Highlights of Spain

Day 1 – MADRID

Arrive at Barajas airport and meet your driver as you leave customs. We’ll drop you off at your hotel and give you a few hours to get acclimated.

Later in the day begin your first guided tour at Plaza de Oriente, the center of 15th century Madrid. This walking tour will lead you through streets and squares belonging to the times of the Hapsburg royalty. Pass the Royal Palace, Royal Theater and Opera. Your guide will tell you the legends and history of the commoners and nobility during the Spanish Renaissance. A few other stops along the way are the Tower of Lujan, San Miguel Market, Plaza Mayor where bullfights were once held and Plaza de España.

 Day 2 – TOLEDO

Meet your driver in the hotel lobby for the short drive to Toledo.  The ancient capital is well-preserved and full of cultural wonder. As you approach, notice how the entire city crowds onto a high, rocky perch protected by the Tajo River. Your guide will meet you near the Bisagra Gates, the entrance to the Arabic city, before leading you through the Old Town and Arabic Quarters. Visit Zocodover Square where the main market was once set up. Enter the Cathedral, El Salvador Mosque and the nearby Cristo de la Luz Mosque. Along your way, the guide will tell you the store of Toledo’s 3 religions and people groups that lived in harmony during a time when the rest of the country was at war. End the tour at an artisanal swordmaker, Toledo’s famous trade that was set in motion by the Umeyyad Dynasty. You’ll have some time on your own in the city center before returning to Madrid.

Day 3 – CÓRDOBA

Meet your driver in the hotel lobby for the transfer to Atocha train station. Today you’ll leave Madrid for Andalucia on the high-speed AVE train. In a little under 2 hours, step out of Córdoba station into sunnier weather and the land of flamenco. Your driver will take you to your hotel to get settled before lunch. Try out some of the local venues in the Jewish Quarters. In the early afternoon, your guide will meet you at your hotel to begin your tour of what was once the most culturally advanced city in Europe. Enter the mosque, converted into a cathedral after the Reconquest in 1236 and listen to the stories of the sultans and commoners who built it together. Wander the Jewish Quarters, known for their jewelers, strolling among the whitewashed houses and red gardenias. Your guide will explain why the Jews lived in such cramped quarters and explain some of their customs. End the tour of Cordoba with a visit to a classic medieval Jewish home. In the evening, walk over to the Córdoba hammam for an Arab bath and massage.

Day 4 – SEVILLA

​Meet your driver in the hotel lobby for the short drive to Sevilla, once the royal port for all ships arriving with riches from the Americas. Most of the countryside you traverse today will be olive groves. Arrive at your hotel in Sevilla. Your guide will meet you after lunch for an afternoon walking tour. Begin at the city walls, passing the Murillo Gardens with several stops in Barrio Santa Cruz, the background to the opera “Carmen”. See the Alcazar fortress, the Cathedral and the Giralda prayer tower. Your tour will end at the Tower of Gold on the river where you’ll take a slow cruise up and down the Guadalquivir. In the evening, head over to Calle Cuna for an intimate flamenco show by local musicians and dancers.

Day 5 – WHITE VILLAGES AND RONDA

Meet your driver in the hotel lobby for the drive south of Sevilla through the mountains. Discover a small corner of Spain where traditional village life goes on as it has for thousands of years. Begin at Zahara de la Sierra, birthplace of Arab noblemen, conquistadors and bandits. Your guide will tell you some of the local legends before visiting an olive mill for a tour and tasting. Next stop on your guided tour is the tiny village of Grazalema, a town within a natural park. Finally, we’ll take a break for lunch just outside Ronda with a tour and wine tasting at a countryside winery. After lunch, your driver will leave you at your hotel. Take some free time before meeting your guide at the hotel for a late afternoon tour of Ronda, the birthplace of bullfighting. Go inside the bullring to step into the matador’s shoes. Later cross the New Bridge spanning a plunging gorge that separates Ronda’s New and Old Quarters. Once across the bridge, your guide will continue the tour down cobblestone streets into the Collegiate Church and Don Bosco’s medieval palace.

Day 6 – MALAGA

​Meet your driver in the hotel lobby for the drive to Malaga.  As we reach the foot of the mountains and the seashore, we’ll take a short break in Puerto Banus – Spain’s Hollywood. Leave history beside for a moment as you walk alongside Saudi Arabian and Russian yachts. After lunch, meet your driver again to continue to your hotel in Malaga. Your guide will pick you up in the lobby in the early evening for a Tapas Tour. Join the locals on their pre-dinner tapas route up Larios Street into the Old Town. Along the way, you’ll pass the Roman Theater, Alcazaba Fortress, Picasso’s Birthplace and the Cathedral.

Day 7 – GRANADA

Meet your driver in the hotel lobby for the drive east to Granada – the last Arabic kingdom in Spain until 1492. This city is truly one of the highlights of Spain. Leave your suitcases at the hotel and meet your South Olé guide at the entrance to the Alhambra. We’ll go back 900 years to visit the 11th wonder of the world. Gardens of Paradise, Alcazar Fortress and the renowned Nasrid Palaces are just some parts of the Alhambra Forbidden City that you’ll visit on tour. After leaving the palaces, take few hours of free time in Granada center. To end the day, take a Segway tour with a small group through the Albaizin and Sacromonte maze of cobblestone alleys.

Day 8 – BARCELONA

​Meet your driver in the hotel lobby for the drive to Granada airport. Catch a short flight to Barcelona where your next driver will be waiting for you just past luggage collection. Drop your suitcases at the hotel and explore the beauty of Barcelona on a complete visit of the exquisite Catalonian city. The guided tour will show you the city’s most iconic sights, beginning with a panoramic driving tour of the Passeig de Gracia Boulevard, past Parc Güell, both Gaudí houses, las Ramblas and the Born district. Stop at the Sagrada Familia and the Gaudí Houses to get a better look at the inside of these fabulously designed buildings. Finish the day with a walking tour through the Gothic Quarters.

Day 9 – MONTSERRAT

Catch the cable car up the mountain to the monastery-fortress built among finger-like rock formations. Visit the Monastery Chapel to hear the pure, angelic voices of the boys’ choir. Your guide will take you to the Grotto to see the famous statue of the Black Virgin. Finally, catch the cogwheel train to the mountain top for one last sight of Barcelona.

Day 10 – DEPARTURE

Meet your driver for the ride back to El Prat airport.

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