Highlights of Spain - Classic Group, Summer
See the beautiful world of Spain during this 9-day guided tour. Begin in Barcelona, where a Local Expert will lead you along the city’s narrow lanes to the lively Las Ramblas and the Sagrada Família, a basilica built by the architect Antoni Gaudí. Paella was created in Valencia. Later, enjoy a private cooking demonstration at a family-run restaurant while sampling the local flavors. See glorious views of the Sierra Nevada before reaching Granada, where a Local Expert will guide you through one of the most remarkable fortresses ever built: the Alhambra. In Seville, learn the art of flamenco dancing during a private lesson, then be treated to a passionate performance by professionals. Visit the Prado Museum in Madrid with an art historian, who can share the stories behind Spanish masterpieces by artists such as Francisco Goya.
Dining Summary
- 4 Dinner (D)
- 8 Breakfast (B)
- Choose between two carefully selected activities
- Seville: Join a guided walk through the Santa Cruz quarter, following a street pattern shaped by Seville’s medieval Jewish community until the 14th century. You’ll navigate narrow lanes, enclosed courtyards and small plazas reflect the district’s earlier layout, with surviving architectural elements that point to the neighborhood’s social and cultural history within the wider city.
- Seville: Take a panoramic drive around Seville to observe the city’s main districts and landmarks, including the riverfront near Torre del Oro, the avenues created for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition and the open spaces around María Luisa Park.
- 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.
- Valencia: Spend time with a chef in a family-run kitchen to see how Valencian paella is built from its base - the heat of the pan, the saffron stock, the type of rice and the order ingredients go in. Afterwards, sit down to eat the finished paella, tasting the layered flavor and socarrat crust you’ve just watched being made.
- Madrid: In Madrid, you’ll sit down to a final dinner with your Travel Director and fellow travelers at a local restaurant.
- Seville: Join a guided walk through the Santa Cruz quarter, following a street pattern shaped by Seville’s medieval Jewish community until the 14th century. You’ll navigate narrow lanes, enclosed courtyards and small plazas reflect the district’s earlier layout, with surviving architectural elements that point to the neighborhood’s social and cultural history within the wider city.
- Seville: Take a panoramic drive around Seville to observe the city’s main districts and landmarks, including the riverfront near Torre del Oro, the avenues created for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition and the open spaces around María Luisa Park.
- 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.
- 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.
- Barcelona: Explore Barcelona with a Local Expert who sets out the city’s shape from street level - the long run of Passeig de Grcia, 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: Visit Seville Cathedral, completed in the 16th century and recognized 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Culinary and Cooking
PREMIUM TOURS FOR CURIOUS TRAVELERS
Insight Vacations is a premium tour operator that promises a superior experience from start to finish, with an elevated level of detail and attention at every step. Discover more about the Insight Vacations premium travel experience.
PREMIUM EXPERIENCES
Exclusive, crafted experiences that get you up close and personal to every destination. Enjoy Insider Access before and after opening-hou
...PREMIUM TOURS FOR CURIOUS TRAVELERS
Insight Vacations is a premium tour operator that promises a superior experience from start to finish, with an elevated level of detail and attention at every step. Discover more about the Insight Vacations premium travel experience.
PREMIUM EXPERIENCES
Exclusive, crafted experiences that get you up close and personal to every destination. Enjoy Insider Access before and after opening-hours and skip the line access at key sights. Take your pick from one, two or three curated Insight Choice experiences. Plus, Insightful Encounters with Local Experts and Specialists that add even more life, color and storytelling for a truly enlightening experience.
PREMIUM DINING
Whether you’re being welcomed into the workspaces of chefs or taking your seat at top-rated restaurants, you’ll find yourself dining on regional favorites with a seasonal twist. Take your seat for wine-paired meals and enjoy indulging your preferences from a curated choice of restaurants on Dine-Around evenings. Get hands-on with Cooking Demonstrations and enjoy an industry-leading vegetarian offering at every mealtime.
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