NORTHERN SPAIN & PORTUGAL (ENGLISH ONLY - SMALL GROUP) 16 DAYS
12 Days: Madrid , Zaragoza , San Sebastian , Bilbao , Castro Urdiales , Santander , Santillana , Covadonga , Oviedo , Lugo , A Coruna , Santiago De Compostela , Rias Bajas , La Toja , Vigo , Viana Do Castelo , Porto , Coimbra , Fatima , Batalha , Nazare , Alcobaca , Lisbon & Caceres
Tour overview:
Explore some of the most charming parts of Spain and Portugal with this scenic tour, filled with breathtaking landscapes. Start your journey by visiting some of the most historic monuments in Madrid, Spain’s revered capital city. Visit Spain’s quaint villages, historical artistic towns, bourgeois cities, pristine beaches, and spectacular fjords before arriving in Portugal. Travel through the World Heritage City of Porto and enjoy a visit to a Port wine cellar followed by wine tasting. Discover Lisbon, the charming capital of Portugal, with an optional dinner including fado, a typical Portuguese show of dance and music.
Day 1 - Arrive Madrid
Meet and greet at the airport. Take a transfer to your hotel. Rest of the day is at leisure. Accommodation at the hotel.
Day 2 - Madrid
Breakfast at the hotel. Discover the beauties of the city with a guided city tour. Barrio de la Morería, the Habsburgs District, Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor and Plaza de la Villa; the Madrid of the Bourbons and the complex town planning schemes of Charles III, the Royal Palace, Cibeles and Neptuno Fountains and the Puerta de Alcalá. The contemporary Madrid with areas such as Gran Vía, Castellana, the district of Salamanca, Plaza Castilla and Parque del Oeste, as well as commercial and financial areas of Modern Madrid, the emblematic Las Ventas Bullring and the Santiago Bernabéu Football Stadium. Afternoon at leisure to continue exploring the wonders that the city has to offer. Join your fellow travelers for an authentic Welcome Tapas Dinner at a local restaurant. Accommodation at the hotel. (BD)
Day 3 - Madrid – Burgos – La Rioja --Bilbao
Breakfast at the hotel. Depart towards Burgos. Free time to visit the 13th-century Gothic Cathedral, the third largest in Spain after Seville and Toledo. We will continue to Haro, in the heart of La Rioja, one of the most famous Spanish wine regions. Among the vineyards, we will visit a traditional and family run wine cellar. Taste the world-famous Rioja Reds. Depart to Bilbao. Accommodation at the hotel. (BD)
Day 4 - Bilbao – San Sebastian – Bilbao
Breakfast at the hotel. Take a Bilbao city tour and discover its most recent developments. Time at leisure for you to explore the esplanade where The Guggenheim Museum is located for you to admire this modern architectural building. Continue to San Sebastian in the afternoon, one of the most famous tourist destinations where they hold the International Film Festival. Panoramic city tour of this marvel style bourgeois city, seeing the extraordinary landscape dominated by the bay and the magnificent La Concha beach. We will approach Mount Igueldo, to contemplate the marvelous views of the city. Free time to stroll through this elegant city. Back in Bilbao, enjoy dinner at local restaurant to taste the famous typical “pintxos”, Basque name for tapas. Accommodation at the hotel. (BD)
Day 5 - Bilbao – Castro Urdiales – Santander
Breakfast at the hotel. Bound for Asturias, famous Green Spain, we will proceed to the old fishing village “Castro Urdiales”. Time at leisure. Depart to Santander, a port city located between the sea and the mountains, well known for its Sardinero Beach. Accommodation at the hotel. (B)
Day 6 - Santander – Santillana Del Mar – Covadonga – Oviedo
Breakfast at hotel. Depart to Santillana del Mar, one of the most important historical artistic towns in Spain. It contains architectural treasures such as the Collegiate of Santa Juliana, a Jewel of the Romanesque Architecture in Cantabria. Continue to Covadonga, where you will have free time to see the Sanctuary and the Grotto where you will see the patroness of Asturias our Lady of Covadonga. In the afternoon, departure to Oviedo, where you will see on a series of hills the beauty of Saint Maria de Naranco Church, Jewel of the pre Romanic asturian architecture. Free time to explore Oviedo, many of their streets are pedestrian, where you will be able to see World Heritage sites like The Cathedral, a splendid example of gothic Asturian architecture. Join your fellow travelers to dine at a traditional cider house. Accommodation. (BD)
Day 7 - Oviedo – Mondoñedo – Lugo – Santiago De Compostela
Breakfast at the hotel. Bound for Galician lands. On de way to Lugo, take a short stop at Mondoñedo, Time at leisure to visit the 13th century Cathedral and try the delicious “Mondoñedo cake”. Continue to Lugo. Time at leisure to explore the Roman remains that still retains like its walls, declared Patrimony of the Humanity. We finally approach Santiago de Compostela´s holly land, declared World Heritage as it is the most important center of Christian Pilgrimages in Spain as the end of the Camino de Santiago route built during the Roman Empire. Accommodation. (B)
Day 8 - Santiago De Compostela – Rias Bajas – Porto
Breakfast at the hotel. Depart towards one of the most marvelous areas of Galicia, the Rias Bajas (Spanish Fjords). Continue to the Ria de Arosa, where will do a cruise, with tasting of the typical wines and mussels. Bond for the Portuguese border to reach Porto. Located along the Douro River estuary in northern Portugal, Porto is one of the oldest European towns, and proclaimed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. Accommodation. (B)
Day 9 - Santiago De Compostela – Rias Bajas – Porto
Breakfast at the hotel. Depart towards one of the most marvelous areas of Galicia, the Rias Bajas (Spanish Fjords). Continue to the Ria de Arosa, where will do a cruise, with tasting of the typical wines and mussels. Bond for the Portuguese border to reach Porto. Located along the Douro River estuary in northern Portugal, Porto is one of the oldest European towns, and proclaimed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. Accommodation. (B)
Day 10 - Porto.
Breakfast at the hotel. Take a guided sightseeing tour of Porto. Admire the Cathedral, Stock Exchange building and Santa Clara church. Afterwards, enjoy a Douro River Cruise and discover famous Port Wine Cellars with a wine tasting experience included. Rest of day at leisure. Accommodation at the hotel. (B)
Day 11 - Porto
Breakfast at the hotel. Day at leisure. Accommodation at the hotel. (B)
Day 12 - Porto – Coimbra – Fatima
After breakfast, we depart to Coimbra, one of the oldest universities in Europe and the birthplace of Fado. Free time. Continue to Fatima. Center of the Christian Faith and World Pilgrimage Sanctuary with its impressive Basilica and the Cova da Iria, place where the Virgin Mary appeared, and the Chapel of the Apparitions, heart of the sanctuary, with the tombs of the three shepherds, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta. At night, possibility to attend the procession of the candles. Accommodation at the hotel. (B)
Day 13 - Fatima – Batalha – Nazare – Alcobaça – Lisbon
Breakfast at the hotel. Departure to the Batalha Monastery, a masterpiece of Gothic and Manueline style considered a World Heritage place by UNESCO. Continue to the picturesque fishing town of Nazaré. Free time and continue to Alcobaça (World Heritage) with its Gothic church and Cistercian monastery, whose origins date back to the XII C. We continue to Lisbon. Accommodation at the hotel. (B)
Day 14 - Lisbon
After breakfast, join a morning city sightseeing of the ancient Olissipo. Drive through its main squares and avenues, Belem Tower, Jeronimos Monastery, Monument to the Discoverers, Marquis of Pombal Square & Liberty Avenue. Afternoon at leisure for you to catch the nostalgic corners of Alfama Quarter, the old city gathered next to its Castle, with old buildings nested in narrow twisting “Ruas” full of color housing the genuine “tabernas”. Join your fellow travelers and enjoy a typical Portuguese dinner visiting one of the oldest Fado venues in the city, also located in one of the most interesting cultural neighborhoods in the area. Accommodation at the hotel. (BD)
Day 15 - Lisbon – Caceres – Madrid
Breakfast. Departure to Caceres, considered as World Heritage place because of the city’s blend of Roman, Islamic, Northern Gothic and Italian Renaissance architecture. Walk through its Plaza Mayor and the Old Town with its famous Medieval Quarter. Continue to Madrid. Accommodation at the hotel. (B)
Day 16 - Depart Madrid
After breakfast at the hotel transfer to the airport. (B)