EUROPE – SPAIN & PORTUGAL
08 Nights & 09 Days
ARRIVAL IN MADRID, SPAIN. CHECK INTO YOUR HOTEL. THE REST OF THE DAY IS FREE FOR YOU TO START EXPLORING LIVELY MADRID. TONIGHT MEET YOUR TOUR DIRECTOR AND FELLOW TRAVELERS.
DAY 02 : MADRID-SALAMANCA-COIMBRA, PORTUGAL.
JOURNEY WEST TO FORTIFIED AVILA, THEN ON TO SALAMANCA, JUST SIX MILES FROM THE SPOT WHERE WELLINGTON ROUTED NAPOLEON’S ARMY IN 1812.
MAKE SURE YOU SPEND SOME TIME WANDERING AROUND SALAMANCA’S PLAZA MAYOR, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SQUARE IN SPAIN. LEAVE SALAMANCA AND HEAD WESTWARDS TO THE FORTRESS TOWN OF CIUDAD RODRIGO, PERCHED HIGH ABOVE THE RIO AGUEDA.
A PROFUSION OF WOODLANDS AND MOUNTAINS AWAITS YOU AS YOU JOURNEY INTO THE VALLEY OF THE SERRA DA ESTRELA ON YOUR WAY FOR AN OVERNIGHT IN COIMBRA. (B,D)
DAY 03 : COIMBRA-FATIMA-LISBON.
THIS MORNING ENJOY AN ORIENTATION TOUR OF COIMBRA, STRATEGICALLY SITUATED ON A HILL OVERLOOKING THE MONDEGO RIVER. JOURNEY TO THE BATALHA FOREST TO GET A VIEW OF ITS FAMOUS MONASTERY. NEXT FATIMA. STOP HERE TO SEE THE SANCTUARY, MADE FAMOUS BY THE VIRGIN’S APPARITION TO THREE SHEPHERD CHILDREN, FRANCISCO, JACINTH, AND LUCIA, ON MAY 13, 1917. A FEW MORE MILES TO LISBON FOR OVERNIGHT. (B)
DAY 04 : LISBON. HENRY
THE NAVIGATOR MADE LISBON THE 15TH-CENTURY MISTRESS OF THE SEAS. YOU’LL SEE HIS MONUMENT, THE BELEM TOWER, THE MOORISH CITADEL, IMPRESSIVE BLACK HORSE SQUARE, AND OTHER HIGHLIGHTS ON THE GUIDED SIGHTSEEING EXCURSION. SPEND THE AFTERNOON IN THE ALFAMA’S TILE-DECORATED STREETS, OR MAKE AN OPTIONAL VISIT TO COASTAL ESTORIL AND CASCAIS. (B)
DAY 05 : LISBON-EVORA-SEVILLE, SPAIN.
DRIVE THIS MORNING SOUTHWEST INTO THE ALENTEJO FOR A STOP IN ITS CAPITAL CITY, EVORA, A DELIGHTFULLY ATTRACTIVE MOORISH CITY WITH ITS ARCHES, ALLEYS, FLOWER-DECKED BALCONIES AND BRILLIANT WHITE HOUSES. ENJOY THE MAIN HIGHLIGHTS ON YOUR CITY SIGHTSEEING. THEN ONTO THE BORDER AT VILA VERDE AND CROSS INTO SPAIN FOR THE JOURNEY INTO ANDALUSIA, ENJOYING QUITE DIFFERENT SCENERY AS YOU SKIRT THE SIERRA DE ARACENA BEFORE REACHING DELIGHTFUL SEVILLE FOR OVERNIGHT. (B,D)
DAY 06 : SEVILLE
ONE OF SPAIN’S MOST COLORFUL CITIES. PERHAPS YOU’D LIKE TO SPEND THIS MORNING MAKING AN OPTIONAL VISIT TO THE CATHEDRAL, THE LARGEST IN SPAIN, THEN GOING ON TO THE GREAT GIRALDA TOWER WITH ITS INTRICATE MOORISH DECORATION, AND THE 12TH-CENTURY ALCAZAR WHICH WAS ONCE A MOORISH ROYAL PALACE. (B,D)
DAY 07 : SEVILLE-CORDOBA-MADRID.
DRIVE NORTH TOWARDS CARMONA, AN OLD-WORLD COUNTRY TOWN DOMINATED BY AN ANCIENT ALCAZAR, TO CORDOBA. THIS IS SPAIN’S MOST MOORISH CITY WITH ITS GREAT MOSQUE, WHICH IS RIGHTLY KNOWN AS ONE OF ISLAM’S GREATEST PIECES OF ARCHITECTURE OUTSIDE THE ARAB WORLD. LATER INTO THE VERY HEART OF LA MANCHA, FAMED FOR ITS CASTLES AND WINDMILLS. OVERNIGHT IN MADRID. (B)
DAY 08 : MADRID
NOT ONLY IS IT THE CAPITAL OF SPAIN, BUT BECAUSE IT IS SITUATED 2,180 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL, THE SPANIARDS RIGHTLY SAY IT IS THE NEAREST THING TO HEAVEN. YOU’VE ONLY A DAY HERE AND IT’S CERTAINLY WORTH MAKING THE MOST OF IT. ENJOY THE MAIN HIGHLIGHTS ON THE INCLUDED GUIDED SIGHTSEEING EXCURSION.
THE OPTIONAL TRIP TO TOLEDO IS REWARDING IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE; THE SPLENDID SETTING OF THIS OLD WALLED CITY ABOVE THE TAGUS WAS MADE FAMOUS IN EL GRECO’S PAINTING, AND EVEN NOW IT’S LIKE A GREAT OPEN-AIR MUSEUM OF SPANISH HISTORY AND ART. (B)
DAY 9 : DEPARTURE FLIGHT
YOUR HOMEBOUND FLIGHT ARRIVES THE SAME DAY. (B)