Brittany Ferries partners with Rioja to offer exclusive wine experience for UK and Irish travellers

28th April 2025

Brittany Ferries, the leading maritime carrier on the western Channel and Bay of Biscay, has launched an exciting new tour in partnership with the Rioja DOCa Control Board, offering UK and Irish travellers the chance to explore Spain’s renowned Rioja wine region. This four-day immersive journey combines an exclusive winery stay and world-class wines with the opportunity to experience Rioja’s rich culture, landscapes, and gastronomy.

Travellers from both the UK and Ireland can now book the Rioja Wine Experience as a package directly alongside their ferry tickets to Bilbao or Santander, creating a seamless, all-in-one travel solution for wine lovers. With over 300,000 British passengers travelling to northern Spain on Brittany Ferries each year, and the UK accounting for 16% of international tourists to Rioja – as well as being Rioja’s number one export market – this partnership strengthens the already close ties between the UK and Rioja’s wine culture. Irish passengers can also take advantage of regular sailings from Rosslare to both Bilbao and Santander, making the package equally accessible from Ireland.

The package includes a three-night stay at Bodegas FyA, a boutique winery hotel in the heart of Rioja, where a guided tour offers guests a first-hand look at the art of winemaking. The suggested itinerary allows travellers to discover charming villages such as Sajazarra and Laguardia, visit historic wineries in Haro’s renowned Barrio de la Estación, and enjoy wine-paired meals at the lively pintxo (tapas) bars of Logroño. Optional winery visits can be added with special discounts on tours and wine purchases.

The Rioja Wine Experience offers a flexible, self-guided experience, allowing travellers to explore at their own pace. Whether by car or motorcycle, the trip provides the freedom to tailor the itinerary to personal interests, making it an ideal option for couples, families or groups of friends looking for a memorable adventure.

Íñigo Diez, Tourism Product Specialist Destinations Experiences for Brittany Ferries adds, “Northern Spain is an increasingly popular destination for Brittany Ferries passengers seeking authentic cultural and gastronomic experiences. Interest from British and Irish customers has grown significantly, and we now offer up to eight direct sailings a week in each direction between the British Isles and Spain. Rioja, with its rich winemaking heritage, stunning landscapes, and vibrant culinary scene, offers the perfect setting to explore. Travellers have the freedom to travel with their own car meaning they can explore at their leisure – and even stock up on their favourite wines to bring home.”

Recognised as one of the world’s top wine destinations, Rioja attracts close to 900,000 winery visits annually, with around 33% of visitors coming from abroad. The region boasts over 200 wineries open to the public from century-old bodegas to cutting-edge modern wineries, offering a unique blend of tradition and innovation. In the prestigious World’s Best Vineyards Awards last year, Rioja’s Bodegas De Los Herederos del Marqués de Riscal was named the top wine destination worldwide, with a further four Rioja wineries also ranked among the top 50.

This launch coincides with a milestone year for Rioja, as the region celebrates the 100th anniversary of its official designation as a Denominación de Origen (DO) – highlighting a century of winemaking excellence.

The Rioja Wine Experience is available to book now through Brittany Ferries’ website. Packages start from £416 per person from the UK and €429 per person from Ireland, including ferry crossings and accommodation. Ferries operate regularly from Portsmouth, Plymouth and Rosslare to Bilbao and Santander, with options to combine additional travel routes.

To learn more and book the Rioja Wine Experience, visit:

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About Rioja:
Rioja is Spain’s largest and most visited wine region, known for its rich history, exceptional wines, and world-class wine tourism. With over 200 wineries open to the public, Rioja offers a unique blend of tradition and modernity, attracting wine lovers from around the globe.

For more information about the Rioja region and its wines, contact the Rioja Wine UK & Ireland team at Phipps: [email protected]

About Brittany Ferries:
Brittany Ferries was conceived in 1972, starting life as a freight-only ferry-service on 2nd January the following year. The first vessel (Kerisnel) linked Roscoff in Brittany with Plymouth on the south west of England and carried a cargo of cauliflowers and cognac. Since then the company has progressively launched, then strengthened its shipping routes. In more than 52 years of service, millions of passengers and businesses have travelled by sea across the so-called Atlantic Arc (France, UK, Spain and Ireland). They rely on the links forged by more than five decades of experience. In addition to cutting congestion and emissions on busy roads, Brittany Ferries’ motorways-of the sea have helped enrich local communities, creating jobs, nurturing international tourism and boosting cross-border trade. Five new vessels will have joined the fleet between 2019 and 2025. Two LNG-hybrids (Saint-Malo Feb 25 and Guillaume de Normandie Apr 25) complete the largest fleet renewal programme in the company’s history.

Key figures:

  • Turnover: €516million in 2024 compared with €484.7 million 2023 and 444.7 million in 2022. l
  • Employment: Around 2,707 employees, including 1,818 seafarers (full-time equivalent)
  • Passengers: 1,99 m compared with 1.84 million in 2022
  • Freight: 162,000 compared with 155,592 in 2023
  • 13 ships connecting France, the United Kingdom, Spain and Ireland, via 13 maritime routes
  • To come in spring 2025: completion of rail-freight “ferroutage” service connecting Cherbourg with Bayonne
  • 12 ports: Roscoff, Saint-Malo, Cherbourg, Caen, Le Havre, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Poole, Cork, Rosslare, Santander, Bilbao.

Press contact:

Christopher Jones  [email protected]

For images:

Please visit : https://brittanyferriesnewsroom.com/image-library/

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