Highlights of Spain

Upon your arrival into Madrid’s airport, you’ll be met by our driver for a private transfer to your accommodation in the city. After settling in and getting refreshed, enjoy a private walking tour along the Art Walk. It’s known for its remarkable beauty and art that’s jam-packed into just two-thirds of a mile, featuring Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Reina Sofia Museum, picturesque Retiro Park with its fabulous glass palace, and, the famous Prado Museum, where you’ll head inside for a private, guided visit. Open for over 200 years, it features one of the world’s finest collections of European art that dates from the 12th-century to the early-20th-century.

Enjoy a full-day trip to Toledo, the famous “city of three cultures,” reaching it with a ride on the high-speed train. Once there, you’ll embark on a private, guided half-day walking tour. Surrounded on three sides by the River Tajo, many of the monuments here date back centuries in time, with influences from Arabs, Christians, and Jews. As you stroll the winding streets, you’ll see mosques, churches, synagogues, museums, and fortresses. Highlights include the imposing gothic-style Toledo Cathedral and Plaza del Ayuntamiento, a square that includes two Renaissance buildings of the Episcopal Palace and the Town Hall.

It’s time to travel to your next destination: Seville. You’ll take a private transfer to the Madrid Atocha train station, embarking on the AVE high-speed train to the so-called “Pearl of Andalusia.” Our driver will welcome you there for the ride to your hotel where you’ll have time to settle in, rest and refresh before joining a special evening tapas and flamenco experience. Your guide will bring you to family-run taverns where you can sample tapas alongside local wines while you learn about the history of flamenco through today. Next, you’ll experience a real flamenco show followed by more tapas and wine tasting.

This morning, our guide will bring you on a private walking tour of Seville that includes the Royal Alcazar and Seville Cathedral. Explore the cobbled streets of the Old Jewish Quarter, walled and a separate section of the city during medieval times. Discover the world’s largest cathedral of its kind, the UNESCO-listed Cathedral of Seville with its gothic- and Moorish-style architecture. Then head to the incredible, more than 1,000-year-old Alcazar, dating back to Moorish times as the oldest still in use royal residence in Europe, with highlights like hand-painted tiles, lovely inner patios, carved wooden doors, and ceilings, and colorful gardens.

We’ve provided round-trip tickets on the high-speed AVE train that will bring you to Cordoba this morning. You’ll be met by our guide who will bring you on a private walking tour that blends architecture, history, culture, and tradition. Take a walk along the Jewish Quarter’s narrow, cobblestone streets to visit one of the world’s most important monuments, the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. This UNESCO World Heritage Site has 12 centuries of history behind it. You’ll experience one of the city’s most unique traditions by visiting the patios of private homes with their colorful flowers and aromas – they even have their own festival in May.

Transfer to Granada today, about a four-hour’s drive away via Ronda, one of the most beautiful and oldest cities in Spain with remains of prehistoric settlements that date back to the Neolithic Age. Just viewing it is sure to take your breath away. Once in Granada, after checking into your hotel you’ll have the rest of the day to relax here at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We recommend delving into the city’s famous tapas culture, with the delicious small plates meant to be shared, typically free with a drink order. They’re an integral part of the dining and social scene.

Explore the most popular attraction in Granada, the Alhambra, on a private guided tour. The internationally renowned site sits on a hill overlooking the city and is made up of a complex of palaces and gardens that were built under the Nazari Dynasty, primarily over the 13th and 14th centuries. These are the only royal residences from an Islamic dynasty that still stand today as they have since the Middle Ages. Your tour will be led by an Islamic art expert who will explain it all in-depth, including the symbols and secrets, philosophical concepts, and mathematical achievements that reflect the entire civilization.

A private transfer will bring you to Granada’s airport to catch your flight to Barcelona. Once there, you’ll be welcomed by our driver for transfer to your hotel. Get settled in and then discover the city’s historic center on a private walking tour. You’ll wander through the Gothic Quarter, famous for its centuries-old historic sites, including Roman ruins and the 13th-century Barcelona Cathedral. Witness the 15th-century Church of Santa Maria del Pi with its 177-foot-high bell tower, walk one of the most famous streets in the city, La Ramblas, enjoy the atmosphere in Plaza Real (Royal Square), and browse the lively Boqueria Market.

Today is free for you to enjoy Barcelona at your pace. Alternatively you may want to arrange a private tour to enjoy the architectural highlights of Gaudi 

The work of Antoni Gaudi can be seen throughout Barcelona, a city famous for its architecture. This morning you’ll take a private guided tour of the highlights which include skip-the-line tickets. Discover Parc Guell, commissioned by Eusebi Güell who wanted to create a stylish park for Barcelona aristocracy, featuring many colorful Gaudi works with Gaudi’s House now a museum. You’ll visit Sagrada Familia Cathedral, a stunning masterpiece fusing gothic- and art nouveau-styles in unprecedented ways, along with Casa Mila (Mila House), an iconic work of civic architecture with its functional and constructional innovations, along with unique decorative and ornamental details.

Pick up from your hotel for a wonderful full-day excursion from Barcelona to the Benedictine monastery of Montserrat via the cable car which offers some of the best views in Catalunya. The monastery dates back to the 11th century, and highlights include the Sanctuary and its mighty basilica. After a tour, you will continue to a local winery to enjoy a tour of the vineyards and tasting, followed by a 3-course lunch. Return to the hotel late afternoon.

After 11 days spent discovering many of the top highlights in Spain, your trip comes to an end this morning. You’ll be met at your accommodation for a private transfer to the airport in Barcelona to catch your flight home or extend your travels elsewhere. If you need ideas, our travel experts are always happy to help.