Northern Spain Tour Companies

Before I arrived on this tour I thought my highlights would be Barcelona and San Sebastian but honestly, I enjoyed every moment of the holiday! The food and drink in this region is excellent and relatively cheap compared to the UK. You don't spend much time on the tour at the start in Barcelona or at the end in Madrid so I would recommend booking at least an extra night pre/post tour to be able to both great cities. Pamplona has a nice historical old town with some nice walks. San Sebastian is just the place to go to for foodies but is also a nice place in its own right! Logrono is the capital of the La Rioja region so you know you'll get to taste some good wine. I will definitely be coming back to this region! For the tour overall, I felt that we didn't really need 2 nights in Logrono and could have done with either an extra night in San Sebastian to visit Bilbao or a night in Bilbao itself. And that's taking into account the included evening tour of Logrono and the winery tour activities. Beware the 4hr + coach journey from Logrono to Madrid. Our tour leader, Maria Christina did a great job considering that she had to take over at short notice. She organised all our public transport and organised the optional meals, selecting some very decent restaurants. I definitely think she made the trip more enjoyable! I had great fun on this trip and hopefully have made some good friends for life!

This was our sixth Intrepid trip. We were disappointed in the folowing aspects:- First meeting introduction. Tour leader lacked enthusiasm and knowledge of the areas we travelled Most travel not by public transport which we like to do so we get a real taste of the area. Only one night at each town - we prefer 2 nights. Should have had more time in Bilbao as so much to see there. Tapas introduction on the first night was basic. The food served at Picos de Europa was terrible. The bush walk at Picos de Europa was not good. Im sure there are better places to walk. The local food presenters in Barcelona and San Sebastion were great. However it not measure up to what we expected from our previous Intrepid trips so were left disappointed.

Excellent guide. Some sub-standard hotels. Inadequate communication from the tour operator prior to the tour

Buen Camino! This became my favorite phrase throughout the Walk because it became the connection between me and all the beautiful pilgrims walking with me. It allowed the opening of conversations and the sharing of stories and laughter in all different languages. I didn't come to this walk for any purpose or meaning, but what I found was happiness and freindship with my fellow tour members. And, just walking through the countryside - wow!

The north is totally different from south spain. The tour is along the costal areas. Many old towns and is self guided tour. Basically the agency transport you from point to point. Once reach, it will be self guided tour on your own. You take a map from the hotel or use Google map then explore the area on your own. Some of the hotel stays were below 3 stars especially the last one. Perhaps they want to save electricity and the lobby was dim. Not light up. Communication from the tour coordinator (not tour guide that accompanied us) got to be clear and better. Information keeps changing especially on timing. Not recommended for those who speak English only.

Nice driver who also acted as guide

Very well organized. Everything went according to instructions

Well taken cared during our trips. Hotel accommodations great.

Overall, it was a good trip! Driver on van picked us up per itinerary. Our big bus was nice, comfy & clean. Great driver; he kept windows clean & streak free so we can take nice photos. Excellent tour guide; very personable & congenial. Punctual. Hotels were all nice, decent, clean but 2 original hotels per itinerary were changed. The not so good part is that all the sights we were scheduled to see were closed on Dec 31 & Jan 1.

Overall the content of the trip was really enjoyable. However, attempting to fix issues aling the way was disorganized and left a lot to be said about lack of professionalism.

The bus tour surpassed my expectations.

We took an 16-day tour with this firm, and everything exceeded our expectations. The sights we saw were breathtaking, and our tour guides were outstanding. We went on an English/Spanish tour, and the majority of our group was from South America and spoke Spanish. The extra package that includes lunch and select entertainment is highly recommended. Thank you very much for this opportunity!

BEWARE! Do not book unless the tour is absolutely confirmed. They will lie about the timeline they will confirm just to get your final payment. I was told I would know about confirmation about our tour in about a week after I mad the final payment. After two weeks of not hearing anything and contacting them, I was told there would be no decision until 60-45 days before the trip and there was not a refund until that time. When I asked about the incorrect information I was given (the LIE), I was told they were "sorry" and that their hands were tied. I do not trust this company and I wish I had not gone with them

The hotel accommodation was good apart from the hotel in Oviedo. We felt that too much was crammed in to the 10 days for example travelling to Bilbao then being taken the next day to San Sebastián and back to Bilbao that evening. I would have preferred more time in Bilbao. The guide was not clear about travel timings regarding stops and meals, and wasn’t familiar with Northern Spain. We were told our trip from Madrid to the Rioja winery would be just over 3 hours it took nearly 6 and our lunch was a light tapas at the winery in the cellars that had been waiting for us. On another occasion lunch was cancelled at a stop and we moved on only to get to Oviedo for 5 o’clock to find all the restaurants unable to serve us as as it was a national holiday and they weren’t opening again till later. On the Sunday we travelled to see the cathedral at Mondonengo to find it closed. We travelled with you to Sicily last year and it was an excellent holiday. I found the tour operators you used ‘Mapping Journeys, less efficient and disappointing at times.

Poor communication with me from tour company. You stated you gave me the hotel address and phone number of my first hotel. You only provided the name. I found needed information on the internet. Was not met at train station. Had to call emergency number. Did not get itinerary or any follow up. Local guides very helpful.

We chose Insight because we had traveled with them to Switzerland pre Covid an were impressed the tour - HOWEVER.Standards and inclusions have declined since then - e.g. "flourishes' are now a coffee or biscuit instead of pre Covid - entrance to the St Bernard dog breading facility. Hotels are no longer in the middle of the action and in some cases were not even on the town map (similar to Cosmos hotel locations). You had to negotiate a flight of steps to get into some hotels, and one we had to walk in a traffic lane to get into the bus. We will no longer travel with Insight as the value for the top price we paid for the tour is not worth it - choose Cosmos instead and save a motza!!

A truly amazing trip!

Challenging walk, great scenery, fabulous guide, excellent meals.

My niece and I really enjoyed the tour.

Hotel in Madrid was very bad although I asked the high fare available. Would have been nice more excursions through the day

Good tour but more information required prior to departure. We only found out basics such as itinerary details, were to depart from and specifics after emailing Julia travel direct several times. English spoken by second guide was basic and we missed a lot of info and one optional tour entirety - again that could have been outlined in an email previously so we had information and time to decide on options.

The tour destinations were great. The tour guide was knowlegable and friendly. The bus driver was a good driver and professional

The tour exceeded our expectations. Hotels assigned were very good in general.

The trip was interesting in general, except of 2 days: 1. in Madrid we were driven a lot through tunnels under the city and practically didn‘t see Madrid; 2. the stop in Bilbao and a fisher village was a boring waste of time. In general is the trip too expensive as we had only 3 guided excursions during 13 days and also these 3 were mostly only observativ. The Hotels were situated almost always outside of city centers, so it was inconvenient to observe the cities on our own. The Hotels were in general not bad (except of one). I booked this trip because of English as a declared language on the title page of the trip. Alas, I misunderstood that the guides would be bilingual, which was mentioned in the description of the trip. I understood this as lokal (Spanish), English speaking guides and not that the whole trip will be held bilingual. I happened to be the only one English speaking person in the entire group of Spanish speaking tourists and felt awkward that the whole group was urged to listen to the translation of the whole information in English during the long trip. Our guide Riad mastered the translation very good, I had no lack of information. Still the situation was not very convenient for me and the rest of the group. The check in and out in hotels were quick and easy.

Our guide, Jordi. The people we met on our journey who opened their living spaces to the pilgrims. The other pilgrims and their stories. The time to reflect and consider. The pool at one of the hotels we stayed in

The Sagrada Familia. We had an excellent guided tour of it.

Excellent experience! we are a couple with 3 of our children, we had a great time. Ignacio, Ana, Montes, and Borja, a charm, always at our disposal, helping, advising and looking after us. The truth is that we were pleasantly surprised by the level of dedication and customer service of this company, the bikes and helmets were impeccable, the coordination for the transfers was perfect, the hotels were of the highest quality. We have returned very happy, and we recommend Ibero Cycle without any doubt. Thank you dear, we will surely come back some other time!

This was an excellent Tour. Well organised and easy to follow on "Ride with GPS". Accomodation was good and our bags were transported efficiently. Highly recommended.