Spain and Portugal share the Iberian Peninsula and together offer some of the most exciting and interesting vacation options for today’s travelers with pulsating energy, non-stop nightlife, friendly people and arguably the most interesting and delicious cuisine in the world.
Itinerary :
Day 01: London – Lisbon
Take your flight from London to Madrid. On arrival meet and assist and transfer to your hotel. Rest of the day is free at leisure.
Spread across steep hillsides that overlook the Rio Tejo, Lisbon offers all the delights you’d expect of Portugal’s star attraction, yet with half the fuss of other European capitals. Gothic cathedrals, majestic monasteries and quaint museums are all part of the colourful cityscape, but the real delights of discovery lie in wandering the narrow lanes of Lisbon’s lovely backstreets. As bright yellow trams wind their way through curvy tree-lined streets, Lisboêtas stroll through the old quarters, much as they’ve done for centuries. Village-life gossip in old Alfama is exchanged at the public baths or over fresh bread and wine at tiny patio restaurants as fadistas (proponents of fado, Portugal’s traditional melancholic singing) perform in the background.
Overnight in your Lisbon hotel.
Day 02 : Lisbon – City Tour
After breakfast take a sightseeing tour of Lisbon which includes the Belem Tower guarding the estuary of the tagus river, Jeronomos monastery with the tomb of Vasco do Gama, drive past the Bull ring to Pombal Statue & along the grand Avenida da Liberdade.
Overnight in your Lisbon hotel.
Meals : Breakfast
Day 03 : Lisbon – Seville (Lifestyle Holidays Recommends Flemenco Show)
After breakfast, check out of your hotel and drive up to Lisbon railway Station. Departure from Lisbon to Seville by fast train. Seville is Spain's 4th largest city with a population of some 710,000. It is a city with soaring summer temperatures which have approached 50ºC on occasions during the last two summers so avoid July and August if possible. There is nowhere else in Spain that complies so closely with the foreigner's perception of stereotypical Spain as Seville. For it is here that flamenco, bullfighting and fiesta are a way of life.
Lifestyle Holidays recommends you to see the famous Flamenco show followed by the delicious dinner of Tapas.
Overnight in your Seville hotel
Meals : Breakfast
Day 04 : Seville – City tour
After breakfast, take a city tour where you will see Columbus’ tomb, the ornate cathedral and Giralda Bell Tower. Enjoy a walking tour of the quaint old Santa Cruz Quarter, Plaza D’Espana and the beautiful Maria Luisa Park. This evening, take optional tour of an authentic flamenco show featuring Seville's top performers.
Overnight in your Seville hotel.
Meals : Breakfast
Day 05 : Seville – Cordoba (Lifestyle Holidays recommends city tour of Cordoba)
After breakfast, you will be transferred to the city of Cordoba. Transfer to your hotel where the rest of the day is free at leisure. Cordoba, the modern city founded by the Romans with colonial architecture and modern buildings living together. Lifestyle holidays recommends you to take a city tour where you will Visit the Alcazar with its walled gardens, water terraces and fountains, the Old city walls, Calle de las Flores the street of flowers, Episcopal Palace, Juderia the old Jewish Quarter of the city, Molino de la Albolafia, the reconstructed water mill, the Mosque and the Roman bridge.
Overnight in your Cordoba hotel.
Meals : Breakfast
Day 06 : Cordoba – Madrid (Lifestyle Holidays recommends visit to Prado Museum)
On arrival meet and assist and transfer to Madrid, Spain’s capital which is a glorious city in the heart of the Iberian Peninsula. Although Madrid’s history dates as far back as the 9th century, its grand character and graceful presence today owe much to the 18th century reign of King Carlos III, when the city’s great boulevards were designed, and the 19th century work of Joseph Bonaparte who undertook the restoration of the Puerta del Sol and other areas of Madrid. On arrival Check in hotel and rest of the day is free at leisure.
Perhaps, we recommend you to take a guided tour of the Prado Museum. The Museum of Prado is one of the best, biggest and richest Pinacoteca of the world (for the quality and number – 3000 aprox - of work arts), that deserves without any doubt a visit!!!! The building that welcomes the Museum is itself a splendid example of the neoclassic architecture of the 18th century, designed by Juan de Villanueva. The principal treasure of the museum is formed by the Spanish school, from the medieval times until the genius Goya, passing by fantastic work arts of El Greco, Velázquez, Murillo o Zurbaran, etc.
Overnight in your Madrid hotel.
Meals : Breakfast
Day 07 : Madrid – City tour
After breakfast, take a e sightseeing tour which includes the 17th century Plaza Mayor, a grand stone-paved public square with ground floor arcades that now house shops, cafés and taverns. Also visit the Palacio Real, a Neo-Classical palace home to great works of art by Velazquez, Goya, El Greco and many other master painters. The balance of the day is at leisure to shop and explore on your own.
Overnight in your Madrid hotel.
Meals : Breakfast
Day 08 : Madrid – Barcelona (Lifestyle Holidays recommends Fountain of Montjuic)
After breakfast, take your ransfer from Madrid hotel to the railway station to board the fast train "AVE" to Barcelona. Arrive Barcelona in the afternoon and proceed to your hotel.
Barcelona is the passionate capital of Catalonia, an unforgettable city of art, culture and beauty, Gaudi’s works, museums, concerts and FC Barcelona’s football team homeland. Walk along the Ramblas to enjoy street musicians, living statues, hustlers and just plain loonies. Hop onto the Tramvia Blau for a tram trip up to the top of Tibidabo and take in the magnificent sights of the city below you. Shop along the Passeig de Gracia at the most well known boutiques in Barcelona. Have a sunset drink at a chiringuito bar on the Barceloneta beach, then after dark, join the locals for pub crawling at the Barri Gotic for a huge selection of tapas bars, wine bars, cocktail lounges and even Irish pubs! Now that you've worked up an appetite, head for El Born where you'll find the finest in new Catalonian cuisine.
Rest of the evening is free at leisure. Lifestyle Holidays recommends a trip to see the fountain of Montjuic. The fountain delivers a spectacular display of colour, light and water acrobatics with musical accompaniment every Thursday to Sunday in the summer months and every Friday and Saturday during winter.
Overnight in your Barcelona hotel.
Meals : Breakfast
Day 09 : Barcelona - City Tour
After breakfast, take a sightseeing tour of Barcelona amid the old buildings and squares of the Gothic quarter. See the cathedral followed by the famous Ramblas, with its open-air markets and cafés. In contrast to the old part of town, drive along the broad, elegant avenues of the Eixample district to admire Gaudi’s extraordinary unfinished creation, the Sagrada Familia church, about which opinions are so strongly divided. Round off your tour with a drive up Monjuïc Hill, past the Olympic Games site and enjoy views over the Harbour. The afternoon is at leisure.
Overnight in your Barcelona hotel.
Meals : Breakfast
Day 10 : Barcelona – London
After your last breakfast of this tour, you will be transferred to the airport for your flight back home.
Return home with fond memories of your Portual and Span Trip, only with Lifestyle Holidays.
Meals : Breakfast |