About the Tour:
Explore the culture, cuisine and history of Spain and Portugal with this eight-night coach tour. Starting in Madrid experience delicious tapas and seafood, stunning Moorish architecture, centuries-old Latin culture and picturesque towns. Tour highlights include Toledo (UNESCO World Heritage Site), the historic town of Salamanca, port tasting in Porto and time in Seville and Lisbon. This tour truly is a history and culture-packed adventure of the highlights of Spain and Portugal.
Tour commences and concludes in Madrid.
Includes:
- 8 nights hotel accommodation, in twin rooms with private en-suite facilities
- 8 breakfasts, 4 dinners
- 12 included experiences
- Any public transport used as part of the tour (excludes free days)
- A modern air-conditioned coach with reclining seats, TV for showing DVDs, and toilet
Excludes:
- Visas
- Travel insurance (highly recommended)
- International airfares
- Personal expenses
Tour dates:
- 12, 26 June 2020
- 10, 24 July 2020
- 07 August 2020
- 04, 18 September 2020
- 02, 16 October 2020
- 12 March 2021
- 02, 30 April 2021
- 14, 28 May 2021
Itinerary:
Day One: Madrid (D)
Welcome to the start of your nine-day tour of Spain and Portugal. On arrival in Madrid, make your way to the hotel to meet up with your tour leader and the other travellers in the tour group. Depending on your arrival time, you may have time to explore Madrid, or alternatively relax in the comforts of the hotel. This evening, you will get your first taste of Spain with dinner included, giving you a great opportunity to meet the other travellers in the group.
Enjoy a traditional Spanish meal tonight, where you will sample local food like croquettes, fried shrimp and paella. If you arrive early, explore the Spanish capital before meeting up with the tour in the evening for dinner.
Accommodation: Holiday Inn Madrid - Calle Alcala, Travelodge Madrid Torrelaguna (or similar)
Day Two: Toledo – Granada (B)
This morning, we leave Madrid and head to the UNESCO World Heritage town of Toledo. You are sure to fall in love with this charming medieval town, with its Gothic architecture and its impressive Cathedral. The tour continues south to the Moorish city of Granada. This afternoon, a walking tour is included to give you a great insight into this beautiful region of Spain. The Arabic influence has left its traces in everything in Granada, and the food is no exception. The use of vegetables such as beans, artichokes, and aubergines is very important. Classic dishes include 'La tortilla del Sacromonte' - a type of omelette made with sweetbreads and ham, gazpacho - cold tomato soup and 'las habas con jamón' - broad beans with ham.
Included experiences: Toledo comfort stop to see the Gothic architecture up close. Granada walking tour - witness the Moorish influence in southern Spain.
Accommodation: Hotel Juan Miguel (or similar)
Day Three: Ronda – Seville (B, D)
Sit back and relax, as we take you on a journey through Andalusia. This area is famous for Flamenco, tapas, matadors and bullfighting. Our first stop is Ronda, which is famous for its ‘Puente Nuevo’ (New Bridge) that divides the city and offers dramatic views of the surrounding countryside. Once you have explored Ronda, we head to Seville for a two-night stay in a comfortable hotel. You will have time to freshen up before heading out to see the old town and many other sights on an included walking tour of the city. Seville is famous as the home of tapas - small plates of hot and cold dishes, and the city is known to have 3,000 tapas bars. Pork, fish and seafood figure prominently, with influences from across Europe and Moorish North Africa. Seville is also famous for its oranges - you can smell the sweet perfume of bitter oranges through the city. Try them as a compote spread over a freshly toasted piece of bread.
Included experiences: Ronda comfort stop - see the ‘Puente Nuevo’ (New Bridge). Enjoy a walking tour of Seville and witness its many historical buildings.
Accommodation: Hotel Sevilla Macarena (or similar)
Day Four: Seville (B)
Legend has it that Seville was founded by Hercules, and it has certainly had a colourful history - it was named Hispalis by the Romans and Isbiliya by the Moors. With a full free day, you will have all the time in the world to explore this beautiful and pleasingly compact city. Seville is famous for its flamenco, tapas bars and orange bars. The cobbled streets of the old town make for a pleasing morning stroll, while in the afternoon you may wish to visit the Metropol Parasol for amazing views, the palaces of Alcázar Casa de Pilatos or the Museum of Flamenco.
.
Day Five: Algarve – Lisbon (B, D)
Today we travel to Lisbon, Portugal. Watch the countryside glide past from the comfort of the coach. Upon arrival in Lisbon we take you on an orientation tour of the capital, from the imposing Sao Jorge Castle to the pastel colours of the old town, Lisbon has it all. Lisbon is culinary heaven, and its two most famous dishes are salt cod and custard tarts. Saltfish is codfish that has been covered in vast quantities of salt and dried under the hot sun, which means it can be kept for prolonged periods of time. It is then shredded into one of numerous dishes or served as sliced stakes. Pasteis de Nata - soft, sweet, custard tarts, are worth a trip to Portugal in themselves.
Included experiences: Lisbon orientation tour.
Accommodation: Hotel Roma, Lisbon (or similar)
Day Six: Lisbon (B)
Today is your free day to explore Lisbon on your own. See Lisbon's landmarks, including the Monument to the Discoveries and the Belém Tower or discover the hilltop district of Bairro Alto, with dozens of restaurants and bars lining the narrow streets and lots to see and do. Fado music is unique to Portugal, and is arguably the oldest urban folk music in the world - you are sure to discover bars in this area playing this type of music.
Day Seven: Porto (B)
We continue our tour of Portugal and enter into Porto - the second largest city and one of the oldest European centres. You tour leader will take you on a driving tour of Porto, where you will see Ponte deLuis - a stunning bridge which crosses the River Douro, the Clerigos Tower and many other famous landmarks. One of Portugal’s famous exports is port wine, which is named after Porto, and you will have the opportunity to taste it this afternoon at the included Port tasting. Petiscos is the Portuguese version of Spanish tapas - classic dishes include thin pork sandwiches and snails in a herbal broth. From its colonial past spices are used abundantly in Portuguese cooking, especially piri-piri, made from African bird’s eye chilli peppers.
Included experiences: Porto driving tour - experience Porto and its World Heritage Site historical centre. Port tasting experience - sample the famous Portuguese fortified wine. It is typically a sweet, red wine, often served as a dessert wine. It is available in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties.
Accommodation: HF Ipanema Porto, HF Ipanema PARK (or similar)
Day Eight: Salamanca (B, D)
It is time to depart Portugal and travel back to Spain, as our journey today takes us through the countryside. Once we arrive into Salamanca, you will have time to freshen up at the hotel and enjoy some free time. We recommend you visit the old town and go up the Cathedral Bell Tower, which offers amazing panoramic views of the town and its surroundings. To cap off the evening, we have a farewell dinner included, and this is your chance to taste the famous Spanish tapas. Enjoy authentic Spanish tapas tonight, like homemade croquettes, Spanish omelette, cold meats, olives, patatas bravas, albóndigas (meatballs) and chorizo.
Included experiences: Enjoy the final night of the tour with your fellow passengers and new friends with a delicious tapas dinner.
Accommodation: Gran Hotel Corona Sol (or similar)
Day Nine: Avila – Madrid (B)
Today is the last day of your Spanish and Portuguese tour. This morning we depart Salamanca and travel to Avila, where we take a comfort stop. Avila is notable for its many Romanesque and Gothic churches, and the famous and incredibly well preserved medieval walls. We then continue onto the capital Madrid, where the tour concludes late this afternoon.
Includes meals as per itinerary: B = Continental breakfast, D = Welcome and other specified dinners.
About The Travel Warehouse:
The Travel Warehouse utilises their personal knowledge and experience to plan tours with you in mind. They continue to explore new places for you, and won't sell a destination unless they’ve checked it out themselves. There is a range of new tours with more being loaded regularly, plus a few of your old favourites. Each tour is designed with you in mind. With our many years of travel experience, they’ve sorted out the hassles for you, so you don’t have to. First-hand destination knowledge helps them to build fabulous group tour experiences that are hassle-free, informative and relaxing experiences for you and they invite you to join them on one of these fabulous experiences.
