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- Day 1 Welcome to Spain Your journey begins in Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia and home to Gaudí’s landmark Modernist architecture, set between the Mediterranean coast and the Collserola hills. After checking in, you’ll meet your Travel Director and fellow travelers joining your small group journey. Dinner tonight is at La Pau, a community-minded restaurant supporting teenagers and young adults as they move towards independent living, offering a first look at the city’s strong culture of social initiatives and local care. Locations Visited: Barcelona ES.
- Day 2 Explore the Sights of Barcelona Start with an experience at the Palau de la Música Catalana, where you’ll see the stained-glass skylight and hear a short organ performance in the main auditorium. Meet a Local Expert this morning for a Barcelona walking tour. You’ll follow Passeig de Gràcia, an avenue known for its Modernist buildings and some of Gaudí’s most recognizable work. From here you’ll move into the Eixample for time inside the Sagrada Família*, Gaudí’s basilica begun in 1882 and still under construction, where the tall nave, tree-like columns and shifting stained-glass color give a clear sense of his ambition and detail. The afternoon is yours to explore — browsing the stalls at La Boqueria, walking the waterfront at Barceloneta or exploring the quieter streets of Gràcia. *Access to the basilica may be restricted due to special masses, pilgrim visits, or official ceremonies, and entry cannot be guaranteed. In such cases, you will instead visit the Hospital de Sant Pau, a striking example of Catalan Art Nouveau by Gaudí’s contemporary, Domènech i Montaner. Afterwards, join your Local Expert in the gardens surrounding the Sagrada Família to admire the extraordinary exterior of Gaudí’s iconic masterpiece. Locations Visited: Barcelona ES.
- Day 3 Along the coast to Valencia You’ll travel with your small group along the Costa Dorada, passing the rice fields of the Ebro Delta on the way to the seaside town of Peñíscola, where a hilltop castle featured in the film El Cid. From here you’ll continue through orange-growing country towards Valencia, taking time to see the City of Arts and Sciences and the medieval streets of the Old City. Locations Visited: Barcelona ES, Valencia ES.
- Day 4 Discover the Alhambra Travel south into Andalucía with your small group, passing Lorca where a hilltop castle overlooks the town, and the cave districts of Guadix, where homes are dug into soft rock to stay cool in summer. Continue towards Granada, once the last Muslim stronghold in Spain. With a Local Expert, you’ll explore the Alhambra, a fortified palace complex from the Nasrid period, walking through tiled halls, courtyards and water channels. Afterwards, you’ll enter the Generalife gardens, the former summer retreat laid out with terraces, pools and views back towards the city. Locations Visited: Valencia ES, Purullena ES, Granada ES.
- Day 5 Granada and Seville Your Way The morning in Granada is yours. Time could be spent around the cathedral and Royal Chapel, dropping into cafes off Plaza Nueva or walking up to the Mirador de San Nicolás for a clear view of the Alhambra. You could also join an Optional Experience to the Albaicín quarter with a Local Expert, tracing its narrow streets and older Moorish layout. Later, travel on with your small group to Seville. The evening is open for your own plans, whether that’s exploring the lanes around the cathedral and Giralda tower, finding tapas in the Santa Cruz district or taking a gentle walk along the Guadalquivir river. Locations Visited: Granada ES, Seville ES.
- Day 6 Flamenco and History in Seville Meet your Local Expert and explore Seville, viewing the symbolic Giralda bell tower and the Moorish-inspired María Luisa Park, with its tiled fountains, pavilions and ponds, before seeing the exterior of Seville Cathedral and walking through the former Jewish quarter. Spend the rest of the morning at leisure with your small group, with time to visit the Plaza de España or wander the lanes around the riverfront near Torre del Oro. In the afternoon, take part in a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience at the Cristina Heeren Foundation, where a flamenco instructor will guide you through the basic rhythms and movements taught at this renowned school dedicated to preserving Andalusia’s artistic traditions. Locations Visited: Seville ES.
- Day 7 Córdoba, La Mancha and on to Madrid Set off along the Guadalquivir Valley towards Córdoba and pause at the Roman bridge, first built in the 1st century BCE to carry traffic across the river and later rebuilt in the medieval period. From here you’ll meet a local historian and visit the Mezquita, tracing its forest of columns and layered Islamic and Christian history. In the afternoon, travel through La Mancha, a region known for its wide plains, vineyards and windmills, before arriving in Madrid. Locations Visited: Seville ES, Córdoba ES, Madrid ES.
- Day 8 The Sights of Spain’s Capital Join a Local Expert this morning for a sightseeing tour of Madrid, taking in main avenues, the Plaza de España and views towards the Royal Palace before driving through the streets of the Old Quarter. You’ll then visit the Prado Museum, where works by Velázquez, Goya and El Greco help trace Spain’s royal and artistic history. The afternoon is open – time to rent a boat on the lake in Retiro Park, drop into the glass pavilion, linger in Plaza Mayor or visit the San Miguel market for snacks – or you could join an Optional Experience to the hilltop city of Toledo. In the evening, gather for a farewell dinner with your Travel Director and fellow travelers, marking the end of your small group journey. Locations Visited: Madrid ES.
- Day 9 Adios Madrid Your journey ends in Madrid after days spent tracing Spain’s cities, coastlines and older quarters with your Travel Director and fellow small group travelers. Bid them farewell before a transfer takes you to the airport for your flight home or onward travel. Locations Visited: Madrid ES.
Name: Highlights of Spain - Small Group
Brand: Insight
Quality: Superior First Class
Tour Type: Escorted
Start City: Barcelona
End City: Madrid
Location Summary: Barcelona, ES, Valencia, ES, Purullena, ES, Granada, ES, Seville, ES, Córdoba, ES, Madrid, ES
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Highlights
- Dining Summary - 4 Dinner (D). 8 Breakfast (B).
- Well-being - 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..
- Make Travel Matter - Barcelona: At La Pau, you’ll sit down to a seasonal Catalan menu in a restaurant built around social impact. Dishes are prepared and served by young people in training, many moving on from care or disrupted schooling. Paid work, mentoring and a clear structure help them gain skills in the kitchen and dining room as they move towards independent living. Your visit directly supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities.. 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..
- Top Rated Highlights - 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. . 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.. 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.. 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.. 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.. Córdoba: In Córdoba, you’ll join your Travel Director for a short orientation that helps fix the city on the map. Walk by the Roman bridge over the Guadalquivir, pass the old gateway towers and step into the historic center, where whitewashed houses, small squares and hidden patios show how this older part of the city fits together.. Córdoba: Visit the Mezquita with a local historian to trace how a mosque became a cathedral. You’ll step into a forest of striped arches and columns from the original Islamic building, then see later Christian additions including the central choir and chapels.. Madrid: Explore Madrid’s Old Quarter with a Local Expert who outlines how the district developed from a small medieval citadel into the center 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..
- Insight Experiences - Granada: Visit the Alhambra Palace with a Local Expert and walk through its courtyards, carved plasterwork and palace rooms from the Nasrid period. You’ll see how water channels, gardens and intricate detail define the complex, and how this hilltop site shaped Granada’s cultural and political story for centuries.. 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..
- Authentic Dining - Madrid: In Madrid, you’ll sit down to a final dinner with your Travel Director and fellow travelers at a local restaurant..
