What to do in Álava

Álava packs three distinct landscapes into fewer than 3,000 km²: the Gorbeia massif rising to 1,482 metres with beech forests wrapped in morning mist, the Álava plain crossed by ancient drove roads, and the wine-growing south of Rioja Alavesa. The GR-282 traverses Gorbeia Natural Park from north to south; in spring the muddy beechwood gives way to open meadows with views towards the Cantabrian Sea and, on clear days, the Pyrenees. Rioja Alavesa blends cycling routes through vineyards with visits to wineries of striking contemporary architecture. Laguardia, a walled medieval town perched on a hilltop, organises the landscape around its 1,100 inhabitants: arcaded streets, 12th-century underground wine cellars and viewpoints over the Ebro. The Via Verde del Plazaola follows the Navarrese border along a gently graded converted railway, well suited for families. The Salinas de Añana salt flats, in continuous use for more than 6,000 years, present a terraced landscape of active salt pans where walking routes make the scale of the historical hydraulic engineering tangible.