Rioja Day Trip from Bilbao: Which Wine Tour, and Can You Drive Yourself?
Updated October 22, 2026 · 5 min read
The answer first. Rioja is an easy day from Bilbao, and a tour is the sensible way to do it, because the point of the day is tasting and the drive is long enough that you do not want to be the one behind the wheel. For most visitors, the Rioja wine region tour with winery and Vitoria-Gasteiz is the best balance of wine, a medieval village and a city, and it is rated 4.7. The most reviewed full-day tour is the La Rioja wineries day trip with wine tastings, with 217 reviews and 4.4 stars.
Where you are going
The wine country closest to Bilbao is Rioja Alavesa, which lies in the province of Álava, inside the Basque Country, not in the region called La Rioja. Its main town is Laguardia, a walled medieval village. The drive from Bilbao to Laguardia is about 112 kilometres and takes roughly an hour and a quarter in normal traffic, so a full day trip means about two and a half hours on the road before any stops.
Two wineries here are known as much for their buildings as for their wine: Marqués de Riscal in Elciego, by Frank Gehry, and Ysios near Laguardia, by Santiago Calatrava. One of the tours below is built around them.
The three day trips compared
| Tour | What the listing says | Duration | From | Rating · reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Rioja wineries day trip with wine tastings | Wine culture, a guided tour of a winery and cellar, tastings | 9 hours | €75 | 4.4 · 217 |
| Rioja wine region with winery and Vitoria-Gasteiz | The medieval village of Laguardia, a cellar with a tasting, a guided tour of Vitoria | 9 hours | €70 | 4.7 · 87 |
| Rioja architecture and wine tour | The Marqués de Riscal and Ysios wineries, Laguardia, lunch and Rioja wines | 8 hours | €245 | 4.9 · 75 |
How they differ
The first tour is the most generic: it promises a winery visit and tastings but does not name the villages or wineries in its listing, so check the booking page for the itinerary. The second adds Laguardia and a guided walk through Vitoria-Gasteiz, which makes it more of a sightseeing day with a tasting at its core, and it is both the cheapest and the better rated of the two €70 to €75 tours. The 4.7 rests on 87 reviews, against 217 for the first tour, so read the recent ones.
The third is a different product. At €245 it costs more than three times as much, and its listing says it includes lunch. That is the one to pick if the Gehry and Calatrava buildings are the reason you are going, and you are happy to pay for a more focused day. The listing does not spell out group size, so check that too.
Can you drive yourself?
You can, and a rental car from Bilbao gives you the freedom to choose wineries and linger in Laguardia. But the day is built around tasting, and Spain’s drink-driving limit is low, so the driver either skips the tasting or should not drive afterwards. Many wineries also take visitors only by appointment, so a self-drive day means booking each visit in advance and fitting them around the roughly 112-kilometre drive. A tour solves both problems.
Our recommendation
Book the Rioja wine region tour with winery and Vitoria-Gasteiz if you want wine plus a village and a city in one day. Choose the architecture and wine tour only if the buildings are the draw and the price suits you. For more wine experiences closer to town, look at wine tastings with txakoli and Rioja in Bilbao, or browse day trips from Bilbao.
