Experience Overview
Alhambra Palace, flamenco and a tart made from a 200-year-old secret recipe - embrace the old-world cultures of Spain and Portugal.
Highlights
Dining Summary
- 3 Dinner (D)
- 8 Breakfast (B)
Choice Highlights
- Choose between two carefully selected activities
- Seville: Stroll through Barrio de Santa Cruz with a Local Expert and learn about its history.
- Seville: See the city's top sights on a panoramic tour with your Local Expert.
Authentic Dining
- Madrid: Indulge in delicious food and wine at a characteristic restaurant of the city's vibrant centre.
- Lisbon: Delight in a taste of the famous Portuguese custard tart, Pastéis de Belém, made in a 19th-century bakery.
- Madrid: Toast to your travels and enjoy local specialties in one of the city's elegant central neighbourhoods.
Insight Choice
- Seville: Panoramic City Tour Drive with Local Expert or Old Jewish Quarter Walking Tour with Local Expert
- Seville: Stroll through Barrio de Santa Cruz with a Local Expert and learn about its history.
- Seville: See the city's top sights on a panoramic tour with your Local Expert.
Insight Experiences
- Toledo: At a Damascene workshop, meet a master artisan for a personal insight into the ancient craft of sword-making.
- Granada: Visit the famous Alhambra Palace and Generalife Gardens.
Make Travel Matter
- Seville: Visit the Cristina Heeren Foundation to learn flamenco steps and watch an evocative performance. This experience advances United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 11: Quality Education, and Sustainable Cities and Communities.
Summary
- Visit Capela dos Ossos in Evora • National Coach Museum • Fátima Basilica.
- City tours of Madrid, Toledo, Seville and Lisbon, all with Local Experts.
- Welcome Dinner and Celebration Dinner in Madrid • Taste Pastéis de Belém in Lisbon.
Top Rated Highlights
- Toledo: Explore this magnificent ancient city with your Local Expert and visit the Church of Santo Tomé to see an El Greco masterpiece.
- Granada: Explore 'The City of the Pomegranate' with a Local Expert. During sightseeing you'll see the icons dedicated to this fruit throughout the city.
- Seville: Admire the cathedral's immense golden altarpiece and see the Tomb of Columbus held aloft by four kings.
- Évora: Stroll through charming cobblestone streets flanked by whitewashed facades and marvel at the haunting Chapel of Bones.
- Lisbon: Explore the city with your Local Expert.
- Fátima: Join the faithful at one of the world's holiest sites and pay homage at the Chapel of the Apparitions and see the basilica.
- Salamanca: See the golden stone and arcades of Plaza Mayor, and learn about the unique traditions of this historic university city.
- Avila: Explore within the ancient walls of this unique town.
Trip Details
Product Code: 28091
Tour Type: Group Tour
Accommodation: Deluxe
Transport: Private
Guide Language: English
Travel Styles: Family, 55+, Luxury
Tour Operator: Insight Vacations (CA)
Supplier Code: 411.3B
Starts: Madrid, Spain
Finishes: Madrid, Spain
Duration: 9 days
Departures: Guaranteed
Physical Rating: Easy
Includes
Price
Price per person: (Double Occupancy) CAD $4,140 ($460 /day)
Itinerary
While in Madrid, explore the elegant boulevards, expansive parks and varied architectural styles. Join your Travel Director and fellow travellers for dinner at a local restaurant.
Accommodation: Riu Plaza España, Madrid
Meals: Dinner
Visit the fascinating city of Toledo, situated high above the River Tagus. This was Spain's capital during the Golden Era, where Arab, Jewish and Christian cultures flourished side-by-side through the Middle Ages. From here you will venture south to meet a local artisan in a Damascene workshop for a personal insight into this ancient craft, handed down by the Moors centuries ago. Then enjoy a walk within the city walls of Toledo, through the narrow cobbled streets, led by your Local Expert. Visit the Church of Santo Tomé, housing El Greco's famous painting, ‘The Burial of the Count of Orgaz.' Your journey continues to Granada.
Accommodation: Vincci Albayzín, Granada
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
'Give him alms, woman, because there is nothing sadder in life than being blind in Granada', proclaims the inscription on the walls of the Alhambra. Bathed in the morning light, the Alhambra Palace awaits—a fantasy of arabesque gardens, fountains and stone cut like lace. Explore with your Local Expert before visiting the exotic water gardens of the Generalife, the summer residence of the Spanish royals. Take a moment to relax in the sunshine as you enjoy the fine views over the town and its three verdant hills before continuing on to Seville. Visit the Seville Cathedral, the burial place of Christopher Columbus. Explore the city with Insight Choice. Choose to embark on a walk through the old Jewish quarter. Alternatively, enjoy a drive with panoramic views.
Accommodation: Meliá Sevilla
Meals: Breakfast
This day is yours to completely relax or continue exploring this fascinating city. Perhaps join an Optional Experience to Córdoba and visit the magnificent Mezquita, an 8th-century mosque with a Christian cathedral built inside it? Later, visit the Cristina Heeren Foundation, a private flamenco dance school and beneficiary of a TreadRight Foundation grant, for a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Put your rhythm to the test during a dance lesson, before witnessing emotions come to life in a flamenco performance.
Accommodation: Meliá Sevilla
Meals: Breakfast
Continue to the lively university town of Évora, one of the best preserved medieval towns in Portugal, with architectural styles dating back to Roman Times. Visit the fascinating Capela dos Ossos, a chapel decorated with 5000 bones, before making your way to Lisbon.
Accommodation: Turim Saldanha
Meals: Breakfast
During your stay, a guided orientation of the city with your Local Expert takes you to visit the Bel��m Quarter and enjoy a taste of Pastéis de Belém from the patisserie that has been using the same, secret recipe for almost 200 years. View the Monument to the Discoveries and the historic Belém Tower. This fortress was originally set in the middle of the river, but is now left high and dry on the riverbank. Visit the National Coach Museum. With the afternoon at your leisure, consider joining an Optional Experience to the beautiful Portuguese Riviera.
Accommodation: Turim Saldanha
Meals: Breakfast
Travel into the green hills north of Lisbon to visit Fátima, the most celebrated place of pilgrimage in Portugal. Visit the chapel commemorating the appearance of the Virgin Mary to three children in 1917. Cross the border, returning to Spain and continue to Salamanca, famous for its golden stone buildings and the handsome arcades of the Plaza Mayor. Across the River Tormes, see the Puente Romano with 15 of its 26 arches dating from the time of the ancient Romans.
Accommodation: Alameda Palace, Salamanca
Meals: Breakfast
Cross the rock-strewn hills of the Castile, to arrive at Ávila. Admire the impressive city still entirely enclosed within its 11th-century walls, a unique occurrence in Europe. Return to Madrid to explore more of the capital with your Local Expert. At a local restaurant, join your Travel Director and newfound friends for a lively dinner.
Accommodation: Canopy by Hilton Madrid Castellana
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Today, your remarkable journey comes to an end as you transfer to the Madrid-Barajas Airport. Take a moment to reflect on the unforgettable experiences, meaningful connections and enriching encounters that have shaped your travels.
Meals: Breakfast
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Tour Operator
Insight Vacations (CA)
Part of The Travel Company (TTC) family of brands, Insight Vacations began operations in 1978 and is based in Cypress, CA. Journeys are featured to destinations, such as the U.S. and Canada, Europe, Latin America, North Africa, Asia, the UK and Ireland. The company offers are a variety of tours under the classifications of Regional Journeys, Country Roads, Discovery Journeys, Easy Pace trips, and Special Interest tours. Insight is the ideal name for the tour operator, as the journeys provided by Insight Vacations allow travelers to gain further insight into whatever destination they wish to explore. For example, Discovery Journeys are the ideal choice for first-time visitors to Europe. Itineraries include Dine-at-Home or Farm-to-Table experiences so travelers can learn more about how locals live and dine. Regional Journeys allow trip-goers to see a specific location in Europe that they have always wanted to see – Poland, Switzerland, Italy, etc. The carefully planned trips enable customers to immerse themselves in one specific region or country and to become acquainted with its culture, traditions, and people. For anyone seeking travel off the beaten track, Insight Vacations offers Country Roads – trips that lead travelers off the well-tread tourist trail to explore hidden gems where visitors can savor the local produce with Farm-to-Table dining. Some trips are offered under the Easy Pace travel style – the ideal trip choice for trip-goers who wish to slow their pace during their vacation. During these tours, vacationers stay at least 3 nights at each destination, giving them some additional time to explore a place and enjoy it. Regardless of the travel style, many of the vacations offered by Insight Vacations begin with Relaxed Starts – giving travelers time to sleep in a little, spend more time at breakfast, or explore an area on their own. The tour company prides itself on providing business class tours that features luxury coaches with 40 seats. While most coach touring operators provide vehicles with 53 seats, Insight Vacations has re-configured its motor coaches to hold up to 40 guests. This gives passengers extra leg room while traveling and offers them more space and privacy.
In Business Since 1978
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