Holiday in La Rioja

What makes La Rioja special as a destination?

La Rioja is Spain's most famous wine region and a paradise for culinary travelers, stretching along the Ebro Valley between the Basque Country and Navarra. This smallest autonomous community in Spain is entirely dedicated to wine, and the endless rows of vines that stretch over gentle hills to the horizon shape the landscape like nowhere else on the Iberian Peninsula. The capital, Logroño, is the epicenter of Rioja wine culture and offers one of the best tapas streets in Spain on Calle del Laurel - in just 200 meters, over 60 bars line up, each with its own specialty. The wineries in the region range from centuries-old bodegas in rock cellars to spectacular new buildings by international star architects. The Ciudad del Vino by Marqués de Riscal, designed by Frank Gehry, is a titanium-gloss masterpiece that houses not only a bodega but also a luxury hotel and a Michelin-starred restaurant. In the High Middle Ages, La Rioja was an important section of the Camino de Santiago, and monasteries like San Millán de la Cogolla preserve the cradle of the Spanish language - the first sentences in Castilian were written here, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The dinosaur footprints in Enciso delight families, while the Sierra de la Demanda in the south offers hiking trails through untouched nature. La Rioja is also a land of festivals - the Wine Battle in Haro on June 29, where thousands splash each other with red wine, is one of the quirkiest festivals in Spain. For German wine lovers, La Rioja is a revelation: top-quality wines, excellent cuisine, and hospitality that is Spanish in the best sense.