Western Andalusia Food Wine Tour

SEVILLE, ARRIVAL

Arrival to Seville. Private transfer to your hotel and time to relax.

TAPAS TOUR

Tonight, time for your first genuine dining experience in Andalusia with a tapas tour style dinner. That’s the way we mostly eat in Seville and Andalusia, we like ordering several small portions and share them with a glass of wine, and very often by the countertop. Tapear has become a must for any foodie.

Experience first hand from the very first second the inner Andalusian spirit.

MONUMENTAL SEVILLE

You will spend the morning in a private-guided tour visiting some of the most impressive monuments of Seville; the Cathedral and the Alcazar Palace (Reales Alcázares) all dating from the 11^th to the 16^th century. Discover the charms of Seville and its deep heritage. After the tour nothing better than a lovely lunch at some of our preferred restaurants in the city, trust us.

Free afternoon and evening to enjoy the city on your own pace.

COOKING CLASS

This morning you will enjoy a lovely early visit to one of Seville's food markets, there is no better way to understand a local culture than watching its inhabitants food trading every day with the freshest produce. After the food shopping, time for a fun and educational cooking class to learn some of the most popular preparations. Get ready to roll your sleeves.

Free evening to enjoy Seville on your own.

JAMÓN EXPERIENCE

Why does Iberian ham lead the top 4 world’s finest foods list? The honorable list defines foie, caviar, truffle and jamón ibérico as the four gastronomic pearls.

What makes jamón ibérico so special compared to other pork hams such as the adorable proscioutto di parma or the sweety French porc noir gascon?

The Iberian pork is an extraordinary breed: it has the capacity to transform the acorns and the rest of foods that make up their diet - their diet is based on herbs and grasses - in heart-healthy fats. We invite you to discover all the secrets of this gastronomic jewel in its natural habitat, the dehesa ecosystem, the Mediterranean forest, in a full day tour from Seville.

Free evening.

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

We’ll pick you up in the morning and start driving towards the beautiful Natural Park Sierra de Grazalema.  First stop will be at Zahara de la Sierra, a lovely white village at 1,640 feet altitude and listed among one of The Most Beautiful Towns of Spain. Upon arrival you'll have a chance to visit a great extra virgin olive oil producer, small but of a great quality. Spanish olive oil production doesn’t always occur on large swaths of flat landscapes, as we tend to imagine; although this is the case in Sierra de Cadiz, where we are. As a result of the steep slopes, only mules and muleteers can access the groves. You will share a great time with the owner who also makes a wine of very limited production. Then, time to stroll around labyrinthine streets, and admire the 13th century castle.

Afterward, you'll head to Grazalema, another must, and internationally renowned for its woolen blankets of the highest quality. Grazalema was founded in the Andalusí era and the Berbers settlers introduced the wool manufacturing techniques.

After lunch, final transfer to Ronda. Free evening.

RONDA AND ITS WINES 

After breakfast, you will be impressed by the beauty of the city, perched on the El Tajo river canyon. Enjoy a unique private-guided tour of Ronda on a 3-hour walking tour and end up visiting a lovely winery you will fall in love with.

Ronda wines under the designation DO Sierras de Malaga were born in Roman times.⁣ From its strategic position in the upper basins of the Guadalhorce and Guadalete rivers and surrounded by iron, copper and lead mines, the area was occupied since prehistoric times.⁣
Vineyards are between 750 m and 1,000 m altitude and it’s the combination of the warm Mediterranean highland climate⁣ and the stronger cooler Atlantic influences⁣ make Ronda wines so unique.⁣

Lovely red wines are one more reason to visit the white city where Orson Wells ashes are buried and that inspired Ernest Hemingway in his journalistic career forever.⁣

After the wine tasting, enjoy a really nice lunch; this time we would suggest a 2-Michelin food experience to die for. Are you ready?

Free evening.

BEAUTIFUL WHITE TOWN

Today you leave Ronda and head to Jerez but you will stop en route for another extraordinary wine experience in the stunning town of Arcos de la Frontera. Upon arrival, explore the narrow streets of Arcos on foot, it is an adventure in itself because the town is so narrowly perched on its rocky mount, the whitewashed houses are closely packed, often Arabic and adobe-like in tone. It is so beautiful!

ARCOS WINES

Then, meet your driver, he will be driving you to your next wine encounter, a gorgeous wine estate only 15-minute far. Enjoy a private visit and tasting in this finca whose reds are among the wine elite. There is no designation or origin in the area, wines are labeled as IGP Vinos de la Tierra de Cádiz.  A hearty rustic lunch is foreseen in the winery, but could be planned at some local restaurant too.

After lunch, time for your final transfer to Jerez de la Frontera, check-in and relax. 

JEREZ, HISTORICAL CITY

After a fresh breakfast, time to visit Jerez, the capital of sherry. You’ll become aware of its rich historic tradition, diversity of activities and complex social structure.

Scholars insist that the word sherry is a corruption of the Spanish Jerez, but it seems more likely that both words stem from the Arabic Sherisch, as the city was called during the 400 years of Moorish occupation. Before that Jerez had been known as Xera by the Phoenicians and Ceret by the Romans. Jerez is in the Andalusia region, Spain's touristic cliché come true. The sidewalks are shaded by orange trees, the houses dazzling white, their black-grilled balconies geranium bedecked, the plazas boasting royal palm trees, bougainvillea, roses and camelias. Within minutes you find that climate and customs combine to slow the pace while quickening the senses. Follow your host and feel the local vibe.

SHERRY WINES

Then, find yourself inside a wine cathedral, yes, Jerez is home town of probably, the most beautiful wineries in the world.  Enjoy a private sherry winery visit, feel free to clarify all your doubts about the complex world of sherry wines and fall in love with these unique wines. Lunch will follow in a second winery, a family run small business with 7 hectares of own vineyards and making some of the most singular wines in Jerez. Enjoy a paired meal and then hand by hand with the owner, get to taste sherries straight from the cask, a unique and memorable experience.

Free evening. We suggest booking a table in a tabanco some evening to enjoy the local atmosphere and some flamenco performance.

CADIZ, THE LITTLE HAVANA

The oldest populated western city of Europe, Cadiz, presents a labyrinthine historical center, where duality is extreme: tradition and modernity; sea ​​and land; courtyards and turrets; two cathedrals, and a gorgeous food market. Extreme or not, we are in Cádiz and here everything is exaggerated. We’ll accompany you across the city to admire the architecture, the lifestyle squares full of kids, the brave ocean and the seafront that reminds La Havana in Cuba. In Cadiz is where the Spanish first Constitution was signed, and the French troupes could never invade the city. We can still fell nowadays that sense of freedom and the strong personality of the city is patent.

Did you know Cadiz was listed among the 52 Places to Go in 2019 by The New York Times? Enjoy a walking guided tour of Cadiz with our fabulous host and feel the free spirit!

Then, enjoy a fabulous lunch - based on seafood - before heading back to the hotel. Relax.

SHERRIES FROM EL PUERTO

At 6.30 pm be ready to head to another of the three pillars of the Sherry Triangle, El Puerto de Santa Maria, set on the banks of the Guadalete river, it is known as The City of the 100 Palaces. El Puerto is sitting on a rich but unnoticed declined grandeur. The fish port and its strategic situation within salt marshes and infinite beaches surely worth a stop. Unfortunately, very few bodegas have survived, and we cannot miss visiting those survivors. Surprisingly, the few still standing are set in splendid wine cathedrals and their sherries are simply delicious. Be ready for a sensorial and unexpected wine visit with a complete sherry wines tasting at one of the most remarkable Spanish bodegas, and enjoy their Toro Gallery, a unique museum dedicated to the history of the Osborne Bull since its creation in 1956, an iconic advertisement that became one of the most important symbols of our country,  and is found all over the Spanish highways.

We'll book you a table at the restaurant by the winery, so you can simply make your taste buds dance in a tapas fun style. A great plan for a great last evening.

VEJER, A CHARMING TOWN

This morning your driver will take you to one of the nicest and cutest white little towns: Vejer de la Frontera. Vejer belongs to the club of The Most Beautiful Towns of Spain. Located at 200 meters of altitude, its position was already coveted by Tartessians, Romans and Arabs. Today its 12,812 inhabitants boast of being a walled town with winding streets and dazzling popular architecture. From the distance, only the walls, the castle (from the 10th and 11th century) and the church of the Divino Salvador (an interesting sample of Gothic-Mudejar built on a mosque) stand out with their stone seen. Explore the stunning white-washed cliffside architecture of Andalusia’s heart and admire tiled roofs, immaculate white walls and flowers everywhere.

BLUE FIN TUNA

Every spring shoals of massive Bluefin tuna pass through the narrow Strait of Gibraltar, preferring the balmy Mediterranean to harsh Atlantic waters for mating. It is on the beginning of this great migration, skirting the exclusive beaches of Zahara de los Atunes and Barbate in Cádiz, where the illustrious silver-backed “bulls of the sea” are captured “en paso” (or “on their way”) in a sophisticated and artisanal fashion: the ancient fishing tradition known as Almadraba. Enjoy what's probably the best blue fin tuna in the world during a superb lunch today in a one of the world best tuna restaurants.

After lunch, transfer back to Jerez, may you want to stop by some beach, let us know.

END OF JOURNEY

Today, private transfer to the airport, train station, to Seville or to your next destination in case of any extension