Discover Spain’s capital on an orientation drive through central Madrid with your Travel Director. Take in the broad avenues, historic buildings and lively plazas that give the city its distinctive energy.

This introduction places Madrid’s landmarks in context, from its royal heritage to the public squares where residents gather. It offers a first look at the city’s scale and character without requiring you to navigate its streets on your own.

Share a welcome dinner with your Travel Director and fellow travellers in Madrid. Sit down together over food and conversation, with an opportunity to get to know the people joining you on this journey.

Dining together is a welcoming introduction to Spanish evenings, when conversation often stretches well beyond the meal. Your Travel Director will be on hand to help set the scene for the cultures and places explored across Spain, Morocco and Portugal.

Explore Madrid with a Local Specialist, visiting the Old Town and travelling along the elegant Paseo de la Castellana. See the Cibeles Fountain and Royal Palace as you uncover the capital’s history.

Madrid’s grand avenues and older streets reveal different sides of a city shaped by the Spanish monarchy and centuries of civic life. Local insight connects its celebrated sights with the neighbourhoods and public spaces around them.

Walk through Toledo’s historic streets with a Local Specialist and visit a synagogue that reflects the city’s Jewish heritage. Inside the Church of Santo Tomé, see El Greco’s celebrated painting, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz.

This UNESCO-listed city preserves traces of Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities within its compact medieval centre. Its layered architecture and El Greco’s dramatic work make Toledo a particularly vivid place to explore Spain’s intertwined histories.

Visit Damasquinados Suarez in Toledo to watch artisans at work and learn about the city’s long association with sword-making and decorated metalwork. See the care involved in shaping steel and creating finely detailed pieces.

Toledo’s blades were prized for centuries, while damascene decoration became another enduring local craft. Watching the makers brings a practical dimension to the city’s history: these traditions remain skilled, hands-on work rather than museum pieces alone.

Explore Granada’s Alhambra Palace and Generalife Gardens with a Local Specialist. Discover the courtyards, architectural details and landscaped spaces of this hilltop complex, set against the Sierra Nevada.

Founded as a Nasrid royal residence in the 13th century, the Alhambra later became a court of Ferdinand and Isabella. Its carved surfaces and garden setting reveal how architecture, water and shade were brought together in one of Spain’s most important Moorish landmarks.

Discover Tangier with a Local Specialist, walking through the medina’s narrow streets and lively souks and taking in views from the Kasbah. Experience a city whose position at the Strait of Gibraltar has long made it a meeting point between shores and cultures.

Moroccan traditions sit alongside visible Spanish and colonial influences in Tangier’s architecture and street life. The city also drew artists and writers, adding another layer to its storied port-city character.

Explore Chefchaouen’s blue-washed streets in the Rif Mountains, passing colourful souks before visiting the Kasbah Fortress, with its museum and gardens. The winding lanes offer close-up views of the town’s painted doorways and everyday street life.

Chefchaouen’s fortified heart has served different purposes over the centuries, including a governor’s residence, arsenal and prison. Its historic walls provide a counterpoint to the blue medina for which the town is known.

Meet women cooperative leaders and artisans in Chefchaouen and learn how weaving skills pass between generations. Hear what the colours, patterns and motifs of Rif Mountain textiles can express about local identity.

This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® visit connects a living craft with the people sustaining it. Learn how the cooperative helps women earn an income while keeping traditional textile knowledge rooted in the community; the experience supports the goal of greater gender equality.

Explore Seville with a Local Specialist, visiting Seville Cathedral and seeing the Giralda Bell Tower. Walk the narrow streets of the former Jewish Quarter and view the great walls of the Alcázar.

The Giralda began as a minaret before becoming the cathedral’s bell tower, a striking reminder of Andalusia’s layered past. The tour also takes in María Luisa Park and architecture associated with the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition, revealing another chapter of the city’s history.

Visit a family ranch in Portugal’s Alentejo, where hosts Tiago and Vera introduce you to the Lusitano horse. Stroll past grazing animals and hear the ancestral story of unrequited love that helped define the ranch’s character.

Share a home-cooked Be My Guest lunch with your hosts and experience rural hospitality in a landscape shaped by farming and horsemanship. The personal stories make this a close encounter with the people and traditions of the region.

Explore Lisbon with a Local Specialist and visit the Belém Quarter to see the Monument to the Discoveries and Belém Tower. Enjoy a pastel de nata tasting, sampling Portugal’s much-loved custard tart.

Belém’s waterfront landmarks evoke the age of Portuguese maritime exploration, while the tart offers a taste of the country’s baking traditions. Together, the guided sightseeing and tasting introduce both Lisbon’s outward-looking history and a familiar pleasure of everyday Portuguese life.

Gather in Lisbon for a farewell dinner with your Travel Director and fellow travellers. Share a final meal together and exchange favourite memories from the cities, landscapes and local encounters of the journey.

The hosted gathering gives everyone time to reflect on experiences across three countries, from Andalusian landmarks to Morocco’s mountain towns and Portugal’s Alentejo. It is a sociable close to the tour rather than an evening left entirely to individual plans.

Choose an optional excursion to Segovia from Madrid to see its towering Roman aqueduct, medieval Alcázar and Gothic cathedral. The city’s compact historic centre brings major chapters of Spanish history within easy view.

The aqueduct is an enduring feat of Roman engineering, while the Alcázar’s distinctive silhouette speaks to Segovia’s later royal and military importance. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Join an optional trip to Málaga from the Costa del Sol and discover a city with both Moorish heritage and a connection to Pablo Picasso, who was born here. Explore beyond the coast’s beaches for a closer look at its urban history.

Málaga’s old streets reflect centuries of Mediterranean exchange, while Picasso’s association adds a modern artistic dimension. This excursion offers a cultural alternative to time by the sea and is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Enjoy an optional Moroccan dinner overlooking Tangier’s medina, with traditional dishes, drinks and live local entertainment. Take in the atmosphere of the old city while sharing an evening centred on food and performance.

From the flavours on the table to the sounds of the entertainment, the experience offers a different perspective on Tangier from its daytime streets and souks. It is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Experience an optional flamenco performance in Seville, where dancers, singers and musicians bring Andalusia’s expressive stage tradition to life. Watch the movement and listen to the interplay of voice, guitar and rhythm.

Flamenco is rooted in the cultural history of southern Spain, and a live show reveals the intensity and precision behind the art form. This evening experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Take an optional Golden Triangle excursion from Lisbon to visit Estoril, Cascais and one of the area’s royal palaces. Discover coastal towns associated with seaside life alongside a residence connected to Portugal’s monarchy.

Estoril and Cascais offer a change of pace from central Lisbon, with Atlantic scenery and streets shaped by their resort heritage. The palace visit adds a further perspective on the region’s past. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.