La Rioja

La Rioja is famous for wine, so come to imbibe

If you’re partial to the occasional glass of Rioja, head to the town of Logroño in the wine heartlands of Spain for a week of bacchanalian activities at the Fiestas de La Vendima Riojana, the Rioja Grape Harvest Festival, which lasts some six days and coincides with a series of  other important festivals that occur annually in late September. Free regional cuisine, games, fireworks, music, dancing and, of course, wine make it worth your travel time. However, note that events at the festival include bull-running, so if that’s not your cup of tea, you might want to skip it.

The rest of the year, this wine-producing province in northern Spain offers interesting art and ethnographic museums, monuments (such as the 15th-century Cathedral of Santa Maria de la Redonda in Logroño and the Palace of Los Chapiteles in the capital city of La Rioja), and wilderness areas.

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