Get your bearings in Valencia’s Old City with your Travel Director, seeing ancient gateways and streets shaped by successive periods of expansion. The orientation introduces the historic centre of a city whose medieval fabric contrasts with its contemporary architecture.

Valencia’s surviving gates recall the walls that once enclosed the city. Looking at the older street pattern offers a sense of how Roman, Islamic and later Christian influences contributed to the capital of Spain’s eastern coast.

• 6 Dinner (D)
• 17 Breakfast (B)
• 1 Lunch (L)

• 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

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

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over dinner at a local restaurant in Barcelona. This hosted gathering offers an opportunity to get acquainted while sharing a meal in the Catalan capital.

Barcelona’s dining culture values conversation around the table as much as the food itself. The welcome dinner brings the group together before exploring Spain’s contrasting cities, landscapes and regional traditions.

Explore Barcelona with a Local Expert, travelling along Passeig de Gràcia and through the Eixample’s distinctive grid of streets. Visit Gaudí’s Sagrada Família to see its tree-like columns, soaring vaults and coloured light streaming through stained-glass windows.

The route reveals how Catalan Modernisme reshaped the city. If access to the basilica is restricted, the visit is replaced by Hospital de Sant Pau, followed by views of the Sagrada Família’s exterior from its surrounding gardens.

See Peñíscola’s 14th-century castle rising above a compact old town on a limestone headland beside the Mediterranean. Its walls and towers create a striking silhouette against the sea, making this coastal stop a chance to appreciate both the fortress and its setting.

The castle later served as a residence of Pope Benedict XIII during the Western Schism. Its commanding position also made it a memorable filming location for the historical epic El Cid.

Watch a local chef prepare Valencian paella in a family-run restaurant in the Old City. See how the pan’s heat, rice, saffron-infused stock and carefully timed ingredients build the dish, before sitting down to enjoy the finished paella with wine.

Paella has its roots in the rice-growing landscapes around Valencia. Tasting the prized socarrat, the crisp layer beneath the rice, makes the demonstration a hands-on introduction to a regional tradition rather than simply a meal.

Explore the Alhambra with a Local Expert, discovering palace spaces, intricate carved plasterwork, courtyards and fountains within Granada’s celebrated hilltop complex. Walk through the Generalife gardens, once part of the rulers’ summer retreat.

The Alhambra developed under the Nasrid dynasty from the 13th century, when Granada was the centre of a Muslim kingdom. Its geometric decoration and carefully directed water reveal how architecture, gardens and political power were brought together on this site.

Walk through the Santa Cruz quarter with a Local Expert, following narrow lanes, small plazas and enclosed courtyards in Seville’s former Jewish district. Visit Seville Cathedral to experience its vast Gothic nave and chapels, and view the adjoining Giralda.

Completed in the 16th century, the cathedral occupies the site of an earlier mosque; the Giralda began as its 12th-century minaret. Together, the neighbourhood and cathedral reveal layers of Jewish, Islamic and Christian history within the city.

Learn a few flamenco steps at Seville’s Cristina Heeren Foundation and meet students developing their skills in dance, singing and guitar. Watch a performance that brings the rhythm, movement and expressive character of this Andalusian art form into focus.

The foundation works to teach and preserve flamenco for future generations. This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® visit supports that training, offering an encounter with young artists and the disciplined practice behind the performance.

Explore Córdoba’s historic centre with your Travel Director, seeing the Roman Bridge across the Guadalquivir and passing old gateways into streets lined with whitewashed houses. Small squares and glimpses of patios help you understand the layout of this layered city.

The bridge’s origins reach back to Roman times, while the surrounding centre reflects Córdoba’s later prominence under Islamic rule. This orientation places its landmarks within the wider streetscape rather than viewing them in isolation.

Visit Córdoba’s Mezquita-Cathedral with a local historian and walk among its repeated columns and red-and-white arches. See the Christian choir and chapels set within the earlier mosque, making the building’s changing use visible in its architecture.

Construction of the great mosque began in the eighth century, when Córdoba became a major centre of Islamic Spain. Its later conversion into a cathedral created an extraordinary meeting of architectural traditions under one roof.

Discover Madrid’s historic neighbourhoods with a Local Expert on a guided city tour. Travel through the Old Quarter and learn how the Spanish capital grew from its early settlement into a centre of royal and civic life.

Madrid’s older streets offer a contrast to its broad later boulevards. Expert commentary helps connect the city’s layout with the periods that shaped it, providing an introduction to the capital beyond its most familiar monuments.

Explore the Prado Museum with an art historian, examining works by Velázquez, Goya, Titian and Rubens. Guided interpretation draws attention to the paintings’ details, their historical settings and the patrons who helped bring them together.

Founded in 1819, the Prado became a principal home for Spain’s royal collections and major works of European art. This expert-led visit gives context to the artists’ differing approaches, from court portraiture to powerful depictions of Spanish life.

Gather with your Travel Director and fellow travellers for dinner and wine at a local restaurant in the heart of Madrid. The hosted evening makes space to share discoveries and conversation around the table.

Eating out is central to the capital’s social life, particularly in its lively central neighbourhoods. This group dinner offers a shared experience of that atmosphere, with time to reflect on the places and traditions encountered across Spain.

Choose a Local Expert-led tour of Santiago de Compostela, including Praza do Obradoiro and a view of the cathedral’s richly ornamented facade. Explore the setting that welcomes pilgrims at the end of the Way of St. James.

Santiago grew around a medieval tradition identifying the city with the tomb of the Apostle St. James. The square’s monumental buildings and the cathedral’s elaborate exterior express its enduring importance as a pilgrimage destination. This is one of two included Insight Choice activities.

Choose to walk part of the Way of St. James with a Local Expert near Santiago de Compostela. Follow a scenic route through parks and gardens, noticing the changing vegetation and the quieter approach to this historic pilgrimage city.

For centuries, routes across Europe have converged on Santiago’s cathedral. Walking even a short section offers a sense of the journey’s physical rhythm and cultural meaning. This is one of two included Insight Choice activities.

Meet locals for a farm-to-table meal in the Gijón area, enjoying homemade food prepared with locally sourced produce. Learn about Asturias’s traditional cider production and taste a drink closely associated with the region.

Asturian cooking draws on the produce of its green coastal landscape, while cider has long been part of local social life. This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® experience supports responsible consumption and offers a personal introduction to regional food traditions.

Explore Oviedo with a Local Expert, learning about its ninth-century churches and the early medieval art preserved in the city. Visit the Cathedral of the Holy Savior in Plaza Alfonso II and admire its richly detailed altarpiece.

Oviedo was a capital of the Kingdom of Asturias, and its pre-Romanesque buildings preserve an architectural tradition distinctive to northern Spain. The visit connects that early Christian heritage with the cathedral that remains a focal point of the historic centre.

Visit the Holy Cave of Covadonga, a pilgrimage shrine set into the Asturian mountains. See the tomb of Pelayo and discover why this small sanctuary holds an important place in the region’s historical memory.

Pelayo is traditionally associated with the Battle of Covadonga in 722 and the beginnings of the Kingdom of Asturias. The cave’s rocky setting gives the story a tangible landscape, blending religious devotion and the early medieval history of northern Spain.

Experience the scenery of the Picos de Europa in the foothills of one of Spain’s most dramatic national parks. Take in steep mountains, rocky terrain and deep gorges that contrast with the gentler green landscapes of the nearby coast.

The park’s limestone peaks form a defining feature of northern Spain. Travelling through this setting provides a close view of the terrain that has shaped local routes, settlements and the region’s enduring mountain traditions.

Walk the cobbled streets of Santillana del Mar, passing old stone houses decorated with carved heraldic symbols. Explore the village’s historic lanes and reach its church square, where the preserved architecture creates a strong sense of place.

Santillana del Mar is celebrated for its exceptionally intact medieval character. Its buildings and street pattern offer a quieter perspective on northern Spain’s heritage, distinct from the grand cathedrals and royal cities elsewhere on the journey.

Discover Bilbao with your Travel Director and see the exterior of Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum. Its sweeping forms and reflective surfaces make the building a landmark of contemporary architecture beside the Nervión River.

Opened in 1997, the museum became closely associated with Bilbao’s urban renewal and changing international profile. The orientation places its distinctive design within the wider Basque city. Museum admission is not described as part of this visit.

Pause in the seaside town of Getaria to see El Ratón, the mouse-shaped rocky headland that gives the harbour its recognisable outline. The coastal setting offers a view of the Basque shoreline and its fishing-town character.

Getaria’s relationship with the sea has shaped its identity for centuries. Seeing the headland from town brings the landscape and maritime setting together in one concise stop along the Costa Vasca.

Explore San Sebastián with a Local Expert, walking through its Old Quarter, including Plaza de la Constitución, and discovering the harbour area. Learn about the city’s maritime past as you move between its historic streets and waterfront.

Known in Basque as Donostia, the city combines a longstanding relationship with fishing and seafaring with the elegance of a coastal resort. The guided walk brings attention to Basque cultural heritage beyond its beaches and bay views.

Share a farewell dinner with your Travel Director and fellow travellers at a local restaurant in Barcelona. Raise a glass and revisit favourite encounters, landscapes and flavours from the journey across Spain.

The Catalan capital provides a lively setting for a final gathering around the table. This hosted meal is an opportunity to celebrate the connections made within the group, rather than an ordinary unaccompanied restaurant stop.

Explore Granada’s Albaicín quarter with a Local Expert, discovering the historic neighbourhood’s lanes and its role in the city’s past. The hillside district offers a perspective on Granada beyond the Alhambra’s palace walls.

The Albaicín retains a street pattern rooted in its Islamic-era history. Expert commentary explains why Granada mattered in the closing centuries of Muslim rule in Iberia and how that heritage remains visible in the neighbourhood. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit Seville’s Pilatos Palace on an optional exploration of one of the city’s notable historic residences. Admire its architectural details and the combination of styles that gives the palace its distinctive character.

Known as the Casa de Pilatos, the building brings together Renaissance design and Mudéjar craftsmanship, reflecting Seville’s layered artistic traditions. It offers an intimate contrast to the city’s vast cathedral. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Explore the Royal Alcázar of Seville and nearby Plaza América on an optional city visit. Encounter the palace’s historic architecture and see the graceful pavilions associated with Seville’s 1929 Ibero-American Exposition.

The Alcázar is a royal palace complex shaped by successive rulers, with Mudéjar design among its defining features. Plaza América presents a different chapter of the city’s architectural history. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Discover Toledo on an optional excursion from Madrid. Set above the River Tagus, this historic city is known for its compact old streets and the close proximity of landmarks associated with Christian, Jewish and Islamic communities.

Toledo served as a major centre of Spanish political and cultural life, and its built heritage reflects centuries of exchange and change. The excursion offers a contrasting historic city experience within reach of the capital. It is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit the ancient city of Segovia on an optional excursion from Madrid, seeing its monumental Roman aqueduct and fairy-tale-like castle. These contrasting landmarks reveal different eras of the city’s long history.

The aqueduct’s towering stone arches are an achievement of Roman engineering, while the Alcázar rises above the surrounding landscape with a striking fortified silhouette. Together they make Segovia a rewarding destination for architectural comparison. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit the monastery of Montserrat on an optional excursion from Barcelona. Discover a place of pilgrimage set among the mountain’s distinctive rock formations and associated with the revered image of the Black Madonna.

Montserrat has held spiritual importance in Catalonia for centuries, while its dramatic setting makes the journey as notable for scenery as for religious heritage. The excursion offers a quieter contrast to Barcelona’s urban architecture. It is at additional cost and bookable on tour.