SENSATIONAL SPAIN
This is a nice mix of big city bustle and smaller town culture and history, with stunning countryside, delicious local cuisines, and a thoughtful balance of organized and free time to soak it all up.
Barcelona, located on the Mediterranean sea in the very north of the Spanish coast, is certainly the most cosmopolitan and economically active city in this country. Of course, Barcelona has an old history, and there are monuments of Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance periods or still before, but most characteristic is what has been built during the last 100 years.
Overnight in Barcelona.
Meal plan: Dinner
We continue by bus to Barcelona's most famous and most photographed attraction -- La Sagrada Familia Cathedral (Cathedral of the Holy Family), an amalgam of fantasy and Gothic impulses, and Gaudi's most unique piece of architecture. Our bus stops on the side of the Nativity facade (north) from where we walk around to the Passion facade. We visit the cathedral museum during our stop.
We continue down the avenue of Las Ramblas, the exotic "spine of Barcelona," with a stop to look at Casa Mila, another Gaudi creation, and then on to Placa Catalunya and to Placa Reial via the central market, St Josephis; a very lively place, crowded with stalls selling caged birds and lush plants and the constant clamor of people haggling and selling.
After a break for lunch, we stroll to Barri Gotic, a densely packed area of narrow lanes with a fascinating mixture of medieval and stately Renaissance buildings. Then on to the Picasso Museum for a +/- 60 minute visit. From here we walk to the impressive Gothic-style Cathedral for a visit including the adjacent enclosure where Ferdinand and Isabella received Columbus in December 1492.
We return to the hotel later in the afternoon. After dinner this evening we can sample some of Barcelona's nightlife.
Overnight in Barcelona.
Meal plan: Breakfast and Dinner
Overnight in Barcelona.
Meal plan: Breakfast
You'll have some free time before dinner, which will feature a Flamenco show for which Spain, and especially Madrid, is famous.
* Periodically, without notice, the palace is closed for an official function causing us to shuffle our program slightly. Our overall Madrid area sightseeing may vary depending on certain museum visits that need to be booked well in advance.
Overnight in Madrid.
Meal plan: Breakfast and Dinner
Originally opened to the public in 1819, the Prado houses all of the finest works collected by Spanish Royalty as well as Spanish paintings gathered from other sources over the past two centuries. The Prado is one of the most important repositories of art in the world, including a vast collection of Italian paintings. Botticelli's dramatic wooden panels telling The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti, a vision of a knight forever condemned to hunt down and kill his own beloved, are a sinister high point.
After our visit to the Prado, your Tour Leader will take you in an informal stroll / tour up Gran Via and into the old town. The nearby gay quarter of Madrid is known for shopping and as a nice place for an afternoon beer. The balance of the day free to enjoy this beautiful city.
Overnight in Madrid.
Meal plan: Breakfast and Dinner
Overnight in Madrid.
Meal plan: Breakfast
In Toledo we see the Cathedral and visit the Santa Maria la Blanca Synagogue, which shows the influence of the Granada Moors. It has an ornate ceiling and carved arabesques, not in Arabic, but in Hebrew. The most elaborate Mudejar interior in the city is hidden behind the deceptively humble facade of this former synagogue, built in the 14th century by Samuel Ha-Levi, the Jewish treasurer to Pedro the Cruel. Adjoining the synagogue is an interesting museum dedicated to Jewish Sephardi culture. We also see one of Toledo's most outstanding attractions, El Greco's masterpiece, "The Burial of the Count of Orgaz," located inside the Church of Santo Tome.
After lunch in Toledo, we continue our road journey* to Cordoba, crossing the Despenaperros Mountains and the border pass between Castile and Andalucia, home of Federico Garcia Lorca, lover of Salvador Dali and one of Spain's most famous historical and literary figures.
* Depending on earlier Madrid sightseeing and train schedules, we may return to Madrid by road and travel to Cordoba by rail this afternoon (+/- 2 hours).
Overnight in Cordoba.
Meal plan: Breakfast and Dinner
Later today we travel to Granada by private bus.
Overnight in Granada.
Meal plan: Breakfast and Dinner
The focus of our sightseeing today is Granada's main attraction, the Alhambra, a mighty fortress that houses an extraordinarily delicate and beautiful Moorish palace begun in the 13th century. This was the palace of the Nasrid Sultans, rulers of the last Spanish Moorish Kingdom. A fantasy of "lace in stone" surrounded by arabesque gardens and fountains, it affords superb views of the Old Quarter and Sacromonte, a mountain occupied by gypsy cave dwellers. In many ways, the Alhambra represents the Moorish concept of life itself -- something glorious to be ennobled by learning and enlivened by every kind of pleasure.
We also visit the nearby Generalife Gardens as well as the old Moorish quarter of the Albaicin.
For a small town, Granada offers a fair variety of bars and cafes that range from gay friendly to exclusively gay. It's easy to find everything from sunny sidewalk tables for people-watching over coffee to wild neon hotspots. Not overrun by tourists, bars and cafes in Granada are relatively cheap and easy to get into, even on a Friday night.
Overnight in Granada.
Meal plan: Breakfast and Dinner
In Ronda, we will walk around the old town where you will learn the origins of this ancient town where Romans, Arabs, and Christians left their traces. We visit the Mondragon Palace, built in a Mudejar style and finally to the Bullring, the oldest in the country. Ronda is famous for its dramatic escarpments and views, and for the deep El Tajo gorge that carries the rio Guadalevin through its centre. We suggest a walk to the 18th century Puente Nuevo 'new' bridge, which straddles the 100m/328 ft chasm below, for its unparalleled views out over the Serrania de Ronda mountains.
Overnight in Ronda.
Meal plan: Breakfast and Dinner
We then follow (by road) the route known as "the route of the white villages" for the singularity of the scenery. Lunch and time to explore Grazalema, a white hill down nestled in Grazalema National Park. Prior to arrival in Sevilla (Seville), we stop at a viewpoint for a panoramic photo opportunity.
Overnight in Sevilla.
Meal plan: Breakfast
While in Sevilla we visit the largest cathedral in Spain, built in a Gothic style with lovely stained glass windows, choir, and chapels. We visit the Giralda Tower, with its spectacular views of the city. We will also see the Moorish Alcazar Palace, a 14th century palace, the oldest royal residence in Europe and still in use. King Juan Carlos resides here while in Sevilla, as King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella once did. We finish our tour with a walk through the Old Quarter.
Balance of the day at leisure. Sevilla, though small and sedate, actually has a vibrant gay scene, especially the area around the park along the Alameda de Hercules street, a popular hangout for having a beer and a chat. There is one bar after another and basically all the bars there are at least gay-friendly and the gay bars are straight-friendly, thus you'll usually find a mixed, easy-going crowd.
Overnight in Sevilla.
Meal plan: Breakfast and Dinner
BUEN VIAJE!
Meal plan: Breakfast
- Breakfast daily and most dinners (local restaurants)
- All accommodation, transport, sightseeing and entrance fees for sites noted as 'visited' in the detailed itinerary
- Gratuities for local guides, drivers, restaurant staff, porters
- Airport transfers for land & air customers
- Tour Leader gratuities, lunches, some dinners, drinks, personal items (phone, laundry, etc), international air taxes (if applicable), excursions referenced as 'optional'
- Airport transfers for Land Only customers
- Optional trip cancellation insurance
- Our post-reservation trip notes offer further guidance on optional meal costs and shopping
Birthplace and home to one of Spain's most famous gay citizens, Federico García Lorca, Granada, for one, offers the traveller an open and accepting community. A prominent Granadino once suggested that today's Spaniards are not homophobic simply because they're enjoying their liberty too much and having too much fun to be bothered. While this comment maybe somewhat tongue-in-cheek, many visitors note a lack of that underlying homophobia that can crop up elsewhere, even in reasonably advanced societies.