Basque Heritage Tour of Northern Spain
Join us from September 19 to 29, 2022
Bilbao, Pamplona and Lekeitio
In partnership with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Boise State University
About the tour:
This trip, sponsored by the Boise State Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and organized by Travel Fever Tours, will explore the roots of the Basque culture in the US by visiting the Basque region in Spain.
Participants will visit the areas where the American Basque population originated from in Spain, gaining an insider’s view of:
Basque history up to the mid-1800s when many Basque began leaving for the US
The economic and social factors that prompted Basque emigration
The Basque’s recent history and the independence movements under Franco
The lives of the families and friends that were left behind in Spain; and
A look at the lives of people who have returned from the US to the Basque region.
What you will do:
While the goal of this trip is to learn, you will not have a stream of university lectures. Along the way, the tour will focus on:
Meeting and interacting with people in the Basque region
Sampling the renowned Basque cuisine; and
Learning about current culture in the Basque region
Visiting many beautiful cities and villages and seeing lovely places.
The trip will begin in Bilbao, a former industrial and shipping hub for the Basque region, and now a growing tourist attraction with its iconic Guggenheim Museum. We will then move into smaller locations, explore Pamplona and its surroundings, and finish in Lekeitio,a small fishing town on the northern Atlantic coast. Lekeitio is directly in the area from where many of the Boise Basque originated.
In total, we will spend 4 nights in Bilbao, 3 nights in Pamplona and 3 nights in Lekeitio.
Tour Dates: September 19-29 (11 days and 10 nights)
Cost: $3800
Maximum group size: 16
How to Register:
Places on this tour are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The trip is expected to fill quickly given the subject of this tour and the location’s popularity.
Tour Activities:
We understand that your primary goal in traveling to the Basque Region is to learn. But we won’t overwhelm you with endless lectures. In our travels, we will make extensive use of local guides from each location we visit. We we prefer that you see and experience things firsthand.
Here is a sampling of the things we’ll do together:
Visit the history museum in Bilbao
Tour a picturesque valley north of Pamplona
Eat seafood beside a harbor on the northern coast
Visit the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao
Tour Vitoria, the modern-day capital of the Basque Region
Visit the Peace Museum and the public market in Gernika
Meet with Basque families in Lekeitio, in the area where most Basque immigrants to Boise originated
Swim in the Atlantic (bring your bathing suit)
And much, much more
Trip Details
This trip is open only to members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Boise State University.
Trip Costs:
Total cost of the trip is $3800
Supplement for single occupancy of $600
Deposit required to reserve a place on the tour: $450
(Places on the trip are limited and are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.)
What’s included in the cost of the trip:
Participation in all tour activities
10 nights lodging
10 breakfasts and dinners (or main meal of the day at lunch), including an appropriate amount of wine or beer at dinner
Pickup and drop off at designated airport
Local transportation by bus and taxi
Participation in excursions and all tour activities led by local guides, including entrance fees and tips for full-group activities
Single occupancy lodging if supplemental fee of $600 is paid
What’s not included:
Airfare
Cost of optional activities
Admission to museums and local sites visited independently
Lunch and snacks
Payment schedule:
$450 deposit. The deposit is refundable through May 1, 2022.
$1675 initial payment (Due May 1, 2022)
$1675 final payment (Due July 1, 2022)
The single supplement of $600 is payable at the time of your initial deposit.
Your deposit:
Places on the tour are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. A deposit is required to reserve your place. This deposit is non-refundable, unless of course the trip is canceled for any reason by Travel Fever Tours. Natural disasters, political instability or low enrollment would form the basis for canceling a trip. You will be contacted once the trip reaches minimum enrollment so that you can proceed with purchase of your flights and make other travel arrangements. In all cases, review of enrollment numbers will not take place any later than the date of the First Installment payment.
Lodging:
You will be staying in separate hotels in Bilbao, Pamplona and Lekeitio. Each has been selected for comfort and location.
Single and Double rooms are available. Double rooms have either a single bed or twin beds. All rooms have private bathrooms.
Meals:
We will enjoy dinners sampling Basque cuisine at various restaurants in each location.
We will also sample an array of Basque Pintxos (tapas)
Pre-trip or End-of-trip add-ons (optional):
It is easy to arrive in Spain early and travel to Bilbao for the start of the tour by train or bus. Similarly, you can normally fly out from a different airport if you wish to visit Madrid, Barcelona, Seville or another location.
Also, you may consider walking with us on the Camino just after the end of this tour. Read More.
Group size:
Maximum: 16
Accessibility:
Participants will spend much time on their feet on this trip, including city tours, museums, and exploring far and wide.
You will need to be able to walk distances on uneven surfaces, mount stairs and negotiate hills. You will also need to carry your own suitcases in and out of our hotels. If I can’t do all this, you are not likely to enjoy this trip.
Cancellation Policy:
If this trip should need to be canceled, it will be rescheduled in May 2023
If those dates are not good for you, your trip payments can be applied to any other trip run by Osher Boise with Travel Fever Tours.