Best of Spain and Portugal - Small Group
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Travel through Spain and Portugal on a journey that links Moorish palaces, medieval hill towns and Atlantic wine country with authentic culinary experiences and local insight. From Segovia’s aqueduct and Fátima’s sanctuary to Porto’s cellars, Andalusia’s flamenco schools and the paella kitchens of Valencia, this tour moves through the Iberian Peninsula in a way that joins architecture, tradition and everyday life across two nations shaped by centuries of exchange.
Trip Code: YE932M127
Start Location
Madrid (undefined)
End Location
Madrid (undefined)
Duration
196 days
Countries Visited
Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar
Trip Type
Small Group
Itinerary Type
Small Groups
Theme
-
Season
-
Booking Status
Available
Trip Highlights
- •
Dining Summary
- 5 Dinner (D)
- 14 Breakfast (B)
- 2 Lunch (L)
- •
Well-being
- colour Enjoy the comfort of Insight's luxurious, air-conditioned, 40-seat coach with double the standard legroom and onboard washroom. Our customized luxury coaches are sanitized before the start of your tour and are maintained to very high standards. Physical distancing measures have been implemented on our customized luxury coaches.
- Hand sanitizer is freely available on board for you to use throughout the day.
- •
Additional Included Highlights
- Personal radio headsets give you the freedom to wander during visits to famous highlights, without missing any of your Local Expert's fascinating commentary.
- Hotel and restaurant tips are included - you'll never have to worry about how much to give, nor search for foreign currency. We also include all taxes and porterage charges at hotels.
- We carry your bags for you and promptly deliver them to your hotel door.
- From time to time, your Travel Director will delight you with an Insight Flourish, which is a local specialty representing the destination.
- Stay connected with friends and family with our complimentary coach and hotel Wi-Fi (where available).
- If your arrival and/or departure flights are as per the itinerary start and end dates, then transfers are available at scheduled times. If your flights are outside these times, or you have booked additional nights accommodation with Insight Vacations, you may purchase transfers or make your own way from/to the airport.
- •
Insight Experiences
- Madrid: Visit the Prado Museum with an art historian who places key works within their historical setting. With your historian’s expert guidance, you’ll examine paintings by Velázquez, Goya, Titian and Rubens, noting their connection to royal patronage and the broader European tradition. Learn how the museum, founded in 1819, became a principal repository for Spain’s royal collections and major works from across the continent.
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Top Rated Highlights
- Madrid: Explore Madrid’s Old Quarter with a Local Expert who outlines how the district developed from a small medieval citadel into the centre of Habsburg Madrid. You’ll see the compact street grid, market squares and civic buildings that shaped the early city, and trace how each layer of expansion created the foundations of the modern capital.
- Segovia: Walk Segovia’s historic centre with a Local Expert who explains how the city developed at the meeting point of Roman, medieval and royal influence. View the Alcázar, a fortified complex documented from the 12th century, and examine the structure of the Roman aqueduct, whose towering granite arches carried mountain water into the city for almost two thousand years.
- Salamanca: Explore Salamanca’s central streets and squares with a Local Expert, tracing the city’s rise as one of Europe’s early university centres. Study the sandstone facades around Plaza Mayor and the university buildings founded in the 13th century, including examples of Plateresque detail that mark the city’s architectural identity.
- Porto: Join your Travel Director for an overview of Porto’s key districts, moving through the medieval Ribeira and the areas shaped by 19th-century trade. See everyday landmarks such as São Bento station, known for its 20,000 hand-painted azulejo tiles depicting scenes from Portuguese history, and the Clérigos Tower, a long-standing reference point in the historic centre.
- Obidos: Walk inside Óbidos’ medieval walls, you’ll follow a street pattern that reflects its origins as a Roman settlement later granted as a royal wedding gift in the 13th century. You’ll move through lanes lined with whitewashed houses and small churches, and sample ginja, the local cherry liqueur traditionally served in small cups.
- Fátima: Explore Fátima with a focus on the Sanctuary complex established after the reported apparitions of 1917. Here, you’ll also be able to view the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, the Chapel of the Apparitions and the broad esplanade built for large pilgrimage gatherings.
- Lisbon: Explore Lisbon with a Local Expert, focusing on the Baixa district rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake and the broad Pombaline layout that shaped the Lower Town. Continue through the Belém Quarter to view landmarks linked to Portugal’s maritime era, including the Monument to the Discoveries and the Belém Tower, both positioned along the Tagus.
- Lisbon: Visit the National Coach Museum to examine its collection of royal carriages dating from the 16th to 19th centuries. Used for state ceremonies and diplomatic events, you’ll view coaches that illustrate the shifts in artisanship, decoration and court protocol across several European courts.
- Seville: Visit Seville Cathedral, completed in the 16th century and recognised as the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. Walk through its vast nave and chapels and view the Giralda, originally built as the minaret of the 12th-century Almohad mosque. The cathedral’s scale and layered construction show how the site developed from Islamic to Christian use.
- Seville: Explore Seville with your Local Expert, viewing the Giralda bell tower, the exterior of Seville Cathedral and the former Jewish quarter. You’ll also see María Luisa Park, laid out for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition, with its tiled fountains, pavilions and formal gardens reflecting the city’s layered architectural character.
- Gibraltar: Join a Local Expert to get under the skin of Gibraltar, moving from the compact town centre up towards the Rock. Learn how the territory’s mix of British and Mediterranean influences shows up in its streets, its military history and its daily life.
- Granada: Explore Granada with your Local Expert, moving through the city streets that sit between the Albaicín’s older Moorish lanes and the broader avenues shaped in later centuries. The tour introduces you to the city’s layered history and the landmarks that sit below the Alhambra’s ridge.
- Valencia: Get your bearings in Valencia’s Old City as your Travel Director points out the surviving medieval gateways and the street grid shaped by centuries of expansion. The walk contrasts the tight lanes of El Carmen with the broad lines of the Turia riverbed, now home to the City of Arts and Sciences, a reminder of how the city blends long history with confident modern design.
- Peñíscola: See Peñíscola’s 14th-century castle rising above the old town, set on a limestone headland that divides the shoreline. From this viewpoint, you can take in how the fortress once controlled movement along the coast and how its walls still define the outline of the medieval quarter below.
- Barcelona: Explore Barcelona with a Local Expert who sets out the city’s shape from street level — the long run of Passeig de Gràcia, the sharp grid of the Eixample and the way the skyline shifts as the Sagrada Família comes into view. The route ties together the city’s Modernista detail and its ongoing architectural change.
- Barcelona: Enjoy early access to the Palau de la Música Catalana, a Catalan Modernist concert hall known for its stained-glass skylight and sculptural detail. Take in the Lluís Millet Hall and settle into the main auditorium as an organ performance fills the room.
- •
Authentic Dining
- Vila Nova de Gaia: Visit the wine cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia, the centre of port ageing and storage since the 18th century. You’ll learn how barrel conditions, blending practices and long-standing shipper traditions define styles such as Ruby, Tawny and Vintage. Examine the link between Douro Valley production and the export houses established along this southern bank of the Douro River.
- Lisbon: In Belém, try pastéis de Belém: crisp layers of pastry encasing custard complete with a dusting of cinnamon. See how the pastries follow a closely guarded recipe, and are still prepared in the same bakery that has produced them since 1837.
- Torremolinos: Visit a rural mill outside Torremolinos to taste olive oils pressed from olives grown on trees that have stood in this region for generations. Try a few varieties with freshly baked bread and hear how harvest timing, soil and tree age influence the flavour.
- Alfarnatejo: Share a home-cooked lunch with a local family in Alfarnatejo. Expect simple Andalusian dishes, seasonal ingredients and an easy conversation around the table. It’s a chance to see how meals are prepared and shared in this part of rural Spain, and to hear stories about the town from the people who live there.
- Valencia: Sit down to a traditional paella dinner in Valencia, the city where this much-loved dish has its roots. As you dine, you’ll taste the saffron, rice and stock that define its depth of flavour, alongside the ingredients that give each paella its character, from rabbit and chicken to seafood.
- Barcelona: In Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, you’ll visit a local bodega set among the vineyards that have supplied cava houses since the 19th century. A light lunch is paired with a tasting of cavas made using the traditional method, showing how bottle fermentation and ageing on the lees influence the wine’s structure and character.
- Barcelona: Your final evening brings the group together around the table in Barcelona. It’s a chance to share dinner in the Catalan capital, reminisce over the days you’ve travelled and mark the end of your journey across Spain and Portugal with one last meal together.
- •
Make Travel Matter
- Seville: The Cristina Heeren Foundation promotes the teaching and preservation of flamenco and is supported by a TreadRight Foundation grant. Meet students, learn a few basic steps and watch them perform, gaining insight into how the school trains young artists in guitar, singing and dance. Your visit directly supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education.
What's Included in Your Tour
- •
Dining Summary
- 5 Dinner (D)
- 14 Breakfast (B)
- 2 Lunch (L)
- •
Well-being
• colour Enjoy the comfort of Insight's luxurious, air-conditioned, 40-seat coach with double the standard legroom and onboard washroom
• Our customized luxury coaches are sanitized before the start of your tour and are maintained to very high standards
• Physical distancing measures have been implemented on our customized luxury coaches
- Hand sanitizer is freely available on board for you to use throughout the day.
- •
Additional Included Highlights
• Personal radio headsets give you the freedom to wander during visits to famous highlights, without missing any of your Local Expert's fascinating commentary
• Hotel and restaurant tips are included - you'll never have to worry about how much to give, nor search for foreign currency
• We also include all taxes and porterage charges at hotels
- We carry your bags for you and promptly deliver them to your hotel door.
• From time to time, your Travel Director will delight you with an Insight Flourish, which is a local specialty representing the destination
• Stay connected with friends and family with our complimentary coach and hotel Wi-Fi (where available)
• If your arrival and/or departure flights are as per the itinerary start and end dates, then transfers are available at scheduled times
• If your flights are outside these times, or you have booked additional nights accommodation with Insight Vacations, you may purchase transfers or make your own way from/to the airport
- •
Authentic Dining
• Vila Nova de Gaia: Visit the wine cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia, the centre of port ageing and storage since the 18th century
• You’ll learn how barrel conditions, blending practices and long-standing shipper traditions define styles such as Ruby, Tawny and Vintage
• Examine the link between Douro Valley production and the export houses established along this southern bank of the Douro River
• Lisbon: In Belém, try pastéis de Belém: crisp layers of pastry encasing custard complete with a dusting of cinnamon
• See how the pastries follow a closely guarded recipe, and are still prepared in the same bakery that has produced them since 1837
•
• Torremolinos: Visit a rural mill outside Torremolinos to taste olive oils pressed from olives grown on trees that have stood in this region for generations
• Try a few varieties with freshly baked bread and hear how harvest timing, soil and tree age influence the flavour
•
• Alfarnatejo: Share a home-cooked lunch with a local family in Alfarnatejo
• Expect simple Andalusian dishes, seasonal ingredients and an easy conversation around the table
• It’s a chance to see how meals are prepared and shared in this part of rural Spain, and to hear stories about the town from the people who live there
•
• Valencia: Sit down to a traditional paella dinner in Valencia, the city where this much-loved dish has its roots
• As you dine, you’ll taste the saffron, rice and stock that define its depth of flavour, alongside the ingredients that give each paella its character, from rabbit and chicken to seafood
• Barcelona: In Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, you’ll visit a local bodega set among the vineyards that have supplied cava houses since the 19th century
• A light lunch is paired with a tasting of cavas made using the traditional method, showing how bottle fermentation and ageing on the lees influence the wine’s structure and character
•
• Barcelona: Your final evening brings the group together around the table in Barcelona
• It’s a chance to share dinner in the Catalan capital, reminisce over the days you’ve travelled and mark the end of your journey across Spain and Portugal with one last meal together
•
Itinerary
Tour Dates & Pricing
All prices are per person in Australian Dollars (AUD), inclusive of GST. Special offers and discounts are subject to availability and may be withdrawn at any time.
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