Highlights of Spain & Portugal

(15 Days - Departs Daily on a Private Basis)
Barcelona, Porto, Douro Valley, Lisbon, Sintra, Seville, Granada, Cordoba, Madrid

This private, luxurious tour features the very best of Spain and Portugal: dynamic cities, beautiful landscapes, impressive UNESCO World Heritage sites, delicious food and wine, and rich cultural traditions. The tour includes acclaimed luxury hotels and private touring with sophisticated local experts.

Begin in Barcelona, one of Europe's most dynamic centers of modern art and contemporary culture. With your private guide, tour the city’s famous boulevards, the narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter, the central food market, and neighborhoods that are centers of Barcelona's design movement. Discover Gaudi's fantastical buildings, such as Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila, Casa Batllo and the hillside Parc Guell. One day, enjoy a private excursion into the Catalan countryside past ancient stone farmhouses and charming medieval villages to Girona, to see its beautifully preserved cathedral, Arab baths and old Jewish quarter. Alternatively, enjoy wine tastings in the renowned Penedes wine region.

Next, fly to Portugal for a two-night stay in Porto, the capital of port wine and a fascinating mix of Baroque and modern art and architecture. There, enjoy a private tour of the city’s highlights. Also take a private excursion to the Douro Valley to visit the best local wineries, explore romantic ancient towns along the Douro river, take a short river cruise, and enjoy the beautiful terraced landscapes.

Continue with a visit to the perfectly preserved whitewashed village of Obidos en route to Lisbon. During flexible, comprehensive touring of Lisbon, visit our favorite cultural attractions and neighborhoods, seeing Moorish and Manueline-style architectural gems, castles, monasteries and other monuments, and decorative arts attractions. Explore the steep, narrow, twisting streets of the Alfama district and other interesting neighborhoods and learn about their history and unique characters.
One day, enjoy a private excursion to the lovely aristocratic town of Sintra to see the spectacular castles, manors, gardens, and backstreets that feature Portuguese design, architecture and history at its finest. Also stop in Cascais, a charming fishing village, for a delicious seaside lunch.

Stop in Evora, in Portugal’s Alentejo region, a beautiful city that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Explore the narrow streets lined with whitewashed houses and see the ancient Roman ruins and Moorish architecture. Alternatively, stop in Merida, in Spain. See its UNESCO World Heritage-listed Roman ruins and colorful mosaics, among the finest and best-preserved in Spain. Also visit Zafra, one of Spain’s most beautiful pueblos blancos (whitewashed villages).  

Spend two nights in Seville, the capital of Andalusia and a city flavored as much by the sounds of flamenco and the smell of orange blossoms as by its 500-year domination by the Moors. Take an insider’s tour of this beautiful city, visiting the charming neighborhoods of Santa Cruz, the gardens and mosaic tile-covered rooms of the Reales Alcazares—a spectacular Moorish palace, specialty boutiques and markets, and other cultural highlights. One evening, enjoy a private “tapas tasting” tour of some of the city’s most beloved tapas bars.

Continue to Granada in Andalusia. With your own private guide, explore the extraordinary Alhambra—one of the highlights of Spain—a stunning Moorish castle, palace and garden complex on a hillside overlooking the town. Also enjoy a private tour of the labyrinthine streets of the Albaicin—the old Arab Quarter—and discover a world full of winding, hilly streets, Moorish ramparts, traditional villas, shops and teterías (Arabic tearooms).

Conclude in Madrid, the Spanish capital known for its elegant squares, stately Habsburg architecture, leafy boulevards and some of the finest art museums in Western Europe. With your expert private guide, explore the city according to your interests. Stroll through the narrow backstreets of elegant shopping and residential districts. Visit sophisticated food markets and design shops. Perhaps tour the majestic Royal Palace and the world-renowned Prado Museum to see paintings and sculpture from the royal collections, or the equally impressive Reina Sofia or Thyssen-Bornemisza museums.

This tour can also be taken in reverse, or extended to include Morocco.