Vuelta Spectator Final Week

Welcome to Spain! In the early afternoon, we’ll be meeting in the lobby of our hotel, located on the outskirts of Oviedo. Our hotel is situated in an area known for it’s mineral-medicinal thermal waters which come from a natural spring.

There is no way to guarantee this, but last year we stayed in the same hotel and had two of the premier cycling teams staying in the same hotel. Our guests had pictures with Jonas Vingegard, Sepp Kuss and Remco Evenepol.

Our guide will explain the plan for the coming week at our welcome dinner. We will receive gifts from Custom Getaways.

We will start the day by touring in one of the most beautiful areas of Spain…the Asurias region. This region of Spain is very green and different from other parts of the country that most tourists are familiar with.

Before heading to the finish area, we will tour the town of Covadonga, which is an area known for its military and religious significance. A popular tourist spot is a cave which has been converted into a chapel and is well situated above a waterfall.

We will view the finish of this important mountain stage in the VIP venue located near the finish line. You can choose whether to stay in the comfort of the VIP venue with food, drinks, seats and private restrooms or walk up the mountain for a bit and find a place to watch the race with the crowds.

Once the stages finishes, we head to our hotel, which is located nearby. You’ll be on your own tonight to continue exploring the town and to sample the local cuisine for dinner.

Today we visit the start village in Arnuero. You can walk around the start village, where you can watch the riders sign in for the day and walk around the team bus area. With our VIP access, we will see the racers at the starting line as they depart. The racers will surely have their game faces on today as they will tackle two, category 2 mountain passes in the first half of today’s stage.

The start village is always one of the favorite activities for our guests as you see the racers come out of the team buses and jump on their bikes. Some guests get autographs and pictures with the pros.

After the racers depart, we will find a place for a light lunch before transferring to the Basque region of Spain and the city of Bilbao.

Tonight we will enjoy a group dinner at our hotel in Bilbao. We used this same hotel for the start of the Tour de France in 2023 and our guests loved it. The hotel has a great location across the street from the river and the Frank Geary-designed Guggenheim museum.

This morning we will take a tour of Bilbao, which will include the Old Town.

You’ll be on your own for lunch today and there are many local choices close to the hotel or even better, we recommend  Bilbao’s cable car, or Artxanda funicular, which is a five minute walk from the hotel. Once you reach the summit, you will experience exceptional views of metropolitan Bilbao. In addition, you can enjoy relaxing walks and taste excellent local cuisine up top.  Another great option is to visit the Guggenheim museum, which is a short 15 minute walk from the hotel. The Guggenheim Bilbao is one of Frank Gehry’s most famous buildings and was featured in the movie “Inferno”, based on the Dan Brown novel of the same name.

Mid-afternoon, the group will meet in the hotel bar to watch the finish of today’s stage on TV.  Drinks will be served as we watch the exciting conclusion of Stage 18.

Bilbao is becoming one of the fastest-growing tourist areas in Europe with its unique history and Basque culture. You will be on your own for dinner tonight and it is a perfect chance to wander around the city and try the local appetizers that the locals call “pinchos”.  The Basque gastronomy, due to the proximity between the sea and the mountain, combines perfectly prepared dishes with a great deal of raw materials from these two worlds.

This morning we will depart our hotel and drive to another Frank Gehry-designed building, but instead of a museum, this is a winery. We will take a tour and do a tasting before heading toward the finish of today’s stage in Alto de Moncavillo. The vineyard dates back to 1858, making Marqués de Riscal the oldest winery in the region.

After departing the winery, we will transfer to our next VIP area where we’ll tour the podium area and get pictures on the podium. Our passes will allow us entry to the VIP venue near the finish line where we will experience the race in comfort with food, drinks, private restrooms and TVs to view the action until the racers pass directly in front of us.

After the finish, we will have a short transfer to the town of Logroño…which is known as having the best tapas in all of Spain. You will be able to explore the city and find a cool place for dinner or you’re invited to join a “mini” tapas tour, where you will experience local tapa favorites with your guide.

We will depart mid-morning for Madrid.  The transfer will be long but we will stop along the way for lunch and comfort breaks.

Our 5-star hotel will welcome us and you’ll discover how close to the action our hotel is located. The Plaza del Sol and the Plaza Mayor are both a short walk and you will be on your own to find a place for dinner. We recommend the Mercado de San Miguel, which has one of the most amazing selection of foods you have ever seen!

Everyone will have the morning free to explore Madrid…the Prado Museum, Royal Palace, Plaza Mayor…the possibilities are endless! We will have our farewell meal at lunch since the VIP venue has such good food later in the evening for our dinner.

Later, we will head to the finish of this year’s La Vuelta a España. We will view this exciting final stage finish in the Neptuno VIP area. This venue is located very close to the finish line and has food, drinks, open bar, TVs, private restrooms and comfortable seating to enjoy this experience.

This venue is one of the best we have experienced. In addition to the great food and drinks, you can see the racers pass on 2 sides of the venue. The final podium is very close and our Vuelta contact will try and get us access to the podium area.

This morning we will be departing the hotel at 08:00am with an approximate arrival to the Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suárez Airport (MAD) at 09:00am. If you’d rather, you can always extend your stay in Madrid.

Safe travels and we hope to see you again.