Age 27-35

• 14 Breakfast (B)

• Toledo: This medieval city is a cultural melting pot, with a mix of Spanish, Arabic and Jewish influences. Get some pics of the Alcázar Fortress and the gothic Cathedral. 
• Granada: Probably the most Instagrammable palace that’s ever existed. Tour this Moorish marvel with an expert. 
• The Algarve: Roll out your sarong on the golden sands and take in the salty sea air and rugged scenery. And relax… 
• Lisbon: Get to grips with Portugal’s coastal capital. See all the sights, including Castelo de São Jorge, the Praca do Comércio, Rossio Sqaure and Praca da Figueira. 
• Lisbon: Take an orientation in Lisbon’s ‘museum district’. See the Jerónimos Monastery, Belém Tower and the best places to taste a pastel de nata.  
• Bilbao: Home to world famous art museums and architecture that’s grander than grand. Today you’ll have plenty of time to explore Bilbao, taking in the mountains and the skyscrapers.
• San Sebastián: Where better to admire the sunset than on the beautiful beaches of San Sebastián? This resort town is known for its fantastic food too – so make sure you’re hungry!

Visit a historic family estate to tour a 19th-century vineyard, wander vine-lined avenues, and step inside the old stone lagares and barrel rooms perfumed with oak. Conclude by sample regional wines that express Atlantic breezes and sun-warmed slopes, guided by your host’s tasting tips.

Learn how native grapes—Arinto, Castelão, and Touriga Nacional—shape blends from this corner of the Lisbon wine region. Discussions of pruning, harvest rhythms, and terroir add depth to each swirl, sniff, and sip.

Kick up some dust on an off-road buggy adventure across trails and orchards, cresting hills to reach coastal viewpoints where the Atlantic shimmers. Navigate dusty trails, rocky tracks, and rural lanes for a pulse-raising perspective on the Algarve beyond the beach.

Safety briefing and equipment are provided before you set out with experienced guides. Expect sunshine, scenery, and just the right amount of grit. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Explore a local bairro with residents on a community-led street art tour that spotlights murals, social history, and neighborhood pride. See how bold colors and messages transform walls into an open-air gallery and spark dialogue across generations.

This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience supports creative initiatives that challenge old perceptions and channel youth talent. It’s an uplifting look at culture-as-revitalization. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Delve deeper with a historic walking tour that highlights the Old and New Cathedrals, the University’s Plateresque facade (spot the tiny frog), and elegant courtyards near the Casa de las Conchas. Hear how sandstone glows at dusk, earning Salamanca its golden hue.

Professors, pilgrims, and poets shaped this scholastic city. Architectural details and local legends bring centuries of learning to life. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Cap your Catalan stay with a Flamenco dinner show in an atmospheric tablao. Dancers drive staccato footwork to the surge of guitar and cante while you enjoy regional dishes and Spanish wines. The intensity is palpable, the artistry front-row.

Though rooted in Andalusia, flamenco thrives in Barcelona’s nightlife, drawing virtuoso performers to the city’s stages. This festive evening is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Join a foodie walking tour through Porto’s markets and taverns to sample classics like francesinha, crispy bolinhos de bacalhau, and regional sweets. Learn the stories behind family recipes, and hear tips on where to taste Port across the river in Gaia.

Granite lanes, azulejo-trimmed cafés, and the scent of coffee and cinnamon frame an appetizing introduction to northern Portuguese flavors. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Contiki

Discover Spain’s “City of Three Cultures” on a guided orientation through Toledo’s cobbled lanes, where synagogues, churches, and artisan workshops cluster on a granite ridge. Pause for sweeping photos of the Alcázar Fortress and admire the Gothic Cathedral that anchors the skyline. Glimpse the legacy of the painter in the tranquil courtyards near El Greco’s House.

Hear stories of convivencia as you explore this former royal capital, famed for fine steel and damascene inlay. Medieval walls, arched gates, and honey-hued stone frame vistas across the Tagus River and a city shaped by Christian, Jewish, and Muslim traditions.

Explore the palatial hilltop complex of the Alhambra with an expert, tracing filigreed stucco, cedar ceilings, and shimmering mosaics as you step inside the Alhambra. Drift through courtyards where water murmurs in channels, admire the famed intricate stucco and tilework, and wander the Generalife gardens with cypress-lined paths and Sierra Nevada views.

Unpack the rise of the Nasrid dynasty and the legacy of the Reconquista while gazing toward the whitewashed Albaicín. The interplay of geometry, poetry, and light reveals a cultured court whose artistry still defines Granada’s soul.

Unwind along Portugal’s south coast as you roll your towel onto golden sands backed by rugged limestone cliffs. Swim in the clear Atlantic, explore sea-carved coves, and breathe the salted breeze while fishing skiffs bob offshore. This is classic Algarve—sun-warmed rock, azure water, and time to simply be.

Between swims, stroll the promenade for grilled sardines and citrus-bright salads. The coast’s sculpted arches and blowholes reveal millennia of wind and wave, creating a natural amphitheatre for lazy hours and horizon-watching.

Get your bearings in Portugal’s capital on a guided orientation through the downtown grid rebuilt after 1755. Cross Rossio Square, trace tramlines past tiled facades, and step onto the vast Praca do Comércio fronting the Tagus estuary, with views rising toward the Castelo de São Jorge.

Hear how the Marquis of Pombal redesigned Baixa’s streets with anti-seismic innovation, creating elegant arcades and black-and-white calcada pavements. The blend of Atlantic light, coffee aromas, and azulejo-clad corners sets the mood for your Lisbon explorations.

Explore Lisbon’s riverfront cradle of the Age of Discoveries. View the lace-carved portals of the Jerónimos Monastery, the sentinel silhouette of the Belém Tower, and the Monument to the Discoveries along the Tagus. Learn where locals queue for a warm pastel de nata dusted with cinnamon.

Absorb the flourishes of Manueline architecture—ropes, armillary spheres, and maritime motifs—funded by New World spices and trade. This breezy promenade links Portugal’s seafaring past with today’s creative riverside cafés and cycle paths.

Visit a frontier citadel encircled by fortified walls, where bastions and gates guard streets once marched by soldiers and traders. Stroll the ramparts for countryside views, step into the quiet plaza, and note echoes of Roman origins layered beneath medieval stone.

Stories of sieges from the Peninsular War mingle with local life today. From weathered battlements to the cathedral’s cloisters, every corner hints at Spain and Portugal’s long, intertwined border history.

Walk the honey-colored heart of Salamanca as the Plaza Mayor glows under arcaded lights. Continue into scholarly lanes to admire the University of Salamanca and its Plateresque facade, the shell-studded Casa de las Conchas, and references to the celestial fresco known as the Cielo de Salamanca.

Founded in the 13th century, this university city hums with cafés and student chatter. Sandstone buildings blush at dusk, revealing Latin inscriptions, medallions, and centuries of academic ritual etched into the walls.

Pause in Burgos to admire soaring Gothic spires as you approach Burgos Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage landmark. Linger in Plaza Santa María, where limestone traceries, statues, and flying buttresses rise above cafés and the gentle flow of the Arlanzón River.

Linked to the Camino de Santiago and tales of El Cid, Burgos showcases Castile’s medieval power and artistry. Even a short stop reveals how faith, trade, and pilgrimage shaped this elegant northern city.

Explore Bilbao’s riverfront renaissance, tracing promenades along the Nervión River to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Admire its titanium curves and reflective surfaces that ripple with Basque light, and see how public art and footbridges have transformed former docklands into a cultural district.

Learn how industry gave way to design and gastronomy, with Basque identity woven into language, cuisine, and architecture. Contemporary lines meet green hills, setting the tone for a city that balances tradition and innovation.

Walk the balustraded promenade skirting La Concha Bay, where sailboats dot aquamarine waters and Belle Époque railings gleam. Venture into the Parte Vieja to browse arcaded streets and buzzing pintxos bars brimming with gildas, croquetas, and txakoli chatter.

Framed by Monte Urgull and Santa Clara Island, San Sebastián blends resort elegance with Basque warmth. Sand underfoot, sea spray in the air, and culinary temptations around every corner define the city’s lingering charm.

Explore Zaragoza’s casco to admire the tiled domes of the Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar rising above the Ebro riverside. Cross graceful bridges, note facades that blend Mudéjar and Baroque influences, and follow arcaded streets alive with chocolaterías serving churros con chocolate.

This Aragonese capital, linked to Goya and Roman Caesaraugusta, wears its layers openly—forums beneath plazas, towers beside palaces. A short wander reveals a cultured city shaped by devotion, trade, and river light.

Walk the sinuous lanes of the Albaicín quarter, pausing at the Mirador de San Nicolás for classic Alhambra vistas. Continue to the Royal Chapel of Granada, where carved tombs hold the Catholic Monarchs, and hear how faith and architecture shaped the city’s post-Nasrid chapters.

Whitewashed patios, jasmine scents, and hillside views set the mood for stories of Moorish Granada and the Reconquista. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Experience a traditional Flamenco performance in an intimate tablao or cave-style venue, where guitar rasgueos, rhythmic palmas, and heelwork ignite the stage. Sip sangria as singers unfurl cante jondo and dancers channel Granada’s gypsy spirit with swirling skirts and fierce footwork.

Rooted in Andalusian, Romani, and Moorish strains, flamenco is raw emotion translated into movement and song. This evening experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit a family-run finca to learn how olives journey from tree to mill. Wander terraces, peek into presses, and taste cold-pressed extra virgin oils for notes of green almond, tomato leaf, and a peppery finish. Discuss varietals and pairings while enjoying countryside views.

Andalusia’s groves are integral to its cuisine and identity, protected by PDOs and generations of expertise. This sustainable tasting experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Share a dinner with locals in Seville, gathering around a family table for home-cooked Andalusian dishes like salmorejo, tortilla, or slow-braised ibérico pork. Swap stories as you taste regional olive oils, local wines, and seasonal produce straight from neighborhood markets.

Hospitality and conversation take center stage, revealing everyday life beyond the monuments. This warm Sevillano hospitality experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Join a guided walking tour through the labyrinthine Barrio Santa Cruz, past orange-scented plazas and wrought-iron balconies. View the vast Seville Cathedral and the patios by the Royal Alcázar, hearing how Mudéjar craft and maritime wealth reshaped the city.

Legends of Columbus, mosaic-lined courtyards, and shaded alleyways set a timeless scene in Andalusia’s capital. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Settle into a candlelit venue for a live Fado performance, where voices pour out saudade—Portugal’s poetry of longing—over the lilting strings of the guitarra portuguesa. Sip a glass of local wine as melodies weave through the room.

This intimate encounter with Portuguese soul music traces roots from taverns to today’s stages. The mood is contemplative, the emotion immediate. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.