• 5 Dinner (D)
• 14 Breakfast (B)
• 2 Lunch (L)

• Madrid: Visit the Prado Museum with an art historian who places key works within their historical setting. With your historian’s expert guidance, you’ll examine paintings by Velázquez, Goya, Titian and Rubens, noting their connection to royal patronage and the broader European tradition. Learn how the museum, founded in 1819, became a principal repository for Spain’s royal collections and major works from across the continent.
• Granada: Visit the Alhambra Palace with a Local Expert 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.

Insight Vacations

• Hand sanitizer is freely available on board for you to use throughout the day.

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

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over dinner at a local Madrid restaurant. Share food and wine while getting acquainted with the group in the Spanish capital.

The meal offers an introduction to madrileño flavours and the city’s sociable dining culture. It is a hosted welcome gathering rather than an ordinary hotel dinner.

Explore Madrid’s historic neighbourhoods with a Local Expert, tracing the capital’s origins through the Old Quarter. See the compact streets, squares and civic spaces that grew around the medieval settlement.

Your expert explains how the city became the centre of Habsburg Madrid and continued to expand. This guided introduction gives the streets a historical context that is easy to miss when exploring independently.

Visit the Prado Museum with an art historian for a guided encounter with paintings by Velázquez, Goya, Titian and Rubens. Examine selected works while learning about the artists, their subjects and the patrons who commissioned them.

Founded in 1819, the Prado became a home for Spain’s royal art collections. Expert commentary connects its Spanish masterpieces with the wider European painting tradition.

Walk Segovia’s medieval streets with a Local Expert and view the hilltop Alcázar, a fortress associated with centuries of Castilian royal history. Discover how Roman engineering and later royal influence shaped the city.

See the Roman aqueduct’s towering granite arches, built to carry water into Segovia without mortar between their stones. Together, the fortress and aqueduct reveal two strikingly different eras of the city’s heritage.

Explore Salamanca with a Local Expert, admiring the arcades of Plaza Mayor, the cathedral and historic university buildings. The city’s sandstone facades take on a warm, golden colour in the light.

Learn how Salamanca grew into one of Europe’s early university centres. Its 13th-century academic roots and richly carved Plateresque stonework give the streets a character distinct from Spain’s other historic cities.

Visit port wine cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia, across the Douro River from Porto. Walk past ageing casks and taste port while learning to distinguish styles such as Tawny and Vintage.

Gaia has been a centre of port storage and ageing since the 18th century. Discover how wines from the Douro Valley, cellar conditions and blending traditions contributed to the reputation of this Portuguese export.

Explore Porto’s riverside cityscape, taking in its colourful houses, tile-clad churches and bridges across the Douro. The city’s steep streets and layered waterfront offer a vivid setting for its long connection with trade.

Look for the glazed azulejo tiles that decorate buildings throughout Portugal, alongside the river crossings that link Porto with Vila Nova de Gaia. This included exploration focuses on the city’s visible character rather than a museum visit.

Explore the Sanctuary of Fátima, Portugal’s best-known pilgrimage destination. View the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, the Chapel of the Apparitions and the broad esplanade where pilgrims gather.

The sanctuary developed following reports of Marian apparitions in 1917. Its open spaces and places of worship convey the continuing importance of Fátima to visitors from around the world.

Walk within Óbidos’s medieval walls through narrow lanes lined with whitewashed houses and small churches. Sample ginja, the local cherry liqueur, a distinctive taste of the fortified Portuguese town.

Óbidos has roots in the Roman period and later became associated with Portugal’s queens after it was granted as a royal wedding gift in the 13th century. Its enclosed street plan preserves a strong sense of that past.

Explore Lisbon with a Local Expert, travelling through the broad avenues of Baixa and visiting the riverside Belém quarter. View the Monument to the Discoveries and Belém Tower beside the Tagus.

Learn how Baixa’s ordered Pombaline streets emerged after the devastating 1755 earthquake. In Belém, the waterfront landmarks recall Portugal’s maritime history and the voyages that departed from Lisbon’s shores.

Taste pastéis de Belém in Lisbon’s Belém quarter: crisp pastry filled with custard and traditionally finished with a dusting of cinnamon. Visit the bakery associated with this celebrated local speciality.

The bakery has produced its pastries since 1837, using a closely guarded recipe. The tasting offers a flavour of Belém’s culinary identity alongside the district’s better-known maritime landmarks.

Visit the National Coach Museum in Lisbon to examine an extensive collection of horse-drawn royal carriages. See vehicles made for ceremony and diplomatic occasions, with decoration that reflects the status of their passengers.

Dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries, the coaches reveal changes in craftsmanship and court protocol. Their carved and gilded details provide a close-up view of European royal display.

Walk through Seville’s Santa Cruz quarter with a Local Expert, following narrow lanes between intimate plazas and enclosed courtyards. Explore the street pattern of a neighbourhood shaped by the city’s medieval Jewish community.

The district’s close-set buildings and shaded spaces offer a different perspective from Seville’s monumental landmarks. Your guide helps reveal the social and cultural history held in its surviving layout.

Step inside Seville Cathedral to see its vast Gothic nave and chapels, and view the Giralda rising beside it. The cathedral is also the resting place of Christopher Columbus.

Completed in the 16th century on the site of an earlier mosque, it is recognised as the world’s largest Gothic cathedral. The Giralda began as a 12th-century Almohad minaret, making the site’s Islamic and Christian layers especially visible.

Try basic flamenco steps at Seville’s Cristina Heeren Foundation and watch its students perform. Meet young artists learning the demanding disciplines of dance, singing and guitar.

The foundation works to teach and preserve flamenco, an art form closely associated with Andalusia. This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® experience offers insight into the training behind a performance while supporting arts education.

Explore the Rock of Gibraltar with a Local Expert and visit St. Michael’s Cave, known for its limestone formations. Look out for the resident Barbary macaques and take in views across the surrounding waters and Spanish coast.

Long associated with the ancient Pillars of Hercules, the Rock stands at the meeting point of the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Its natural features and strategic position give this small territory an unusually rich identity.

Walk through Alfarnatejo’s whitewashed village centre in rural Andalusia. See the 18th-century Iglesia del Santo Cristo de Cabrilla and take in the mountainous setting around this small community.

The visit offers a close look at a quieter side of southern Spain, away from its larger cities. Alfarnatejo’s streets and village scale provide context for the local food and hospitality that form part of the tour’s rural experiences.

Visit a rural olive mill and taste several olive oils with locally made bread. Learn how the timing of the harvest, growing conditions and age of the trees can affect each oil’s flavour.

Olive cultivation has long shaped Andalusia’s agricultural landscape and cooking. Sampling the oils side by side makes the differences in this everyday regional ingredient easier to recognise.

Share lunch in the home of a local family in Alfarnatejo. In a small group, enjoy dishes prepared with fresh regional produce and talk with your hosts around their table.

This hosted meal offers a personal introduction to rural Andalusian hospitality. Hear about life in the village while tasting the ingredients and home-cooking traditions that are part of everyday life here.

Explore Granada’s Alhambra with a Local Expert, walking among palace rooms, courtyards, gardens and fountains. Look closely at the intricate carved plasterwork and the use of water throughout the complex.

Developed as a fortified palace complex under the Nasrid rulers, the Alhambra reflects the artistic and political life of medieval Islamic Granada. Its hilltop position and finely worked interiors make it one of Spain’s most significant historic sites.

Get your bearings in Valencia as your Travel Director points out the Old City’s surviving gateways and streets shaped by centuries of growth. See the contrasting forms of the City of Arts and Sciences.

This orientation sets Valencia’s older urban fabric against its contemporary architecture. It is an introduction to the city’s changing appearance, with landmark views rather than entry to the City of Arts and Sciences attractions.

Watch a chef prepare Valencian paella in a family-run restaurant, learning how the pan’s heat, rice, stock and order of ingredients shape the dish. Sit down to eat the finished paella at dinner.

Paella is closely tied to Valencia’s food culture. The demonstration brings attention to its layered flavours and the prized socarrat, the toasted rice crust that forms at the bottom of the pan.

View Peñíscola’s 14th-century castle rising above the old town on a limestone headland beside the Mediterranean. Its position divides the shoreline and gives the fortress a striking silhouette against the sea.

The castle’s coastal setting has made it a memorable film location, including for El Cid. This included stop is a chance to appreciate the fortress and sea views; castle entry is not specified.

Visit a cava bodega in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia for a tasting paired with a light lunch. Sample Spanish sparkling wine in a vineyard region long associated with cava production.

Learn how the traditional method of bottle fermentation and ageing on the lees influence cava’s texture and flavour. The tasting connects what is in the glass with the winemaking traditions of this part of Catalonia.

Explore Barcelona with a Local Expert, travelling along Passeig de Gràcia and through the Eixample grid to Gaudí’s Sagrada Família. When entry is available, see its tree-like columns, high vaults and coloured light filtering through stained glass.

The route connects Barcelona’s Modernista architecture with a basilica still being completed. If Sagrada Família tickets are unavailable, the visit instead includes the Hospital de Sant Pau and an expert-led view of the basilica’s exterior.

Gather for a hosted farewell dinner at a local restaurant in Barcelona. Share a meal with your fellow travellers in the Catalan capital and raise a toast to the people you have met.

This group occasion marks the close of the journey through Spain and Portugal. Conversation around the table gives the final evening a more personal character than an ordinary included dinner.

Choose a seafood dinner at a family-run restaurant in Lisbon. This optional hosted meal focuses on a food tradition shaped by Portugal’s long Atlantic coastline.

Dining in a local restaurant offers a chance to experience Portuguese seafood in a convivial setting rather than simply selecting a restaurant independently. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Explore the Portuguese Riviera on an optional excursion from Lisbon. Discover a stretch of coast known for its seaside resorts, surfing appeal and long association with fashionable visitors.

The excursion offers a coastal contrast to Lisbon’s streets and monuments. The itinerary does not specify particular towns or admissions, so the precise stops may vary. It is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Choose to visit Pilatos Palace in Seville and admire the architectural elegance of this historic residence. Its courtyards and decorative details offer a closer look at the city’s aristocratic heritage.

The palace is known for combining Renaissance forms with Andalusian Mudéjar influences, reflecting Seville’s layered artistic traditions. This alternative Seville experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Choose to explore the Alcázar of Seville and nearby Plaza América on an optional excursion. Discover the royal palace complex and see the plaza’s graceful pavilions.

The Alcázar’s architecture reflects centuries of royal use and artistic exchange, while Plaza América recalls Seville’s 1929 Ibero-American Exposition. Offered as an alternative to the Pilatos Palace visit, this experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.