ARCHIVED - December 3 Wine Bus trip to the town of Jumilla and a leading winery

ARCHIVED ARTICLE -

The trip from Murcia and Cartagena includes guided tours of Jumilla and Bodegas Luzón as well as lunch

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - December 3 Wine Bus trip to the town of Jumilla and a leading winery Wine production is one of the pillars of the economy in northern and north-western Murcia and in recent years wine tourism has become a popular addition to the attractions of these areas, as more and more “bodegas” specialise not only in growing grapes and making wine but also in offering fascinating guided tours of their vineyards and wineries as well as wine tasting sessions.

At the same time, of course, a visit to the main production locations also provides an opportunity to see the towns themselves, and with this in mind the regional tourist board is resuming its Wine Bus service this autumn, organizing coach trips to visit some of the best wineries (and try the best wines) that Murcia has to offer.

An added benefit of these coach trips, of course, is that visitors do not need a designated driver!

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - December 3 Wine Bus trip to the town of Jumilla and a leading winery The coach trips during the autumn are to the Wine Routes of Jumilla, Bullas and Yecla. In all three of these areas Denomination of Origin status has been awarded, and the trips depart from Cartagena and the city of Murcia.

The trip to Jumilla on December 3 leaves from the Hotel Alfonso XIII in Cartagena at 8.00 and the Plaza Circular (at the bus stop outside Mercadona) at 9.00, arriving at the covered food market in Jumilla at approximately 10.00. There are then visits to the castle above the town and the fascinating local museums of Ethnography, Science and Archaeology and a guided tour of the premises of Bodegas Luzón. This is a large winery just south of the town of Jumilla, on the road to the mountains of the Sierra de Santa Ana.

The visit ends with lunch at Restaurante Casa Sebastián.

Bookings can be made online here at the all-inclusive price of 59 euros per person.

For more local events, news and visiting information go to the home page of Jumilla Today.

Address

Plaza del Rollo, 1 30520 JUMILLA

Tel: 968 780237 / 663 300779

Oficina de Turismo Jumilla

The tourist office in the centre of Jumilla is easily found by driving straight into the centre of the town along the Avenida de Murcia and following the signposts. The tourist office is alongside the Parque de Don Albano Martínez Molina, where there are a number of parking spaces.

Jumilla, in the north of the Region of Murcia, has become internationally famous over recent decades due to the quality of the wines produced in the municipality, and wine tourism has begun to attract visitors from other parts of Spain and the rest of Europe.

The tourist office is happy to provide a range of maps and leaflets showing the different bodegas which can be visited within the municipality. Some of these form part of the Rutas del Vino de Jumilla, the Jumilla wine route, and can either be visited as a guided tour or sell their produce directly to the public.(see feed below for more details)

However, the town and the surrounding countryside have plenty of other attractions for visitors, and the popularity of Jumilla wines is leading more and more people to discover other facets of the tenth largest municipality in Spain.

Jumilla Tourist Office

These include the spectacular countryside and birdlife in the Sierra del Carche, the historic remains which range from cave paintings and a Roman mausoleum to the castle, the Iglesia de Santiago, the Town Hall and the Teatro Vico, and the gastronomy: rich stews are accompanied not only by the wines of the area but also by Jumilla pears, which also enjoy Denomination of Origin status.

Tourism in Jumilla is not as seasonal as it is in the coastal areas of the Region of Murcia, but the town is at its liveliest during the fiestas in Holy Week and the August Fair, which incorporates the grape harvest celebrations and the Moors and Christians parades.

The Altiplano of the Region of Murcia, which consists of the municipalities of Jumilla and Yecla, is only just over an hour by car from the Mar Menor, Cartagena, Mazarrón, Torrevieja and Alicante, and anyone wishing to visit real inland Spain and world-class wineries is advised to include Jumilla in their schedule.