Check in at our boutique hotel, located in the heart of Madrid, where you’ll have time to relax before our Tour Orientation. At the orientation, get to know your tour directors and travel companions, and learn the details of your upcoming trip. Finish the evening with a Welcome Dinner in a centrally located restaurant nearby.

After breakfast we will head to the Atocha Madrid train station and after two hours in one of the best high-speed trains in the world we will arrive to Santiago de Compostela a UNESCO World Heritage Site, magical pilgrimage shrine for over a thousand years. You’ll enjoy the feeling of breathing the air of an active city while seeing travelers and pilgrims’ arrivals from all over the world.

We will check into our centric hotel and have lunch. Afterwards we will have time to relax and we will take you to the best tapas places in Santiago, where locals like to go to for the most authentic food and drinks! We’ll stroll the city stopping in the main spots, while learning about Santiago history.

We’ll find out about traditional products, like ham, cheese, and exotic canned food in the displays of a gourmet shop. We can taste and learn about D. O Galician wines and find out about more about the amazing Galician food.

We’ll try famous Galician seafood: local oysters, and octopus “a feira”, etc. We will focus on tasting seasonal products with traditional elaborations in places that have unforgettable special ingredients meant to deliver a foodie experience through the city’s downtown. Back to our hotel.

After breakfast we will head to our cooking class visiting the local market with our local chef. We will explore the stalls and seasonal products, to get to know how you choose the best products, which is the freshest fish or seafood, as well as the best Galician products. Afterwards, we will head to the cooking school where we will cook the different traditional Galician and Spanish dishes like” Empanadas”: These pastry pies are some of the best examples of Galician cuisine, and incorporate ingredients from the lands and seas of the region. They are also one of the oldest examples of Galician cooking, dating back over 1000 years!” Carne Ó Caldeiro”. This meat dish is a standard at all the local festivals and celebrations, and it is one of the most popular and delicious in the region and “Torta de Santiago”. This almond-based cake is a delight on its own or with a sweet wine. After the course, when we finish cooking, we will taste the delicious results for lunch! Then it’s back to our hotel for the evening.

Be ready for adventure! After breakfast we’ll head to the north of the province of Ourense, where we will start our guided route through the Ribeira Sacra. This name comes from the Middle Ages, a time when numerous monasteries were distributed on the slopes of these rugged landscapes. The name of this region, which means Sacred Riverbank, comes from the Middle Ages when many monasteries were scattered across the slopes of these rugged landscapes.

On arrival, we’ll board a catamaran that will take us through the river Sil canyons. For an hour and a half, we’ll enjoy the characteristic landscape of the area, and see the enormous walls that rise up to almost 500 meters high. During the cruise, you’ll have the opportunity to sample some traditional wine.

We’ll leave the catamaran and continue the excursion visiting one of the viewpoints of the Ribeira Sacra. After admiring the views, we’ll approach the Monastery of San Pedro de Rocas, one of the architectural symbols of the region. Did you know that, according to legend, it was founded by hermits in the 6th century?

After visiting the monastery, we’ll make a stop in Orense, the thermal capital of Galicia. Once there, we’ll visit the historic center and discover why it’s known as the ‘City of Bridges’ and the thermal capital of Spain.

We will visit an enjoy his ancestral and magical hot springs. After the relaxing experience we will be back to our hotel in Santiago de Compostela, take time to freshen up and we will have dinner in a local restaurant.

After breakfast we will head to the Rías Baixas from Santiago de Compostela and you will be able to visit authentic Galician landscapes and corners that will surprise you. You will have the opportunity to visit places that are not still filling up with tourists and admire his wonderful location and its beauty, such as the picturesque fishing village of Combarro, and other areas that are become popular due to their visual charm and beauty, such as the town of O Grove and the unmistakable Island of A Toxa. On our excursion to the Rías Baixas from Santiago de Compostela, gastronomy is important. You will have the opportunity to enjoy a mussel buffet on a boat and to taste its precious wine in a typical winery in the Rías Baixas. Sounds good right?

Back to Santiago de Compostela and dinner in your own.

After breakfast we will head to Bayonne, famous for his impressive castle following the cost line we will make to Viana do Castelo and learn about its significance in Portuguese history for cod fishing as you walk around its quaint city center with our informative local guide.

The Portuguese hospitality, with its rich gastronomy and vibrant traditions, make of Viana do Castelo a point of obligatory stop for those who visit the Minho region. The city’s landscapes will awaken your senses!

On arrival, we’ll take a panoramic tour of Porto’s classy neighborhoods, dynamic downtown, and bustling port. We will enjoy our first Portuguese lunch and we will check into our central boutique hotel.

Porto played a major role in the history of Portugal throughout the centuries, and also a city that carries on being vibrant and modern, that knew how to adapt to modernity without losing the beauty of Oporto’s unique architecture, the magic of the medieval streets, the dozens of churches covered in blue tiles, the secular monuments and the particular geography will amaze you! We will have time to freshen up and have dinner in this spectacular city exploring Porto through our taste buds with a sampling of delicious local cuisine, teaching us about history, architecture, and culture along the way.

Breakfast buffet in the Hotel.

We will tour The Douro Valley’s landscapes replete with vineyards and bountiful produce. Sip and sample the best of the region’s culinary offerings on this fabulous adventure from Porto. Alongside our local guide, we will visit wine estates and spectacular viewpoints. See, too, the beauty of the Douro River during a boat exploring Portugal’s famed Douro Valley and enjoy touring the valley in our comfortable minivan, you’ll sweep through the Douro’s winding roads as you enter the valley. With terraced vineyards on either side of you, you’ll visit esteemed wineries and the Douro’s most captivating cities: Amarante, Lamego, Régua and Pinhão, the heart of the Alto Douro.

Along the way we will stop at a small owned winery and learn about the Douro Valley’s wine programs. people and culinary heritage. We will enjoy savoring a delicious Portuguese lunch and wine pairings including a variety of reds and white and, of course, Porto wine!

When fully satiated, with knowledge and food, we can relax as we’re taken back to our hotel. Free time until we meet for dinner.

For dinner we will discover the essence of Portugal with a dinner and Fado show with typical Portuguese food as you experience the soulful and sweet-sounding music of Fado that is native to Portugal. Fado is commonly regarded simply as a form of song that can be about anything but must follow a certain traditional structure.

In popular belief, it is a form of music characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea and infused with a sentiment of resignation, fatefulness and melancholia. This is loosely captured by the Portuguese word ‘saudade’, or ‘longing’, symbolizing a feeling of loss (a permanent, irreparable loss and its consequent lifelong damage). In this typical Portuguese style of music, the singer (fadista) is accompanied by a classical guitar and a Portuguese guitar for an intimate and magical performance. In fact, UNESCO awarded it the designation of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2011! Back to our hotel

Free leisure time in Oporto, you’ll have time to wander on your own through Porto’s lively city center — or seek out some more sipping at an old port-wine lodge. Some advice will be offered after breakfast, lunch on your own
Farewell dinner in a local restaurant.

Check-Out and Departure Time flies when you’re having so much fun, but alas…it is time to check out and depart this delicious, “Gabi Food Adventures.” May your future travels come from sweet dreams, and create tasty memories!