon and evening.
- The underground cellars. The hill beneath the old town is riddled with old cellars and caves, where families made and stored wine. Several can be visited, and the tourist office can tell you which ones are open.
- Félix María Samaniego. The 18th-century writer of fables was born here; his family home, a 17th-century palace, stands in the old town, and a monument to him stands on the El Collado promenade (Spain.info).
The tourist office is at Mayor Kalea 52 (phone 945 60 08 45) and is the place to book the church visit and get the current schedule of cellar tours. Times change by season, so check before you go.
Wineries worth the drive
Rioja Alavesa sits between the Ebro river and the wall of the Sierra de Cantabria, and its wines are made under the Rioja DOCa label, mostly from Tempranillo. Since around 2000 several wineries here have commissioned big-name architects, and these are now sights in their own right (Spain.info has a good overview).
- Bodegas Ysios, just outside Laguardia. Santiago Calatrava designed its wavy roof, inspired by a row of barrels, against the backdrop of the mountains.
- Marqués de Riscal, in Elciego, a few kilometres away. One of the oldest wineries in the region, it added a hotel designed by Frank Gehry, opened in 2006, with ribbons of coloured titanium over the rooftops.
- Viña Real, near Laguardia. Philippe Mazières designed a round, vat-like building, with tunnels for the barrels dug into the hill behind it.
- Bodegas Baigorri, in Samaniego. Designed by Iñaki Aspiazu, you enter through a glass box over the vines; most of the winery is underground so the wine can move by gravity.
Almost all wineries ask you to book a tour in advance, and tours may be in Spanish unless you request English. Check each winery's own website for times, languages and prices.
When to go
Late September and October bring the grape harvest, when the vineyards are busy and colourful. Every September the Rioja Alavesa harvest festival is held in a different village of the area, with grape treading, tasting of the first must, music, dancing and wood-chopping (Turismo Euskadi). Spring is also lovely and quieter. Summers here are much hotter and drier than on the Basque coast, while winters can be cold and grey.
Getting there
- By car. This is by far the easiest way to combine the town with wineries. As a rough guide, allow about one and a half hours from Bilbao, around two hours from San Sebastián, under an hour from Vitoria-Gasteiz and about 20 minutes from Logroño, depending on route and traffic. Do not drink and drive: Spain's general blood-alcohol limit is 0.5 g/l (0.3 g/l for new and professional drivers), lower than in England or most US states, so share the driving or book a tour.
- By bus. Álava Bus line 9 (Vitoria-Gasteiz to Logroño) stops in Laguardia, and line 8 runs between Logroño and Laguardia. Frequencies vary by season and day, and buses will not reach most wineries, so check the timetable on Alavabus before planning around it.
- On a tour. Day trips from Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz usually combine Laguardia with one or two wineries.
If you have more time, a night in Laguardia or Elciego lets you see the town once the day visitors leave. Most visitors set off from Bilbao; see our Bilbao travel guide for the city itself.
Staying connected
Rioja Alavesa is rural: you will be using maps to find wineries down unmarked vineyard roads, checking tour bookings and calling ahead if you are late. A data eSIM for Spain gives you local mobile data from the moment you arrive without removing your own SIM, so your usual number still works for calls and texts. See how much data you need for a trip like this.