Spain – Madrid & Passion of Andalusia

ITINERARY

• DAY 1
  Plaza Mayor, Madrid, Spain

  Welcome To Madrid, Spain!

  Upon arrival at Madrid Airport, you will be transferred with assistance to your hotel. The remainder of the day is at leisure or if you arrive early enough, you can enjoy hot chocolate with churros or tapas in Plaza Mayor. Overnight in Madrid.

  What's included?

  • Accommodation
  • Transfer
• DAY 2
  Puerta De Alcalá, Madrid, Spain

  Madrid - Exploring the Treasures of Madrid

  Your art historian guide will meet you in the lobby of your hotel for an introductory walking tour to discover the highlights of Madrid.
  On this private tour, you will explore both Hapsburg and Bourbon dynasties' legacies, spanning the 16th to the 19th centuries. In the Madrid of the Habsburgs, you will learn about the development of the area around the Plaza Mayor, the Casa de la Villa square, and the Puerta del Sol, which marked the eastern gate of the city under their reign. The Bourbons expanded the boundary of the city beyond the Puerta del Sol to the Prado Museum and Retiro Park. The court of Versailles inspired the Bourbon dynasty, and you can see the French influence in the buildings they commissioned, including the Royal Palace, with its elegant Plaza del Oriente and Royal Theater, the Bank of Spain building, the beautiful Cibeles and Neptune fountains, and the world-renowned Prado Museum.
  This tour includes "skip the line" tickets and a guided visit to the magnificent Royal Palace.
  Afternoon & evening free to explore other sites of Madrid at your leisure.
  Madrid, Spain's central capital, is a city of elegant boulevards and expansive, manicured parks such as the Buen Retiro. It’s renowned for its rich repositories of European art, including the Prado Museum’s works by Goya, Velázquez, and other Spanish masters. The Habsburg dynasty (Los Austrias) ruled Spain during its Golden Age and established Madrid as the capital of the country. During their reign in the 16th and 17th centuries, the old center of the city was transformed with the construction of many of the city’s historic buildings around the area of the Plaza Mayor. The Bourbon dynasty reigned after the Habsburgs, and they continued the transformation and expansion of the city. They are responsible for commissioning some of Madrid’s most iconic buildings, including the Royal Palace, the Cibeles and Neptune fountains, and the Prado Museum.

  What's included?

  • Breakfast
  • Accommodation
  • Tour
• DAY 3
  The Cathedral Santa Primada in Toledo, Spain

  Madrid - Imperial & Medieval Toledo

  Take the high-speed train to Toledo, just 30 min from Madrid. Upon arrival in Toledo, your art historian guide will meet you at the railway station and will take you on a short panoramic tour of the city in a taxi, stopping along the way at the most spectacular viewpoints. This will be followed by a 3.5-hour walking tour of the historic center. During this tour, you will visit the Cathedral, widely considered one of the high points of Gothic art given the great superimposition of styles in the building and a large number of renowned artists who left their mark on the church: from Pedro Berruguete to Enrique Egás, Petrus Petri and Juan Guas. On its main facade, the outstanding feature is the doorway, made up of three doors: Infierno (Hell), Perdón (Forgiveness), and Juicio (Judgement). The exterior is topped by the two cathedral towers, one of them in flamboyant Gothic style and the other in Gothic-Renaissance.
  You will discover the beautiful Jewish quarter where you’ll visit the El Tránsito synagogue which houses one of the best Mudejar coffered ceilings in Toledo, along with walls richly decorated with geometrical and botanical designs as well as Hebrew inscriptions. Nowadays, it is where the Sephardic Museum is located.
  You will also get to visit the San Juan de Los Reyes Monastery, a superb example of flamboyant Gothic style outstanding for its great ornamentation and its cloister, of great sculptural value.
  After the guided tour, you will have some free time to have lunch.
  During your free time in Toledo, you could also stroll the narrow streets of the old town and visit some other interesting sites on your own (i.e. the San Bartolome Church to admire the famous Greco painting "El Entierro del Conde Ordaz", The Synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca or the Mezquita de la Luz) before taking a taxi back to the train station.
  You will take the return train to Madrid. Back in Madrid, you can enjoy the evening by further exploring the city at your own leisure or by revisiting your favorite spots.
  Toledo is one of the Spanish cities with the greatest wealth of monuments. Known as the “city of the three cultures”, because Christians, Arabs, and Jews lived together here for centuries. Behind its walls, Toledo preserves an artistic and cultural legacy in the form of churches, palaces, fortresses, mosques, and synagogues. This great diversity of artistic styles makes the old quarter of the capital of Castile - La Mancha a real open-air museum, which has led to it being declared a World Heritage Site. If there is one person's name that defines Toledo it is that of El Greco. His House Museum, a palace with the atmosphere of the period, exhibits some of the best works of the painter who made the city world-famous.

  What's included?

  • Breakfast
  • Accommodation
  • Tour
• DAY 4
  City view from Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain

  Granada - Walking city tour

  Check out and have free time until the transfer train station to board your high-speed train to Granada.
  
  Granada is one of the pearls of Spain, most visited by travelers from all over the world. The long-time capital of Moorish. Andalusia has to offer the most important reminds of this epoch in Spanish history, with the world-famous "Alhambra" at the top of the list. Walk through the beautiful gardens, charming narrow streets filled with flowers, enjoy one of those typical taverns to have some of that famous "Trevélez" ham and local wine and breathe the centuries of history around you anywhere.

  What's included?

  • Breakfast
  • Accommodation
  • Train
• DAY 5
  Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain

  Granada - The Wonders of the Alhambra

  After breakfast, in the morning visit La You will enjoy a guided tour* of approx. 2.5 hrs during which you will discover one of the most brilliant jewels of universal architecture: the magnificent Moorish Alhambra Palace and its beautiful Generalife gardens.
  The Alhambra is a series of palaces and gardens built under the Nazari Dynasty in the 14th century. This mighty compound of buildings – including the summer palace called Generalife, with its fountains and gardens - stands at the foot of Spain's highest mountain range, the Sierra Nevada, and overlooks the city below and the fertile plain of Granada.
  We recommend having lunch (cost not included) at the Parador to enjoy their beautiful terrace which overlooks the Generalife gardens.
  You will have the rest of the afternoon and evening free to enjoy at your leisure.
  
  The Alhambra is Granada’s – and Europe’s – love letter to Moorish culture, a place where fountains trickle, leaves rustle, and ancient spirits seem to mysteriously linger. Part palace, part fort, part World Heritage site, part lesson in medieval architecture, the Alhambra has long enchanted a never-ending line of expectant visitors. The Generalife was intended to reflect how paradise is described in the Koran (“shaded, leafy garden refreshed by running water where the fortunate ones may take their rest under tall canopies.

  What's included?

  • Breakfast
  • Accommodation
  • Tour
• DAY 6
  Mezquita Catedral de Córdoba, Spain

  Seville - Explore the capital of the Caliphate, Cordoba

  After breakfast, drive to Cordoba. Arrive in Cordoba, thus the town was important in the Roman age, but during the Muslim period especially the IX and Xth centuries, when Cordoba became the capital of the Caliphate and the most populated in the world (almost 1 million).
  Visit the Great Mosque of Cordoba, which is one of the oldest structures still standing from the time Muslims ruled Al-Andalus Muslim in the late 8th century, with a local guide, considered the nicest in history. Then a walk around the Jewish Quarter, with its fresh narrow streets, and Andalusia patios, where we will find one of the few preserved Synagogues in Spain. Drive to Seville and overnight.
  
  

  What's included?

  • Breakfast
  • Accommodation
  • Tour
• DAY 7
  Cathedral of Saint Mary, Seville, Spain

  Seville - Enjoy a guided tour in the capital of Andalusia

  Today, enjoy a guided tour in the capital of Andalusia. Visit inside the Gothic Cathedral included with a local guide, the largest in Spain and third in the world, with the Giralda tower with its striking minaret of the former mosque. Also, an outside visit to the Alcazar (the palace), then a walk by Santa Cruz Quarter, a maze of small alleys with color names stepped in legend and small quarters with the peacefulness of a tiny garden is an invitation to rest. Walk on your own to the Maria Luisa Gardens with the monumental Plaza de España. Overnight Seville.

  What's included?

  • Breakfast
  • Accommodation
  • Tour
• DAY 8
  Bullring of the Royal Cavalry of Ronda, Spain

  Malaga - Stop at a sherry wine cellar in the Jerez and the white villages of Ronda

  Today, drive to Jerez and stop at a sherry wine cellar for tasting as this sherry is the best well knows Spanish wine abroad, and a great part of the local economy is related to the production of this world-famous. If in Jerez on Tuesdays or Thursdays, enjoy a unique show at the Andalucia Royal Equestrian School. Then drive along the “Route of the white villages“. To arrive in Ronda. In an impressive location. Time to visit Bullring of the Royal Cavalry of Ronda, built-in 1784, all stone itself, which is the eldest and nicest in Spain. Drive and overnight to Malaga.
  

  What's included?

  • Breakfast
  • Accommodation
  • Tour
• DAY 9

  Depart to Malaga Airport fly back home

  After Breakfast, check out and transfer to the airport back home.

  What's included?

  • Breakfast
  • Transfer