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Titan Travel Basque Tour 2017

Basque Tour with Titan Travel

Its been a great few weeks now working on our amazing new Basque Tour with Titan Travel. A seven-night Basque Tour seeing all the main sights of the Basque Country with Titan Travel, a large UK Tour Agency. The Stunning sights of the Spanish Basque Region…

First complete tour in the Basque Country

This is Titan Travel’s first complete tour in the Basque Country. Additionally, 2017 is the first year they are offering a complete 7-night Basque Tour via their website and via the printed catalogue. which also gets delivered to over 70,000 homes in the UK.

Your base for the week is Bilbao the dynamic, modern yet traditional Basque Capital. Visit the historical cities of Donostia/San Sebastian, world-renowned for its amazing Basque Food. Synonymous also with belle-epoque architecture and its tremendous beach.  Another day trip sees us in Vitoria with its beautifully preserved old town, squares, and Cathedral of Santa Maria. Also walk around Bilbao with the iconic Guggenheim Bilbao museum, and its river regeneration, recognised the world-over by urban planning experts.

In addition to cities, the Basque Tour includes day trips to Gernika and its Casa de Juntas Basque Parliament. Here we learn about and see ‘Guernica’ – Pablo Picasso’s most recognised and discussed artwork. Travel through the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve with its rolling green hills, beautiful estuary, and bird center. Finally, we visit the spectacular La Rioja Alavesa region, currently producing some of the world’s best red wines. Come and join us at two of our favourite bodegas Torre de Oña and Casa Primicia!!

Hotel

Choice of accommodation is very important on a 7-night tour. Therefore we have selected a modern, four-star hotel in the centre of Bilbao with easy access to all the sights. Its close proximity to the excellent new Tram in the centre of the city, makes it so simple to get about. So important for a free evening or afternoon to wander by yourself or with your partner. Half-board is provided as is private transport throughout, with a dedicated driver and Tour Manager. Additionally, the guides are chosen for their excellent English, friendly attitude and close attention to the needs and wishes of the groups.

Basque Tour 2018

Looking forward. Titan Travel are offering places on the 2018 tours already. Twelve different weeks are offered across the spring, summer and autumn. Our photos will give you a great idea of whats included!!

  • BASQUE TOUR
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  • Casa Primicia Basque Tour
  • Gernika Basque Tour
  • Bilbao Basque Tour
  • Torre de Oña Basque Tour Laguardia
  • Basque Tour Vitoria

 

Basque Country Food. Where is it from? pt. 1

Basque Country Food…

Food… Hopefully you will have heard about some of the great dishes we prepare here in the Basque Country (there are a few pointers on this blog…) But have you ever wondered where the produce comes from? Accompanied by our friend Jose Pizarro, a restaurant owner from Caceres in Spain, but who lives and owns 3 restaurants in London, we set out over 2 days to discover some hidden gems…

Food research

Spring is in the the air and everything is coming back to life… In the green hills of Gipuzkoa, magic is at work. Txakoli vines are beginning to sprout and the anchovies are arriving in our waters, but some plants are already flowering and bearing fruit and in some cases vegetables.

The tear-shaped pea is an unknown quantity pretty much everywhere. However here, and in the best restaurants in Spain, it commands a seat at the head table. On a sunny day like today, seeing them on the vines and growing in their tiny pods, well, its a luxury!

Its not only the green things either, Further up in the hills is  a little family-run farm that breeds Euskal Txarri, a rare- breed of Basque Pig. Here the father and daughter team produce award winning sausages, hams, black puddings and bacon. A visit to them is an insight into this tasty world!

Basque Culinary Center

The Basque Culinary  Center was  next on our list as THE place to see when talking about food research here, indeed anywhere in the world. The BCC is a unique faculty and part of the University of the Basque Country, the only such faculty in the world. Dedicated to research and development for all things Culinary….

Dining

No visit to the Basque Country is complete without dining in a Txoko or Sociedad Gastronomika. A private dining club if you like where only members are allowed to cook….  Tales of the dinners and diners are legendary here in the Basque Country. So visiting one on Saturday afternoon was the perfect finale to a bust day discovering and learning about our produce.

Have a look at our fotos and a short video

Basque Experiences. Private Basque Country Tours

 

Sociedad Gastronomika 

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    Basque Peas

    The tear-shaped peas of Getaria
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    Best office in the world?
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Gipuzkoa and the Basque Country

Hills of Gipuzkoa, Basque Country

Hidden away up the the green and verdant hills in the Basque Province of Gipuzkoa, one finds a thriving and rich society, a world away from the city of San Sebastián only a short drive away…

Goierri

The hinterland of Gipuzkoa is hilly, there are a few mountains but generally its a green land, full of valleys separated by peaks. This area is called Goierri, and it has an ancient history. Basque culture is stronger here than anywhere else one could say. The locals all speak Basque, all the time, the traditions and the history are omnipresent. The charming small villages dotted around the land are only outnumbered by the baserris or large old stone and timber farmhouses perched higher up on these green and lush hillsides. Hidden away it feels like time has stood still here until you scratch the surface!

Local Produce

Our Basque Culture is true to its roots. Tradition, family, respect and language are all fundamental. However, throughout history, we Basques have adapted and embraced change, and in some cases influenced it!

A Basque Country Tour would be incomplete without a visit to this rich area. Take a six-day hike along the ‘Ruta de Queso’ visiting tiny villages, running streams, mountains, cheese-makers and cider producers. A great way to learn about the region from the locals and their customs. A shorter Basque Tour could involve a visit to an Idiazabal cheese-maker in the village of Segura. The Ondarre farmhouse has been making this cheese from raw ‘Latxa’ sheep milk for 7 generations, and their house is over 500 years old! Not only can you milk the sheep and learn the process, you can stay there too as they have 6 rooms and 2, 4-bed apartments!

Cider

Cider makers abound in this area and a day’s visit would be incomplete without learning (and tasting of course) the regions favourite tipple . From here lunch in a Sagardotegi or Cider House is obligatory!!!

For those more interested in a slightly more refined dining experience a visit to one of the areas superb local-produce markets would be indispensible! Wednesdays in Ordizia ia a market where locals have been bringing their produce, all seasonal of course as that’s how we have always done it here, in fact every Wednesday since the 16th century to be exact…. Saturday sees Tolosa show its wares in a two amazing markets in what was the former capital of Gipuzkoa. Even better, make your Basque Country Tour more complete by visiting the market with a local chef. With them, see how they select the best and then accompany them to cook it yourselves!! Not only learning to cook like a Basque, but eating like one too!! We can’t wait to take you around!!!!

  • Tolosa Market Gipuzkoa
  • Ondarre lambs Gipuzkoa
  • cider museum gipuzkoa
  • Cooking in Ordizia Gipuzkoa
  • Segura Gipuzkoa
  • ondarre gipuzkoa

BBC Radio and Txoko – Basque Dining Clubs

Txoko – Cooking Clubs in Basqueland – BBC Radio 4

The Txoko – A truly fantastic programme transmitted by BBC Radio 4 ‘The Food Programme ‘ on Sunday 13 November.

https://player.fm/series/food-programme/cooking-clubs-in-basqueland

or try this…. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0829dcq#play

This made my day when I heard it earlier, a perfect, well written and researched programme by the BBC none the less on one of the things that I love so much about my Basque Country. A real insight into what a Txoko is, and what happens in them. Some great history and context from some real experts such as Heston Blumenthal (I didnt realise he felt so at home here!!) and the author Mark Kurlansky.

Basque Experiences

Sometimes I wish more of the world knew about what we are like here and what it means to be Basque. Mark Kurlansky makes a couple of good points when he says there is ‘a desire to have their own special way of doing things’ –  ‘they need to be allowed to be who they are’….that is so Basque!!

This goes a little bit of the way, although they didn’t mention the reason why they started. In many cases they were similar to trade guilds seen in the City of London. Centuries ago, men who worked in a similar trade would come together to meet, discuss business in the towns on market days. These men would cook and dine together and more often than not stay the night! So the txoko or dining society was born!!

For me its one of the best plans we can show you here in the Basque Country. If you want to see it in the flesh, well, you know who to get in touch with!! http://basqueexperiences.com/be-delicious/ Basque Tour.

  • Private Basque Tours Txoko
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Basque Experiences at WTM 2016

WTM 2016 – World Travel Market London

For the second year running now, Basque Experiences has participated in the WTM World Travel Market held in London. It is the leading global event for the travel industry to meet industry professionals and conduct business deals.

Invited by Basque Tour, the Basque government’s department of tourism, it gave Basque Experiences the chance to increase market presence. Working on the stand with other agencies, operators and DMCs from here as well as Basque Tour is a real boost. With the experience of last year, I made sure we had a lot of meeting lined up with buyers and operators from our target markets.

Good contacts

In total I made good contacts with around 50 other companies from the US, UK, Spain, and Canada. Of these contacts I would love to see us being able to collaborate with all of them!! But thats not realistic, but with 5-10 I would be delighted, and a mixture of Agencies and Tour operators from the US and UK would be perfect! Hopefully 2017/18 will see Basque Experiences offering more made-to-measure tours to new visitors, and being the Basque Country DMC for specialist private tour companies.

Its not all about just meeting new clients though. It gives you the chance to learn about new trends in the industry and new offers in your own market. I came away with  some good ideas on how to move forward and promote our project.

Here are a couple of pics….. Basque Experiences working hard offering private small group tours to the Basque Country, Bilbao, San Sebastián, La Rioja, Vitoria.  🙂

See you at next year’s WTM.

  • WTM London 2016