Iberian Cultures
9 DAYS
Lisbon 2 • Algarve Coast 1 • Seville 2 • Madrid 2
Basic Inclusions
Accommodations
Accommodations in centrally-located three-star or four-star hotels. Rooming on a triple basis. Double rooms: $50 per night, per person.
Meals
All breakfasts. All dinners.
Transportation
Round-trip transportation on scheduled airline. Deluxe touring motorcoach. All public transportation tickets included where applicable.
Guide
Services of a specially-trained passports Tour Director throughout. All tips are included in the Program Cost. Whisper headsets included.
Travel Protection
Passports provides and pays for a Post Departure Travel Protection Plan that includes coverage for Trip Interruption, Trip Delay, Medical Expense and Evacuation and more.
Tour Summary
Itinerary Includes
Unlimited public transportation
Days 1-2: Arrival Lisbon
Arrival transfer
Day 3: Lisbon
Excursion to Sintra and Cascais: Local Guide, Visit to the National Palace of Sintra, Sightseeing stop in Cascais, Sightseeing stop at the Mouth of Hell seaside chasm, Headset receiver
Half-day city sightseeing: Local Guide, Visit to the Jerónimos Monastery
Optional Fado Performance
Day 4: Lisbon - Algarve Coast
Day 5: Algarve Coast - Seville
Flamenco show
Day 6: Seville
Half-day city sightseeing: Local Guide, Visit to Seville Cathedral (view Christopher Columbus' tomb) and the Giralda Tower, Visit to the Royal Alcázar of Seville
Optional Guadalquivir River Cruise
Day 7: Seville - Madrid
Guided walking tour in Córdoba, Visit to the Mezquita, AVE train Córdoba-Madrid, Arrival transfer
Day 8: Madrid
Half-day city sightseeing: Guide, Visit to the Prado Museum, Prado headset
Visit to the Reina Sofia Museum
Optional Entrance to the Amusement Park (Parque de Atracciones): Teleférico de Madrid cable car ride
Day 9: Departure
Departure transfer
UNPARALLELED STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE
Detailed Itinerary
Days 1-2: Arrival
It's a short night's sleep as you fly across the Atlantic to awaken with the dawn. Beneath you, glimmering in the early morning sun, is the wide and generous delta of the River Tagus, once Europe's main point of departure for the New World. This is Portugal and her capital city, Lisbon.
Get settled into your centrally-located hotel. Soon you're out enjoying the narrow streets, markets and squares of the city that was called Alis Ubbo ("pleasant bay") by its early settlers, the Phoenicians.
Overnight: Lisbon
Day 3: Excursion to Sintra and Cascais, Lisbon City Sightseeing, Optional Fado Performance
Set out on an excursion to a beautiful town classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Lord Byron called Sintra a "glorious Eden," for its enchanting setting and its lush gardens adorned with trees and plants brought back from the far reaches of the Portuguese empire.
A half-day local guide, well-educated and specially-trained on the history and culture of Lisbon and its surroundings, will accompany your group.
Visit the Palácio Nacional de Sintra, a royal residence which dates back to the Middle Ages. It is recognizable by its two conical kitchen chimneys.
Enjoy a sightseeing stop in a fishing village that became a fashionable resort in the 19th century. Nowadays, tourists still come for its sand beaches and marina, as well as its Manueline church with Baroque paintings by the artist Josefa de Óbidos (1630-1684), one of the rare female painters of her time.
Less than two miles from downtown Cascais, you'll come across the spectacular Boca do Inferno, a grotto carved by the surf in the rugged coastline, best seen at high tide when thundering waves crash against the rock.
Discover historic and contemporary Lisbon on a city tour past iconic sights: St. George's Castle, the Belém Tower, the Vasco da Gama Bridge, the historic Alfama district, the popular cafés of the Praça do Rossio, the Monument to the Discoveries, and Lisbon's cathedral (Sé), which houses the baptismal font where a local baby who became St. Anthony of Padua was baptized in 1195.
A half-day local guide, well-educated and specially-trained on the history and culture of Lisbon and its surroundings, will accompany your group.
Visit one of Lisbon's great landmarks, the beautiful convent built of all white marble which was founded in 1502 to give thanks for the successful return of Vasco da Gama's fleet from the Indies. Said to be "built by pepper" (monies from the spice trade), the Jerónimos Monastery displays a profusion of marine motifs: seashells, ropes and anchors typical of the Manueline style that peaked during the reign of Manuel I (1495-1521).
Tonight, attend a performance of the hauntingly beautiful Portuguese music known as Fado ("fate"). This is the country's most famous musical form, traditionally performed by one singer accompanied by a twelve-string Portuguese guitarra.
Overnight: Lisbon
Day 4: Travel to the Algarve Coast
Travel to Portugal's ruggedly beautiful Algarve coast. The Algarve (Arabic for "the west") is Portugal's southernmost province, fringed with eerie rock formations and white-sand beaches. Traditional fishing villages with pastel houses color the shoreline.
Overnight: Algarve Coast
Day 5: Travel to Seville, Flamenco Show
Travel on due east past lemon and almond orchards on your way to one of the loveliest cities in all of Spain, Sevilla, the home of Carmen, Figaro, and Don Juan himself.
This evening, enjoy traditional entertainment, flamenco! The poet Federico García Lorca called it "the most gigantic creation of the Spanish people." You will long remember its complex and insistent rhythms, castanets, guitars and clacking heels as a highlight of your trip to Spain.
Overnight: Seville
Day 6: Seville City Sightseeing, Optional Guadalquivir River Cruise
Get acquainted with Sevilla on a tour of the city. You'll stop for photos at the Plaza de España and explore on foot the well-preserved Barrio de Santa Cruz, a picturesque maze of alleys and patios which once was the Jewish quarter. You will see the ancient minaret called the Giralda, the Parque María Luisa, the famous tobacco factory where Bizet's Carmen worked and the crenelated tower called the Torre del Oro, which was built in the 13th century to protect the port.
A half-day local guide, well-educated and specially-trained on the history and culture of Seville, will accompany your group.
A visit is included to the great Gothic cathedral, where you will see the flamboyant monument to Columbus, and the tomb of Ferdinand III: its trilingual inscription in Arabic, Hebrew and Castilian symbolizes this 13th-century king's vision of his kingdom as the home of all three faiths.
Then, climb the Giralda, a former minaret that stands near the cathedral. Instead of stairs, this tower was designed with an interior ramp which makes the climb almost effortless. From the top, visitors have a great overview of the cathedral's roof and buttresses.
Enjoy a visit to this UNESCO World Heritage Site over a thousand years old that's a stunning blend of Mudéjar and Christian architecture. Regarded as the most beautiful palace in Spain, El Real Alcázar de Sevilla was a residence of Spanish kings for nearly seven centuries after the Reconquista.
The afternoon is unscheduled.
Check out Calle Sierpes, the awning-covered street that is Sevilla's outdoor market.
Enjoy a scenic boat ride along the picturesque Guadalquivir River. Listen to the commentary while you enjoy the sights from a different perspective.
Overnight: Seville
Day 7: Córdoba, Train to Madrid
Travel to Córdoba, which was once as prominent as Baghdad in the Islamic world. At that time, Córdoba's cultural life was centered around its 70 libraries, with the Caliph's library alone holding 400,000 volumes! Throughout the ages exceptional scholars have blossomed here, including Seneca, the Roman author/statesman, and the medieval philosophers Maimónides and Averroës.
Discover the historic center, with the Jewish Quarter(Judería). See the statue of Maimónides, Calle Judíos, and the Sinagoga that dates back to 1315,: it's the only Andalusian synagogue to have survived the 1492 eExpulsion of the Jews.
Cross the Patio de los Naranjos, where orange blossoms bloom in the spring. Enter the Great Mosque, in the heart of which a large Roman Catholic Cathedral was built after the Reconquest by the Christian Kings.
Marvel at the Mezquita's forest of "candy cane" arches adorned with precious stones, at its ceiling of carved cedar and 4,000 bronze and copper lamps. View the Mihrab shrine, where the Koran was kept.
There's excitement aboard an Alta Velocidad train ride (no clickety-clacks on these smooth rails), all the way to Madrid. Time flies aboard the streamlined train which, inside, looks and feels like an airplane. En poco tiempo, you're in the bustling capital of Spain.
Get settled in your madrileño hotel and explore your surroundings.
Overnight: Madrid
Day 8: Madrid City Sightseeing, Reina Sofia Museum, Optional Casa de Campo Amusement Park
On a tour of the city, you will be introduced to the sights and the city grand squares: Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, Plaza de España with the Cervantes Monument, Gran Vía, Calle Alcalá, Plaza de Colón, and Plaza de Cibeles with its fountains.
A half-day local guide, well-educated and specially-trained on the history and culture of Madrid and its surroundings, will accompany your group.
View world-famous paintings by El Greco, Goya, and Velázquez, and much. much more, at the magnificent Museo del Prado.
At the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía you will see the permanent collection of modern works by artists such as Dalí, Miró, and Picasso, notably Picasso's haunting Guernica, a memorial to the victims of the Nazi bombing of a Basque village, long kept out of Spain because of the artist's refusal to recognize Franco's dictatorship.
The afternoon is unscheduled.
You may want to check out the elegant El Corte Inglés department store at the Puerta del Sol.
Visit the Parque de Atracciones, the amusement park that's located in Casa de Campo, Madrid's largest public park. Rides, arranged in four zones, feature star attractions such as Fjords, with aquatic thrills, as well as Top Spin and Vertigo, known for their spectacular dives.
Enjoy a ride on the teleférico that goes up to Casa de Campo, the largest public park in Madrid.
Overnight: Madrid
Day 9: Departure
¡Adios España! Madrid's airport recedes and you're 500 miles closer to home with each hour in the air. Race the sun westward, arriving home later today, eager to share your experiences with family and friends.
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