• 5 Dinner (D)
• 12 Breakfast (B)
• 1 Lunch (L)

• Madrid: Drive through central Madrid and see some of the city’s famous features during an orientation with your Travel Director.
• Valencia: See the ultra-modern Center of Arts and Sciences and the historic bullring of Valencia during an orientation drive with your Travel Director.
• Guadix: See the cave homes that embellish the hills around Guadix.
• Granada: Visit the famous Alhambra Palace and Generalife Gardens. Explore with a Local Specialist keen to share insights into this Moorish landmark.
• Córdoba: Explore the incredible Mezquita with your Local Specialist. Admire the forest of horseshoe arches and learn how this building symbolises many of Córdoba’s religious changes over the centuries.
• Seville: Guided by your Local Specialist, see the Giralda Tower, former minaret of the Great Mosque and now the cathedral’s belltower. Explore the narrow streets of the Santa Cruz Quarter and emerge by the great walls of the Alcazar.
• Jerez de la Frontera: Sample the famous sherry tradition in the southern Spanish city of Jerez, which has been making wine since ancient times.
• Cádiz: See the cathedral, Teatro Romano, the monumental Puerta de Tierra and enjoy a walk along Paseo Maritimo.
• Évora: Explore this UNESCO World Heritage Site with your Local Specialist and see the famous Roman Temple. Witness the fascinating cathedral and its mix of Romanesque and Gothic architecture.
• Lisbon: With your Local Specialist, visit the Belém Quarter to see the modern Monument to the Discoveries and the medieval Belém Tower.
• Lisbon: Visit the Belém Quarter and enjoy a taste of Pastéis de Belém from the patisserie that has been using the same secret recipe for almost 200 years.
• Fátima: Join the faithful at one of the world’s holiest sites and pay homage at the Chapel of the Apparitions or see the basilica.
• Salamanca: See the Salamanca’s golden Plaza Mayor, voted one of the most beautiful central plazas in Spain. 
• Toledo: The invincible swords of Toledo have defended cities for centuries. Visit an inlaid steel factory in Toledo to see local craftsmen forging the highest quality steel.
• Toledo: Explore this magnificent ancient city with your Local Specialist and visit the Church of Santo Tomé to see an El Greco masterpiece.
• Avila: View the impressive city walls that define Ávila’s Old Town. 
• Madrid: See the highlights of the city with your Local Specialist. Visit the Old Town, traveling along the elegant Paseo de la Castellana, past the Cibeles fountain and Royal Palace.

• Deluxe coach travel
• Selected hotel dinners plus a locally hosted meal
• 4-star stays

Trafalgar

Visit the cave dwellings of Guadix, where homes carved into the soft hillsides have sheltered generations of residents. See how their entrances, chimneys and whitewashed facades emerge from the ochre landscape.

These distinctive troglodyte homes make ingenious use of the earth’s natural insulation against Andalusia’s summer heat and winter chill. The visit offers a close look at a living local tradition rather than a relic of the past.

Explore Seville with a Local Specialist, seeing the Giralda bell tower, walking the narrow streets of Santa Cruz and viewing the walls of the Alcázar. Visit María Luisa Park and discover architecture associated with the city’s 1929 Ibero-American Exposition.

Enter Seville Cathedral, the world’s largest Gothic cathedral and the burial place of Christopher Columbus. The Giralda, originally a mosque minaret, reflects the layers of history visible throughout the city.

Discover the sherry tradition in Jerez de la Frontera, the Andalusian city whose name has become inseparable from this distinctive fortified wine. Learn about a craft shaped by local vineyards, ageing methods and generations of producers.

Sample the flavours of Jerez and gain an appreciation for a wine that ranges in style from crisp and dry to rich and sweet. The experience offers a direct taste of one of southern Spain’s enduring culinary traditions.

Visit the Brito Paes family’s stud ranch in Portugal’s Alentejo region and learn about the Lusitano horse, a breed closely associated with Portuguese riding traditions. Hear the family story behind a ranch that has raised horses since the 18th century.

Share a home-cooked lunch with Tiago and Vera in their ancestral home. This hosted visit brings the region’s rural heritage to life through personal stories, hospitality and a meal prepared by your hosts.

Visit the Shrine of Fátima, one of the Catholic world’s major pilgrimage destinations. Explore the sanctuary precinct and see the Chapel of the Apparitions or the basilica, places of prayer for visitors from across the world.

The shrine commemorates the reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary to three shepherd children in 1917. Its broad gathering spaces and devotional atmosphere convey the importance Fátima holds for pilgrims more than a century later.

Visit Salamanca’s Plaza Mayor and admire the harmonious facades surrounding one of Spain’s most celebrated public squares. Its warm sandstone takes on a golden tone in the light, giving the university city a distinctive glow.

Built in the 18th century, the plaza remains a gathering place as well as an architectural landmark. It offers a vivid introduction to Salamanca’s historic centre and its centuries-old tradition of learning.

Learn to make paella with local chefs in Valencia, the region where this celebrated rice dish originated. Take part in a hands-on cooking experience focused on the ingredients and methods behind a Valencian culinary tradition.

Paella’s roots lie in the rice-growing landscapes around Valencia, where it developed as a shared meal cooked in a wide, shallow pan. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Experience a flamenco performance in Seville, watching expressive dancing accompanied by music and rhythmic handclapping. The close interplay between performers gives this Andalusian art form its intensity.

Flamenco draws on a rich cultural heritage and places as much emphasis on emotion and rhythm as on precise movement. This evening Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Explore the coast beyond Lisbon on an optional trip through Estoril and Cascais, two destinations associated with Portugal’s Atlantic shoreline. Visit one of the Lisbon area’s royal palaces to encounter another side of the region’s history.

The excursion combines seaside settings with royal heritage, offering a contrast to Lisbon’s streets and riverside monuments. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; the specific palace is not named in the itinerary.

Visit the medieval city of Segovia on an optional excursion from Madrid. Explore a UNESCO-listed destination whose historic centre is known for its monumental Roman aqueduct and layered architectural heritage.

Segovia’s stone streets and prominent landmarks offer a different perspective on Castile beyond the capital. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; the itinerary does not specify which monuments are entered.

Explore central Madrid with your Travel Director on an orientation drive that introduces the Spanish capital and its lively streets. Get a first sense of the city’s grand avenues, historic quarters and café-lined public spaces.

Meet your fellow travellers over a welcome dinner and settle into the rhythms of Spanish dining. It is a hosted introduction to the people and places that shape this journey through Spain and Portugal.

Discover Valencia’s historic towers and contemporary architecture on an orientation drive taking in the Towers of Serrano and Quart and Santiago Calatrava’s City of Arts and Sciences. The contrast reveals a city at ease with both its medieval heritage and its inventive present.

Taste authentic Valencian horchata, a chilled drink made from locally grown tiger nuts, from a vendor using natural ingredients and traditional methods. This experience also supports local employment opportunities and solar-powered, recycled street carts.

Explore the Alhambra with a Local Specialist, discovering the palaces, courtyards, fountains and carved stonework of Granada’s celebrated Moorish citadel. Walk beside its imposing walls and experience the calm created by water, shade and intricate decoration.

Visit the Generalife Gardens, once a retreat for the rulers of the Nasrid kingdom. Together, the palace and gardens express the artistic ambition of the last Muslim dynasty to rule in Spain.

Step inside Córdoba’s Mosque-Cathedral with a Local Specialist and admire its extraordinary forest of red-and-white horseshoe arches. Look closely at the richly decorated mihrab and the mosaics that recall the city’s prominence under the Caliphs.

A cathedral built within the former mosque makes this monument a powerful record of Córdoba’s changing religious history. Its layered architecture gives tangible form to centuries of Islamic and Christian heritage.

Explore the sights of Cádiz, seeing its cathedral, Roman theatre and monumental Puerta de Tierra. Enjoy a walk along the Paseo Marítimo, where the Atlantic gives this historic port its open, maritime character.

Among Europe’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, Cádiz played a major role in Spain’s Atlantic trade. Its plazas and coastal setting evoke the era of voyages between the Iberian Peninsula and the Americas.

Explore UNESCO-listed Évora with a Local Specialist, seeing its Roman temple and visiting the cathedral, whose Romanesque and Gothic features reflect the city’s long history. Walk through an Alentejo town known for its preserved streets and historic monuments.

Visit the Chapel of Bones, where human bones line the interior in a striking reflection on mortality. Alongside Évora’s Roman and medieval landmarks, it reveals the distinct cultural layers of this Portuguese city.

Discover Lisbon with a Local Specialist and visit the riverside Belém Quarter, seeing the medieval Belém Tower and the Monument to the Discoveries. These landmarks recall Portugal’s seafaring history on the banks of the Tagus.

Taste Pastéis de Belém from the pastry shop that has guarded its recipe for nearly 200 years. The warm custard tart adds a flavourful local tradition to an introduction to Lisbon’s maritime heritage.

View the medieval walls of Ávila, whose towers and fortified gates define the outline of this Spanish city. The remarkably complete circuit creates a striking silhouette around its Old Town.

Ávila is closely associated with Saint Teresa of Ávila, the 16th-century mystic and reformer. Seeing its formidable walls offers a glimpse of the defended Castilian city in which her story unfolded.

Walk Toledo’s historic streets with a Local Specialist and visit the Church of Santo Tomé to see an El Greco masterpiece. Enter the former Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca, a reminder of the city’s intertwined religious and cultural histories.

Watch local craftsmen create inlaid steelwork using traditional techniques associated with Toledo’s long reputation for fine blades. Together, the monuments and workshop reveal both the artistic heritage and living skills of this hilltop city.

See Madrid’s landmarks with a Local Specialist on a sightseeing tour taking in the Old Town, the elegant Paseo de la Castellana and Cibeles Fountain. View the Royal Palace and Plaza de Oriente, the formal square beside the royal residence.

The route introduces Madrid’s role as Spain’s capital through its ceremonial spaces and broad avenues. It is a guided overview of the city’s royal heritage and civic life.

Join your fellow travellers and Travel Director for a farewell dinner in Madrid. Share a final hosted meal and reflect on the places, traditions and people encountered across Spain and Portugal.

This is a social close to the tour rather than a scheduled sightseeing visit. It offers time around the table to exchange favourite memories, from Andalusian architecture to Portuguese hospitality, before the group parts ways.