Would you fly to Europe for a great bottle of bubbly? Food and travel writer, Well, Nadia El Ferdaoussi has created a list of destinations that we are very excited about and helps us get a glass of quality bubbly in our hand in no time!
To me, sparkling wines mark an occasion. It doesn’t have to be a typical celebration like a birthday or promotion though. It could be the last night of summer, a reward for hiking 10km or just an “I survived this week at work!”
To blend bottles of bubbles with a holiday overseas is a little bit more special. Here’s a roundup of some European sparkling wine destinations to visit.
1. Catalonia’s Cava Country
Get out of Barcelona city and along the coast and into the countryside at the Penedès Cava festival in October on a walking holiday in Spain’s Cava country. Based in the coastal town of Sitges, the surrounding areas provide the perfect trails through The Penedès gentle rolling hills, stopping at local Cava producing vineyards and bodegas.
Ramblers Walking Holidays offer a Coast, Countryside and Cava week-long itinerary from £895 excluding flights.
If cycling is more your style, check out this self-guided tour from Inntravel, where you will travel to Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, the ‘Capital of Cava. The route takes in world-famous houses such as
Condoníu and Freixenet, but also tiny family-run wineries along the way.
Inntravel self-guided tour – six nights from £895pp.
![Nadia amongst the vines in Champagne.]()
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Nadia amongst the vines in Champagne.
Nadia amongst the vines in Champagne.
2. Champagne
No sparkling wine list would be complete without a trip to France’s Champagne region. Fly into Paris and drive a couple of hours to Épernay, the capital of Champagne. Here you’ll find the biggest and most well-known houses such as Moët & Chandon and Pol Roger along the Avenue de Champagne, but also stop by the Bar Éphémère. Here, the airstream situated in a courtyard on the main street shows 24 bottles from different houses, with four open each day. A glass of each will only set you back €20 (four snipes).
Follow the wine routes for a DIY trip or try True Luxury Travel for bespoke itineraries for an extra special occasion. See the official Champagne website for more info.
3. Hills of Prosecco
How about a self-guided cycling route through the sparkling wine villages of the Prosecco region in northern Italy? Valdobbiadene, the capital of Prosecco country in Veneto, is one of the towns you’ll stop at along ‘Prosecco Road’ and there are plenty of opportunities to taste the local bubbles.
The dramatic landscape of the region, just an hour from Venice (Prosecco Hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene), is about to become a UNESCO Heritage Cultural Landscape and it’s not hard to see why.
Try BSpoke or UTracks for itineraries from £765.
This passionate visitor to the area has even set up her own tours, with drivers available from €200 per group.
4. UK Vineyards
With the rise in popularity of British sparkling wines, why not take a trip closer to home for
something a little different. Carmarthenshire in South West Wales provides a stunning location for vineyard tours and tasting.
Book into the Jabajak ‘vineyard restaurant with rooms’ for B&B at the edge of the Bluestone Mountains, where you can sleep and sip on site. The hotel’s sparkling ‘Welsh Blush’ rosé wine from The White House range, is the perfect British summer tipple.
Author: Nadia El Ferdaoussi
Dublin native, Nadia is a freelance travel writer whose plan is to wander the globe until the novelty wears off (if that ever happens). Despite travelling to exotic locations the world over, her favourite country is Ireland, “when the sun shines, there’s no better place.” Her dream job would be mystery shopping in hotels since she has a keen eye for detail and already spends most of her time living out of a suitcase. Nadia has a new found passion for wine and is quickly moving up through the ranks in terms of wine education. Her bucket list destination? Antarctica.
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