Spain and Portugal tour

DAY 1 MADRID

Transfer to hotel. Dinner and overnight at hotel.

DAY 2 MADRID

Breakfast, dinner and overnight at hotel. Morning guided city tour, we will visit panoramically some of its main avenues and monumental fountains (Cibeles, Neptuno), as well as the famous and busy “Plaza Mayor” (main square) and old town, visiting inside the Prado Museum, probably the best collection of classic painters of the world. Rest of day at leisure.

DAY 3 MADRID-CACERES-FATIMA

Breakfast at hotel. CACERES (300 kms, aprrox. 3 hrs 30) Time to walk in one of the best preserved middle age walled town, which was declared ‘Humankind Heritage’ by the UNESCO. Out of the usual tourism route, it is a ‘jewel’. (It is possible, and we suggest it, to include a guided city tour, to know widely the town) FATIMA Dinner and overnight at hotel.

DAY 4 FATIMA-BATALHA-ALCOBACA-OBIDOS-LISBON

Breakfast at hotel. BATALHA Magnificent XIVth century monastery built in commemoration of the victory against the Spanish army. ALCOBACA XIIIth century Abbey founded by the first king of Portugal. OBIDOS
Characteristic village where time seems to have stopped. LISBON Dinner and overnight at hotel.

DAY 5 LISBON

Breakfast, dinner and overnight at hotel. Morning guided tour we will visit its main avenues and squares, plenty of remains of when it was the capital of a huge empire all over the world (Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Goa-India-, Macao –China-, Timor, …). We will visit inside the Monastery Dos Jeronimos masterpiece of the Portuguese art, ‘Manuelino’, and the tower of Belem. Afternoon we suggest a visit to the near Sintra, the Palacio da Pena and Cascais.

DAY 6 LISBOA-EVORA-SEVILLE

Breakfast at hotel. EVORA Time to walk in this town full of monumental treasure. Roman temple, and the macabre ‘chapel of the bones’, with walls covered by real bones and cranes of the monks. (It is possible, and we suggest it, to include a guided city tour, to know widely the town). SEVILLE (380 kms, abut 4 hours 30 minutes) Dinner and overnight at hotel.

DAY 7 SEVILLE

Breakfast, dinner and overnight at hotel. Morning guided tour to visit inside the Gothic Cathedral, the largest in Spain and third in the world, with the Giralda tower (striking minaret of the former mosque). Then a walk by Santa Cruz Quarter, a maze of small alleys and small squares with the peacefulness of a tiny garden is an invitation to rest. Afternoon at leisure.

DAY 8 SEVILLE-GRANADA

Breakfast at hotel. GRANADA Afternoon guided city tour, to visit La Alhambra, the best example of the sophisticated Royal life in the Nazari Islamic kingdom from XI to XVth century. We will find numerous halls and “patios” (courtyards) of amazing beauty. We will also visit the famous and beautiful Generalife gardens with its fountains. Dinner and overnight at hotel.

DAY 9 GRANADA-TOLEDO

Breakfast at hotel . We suggest some more time to walk in its charming streets. TOLEDO It has been the capital of Spain and the royal residence in the XIII century. During this period, Muslim, Jews and Christians populations lived together peacefully turning it as a great cultural and monumental center. We will enjoy walking along its narrow streets where the history can be felt in the air. Afternoon guided city tour, we will visit the Cathedral, St tome Church (where is El Greco painter’s masterpiece) and the Synagogue. In the evening we suggest a walk in their stone streets when all tourists from Madrid are gone and town remains as a small place Its medieval streets lighted will bring us magically to other centuries. Dinner and overnight at hotel.

DAY 10 TOLEDO-MADRID

Breakfast at hotel. Direct departure to MADRID airport (Arrival in about 90 minutes).