Food, Wine and Art in Madrid

Five days in Madrid featuring a walking tour of Madrid, tapas tour, private cooking class, wine tasting, a visit to Toledo, and Michelin-star dining.

Join us in captivating Madrid as we explore Spanish cuisine, wine, art and history. You will see why millions visit Madrid’s stellar museums every year–and why they call Madrid the city that never sleeps. . .

Our small group tour is meant for curious culinary travelers who are intrigued by great art and historic architecture. You will have a variety of sophisticated encounters with Spanish cuisine in Spain’s capital. A private tapas tour shows you the bars that specialize in the little dishes, while a unique tasting menu at Zaranda (one Michelin star) offers a contemporary creative approach to cooking without abandoning tradition.

You will get up close with Spanish cooking in a cooking class in a private Madrid home, and later get acquainted with some outstanding Spanish wines in a private wine tasting session. A private tour of Madrid’s Prado Museum and historic neighborhoods satisfy any art cravings you may have, while a tour of medieval Toledo outside of Madrid takes you back to the era of the peaceful coexistence of the Christian, Moorish and Jewish cultures.

You will be guided by local experts throughout your stay, affording you a deepened knowledge of the long flourishing creative soul of Spain. Our goal is that you leave with a stronger connection to Spanish cuisine, wine and art.

Itinerary, Prices and Dates

For a detailed description of Culinary Madrid, see Itinerary; for prices, see Prices/Dates.

ITINERARY

5 Days, 4 Nights

Day One

Private Transfer from airport or train station to hotel.
Check in at the 4 star Hotel de las Letras, Madrid’s stylish boutique hotel centrally located on the Gran Vía. You have time for a stroll or a massage in the hotel’s spa before the evening’s Insider’s Tapas Tour.

Tapas in Madrid are synonymous with tradition. In the charismatic old quarter near the Plaza Mayor, a wonderment of charming small bars serves up the small dishes. The informal, authentic settings are ideal for the inherently straightforward tapas. Your guide will assist you in deciding among the varied offerings of meats (chorizo, jamón ibérico), seafood (shrimp, squid, octopus, anchovies), grilled vegetables (peppers, mushrooms), and wine for your multi-course meal.

Day Two

Your guide will meet you at your hotel in the morning and take you on a private walking tour of Madrid. You will enjoy the architecture, history and anecdotes of Spain’s capital on a walking tour that includes some of the capital’s most impressive sights, such as the Plaza de Oriente and the 17th-century Plaza Mayor, a wonderful Baroque square lined with arcades filled with picturesque cafes. You walk through the peaceful Plaza de la Villa where City Hall stands, and the narrow streets of Madrid of the “Austrias”, named after the Austro- Hapsburg dynasty, which came to rule over in 1516. Much of the Austrias neighbourhood today is a gastronomic centre, with traditional restaurants, bars and shops, including the famous Botín, the oldest restaurant in the world.

The tour will include an in-depth visit of the Prado Museum, and an epicurean tour of old Madrid visiting local markets, chocolate specialist shops, boutique wine stores with tastings, specialist cheese and olive oil stores, and possibly a hidden convent making delicious homemade cakes.

In the evening you will have a cooking class with Pilar, a top gourmet chef, in her private home. Chef Pilar welcomes you with an aperitif of top quality Catalan cava (sparkling wine). The class can be hands on or off. You’re free to simply watch while enjoying cava or wine.

Pilar is famous in the culinary scene in Madrid’s already ample selection of top chefs, having been featured in Departures magazine, Gourmet (Spain) and Habitania, along with a flurry of TV shows. You will dine in the company of chef Pilar. Superb wines are selected to accompany the superb meal.

Day Three

Today we board the AVE, the high-speed train, to historic Toledo. Our walking-tour guide will meet us in Toledo upon arrival.

It is Toledo, perhaps more than any other city, with its narrow, winding streets, stone houses and churches, that embodies Spain’s past. Explore the city’s splendid medieval heart, marveling at the soaring Gothic cathedral, among the greatest of Gothic structures in Europe, and home to paintings by El Greco, Van Dyck and Goya. Later, enjoy El Greco’s finest work, the famed Burial of the Count of Orgaz. Explore the old Jewish quarter, which includes two of the few remaining medieval synagogues in Spain. At the beautifully crafted El Tránsito, you can visit the Jewish Museum, devoted to the history and legacy of Jewish Spain. We will visit a convent famous for making marzipan according to recipes dating to the Middle Ages. We return to Madrid on the AVE.

In the evening we attend a Private Wine Tasting with Mary, a professional wine taster and educator, who happens to be an American. Her 14 years of experience in the wine sector and membership in the Unión española de catadores (Spanish Association of Wine Tasters) mean she will lead a high quality wine-tasting session. After the tasting, you will enjoy a tapas dinner with Mary.

Day Four

You have the day to explore as you wish. Madrid’s world-class museums include the Prado, the Reina Sofía (contemporary art, including Picasso’s Guernica) and the Thyssen Museum (over 800 works from the 13th century to the present). Between museums, Madrid invites you to stroll, and the many cafes dotting the streets are welcome spots to rest and people watch.

Optional day trips from Madrid include El Escorial, La Granja, Segovia, or Chinchón.

Your last evening in Madrid may be your best. Our excellent relationship with chef Fernando Pérez Arellano of Zaranda, a one Michelin-star restaurant, enables us to treat you very well. Fernando creates a special tastings menu just for us. For this meal, personal preferences and tastes can be accommodated. Simply let us know any foods or products you can’t eat and then prepare yourselves for a sumptuous culinary experience. Specially selected wines will accompany your dishes. At the end of the dinner (as long as you don’t leave early!) the chef will come and introduce himself to you.

Fernando Pérez embraces a contemporary creative approach to his cuisine, but he never abandons tradition. Indeed, the menu is shaped almost wholly by the seasons of the year.

Day Five

Private Transfer from hotel to the airport or train station. Departure from Madrid.

What We Include: Accommodation for 4 nights Daily breakfast Tapas tour Madrid walking tour Prado Museum tour Toledo tour Private wine tasting session Two dinners 1 private cooking class High speed train to/from Toledo Airport/Train station transfers Restaurant gratuities All entry fees Not Included: Airfare to/from Spain Meals not specified Accident/baggage/trip cancellation insurance Gratuities to guides Personal expenses

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