Highlights of Spain (Winter)

9 Days Barcelona to Madrid
Highlights of Spain (Winter)
Highlights of Spain (Winter)
Highlights of Spain (Winter)

Overview

Trafalgar
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You'll begin in Barcelona, following narrow lanes with your Local Specialist before standing beneath the soaring towers and intricate stonework of Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Família. The Sierra Nevada stretches across the horizon on your way to Granada, where your Local Specialist guides you through the courtyards, carved plasterwork and tiled halls of the Alhambra. In Seville, you'll learn the precise footwork and expressive movements of flamenco during a private lesson, then feel the energy of a professional performance. At Madrid’s Prado Museum, an art historian guides you through Spanish masterpieces, read more including works by Francisco Goya.
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A$4,341 per person
Price shown based on twin share
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Trip Length
9 Days
Trip Starts
Barcelona
Trip Ends
Madrid
Trip Style
Country Collection
Accommodation
4 - 5 Star
Budget
Premium
Age Range
5-99 Years
Max. Group Size
40
Guide Style
Fully Guided
Tour Code
W936
Countries Visited:

Itinerary

Join your Travel Director and fellow travellers for dinner at local restaurant La Pau. This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience supports teenagers and young people to transition to their adult life. Learn about local life through the eyes of the youth.

Accommodation: Hilton, Barcelona
Included Meals: Dinner

With your Local Expert, drive along the Passeig de Gràcia, adorned with elegant wrought-iron street lamps and some of the most flamboyant Modernist buildings. Continue through the Eixample district for a visit inside Gaudí's extraordinary masterpiece, the Sagrada Família*, to see the central nave with its giant, tree-like pillars, spectacular vaulting and the beautiful rainbows flooding in through the intricate stained-glass windows. Enjoy the afternoon at leisure to explore or perhaps join an Optional Experience to Montserrat and The Black Madonna.

*Please note that with the construction of the Sagrada Família nearing completion, access to the basilica may be restricted for special masses, pilgrim visits or official ceremonies, and we are unable to secure tickets to visit. Should this occur during your tour, you will visit the Hospital de Sant Pau instead, a striking example of Catalan Art Nouveau designed by Gaudí's contemporary, Domènech i Montaner.

Afterwards, join your Local Expert in the gardens surrounding the Sagrada Família and take in the extraordinary exterior of Gaudí's iconic masterpiece.

Accommodation: Meliá Sarrià, Barcelona
Included Meals: Breakfast

Follow the sunny Costa Dorada, past the rice fields of the Ebro Delta. Stop at the seaside resort of Peñíscola and see the hilltop castle used in the film 'El Cid'. Pass through the famous orange groves to Valencia and see the City of Arts and Sciences.

Later see the Old City and take in its medieval charm. Valencia is home to one of the world's greatest dishes, paella. Meet the chef of a local family-run restaurant in the heart of the Old City and learn how to make this local specialty during a Cooking Demonstration.

Later, indulge in the delicious flavours of this classic dish with a glass of wine at your dinner.

Accommodation: Barceló Valencia
Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Travel south toward Andalucía, passing the castle at Lorca and troglodyte dwellings hollowed out of the soft rock near Guadix. Enjoy distant views of the Sierra Nevada mountains as you approach glorious Granada. This historic city was a Moorish kingdom for almost eight centuries and was the last stronghold to fall to the Catholic monarchs of Spain in 1492. Overlooking Granada stands the Alhambra, one of the most remarkable fortresses ever built. Led by your Local Expert, explore this exquisite palace, built as a citadel by the Moors in the 13th century: a fantasy of arabesque gardens, fountains and stone cut like lace.

Later, stroll through the elegant gardens of the Generalife, the royal summer residence.

Accommodation: Gran Luna de Granada
Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

The morning is at your leisure to explore as you wish. Perhaps join an Optional Experience and visit the Albaicín Quarter with a Local Expert. Here, in addition to falling in love with Granada, you will also uncover its pivotal role in European history.

Continue your travels to Seville, past gleaming white villages and olive groves that stretch as far as the eye can see.

Accommodation: Meliá Sevilla, Catalonia Giralda, Seville
Included Meals: Breakfast

Enjoy a relaxed start or choose to join one of two Optional Experiences: visit the serene Pilatos Palace, or explore the Alcázar of Seville and Plaza América. Continue discovering the city with Insight Choice. Join a guided walk through the old Jewish quarter or enjoy a panoramic drive past Seville's iconic landmarks.

Later, marvel at the soaring vaulted ceilings of the Seville Cathedral, the world's largest Gothic cathedral and final resting place of Christopher Columbus In the evening, take part in a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience at the Cristina Heeren Foundation. This flamenco school supports emerging talent across Andalucía. Try your hand at the dance during a fun lesson, then feel its passion and power in a stirring live performance.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Set off early along the Guadalquivir Valley, passing villages and towns studded with Moorish towers and fortresses. Stop in the perfectly preserved Moorish city of Córdoba and see the famous Roman bridge, built in the 1st century BC. Meet a local historian and visit the magnificent Mezquita, a beautiful 8th-century mosque with a Christian cathedral built inside it. Make the most of your time at leisure and stroll the narrow streets of the city. Follow in the footsteps of Don Quixote as you travel through La Mancha and on to the capital, Madrid.

Accommodation: Canopy by Hilton Madrid Castellana, NH Madrid Balboa
Included Meals: Breakfast

Enjoy sightseeing with your Local Expert, as they guide you through the most historic neighbourhoods in the Spanish capital. Your drive continues through the Old Quarter to discover the origins of the city. Visit the renowned Prado Museum with an art historian who will guide you through the collective works of Velázquez, Goya, Titian, Rubens and more. The afternoon is at your leisure to relax at a cafe, shop in the trendy boutiques or perhaps travel to beautiful Toledo with an Optional Experience.

In the evening, join your Travel Director and newfound friends at a local restaurant in the heart of the city. Toast your adventures as you enjoy a delicious dinner of regional favourites, served with wine.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Today, your remarkable journey comes to an end as you transfer to the Madrid-Barajas Airport. Take a moment to reflect on the unforgettable experiences, meaningful connections and enriching encounters that have shaped your travels.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Trip Inclusions

  • Barcelona: Explore Barcelona with a Local Expert who sets out the city's shape from street level — the long run of Passeig de Gràcia, 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 recognised 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 centre, 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 centre 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.
  • 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.

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 neighbourhood'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.

  • 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.

  • 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 flavour 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 travellers at a local restaurant.
  • Dining Summary: 4 Dinners (D), 8 Breakfasts (B)

  • 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.

  • Itinerary and inclusions are subject to change
  • Price is for land, cruise and internal flights as specified. Flights not specified are not included
Must-sees to Local Secrets
Must-sees to Local Secrets

You’ll enjoy the icons and hidden gems with a Local Specialist by your side. Read more

Connect with Locals
Connect with Locals

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Stay With Stories

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Saturday 06 Nov 2027 06 Nov 27 Barcelona
Sunday 14 Nov 2027 14 Nov 27 Madrid
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Was: $4,495
A$4,360
Save $135
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Saturday 13 Nov 2027 13 Nov 27 Barcelona
Sunday 21 Nov 2027 21 Nov 27 Madrid
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Was: $4,475
A$4,341
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Wednesday 15 Dec 2027 15 Dec 27 Barcelona
Thursday 23 Dec 2027 23 Dec 27 Madrid
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Was: $4,495
A$4,360
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Wednesday 22 Dec 2027 22 Dec 27 Barcelona
Thursday 30 Dec 2027 30 Dec 27 Madrid
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Was: $5,050
A$4,898
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Saturday 26 Feb 2028 26 Feb 28 Barcelona
Sunday 05 Mar 2028 05 Mar 28 Madrid
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Was: $4,625
A$4,486
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Saturday 11 Mar 2028 11 Mar 28 Barcelona
Sunday 19 Mar 2028 19 Mar 28 Madrid
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Was: $4,625
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Saturday 25 Mar 2028 25 Mar 28 Barcelona
Sunday 02 Apr 2028 02 Apr 28 Madrid
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Was: $4,925
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A definite departure means minimum numbers have been reached for this departure to operate. Your Global Journeys Travel Advisor will check the availability of your departure date when you Enquire. Additional savings may apply. T&C’s apply.
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Tour & cruises prices are per person. Prices shown have savings applied, are subject to availability and may be withdrawn at any time without notice. Pricing and trip details are correct at this point in time, however are subject to confirmation at the time of booking and are subject to change by Trafalgar. For cruise itineraries, cabin images are sourced from the cruise-line and should be treated as indicative only. Cabin inclusions, upholsteries and room layout may differ to the image(s) shown depending on the ship selected and your sailing dates.

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