Spain’s New High-Speed Trains Make Rioja Easier to Reach Than Ever

If you’ve been putting off a trip to Rioja wine country, Spain’s rail revolution just made your decision a lot easier. Travel and Tour World reports that competition between high-speed operators Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo has driven fares down and frequencies up across Spain’s major routes – making Madrid a practical launchpad for wine country exploration in a way it simply wasn’t a few years ago.

The numbers tell the story clearly. Spain saw approximately 40 million high-speed rail passengers in 2024 – a 22% increase on 2023 and nearly double pre-pandemic volumes. Average ticket prices across major corridors have fallen below pre-liberalisation levels. More trains, lower fares, and a government tourism strategy explicitly designed to push visitors beyond the beaches and toward inland destinations like La Rioja. It adds up to a genuine opportunity.

“La Rioja illustrates how inland Spain can turn regional identity into a complete tourism experience – vineyards and cellar visits with gastronomy, accommodation, landscapes and historic towns.”
– Travel and Tour World, August 27, 2026

Spain’s official tourism authority Turespaña is actively promoting wine routes across La Rioja as part of a broader push to distribute visitors more evenly across the country. The strategy is straightforward: after years of overcrowding at coastal hotspots, Spain wants travellers to discover what the interior has always offered – extraordinary food, deep history, dramatic landscapes, and some of the world’s most compelling wine.

Rioja checks every box. The region sits within easy reach of Madrid by high-speed rail, with Logroño – Rioja’s capital – accessible via Vitoria-Gasteiz or Zaragoza. Once there, you’re in the heart of a wine region that spans 100 kilometres of extraordinary diversity: from the cool, high-altitude vineyards of Rioja Alavesa to the broader river valleys of Rioja Alta and the warmer Rioja Oriental. Century-old wineries sit alongside cutting-edge architecture. Medieval villages neighbour world-class restaurants. And the wines – well, that’s why you’re going.

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What the rail revolution means for your Rioja trip

FARE	Fares are lower than before liberalisation Competition between Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo has pushed average ticket prices below pre-liberalisation levels across Spain’s major high-speed corridors. Booking in advance with any of the three operators can unlock genuinely affordable fares from Madrid.
HUB	Madrid is the ideal starting point The Spanish capital sits at the centre of the high-speed network. From Madrid, you can reach the gateway cities for Rioja – Vitoria-Gasteiz for Rioja Alavesa, Zaragoza for Rioja Alta – and build a multi-stop itinerary that combines wine country with city culture.
MULTI	Combine Rioja with other Spanish destinations Greater frequency and lower fares make it easy to build a multi-destination trip. Think Madrid for arrival, Rioja for wine country, San Sebastián for pintxos and coast – all connected without a domestic flight or a rental car.
CAMINO	The Camino passes through Rioja The Camino Francés – the most travelled route to Santiago de Compostela – passes directly through La Rioja, including Logroño and the historic wine villages of Navarrete and Nájera. For walkers combining wine country with the Camino, the timing has never been better.

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What awaits you in Rioja

WINE	100 years of winemaking – and more diversity than ever Rioja’s DOCa celebrated its centennial in 2025, making it one of the world’s oldest and most established wine appellations. Today the region produces everything from young, vibrant garnacha to complex, age-worthy Gran Reservas and world-class whites – across 66,000+ hectares of vineyards.
FOOD	World-class gastronomy La Rioja punches well above its weight for restaurants. Logroño’s Calle Laurel is one of Spain’s great pintxos streets. The region also sits close to the Basque Country – home to more Michelin stars per capita than anywhere on earth – making it a natural base for serious food travellers.
ARCH	Spectacular winery architecture The Rioja wine route includes some of the most architecturally ambitious wineries in the world – Frank Gehry’s Marqués de Riscal hotel in Elciego, Santiago Calatrava’s Bodegas Ysios, and Zaha Hadid’s Bodegas López de Heredia visitor centre among them.
STAY	Sleep surrounded by vines From boutique rural hotels to winery-owned accommodations, Rioja offers the full wine tourism experience. Many of the region’s top producers offer cellar tours, tastings and harvest experiences – giving you an insider look at how some of the world’s most celebrated wines are made.

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Spain’s tourism push toward inland destinations, combined with faster, more affordable rail connections, is creating a genuine window for wine country travel that wasn’t there even a few years ago. Rioja – with its century of winemaking heritage, extraordinary diversity of styles, world-class food scene and spectacular landscapes – is ready for its moment.

Whether you’re planning a trip or simply want to bring a piece of Rioja home before you go, start with the wines. Use our Wine Locator to find Rioja near you – because the best way to prepare for wine country is to already know what you love.

Read the full Travel and Tour World article →

This article originally appeared on Travel and Tour World, August 27, 2026.
Written by Abhirup Gan. All editorial content is the author’s own.