There is a real difference between seeing Rioja and driving through it. You can cross the whole region by road in forty minutes, visit two wineries, take a photograph in Laguardia and leave convinced you’ve been there. Or you can take the dirt tracks that run between the vineyard plots, climb to a ridge the tarmac never reaches, and stand alone in front of a burial chamber built five thousand years ago.
That, essentially, is what a buggy tour through Rioja Alavesa is. Here’s how it works, what you’ll see, and what you need in order to join one.
What a buggy tour in Rioja actually is
It’s a guided excursion along farm tracks and vineyard roads, in a light two- or four-seat off-road vehicle that you drive yourself, following a guide who leads the convoy.
It is not a motorsport activity, and speed is not the point. The logic is the opposite: the buggy is simply the vehicle that gets you where neither a car nor a tour bus can go. You travel slowly, in convoy, stopping often, and much of the time is spent looking at the landscape and being told what you’re looking at.
All LAGA tours depart from Laguardia, the medieval walled town at the heart of Rioja Alavesa, and we run automatic Can-Am buggies — no gear changes, no clutch. If you can drive an automatic car, you can drive one of these.
Why a buggy and not a car, a bike or a minibus
Rioja Alavesa holds 14,571 hectares of vineyard across 18 municipalities, according to official DOCa Rioja figures. All of it is stitched together by a network of farm tracks built so tractors can reach the plots at harvest — and those tracks are, for the rest of the year, the best way to understand the region.
- By car you can’t use most of those tracks, and where you can, you can’t stop where you want.
- By bike you’ll get there, but you’ll cover a fraction of the ground — and in July, on the climbs towards the Sierra de Cantabria, it becomes a different kind of day out.
- By minibus you see the landscape through a window, from the main road.
- By buggy you cover 40 to 60 km of tracks in a morning, get out wherever it’s worth getting out, and reach the viewpoints from above.
And there’s something else: a buggy has no windows. You smell the rosemary, the dust, the wet earth — and in September, the fermenting grapes. It’s a fairly literal way of being inside a landscape instead of looking at it.
Our two routes: Viña and Sierra
We run two tours. The difference isn’t difficulty — it’s range and altitude.
| Ruta Viña | Ruta Sierra | |
|---|---|---|
| Total duration | 2.5 – 3 h | 3.5 – 4 h |
| Driving time | approx. 2 h | 3 – 3.5 h |
| Departures | 09:00 and 12:30 | 16:00 |
| Territory | Rioja Alavesa | Rioja Alavesa + Rioja Alta |
| From | €230 (2-seat buggy) · €290 (4-seat) | €290 (2-seat buggy) · €380 (4-seat) |
| Best for | First-timers, half-days, families | Seeing everything, and the best light of the day |
(Prices current at the time of publication — check the booking page for up-to-date rates.)
Ruta Viña — the essentials, in half a morning
Our core route, and the one we recommend for a first visit. It crosses the heart of the region around Laguardia, Elciego, Villabuena de Álava, Samaniego, Ábalos and Leza.
Key stops:
- The Elciego viewpoint, with the village, the church of San Andrés and Frank Gehry’s titanium-clad Marqués de Riscal hotel (2006) set against the mountains.
- The San Felices hermitage above Ábalos, with one of the cleanest panoramas over the Ebro valley.
- The Alto de la Huesera dolmen, in the municipality of Laguardia: a megalithic passage tomb with an eight-metre corridor, built roughly 4,500–5,000 years ago, where the remains of more than a hundred people were documented. It’s restored, legally protected, and reached only by track.
- Ysios winery, the undulating aluminium roofline Santiago Calatrava designed in 2001 at the foot of the Sierra de Cantabria — now probably the single most recognisable image of Rioja Alavesa.
Ruta Sierra — the full territory, in the best light
Everything above, plus a crossing into Rioja Alta and a climb towards the mountains. It leaves at 16:00, which in spring and autumn means making the final stops with late afternoon light falling across the vines.
It adds:
- Remelluri, in Labastida, one of the few Rioja estates with its own continuous single-estate vineyard.
- The castle of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, perched above the Ebro.
- The hermitage of Santa María de la Piscina, completed in 1136 and consecrated in 1137 — considered the best-preserved Romanesque building in La Rioja. It appears without warning in the middle of open country, with no village around it.
- El Balcón de la Rioja, beside the Puerto de Herrera pass at around 1,000 m. From up there you take in, all at once, the whole region you’ve just crossed.
What’s included
- Automatic Can-Am buggy, 2 or 4 seats, fuel included.
- Professional guide leading the convoy and explaining the territory at each stop.
- Safety briefing and a handling test before departure.
- Helmet or protective goggles for everyone on board.
- Activity insurance.
- Local produce tasting at the end of the route: DOCa Rioja wine, artisan cheeses and cured meats. Water and soft drinks are available throughout the tour.
The tasting isn’t decoration. For a lot of people it’s the moment the whole thing clicks because means drinking the wine that comes out of exactly the clay-limestone soil you’ve spent the last two hours driving across.
Requirements: who can drive, who can ride
To drive a buggy you need to be 25 or over, hold a valid category B licence, and have held it for at least 2 years.
Passengers are welcome from 4 years old, but the client is who has to bring the reglamentary chair.
No off-road experience is needed. The buggies are automatic, the guide sets the pace, and before setting off you recibe a briefing about how does the vehicle works. Couples and groups can swap drivers during the tour.
When to come, and what to bring
Season by season: spring brings green vines and mild temperatures; in summer the 09:00 departure is the comfortable one; September and October — harvest, and the leaves turning red and ochre — are visually the best weeks of the year; winter gives you bare vines, clear air and often snow on the sierra.
Bring: comfortable clothes you don’t mind getting dusty, closed shoes, sunglasses and sun cream (just in summer), or a warm layer from October to April.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need off-road driving experience? No. The buggies are automatic and you travel slowly, in convoy, behind the guide.
What if I don’t want to drive? You can do the whole tour as a passenger.
Can children come? Yes, from age 4, as passengers, wearing a helmet.
Is there alcohol during the tour? Water and non-alcoholic soft drinks are offered along the way. The tasting does include wine, but it always takes place once the route has finished.
What happens if it rains? Tours run in light rain with protective gear provided. If conditions are genuinely unsafe, we reschedule or refund.
Is the tour in English? Yes. Our guides work in Spanish, Basque and English. Let us know your preference when booking.
How far is Laguardia from the airports? About 20 minutes from Logroño, 45 from Vitoria-Gasteiz, and around 1 hour 15 minutes from Bilbao airport — an easy day trip from Bilbao or San Sebastián.
Can you host private groups, companies or celebrations? Yes. Get in touch and we’ll build the route around you.
Drive the landscape you just read about
Rioja isn’t a region you look at. It’s one you get into.
👉 See our buggy tours and book your departure
Want to understand the territory first? Here’s what makes Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Alta different, and here’s who we are.
Planning the rest of your trip? See our guide to things to do in Rioja Alavesa and eight ideas for wine tourism beyond the standard winery visit.
Ride The Land.