Join your Travel Director and fellow travellers for dinner at a local restaurant in Madrid. Enjoy regional favourites served with wine and share impressions of the places, people and traditions encountered across the journey.

This hosted meal brings the group together in the Spanish capital rather than leaving the final evening unstructured. Conversation around the table offers a relaxed way to reflect on experiences spanning Portugal, Morocco and Spain.

• 6 Dinner (D)
• 15 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.

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over a welcome dinner at a local restaurant in Lisbon. Share food and wine while getting to know the people travelling with you through Portugal, Spain and Morocco.

Lisbon’s dining culture makes a relaxed setting for conversation, with Portuguese wine and regional cooking bringing a sense of place to the table. This hosted first evening is an opportunity to settle into the journey together.

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

Insight Vacations

Explore Lisbon with a Local Expert, discovering the orderly streets of Baixa and the riverside landmarks of Belém. See the Monument to the Discoveries and Belém Tower beside the Tagus, where Portugal’s maritime history remains visible in the cityscape.

Baixa’s broad, regular street plan reflects its rebuilding after the devastating 1755 earthquake. In Belém, the monuments recall the voyages that connected Portugal with ports across Africa, Asia and the Americas.

Visit Lisbon’s National Coach Museum to examine an exceptional collection of horse-drawn royal carriages. Look closely at gilded decoration, carved details and changing coach designs on vehicles associated with state occasions and diplomatic ceremony.

Dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries, the collection reveals how European courts used craftsmanship to express rank and power. The coaches offer a tangible view of ceremonial life before motor transport transformed royal travel.

Taste pastéis de Belém in Lisbon’s Belém district, where the celebrated custard pastries have been made at the same bakery since 1837. Bite through crisp pastry into soft custard, with a dusting of cinnamon to finish.

The bakery’s closely guarded recipe is part of a local tradition associated with Belém’s historic neighbourhood. This tasting offers a flavour of Lisbon that travellers can connect to a specific place and longstanding craft.

Choose a guided walk through Seville’s Santa Cruz quarter with a Local Expert. Follow narrow lanes into small plazas and look for enclosed courtyards within the district’s closely woven street pattern.

Santa Cruz preserves traces of the area shaped by Seville’s medieval Jewish community. Its compact layout and sheltered spaces offer a different perspective on the city’s history than its grand monuments. This is one of two included Insight Choice activities in Seville.

Choose a panoramic drive through Seville to see the city’s principal districts and landmarks. Take in the riverfront near Torre del Oro, the broad avenues associated with the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition and the greenery around María Luisa Park.

The route reveals how Seville expanded beyond its older centre while retaining its connection to the Guadalquivir River. This is one of two included Insight Choice activities in the city.

Step inside Seville Cathedral, the world’s largest Gothic cathedral, to see its vast nave and richly detailed chapels. View the Giralda, the bell tower whose lower structure began as the minaret of a 12th-century Almohad mosque.

Completed in the 16th century, the cathedral demonstrates how this site changed from Islamic to Christian use. It is also the resting place of Christopher Columbus, linking Seville’s religious architecture with the era of Atlantic exploration.

Meet students at Seville’s Cristina Heeren Foundation, learn a few basic flamenco steps and watch a performance. See how dance, singing and guitar come together through the work of young artists training at the school.

The foundation teaches and preserves flamenco as a living Andalusian art form. Your visit offers insight into the discipline behind its expressive performances and supports an educational initiative backed by a TreadRight Foundation grant.

Cross the Strait of Gibraltar by ferry between Spain and Morocco, travelling from Tarifa towards Tangier and returning to Europe later in the tour. From the water, take in the coastlines on either side of this narrow passage.

The strait connects the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea while separating Europe from North Africa. Making both crossings by sea gives you a direct sense of the geography that has shaped centuries of trade, travel and cultural exchange.

Walk through the ancient Medina of Fes with a Local Expert, following its maze of streets past workshops, mosques and hidden courtyards. Explore souks where vendors display food, clothing, leather goods and lamps, and pass the historic university of al-Qarawiyyin.

The walled Medina remains a centre of traditional craft and commerce. Its dense lanes reward attentive exploration: the sound of work in a workshop or a glimpse into a courtyard can reveal a side of the city hidden from wider streets.

Learn about traditional carpet making in Fes, examining the materials, patterns and skilled work involved in handwoven textiles. Discover how choices of fibre and design give individual carpets their character.

Textile production is among Morocco’s enduring craft traditions, with techniques and visual motifs passed between generations. This encounter adds context to the finished carpets seen in Fes’s souks and draws attention to the time and expertise behind each piece.

Explore the Marrakesh Medina with a Local Expert, passing its souks and lively Jemaa el-Fnaa square. See the Koutoubia Minaret rising above the old city, a landmark that has long shaped its skyline.

The Medina’s network of streets reflects Marrakesh’s history as a centre of trade and craftsmanship. Around the square and market lanes, changing sounds, colours and street activity convey the energy of a city whose public spaces remain central to daily life.

Explore Marrakesh’s Bahia Palace with a Local Expert, moving through decorated rooms and spaces arranged around inner gardens. Look for intricate tilework and carved details that express the craftsmanship of the palace’s builders.

Developed in the 19th century, Bahia Palace offers a glimpse into the wealth and domestic life of Morocco’s former ruling elite. Its inward-looking design creates a striking contrast between the busy Medina outside and the quieter courtyards within.

Explore Casablanca with a local guide and visit the Hassan II Mosque, Morocco’s largest mosque. See its monumental setting beside the Atlantic, and take in the Corniche, a waterfront stretch lined with cafés and restaurants.

Casablanca’s coastal outlook and modern urban life make it distinct from Morocco’s older imperial cities. The mosque’s scale and oceanfront position provide a powerful introduction to the city beyond its familiar association with classic cinema.

See Rabat’s Royal Palace and Hassan Tower with your Moroccan National Guide. View two landmarks that speak to different chapters of the capital’s history: the seat of the monarchy and the remains of an ambitious medieval mosque project.

Hassan Tower dates from the Almohad period and stands among unfinished columns, giving the site a distinctive open-air character. Together, these landmarks offer a concise view of Rabat’s political and architectural heritage.

Discover Tangier with a Local Expert, seeing the Sultan’s Palace and visiting the Casbah. Explore the elevated historic quarter of this port city overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar.

Tangier’s position between the Atlantic and Mediterranean has long made it a meeting point for travellers and traders. The Casbah’s enclosed lanes and commanding setting provide a sense of the city’s layered history and its close relationship with the sea.

Explore the Rock of Gibraltar with a Local Expert, visit St. Michael’s Cave and look out for the Barbary macaques that live on the Rock. Take in views towards the surrounding sea and, in clear conditions, the coasts beyond.

Known in antiquity as one of the Pillars of Hercules, Gibraltar stands at the meeting of Atlantic and Mediterranean waters. Its limestone cave, dramatic geography and resident macaques make this a varied encounter with the territory’s natural and historic character.

Taste freshly pressed olive oils with locally made bread at a rural mill-factory near Alfarnatejo. Compare the oils while learning about production in an area noted for its long-established olive groves.

Olive cultivation is deeply woven into rural Andalusian life, from the landscape of groves to the everyday use of oil at the table. Sampling different oils brings those connections into focus through flavour, aroma and texture.

Share a home-cooked lunch with a local family in Alfarnatejo, a small whitewashed village in the Andalusian countryside. In a small group, enjoy dishes prepared with fresh, local produce and conversation around the family table.

The meal offers a personal introduction to rural hospitality and the flavours of this part of southern Spain. Hearing residents’ stories gives the village a human dimension that reaches beyond its mountain setting and traditional streets.

Explore Granada’s Alhambra with a Local Expert, examining Nasrid-period courtyards, palace rooms and intricately carved plasterwork. Walk through the Generalife gardens, where water features and planted spaces complement the architecture.

Set on a hill above Granada, the Alhambra grew from a 13th-century citadel into a palace complex associated with the city’s Muslim rulers. Its careful use of water, light and ornament makes the site central to understanding Granada’s layered cultural history.

Explore Madrid’s historic neighbourhoods with a Local Expert, taking in the Old Quarter’s compact streets, squares and civic buildings. Discover how the Spanish capital developed from a medieval citadel into the centre of Habsburg Madrid.

The district’s street pattern and gathering places reveal earlier stages of the city beneath its modern pace. Expert commentary connects what you see to Madrid’s growth as a royal capital, giving context to its contrasting historic and newer districts.

Visit Madrid’s Prado Museum with an art historian and examine works by Velázquez, Goya, Titian and Rubens. Your specialist guide places selected paintings in their historical setting, drawing attention to artistic choices and connections with royal patronage.

Founded in 1819, the Prado became a principal home for Spain’s royal art collections. Seeing these works with expert interpretation offers a deeper understanding of Spanish painting and its place within the wider European tradition.

Experience an Andalusian evening in Seville, with traditional cuisine and music evoking the atmosphere of the old city. This organised evening offers a way to spend time together around regional food and performance.

Music and shared meals are enduring parts of Andalusian social culture, giving the experience a character distinct from daytime sightseeing. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit Seville’s Pilatos Palace to admire the architectural elegance of this historic residence. Explore a setting known for its blend of Spanish Renaissance and Mudéjar influences, expressed in decorated spaces and courtyard design.

The palace offers a more intimate view of Seville’s architectural heritage than the city’s great public monuments. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, making it a choice for travellers especially interested in historic houses and decorative detail.

Explore the Alcázar of Seville and visit Plaza América, where pavilions recall the city’s 1929 Ibero-American Exposition. The experience brings together a royal palace complex and a later chapter of Seville’s architectural history.

The Alcázar is celebrated for the layered styles created across centuries of use, while the exposition grounds show how Seville presented itself to an international audience. This Optional Experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Discover Toledo on an optional excursion from Madrid. Set above the Tagus River, the historic city is known for its tightly packed streets and buildings associated with Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities.

Toledo’s distinctive hilltop setting and layered heritage offer a contrast to the Spanish capital. It is a choice for travellers who want to spend more of their time exploring central Spain’s historic cities. This Optional 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