Cobblestone Small Group Tours

Company Information

We'd like to tell you something about us, and how we work with our guests to create memorable travel experiences.

First a little history: In 1988 Paulette Hurdlik’s maiden trip to the Basque Country fueled her desire to create what is now known as Cobblestone Small Group Tours.

Cobblestone was the first U.S.-based agency to specialize in small-group tours to the Basque homeland. And she was attracted to everything Basque — the food, culture, wine, countryside, and most of all, the hospitality of the people. She discovered this part of Spain and France to be unfamiliar to many other travellers. As a gesture of her affection for this country, she developed what is known today as the Bilbao & Beyond tour.

In 1995, Paulette teamed up with another experienced traveller — Denise Germer, who was off exploring other parts of the world — equally as exotic and intriguing. Together, they since have added more regularly scheduled tours to Cobblestone’s annual schedule.

Why more than 30% of Our Guests Come From Referrals

Our home office is in New Orleans, but our hearts belong to the places we love: the Basque Country, Catalan Spain, Northern and Central Portugal, and Sicily.

We established our company in 1988, offering small-group tours to areas rarely visited by most Americans. Today, we distinguish ourselves by giving our guests an authentic experience.

Our regularly scheduled tours take place primarily in spring/early summer and fall. Depending on the tour, we accept between four to 21 guests. Our small groups enable each guest to enjoy a more customized pace.

We spend a minimum of two years immersing ourselves in a new region to create an itinerary of places rarely travelled. We also hand-select our guides. We choose them for their knowledge, organizational skills, dynamic personalities, and English language proficiency.

Paulette Hurdlik and Denise Germer, co-owners of Cobblestone Small Group Tours, painstakingly oversee all details of each tour.