• 3 Dinner (D)
• 8 Breakfast (B)

• Business class coach with extended leg room
• Top-rated dining, from farm-to-table to local restaurants
• 4 & 5-star stays

• Madrid: Join your Travel Director at 18:30 for dinner in a local restaurant and get to know your fellow travelers over a beautiful evening of delicious food and wine.
• Lisbon: In Belém, try pastéis de Belém: crisp layers of pastry encasing custard complete with a dusting of cinnamon. See how the pastries follow a closely guarded recipe, and are still prepared in the same bakery that has produced them since 1837. 
• Madrid: Sit down to dinner with your Travel Director and fellow travelers at a local restaurant.

• Toledo: At a Damascene workshop, meet a master artisan for an insight into this ancient craft. Witness firsthand their precision as they inlay gold and silver into iron, using a chisel and a hammer.
• Granada: Visit the Alhambra Palace with a Local Specialist and walk through its courtyards, carved plasterwork and palace rooms from the Nasrid period. You’ll see how water channels, gardens and intricate detail define the complex, and how this hilltop site shaped Granada’s cultural and political story for centuries.

Join a guided walk through hilltop Toledo, crossing lanes shaped by Arab, Jewish and Christian heritage above the River Tagus. Step inside the Church of Santo Tomé to stand before El Greco’s The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, a luminous masterpiece framed by Gothic stone.

Visit a traditional workshop to watch a master artisan at work, inlaying fine gold and silver into dark steel. This Moorish-origin craft, known as damasquinado, reveals the patience, precision and ornamental beauty that have defined Toledo’s metalwork for centuries.

With a Local Specialist, step inside the Nasrid palaces of the Alhambra to admire carved stucco, patterned tile and tranquil courtyards mirrored by water. Wander the Generalife gardens, where cypress alleys, terrace views and whispering fountains shape an oasis above the city.

Encounter a hilltop citadel that embodied art, science and power in medieval Granada. Geometry, calligraphy and flowing channels make water a visible luxury, while vistas over the Albaicín and Sierra Nevada set the palace within its dramatic Andalusian landscape.

Discover the vast interior of Seville Cathedral, the world’s largest Gothic church, and view the Giralda bell tower, once a 12th-century Almohad minaret. Marvel at the soaring nave, side chapels and layered history that bridges Islamic and Christian eras.

Stroll the Santa Cruz quarter, Seville’s former Jewish district, where narrow lanes open into jasmine-scented patios and quiet plazas. Lattice balconies, hidden courtyards and cool stone underfoot evoke centuries of neighborhood life in this intimate heart of the city.

Experience Seville’s living art as you meet students and teachers at the Cristina Heeren Foundation. Try the rhythm and posture for yourself as you learn a few basic steps, then feel the pulse of Andalusia during a live flamenco performance.

This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER visit supports training in guitar, song and dance for emerging artists, aligned with the UN’s SDG 4: Quality Education. Your participation helps sustain cultural heritage while deepening your connection to flamenco’s emotion and craft.

Explore UNESCO-listed Évora with its whitewashed lanes, Roman remnants and arcaded squares. Enter the Church of São Francisco to visit the Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones), where walls lined with human remains rise beneath painted vaults in an austere meditation on time.

Encounter layers of Portuguese history in a compact university town shaped by traders, scholars and monarchs. The chapel’s inscription—an invitation to reflect—adds a contemplative note to Évora’s bright facades and easy Alentejo rhythm.

Explore the Baixa Pombalina with a Local Specialist, tracing the rational grid rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake. Continue riverside to the Monument to the Discoveries and Belém Tower, sentinel of Portugal’s seafaring age along the Tagus.

At the National Coach Museum, examine royal carriages from the 16th–19th centuries—polished woods, gilded carvings and painted panels that reveal ceremony, craftsmanship and shifting court protocol across Europe’s dynasties.

Taste pastéis de Belém warm from the oven—crisp, layered pastry encasing silky custard, finished with a dusting of cinnamon. Sample them at the storied bakery that has guarded its recipe since 1837, steps from the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém.

Learn how monastic baking traditions shaped Lisbon’s signature sweet, and notice the contrast between the caramelized crown and delicate crumb. This simple, fragrant bite captures the city’s maritime past and café culture in one perfect pastry.

Visit the Sanctuary of Fátima, Portugal’s most revered pilgrimage site. Pause at the Chapel of the Apparitions, marking 1917’s reported visions, and view the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary framing the vast esplanade.

Absorb an atmosphere of devotion as candles flicker and pilgrims cross the open square in quiet procession. The scale and serenity of the sanctuary convey a century of faith woven into Portugal’s national story.

Explore Salamanca’s Plaza Mayor, a baroque square glowing with honey-colored stone and elegant arcades. Stroll into the historic core of this centuries-old university city, where scholarly tradition meets lively cafés and student energy.

Learn how sandstone facades, sculpted medallions and quiet courtyards shaped Salamanca’s identity. From the river to the twin cathedrals, the city balances academic heritage with Castilian charm and a rhythm that invites unhurried wandering.

Walk within Ávila’s medieval walls, an 11th-century ring of towers and gates that embrace slate roofs and pale stone streets. Trace the silhouette of battlements and pause to admire panoramic viewpoints over Castile’s rugged plateau.

Discover a fortified city where Romanesque and Gothic lines meet monastic calm. The severity of granite and the measured grid of lanes amplify Ávila’s contemplative spirit and enduring defensive might.

Explore Habsburg Madrid with a Local Specialist, threading the compact street grid from arcaded Plaza Mayor to lively corners where taverns spill onto cobbled lanes. See how markets, courtyards and civic buildings map the city’s earliest growth.

Trace Madrid’s transformation from a small fortress to a European capital, reading centuries of power and everyday life in facades, fountains and plazas alive with café chatter.

Gather one final time to raise a glass over seasonal Spanish cuisine in a welcoming local restaurant. Trade favorite moments, toast new friends and savor the easy warmth of a shared table in the capital.

Celebrate Madrid’s convivial spirit as dishes arrive family-style and conversation flows. This closing dinner offers a fitting coda to Iberia’s flavors, architecture and stories discovered along the way.

Explore Casa de Pilatos, a Seville palace where Mudéjar and Renaissance styles meet in arcaded courtyards and luminous azulejo tilework. Admire marble patios, delicate plaster and salons lined with classical sculpture.

Learn how noble families shaped the city’s artistic taste through centuries of collecting and patronage. This is an Optional Experience at additional cost, bookable on tour and subject to availability.

Step into the Royal Alcázar of Seville to wander palaces and gardens layered with Moorish and Christian design—filigreed arches, patterned tiles and water-cooled courtyards. Continue to Plaza América for graceful pavilions from the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition.

Unpack Seville’s role as a crossroads of empire and culture in living stone and shade-dappled walks. This is an Optional Experience at additional cost, bookable on tour and subject to availability.

Travel the Portuguese Riviera, skirting the Atlantic coast past golden beaches, sea-carved cliffs and seaside promenades. Pause in elegant Cascais and Estoril to browse boutiques, harbors and cafés infused with resort-town ease.

Hear stories of royal summer retreats and grand casinos while photographing ocean horizons and tiled villas. This is an Optional Experience at additional cost, bookable on tour and subject to availability.

Dine in a family-run restaurant where seasonal Portuguese seafood—from market-fresh grills to aromatic stews—anchors a convivial evening of shared plates and local wines. Expect warm hospitality and recipes shaped by Atlantic waters.

Discover neighborhood dining culture in a relaxed setting that celebrates Lisbon’s maritime pantry. This is an Optional Experience at additional cost, bookable on tour and subject to availability.

Insight Vacations

Savor seasonal Castilian flavors as you meet your Tour Director and traveling companions over a relaxed evening in a neighborhood eatery. Settle in as you share regional plates—think market-fresh tapas and slow-cooked classics—and raise a glass of Spanish wine to the journey ahead.

Discover Madrid’s convivial dining culture, where conversation lingers and the city hums beyond the windows. This welcome experience typically takes place early in the tour, easing you into Spain’s rhythms and the warm, social spirit of the capital.