Remote Spain 2027
Following Spain’s North Coast
Galicia, Asturias & Cantabria
A DonnaRosa Tour
September 22 - October 6, 2025
Embark on an extraordinary 17-day journey across the lush landscapes and hidden history of Northern Spain, traveling from the towering limestone summits of the Picos de Europa to the sacred finish line of Santiago de Compostela. Led by expert lecturer Dr. Donna Pierce Smith, this immersive expedition reveals the rich tapestry of "Green Spain" - from world-famous Paleolithic cave art at Tito Bustillo and Altamira to pre-Romanesque Visigothic churches, dramatic river boat rides through heroic vineyards in the Ribeira Sacra, and ancient Roman fortress walls. Retrace the footsteps of history as you parallel medieval pilgrimage trails, savor local cider and heroic wines, and unwind each evening in historic, luxury Paradores and boutique heritage hotels tucked between the Atlantic coast and verdant mountain ranges.
This “DonnaRosa Tour” is the th in a series of tours including:
Remote Spain: Following Art & History Along the Duero River
Southwestern Spain
Remote Spain: The Foothills of the Pyrennes
Remote Spain: The Alcarrias, The Alpujarras and Granada
MEET YOUR TOUR LEADERS
Rosa Ramirez Carlson’s passion for exploring new places began in her native Peru and led her to Santa Fe, NM, where her determination sparked a career as a travel agent. This journey inspired her to create Journeys International Inc. a company dedicated to turning dreams of travel into unforgettable, life-changing experiences.
Donna Pierce, former Curator of Spanish Colonial Art at the Denver Art Museum, earned degrees from Tulane University and a doctorate from the University of New Mexico. She has curated at the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, the Palace of the Governors, and the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, working with institutions such as the Met, Brooklyn Museum, and MFA Boston. A prolific author, she co-authored Cerámica y Cultura (2003), Painting a New World (2004), Transforming Images (2006), and Cultural Convergence in New Mexico with Robin Farwell Gavin.
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Madrid, Spain
Day 1 · Tuesday, May 25 - MADRID
International arrivals - Overnight in Madrid
Day 2 · Wednesday, May 26 - MADRID (B)
Free day in Madrid. Optional visit to the Museo Arqueológico Nacional (MAN) which is one of Spain's most prominent cultural institutions, founded in 1867. Among the museum's most outstanding pieces is the Lady of Elche, an impressive Iberian sculpture dating from the 5th century BC, famous for its detailed headdress and serene face. The museum also displays items from many of the cultures we will visit on our tour including Celtic-Iberian, Roman, Visigothic, Mozarabic, Romanesque and Gothic.
Picos de Europa
Day 3 · Thursday, May 27 - FUENTE DÉ (B) (L)
Our first day on the road, and the longest of the tour, departs Madrid to travel through Palencia to the village of Frómista, the first town we will visit on the Camino de Santiago. We will visit the important Romanesque church of San Martín de Tours, one of the purest and oldest to survive, full of exotically carved column capitals on the interior. After lunch we continue to the Parador de Fuente Dé which lies in the heart of the Picos de Europa National Park with stunning views.
Day 4 · Friday, May 28 - FUENTE DÉ (B)
Morning ride on the Teleférico. The line ascends 2,470 feet from3,576 feet to 6,070 feet. The trip, which does not have intermediate stops, lasts 3 min 40 sec. The length of the cable is 4,757 feet and the speed of cabins is usually 33 feet/second. The ropeway at Fuente Dé is the longest single-span aerial lift in Europe. A full day in nature for hiking, birdwatching or relaxing in this beautiful place. The Parador offers other optional activities. Lunch is on your own.
Franciscan Monasterio de Santo Toribio de Liébana
Nearby bar and restaurant in the nearby parador of Santillana Gil Blas set in a 17th-c. townhouse
Day 6 · Sunday, May 30 - SANTILLANA DEL MAR (B) (L)
This morning we will go to the Tito Bustillo Centro de Arte Rupestre. The cave was inhabited by humans before 10,000 BC. Due to the collapse of the rock, the original entrance to the cave was sealed thousands of years ago, which preserved objects, tools and wall paintings that were discovered in 1968. Return to Santillana del Mar for an afternoon guided walking tour. Lunch is on your own.
Day 7 · Monday, June 1 - OVIEDO (B) (L)
Drive into the mountains below the Picos de Europa to the village of Covadonga to see the famous Virgin and the battlefield where the first Christian victory against the Muslims took place in 718 or 722 led by Pelayo, marking the beginning of the Spanish Reconquest. We will also visit the interesting town of Cangas de Onís where we will have lunch at the Parador in the former monastery of San Pedro (begun in the 12th c) with views across the Sella River toward the other side of the Picos de Europa. We will visit the Chapel of Santa Cruz, founded in 735 on a Celtic tumulus and the Roman bridge over the Sella River.
Day 5 · Saturday, May 29 - SANTILLANA DEL MAR (B) (L)
Departure from Fuente Dé. A short distance away is the Franciscan Monasterio de Santo Toribio de Liébana that houses a purported piece of the True Cross. Located in the heart of the Liébana Valley, the Monastery stands as a silent witness to centuries of history and devotion. Its legacy dates to the 6th century, when Toribio, Bishop of Astorga, withdrew with some of his disciples to follow the Benedictine rule - the famous ora et labora - bringing with him the sacred relic that would change the destiny of the monastery. It is one of the oldest monasteries in Spain, famous for the gorgeous, illustrated manuscripts made here; we saw an 8th-c. one made here by Beatus de Liébana when we visited San Millan de Cogolla in 2025.
Our next short stop is at the Church of Santa María which is a Mozarabic (Christians under Muslim rule) church dating to the tenth century, founded by local Christian patrons and important for its early medieval architecture and long religious role in the Liébana valley. Continue to Santillana del Mar, a beautiful medieval town that grew up around the Romanesque Collegiate Church of Santa Juliana. Inside the church watch for the distinctive “chessboard” tilework, developed in Jaca and spread all along the Camino. Several defensive towers and Renaissance palaces -- most built by “indianos,” people who left for the Americas to make their fortune and returned to build these mansions -- make Santillana one of the most important historical sites in Cantabria. As a result, it was referred to as “the prettiest village in Spain” by Jean-Paul Sartre. Lunch will be on the way. We will stay in one of two paradors; ours is a modern building constructed in the local style, but the bar and restaurant are in the nearby parador of Santillana Gil Blas set in a 17th-c. townhouse. The restaurant is known for its cuisine in the local style.
Stunning view of the Basilica of Covadonga
Day 8 · Monday, Sept. 29 - LERMA (B) (L)
Drive to Santo Domingo de Silos, a medieval monastery with fabulous, if somewhat bizarre, stone carvings of plants, animals and Biblical scenes dating to the 11th century. The monastery is famous in modern times for its Gregorian chant recordings in the 1990s. Visit the historic monastery and enjoy a delightful group lunch before heading back to Lerma. On the way, we’ll stop in the Tudoresque village of Covarrubias for a brief tour and coffee break, with the possibility of an evening lecture upon return.
Day 9 · Tuesday, Sept. 30 - LERMA (B) (L)
Drive north to Burgos, the only place we will visit on the Camino de Santiago. Guided visit of the friendly town and with its magnificent Gothic cathedral (the third largest in Spain begun in 1221) where the famous El Cid is buried. Prosperous in the Middle Ages due to wool production and trade, Burgos attracted artists from all over Spain as well as from northern Europe, whose work is represented in the cathedral. We’ll also see the early 18th-century Baroque altar screen inside the chapel of Santa Tecla (1734) which may have inspired Captain Bernardo Miera y Pacheco to carve the one now in Cristo Rey church in Santa Fe (1761). Visit the nearby medieval church of St Nicolas (b. 1408) to see its carved and painted stone altar screen (1505), made in the same unusual technique of manufacture used by Miera y Pacheco in Cristo Rey. After a group lunch in Burgos featuring the region’s famous lamb chops, we will return to Lerma.
Day 10 · Wednesday, Oct. 1 - LERMA (B) (L)
We will drive to Benedictine Monastery of Our Lady of Valvanera to see the beautiful Romanesque statue of the Virgin. According to legend, in the early 900s a petty thief hiding out in the rugged Demanda Mountains was inspired to give up his life of crime by a farmer kneeling in prayer. Soon after he had a vision of the Virgin Mary sheltered in a hollow of an oak tree that also held a beehive and had a spring at its roots. He went to a local priest and together they searched for and found the tree with the statue inside its trunk. In 1063, the statue was entrusted to the Benedictine monks who built a monastery and church on the site. She is the Patron Saint of La Rioja. She appears at the top of the Cristo Rey altar screen in Santa Fe probably because both the governor of New Mexico (who paid for the screen) and his friend the artist Miera y Pacheco were originally from the area. We continue traveling in this beautiful mountainous part of La Rioja region to visit the Monastery of San Millan de La Cogolla with its wonderful and strange Romanesque carvings. This area is not only a first-rate cultural place, but it is one of the most scenic and natural environments of La Rioja. Sometime in the middle of the 11th century in the Cogolla monastery, the "Glosas Emilianenses," which are margin notes were added to Latin texts and contain traces of a vernacular language that is recognizably Spanish, making them some of the earliest evidence of written Spanish. We will have lunch at the Hosteria del Monasterio.
Day 11 · Thursday, Oct. 2 - ZAMORA (B) (L)
Check out of the parador after breakfast and drive south to pick up the Duero again at Aranda del Duero and head west. From here on, we will be in the wine region of Ribera del Duero (Banks of the Duero), less known in the US than Rioja wines, but often considered superior by Spaniards. The wine served by the royal family comes from the Vega Sicilia winery here. Drive on to Peñafiel where we will have a guided tour of the spectacular castle on a ridge above the Duero and visit the wine museum in the castle. Visit of the town including its mudejar church of San Pablo and a visit to the Protos winery at the foot of the castle followed by lunch in town. We will then follow one of the most scenic routes along the Duero with a brief visit to the town of Toro to see its Romanesque/Mudejar churches of Santa Maria la Mayor (with its distinctive dome similar to that at Zamora) and San Salvador followed by a possible visit to one of the famous Toro wineries on our way to Zamora. Donna will offer a brief walking tour of charming Zamora in the evening.
Day 12 · Friday, Oct. 3 - ZAMORA (B)
Morning guided walking tour of Zamora to visit the cathedral and castle exterior, both on top of the town walls built on a cliff overlooking the Duero. The cathedral built between 1151 and 1174 is Romanesque with the usual additions over the centuries as styles changed. Its fabulous dome is original and has a very Asian feel to it with scalloped edges, colorful tiles and small pagoda-like projections. Although the main entrance was re-done in the Neoclassical period, the south front still has its original Romanesque façade. The attached museum contains one of the best collections of spectacular Flemish tapestries in Spain. Zamora has nine Romanesque churches, most unmolested by later architects. We will visit several including Magdalena and San Juan as well as several of Zamora’s excellent museums. We will end the tour at the Plaza Mayor surrounded by restaurants and shops full of antiques and ceramics. Lunch is on your own with a free afternoon to explore.
Day 13 · Saturday, Oct. 4 - ZAMORA (B) (L)
Morning drive to Parque Natural de Arribes del Duero. Today we will take a riverboat trip on the Duero, offering breathtaking views of the dramatic cliffs that form the natural border between Spain and Portugal. This guided eco-cruise into Portugal will showcase the region’s unique ecosystems and rich cultural heritage, providing an unforgettable blend of natural beauty, history, and environmental insights.
Day 14 · Sunday, Oct. 5 - MADRID (B) (L)
Drive to Madrid through the Rueda region known for its white wines with a visit to the restored fairy-tale-like Castle of Coca, the only surviving example of mudejar military architecture in Spain, built by Muslim craftsmen for a Spanish bishop and surrounded by a moat. Visit a Rueda winery followed by lunch in Coca or Olmeda. Continue to the airport hotel.
Day 15 · Monday, Oct. 6
International departures
Hotels:
Soria
Hotel and Spa Convento de San Francisco
September 22 - 26
Lerma
Parador de Lerma
September 27 - October 1
Zamora
NH Zamora Palacio del Duero
October 2 - 4
Madrid
Hotel Melía Barajas
October 5
Tour Cost
Double Occupancy
$5,626.00 per person
Single Occupancy (In a double room) $6,815.00
NOTES
The tour will include lectures by Dr. Donna Pierce Smith. It is possible that changes to the above itinerary and activities may be necessary. If so, whatever is altered will be replaced by its equivalent. Price is subject to change due to currency exchange fluctuations or fuel surcharges.
Program Information
INCLUDED:
• All accommodations
• Breakfast daily and 12 lunches
• Transportation throughout by chartered bus
• Entrance fees to all sites indicated in the itinerary
NOT INCLUDED:
• International air fare
• Tips to drivers and guides, please remember to tip the room attendants
Rosa Ramírez Carlson, owner of Journeys International, Inc. is handling all land arrangements.
HOW TO REGISTER FOR THIS TOUR:
Please contact Rosa Carlson to confirm your participation. Space is limited and reservations are accepted on a first come, first served basis.
Please return the following documents to the address listed below:
• Booking and Release Form per person
• Clear photocopy of your passport
• Your deposit check made out to Journeys International, Inc.
MAILING ADDRESS:
JOURNEYS INTERNATIONAL, INC.
49 Verano Loop
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87508
DEPOSIT
A deposit of $1,000.00 per person is due at time of booking. No credit cards accepted.
FINAL PAYMENT IS DUE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3rd, 2025
CANCELLATION PENALTY
• After deposit $1,000.00 is non-refundable
• After April 3rd, 2025 100% is non refundable
Important: Purchase of trip cancellation insurance is strongly recommended. If you have any pre-existing conditions for which you would like coverage, most companies require that you must purchase the insurance within 14 days of your first payment for the tour. You may be able to purchase coverage just for the amount of your deposit and later increase your coverage when the final payment is made. In addition, many health insurers, including Medicare, do not provide coverage for insured persons traveling abroad. Affordable health insurance for overseas travelers is readily available with companies such as Geo Blue, Medex, Travel Guard, Allianz Travel Insurance and similar companies.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Prior to departure, you will receive complete information about the tour. An introductions and orientation meeting will be scheduled prior to the tour departure.
JOURNEYS INTERNATIONAL, INC.
49 VERANO LOOP
SANTA FE NEW MEXICO 87508
info@journeys-international.com
Tel. 505-310-1863