Meet a chef in a family-run Valencia restaurant for a paella cooking demonstration. Watch how the pan’s heat, rice, saffron-infused stock and order of ingredients contribute to this regional dish, before sitting down to enjoy the finished paella with wine.

Paella has its roots in the agricultural landscape around Valencia. Tasting the rice and its prized socarrat crust brings the chef’s techniques into focus and reveals why the dish remains closely tied to local cooking traditions.

• 4 Dinner (D)
• 8 Breakfast (B)

• 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.
• 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.

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

Insight Vacations

Share a seasonal Catalan dinner at La Pau with your Travel Director and fellow travellers. The restaurant offers a chance to discover local flavours while meeting the young people who prepare and serve the meal.

La Pau combines hospitality training with paid work and mentoring for young people moving towards independent living. This social-impact dining experience gives a welcoming first taste of Barcelona while supporting opportunities beyond the restaurant.

Explore Barcelona with a Local Expert, travelling along Passeig de Gràcia and through the Eixample to see how the city’s grand avenues and geometric street plan frame its Modernista architecture. Visit Gaudí’s Sagrada Família to admire tree-like columns, soaring vaults and coloured light filtering through stained glass.

Basilica entry is subject to availability during special events. If access is restricted, visit the Art Nouveau Hospital de Sant Pau instead and view the Sagrada Família’s exterior from its surrounding gardens.

See Peñíscola’s hilltop castle rising above the whitewashed old town on a limestone headland beside the Mediterranean. This coastal stop offers a striking view of the fortress and the shoreline spreading out on either side.

Built in the 14th century, the castle later served as the residence of Pope Benedict XIII. Its commanding silhouette has also appeared on screen, including in the film El Cid. The experience is a view of the castle; entry is not specified.

Discover two contrasting faces of Valencia: the sculptural buildings of the City of Arts and Sciences and the narrow streets of its historic centre. Your Travel Director helps you get your bearings in the Old City, pointing out surviving medieval gateways and the pattern of its streets.

Valencia’s centuries of growth are visible in this contrast between historic stonework and contemporary architecture. The orientation offers a sense of how the city developed beyond its old walls without claiming entry to its landmarks.

Explore Granada’s Alhambra with a Local Expert, taking in its palace rooms, courtyards, carved plasterwork and carefully channelled water. Walk through the Generalife gardens, once part of the rulers’ summer retreat, where fountains and planting soften the hilltop setting.

Developed under the Nasrid dynasty, the complex expresses the artistic and political ambitions of Granada’s last Muslim rulers. Its intricate surfaces and gardens offer a close look at a defining chapter of Andalusian history.

Choose how to discover Seville: join a guided walk through the old Jewish quarter or take a panoramic drive past the city’s landmarks. The walking option brings you close to the district’s lanes and squares; the drive provides a wider view of the Andalusian capital.

Both included choices introduce a city shaped by centuries of Islamic, Jewish and Christian history. Select the perspective that suits you best, whether you prefer exploring streets on foot or surveying the city by coach.

Step inside Seville Cathedral to see its vast vaulted nave and chapels. View the Giralda, the bell tower that began as the minaret of the mosque formerly occupying this site, and discover the cathedral’s association with Christopher Columbus.

Completed in the 16th century, it is recognised as the world’s largest Gothic cathedral. The building’s scale and layered fabric make Seville’s transition from Islamic to Christian rule visible in one monumental setting.

Visit Seville’s Cristina Heeren Foundation to meet emerging flamenco artists, try a few basic dance steps and watch a live flamenco performance. The lesson offers a hands-on introduction to the rhythm and physical expression behind the art form.

The foundation teaches and preserves flamenco through training in dance, singing and guitar. Seeing its students perform reveals the discipline behind the stagecraft, while the visit supports opportunities for young artists across Andalucía.

Walk with your Travel Director through Córdoba’s historic centre, passing the Roman bridge over the Guadalquivir and the old gateway towers. Follow the streets into a district of whitewashed houses, small squares and tucked-away patios.

The orientation helps place the city’s landmarks within a settlement shaped by Roman, Islamic and Christian eras. Its compact streets and courtyard architecture offer a street-level sense of how people have lived in Córdoba across the centuries.

Visit Córdoba’s Mezquita-Cathedral with a local historian. Walk among its repeating red-and-white arches and columns, and examine the choir and chapels added within the earlier mosque.

Construction of the mosque began in the eighth century; its later conversion created a building where Islamic and Christian architecture remain visible together. Your historian helps explain these layers, giving meaning to the contrast between the expansive arcades and the cathedral at their centre.

Explore Madrid’s historic neighbourhoods with a Local Expert and travel through the Old Quarter to trace the capital’s origins. Notice its compact streets, market squares and civic buildings as your guide explains how the district developed.

What began as a small medieval citadel became the centre of Habsburg Madrid and, eventually, a modern capital. This introduction makes the city’s successive layers of expansion easier to recognise while travelling through its oldest streets.

Explore Madrid’s Prado Museum with an art historian, examining works by Velázquez, Goya, Titian and Rubens. Expert commentary connects the paintings to their subjects, artistic traditions and the royal patrons who helped shape the collection.

Founded in 1819, the Prado became a home for major works from Spain’s royal collections and across Europe. The guided visit offers a deeper way to read the paintings than a gallery walk alone.

Gather with your Travel Director and fellow travellers at a local Madrid restaurant for dinner featuring regional favourites and wine. The hosted meal is an opportunity to share impressions of Spain around the table.

Madrid’s dining culture centres on conversation as much as food, making a restaurant gathering a fitting close to the journey. Unlike an unaccompanied hotel meal, this included dinner brings the group together with its Travel Director.

Travel from Barcelona to Montserrat, the mountain known for its distinctive serrated peaks, on an optional excursion centred on its revered Black Madonna. The pilgrimage site offers a contrast to the city, with a setting high among Catalonia’s rugged hills.

The statue, known as La Moreneta, has long been an important focus of Catalan devotion. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; the itinerary does not specify the precise route or what entry is included.

Explore Granada’s Albaicín Quarter with a Local Expert on an optional visit. Its winding streets and whitewashed buildings preserve the feel of the city’s historic hillside neighbourhood, offering another perspective on Granada beyond the Alhambra.

The quarter reflects the city’s long Islamic history and its pivotal place in the changes that followed 1492. Your expert helps uncover those connections as you explore. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit Seville’s Pilatos Palace on an optional excursion and discover a quieter side of the city’s architectural heritage. Its courtyards, tilework and gardens reward a closer look at the details of a historic Andalusian residence.

The palace is noted for its blend of Mudéjar and Renaissance styles, reflecting the artistic exchange visible throughout Seville. It offers an intimate contrast to the city’s larger monuments. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Choose an optional excursion to explore the Alcázar of Seville and Plaza América. The royal palace complex is celebrated for its ornate rooms, courtyards and gardens, while Plaza América introduces another chapter of the city’s architecture.

The Alcázar’s layered design reflects successive rulers and the enduring influence of Mudéjar craftsmanship. Plaza América, in María Luisa Park, was developed for Seville’s 1929 Ibero-American Exposition. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Travel from Madrid to Toledo on an optional excursion to discover a historic city set above a bend in the Tagus River. Its tightly packed old streets and landmark-filled skyline provide a marked contrast to the capital.

Toledo’s heritage reflects centuries of Christian, Jewish and Islamic cultural influence, giving the city a distinctive place in Spain’s history. The itinerary does not specify particular site entries or a guided route. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

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