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Spain & Portugal Travel Information
Spain escaped from Franco's right-wing authoritarian regime in 1975. It has a rich European culture and went back to enjoying all facets of it since the liberalization and the new constitutional government with is part of the EU. As such you will find a party type of atmosphere in many cities that is enjoyable for a vacation, especially on the Weekends in Barcelona where Las Ramblas goes into the wee hours of the morning. Try a Tapas walk in Madrid for dinner where you eat tiny plates of food at various tapas bars and visit the Prado Museum. We do a lot of seven night Mediterranean Cruises with a pre-stay in Madrid and a post cruise stay in Barcelona for a nice 10-12 night custom trip with a fast train between cities. We get good airfare connections to both Barcelona and Madrid including nonstop flights from Miami on Iberia and American Airlines. The Iberian Peninsula is home to the countries of Spain and Portugal.
Spain is a big country with coasts on both the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean. From the tip of Gibralter to the Pyranees, you have a varied culture as you move from place to place. A recent PBS show examined the food of the varied regions and they ate their way across Spain for 10 episodes of beautiful food.
North of Madrid, you can head into Castile, "the province of the castles" to Segovia to see the Roman aqueducts and the nearby Cathedral of Santa Maria where the legendary El Cid is buried. Also in the north is the port city of Bilbao in the Basque region or Pamplona at the fut of the Pyranees near the Rioja Wine Country. If you think you have heard of Pamplona before, it is because it is the city famous for the Run with the Bulls in July of each year.
Barcelona is a Mediterranean harbor town with its focal point at Las Ramblas which is actually a series of five streets stretching right through the old town from Playa de Catalunya all the way down to the Harbor. Tourist sights of Barcelona, Spain include La Sagrada Familia, The Picasso Museum, The Gothic Quarter and La Seu Cathedral plus Barcelona neighborhoods like Eixample and sights like Parc Guell. From Barcelona, you can daytrip to Girona Spain, Figueras Spain with the Museu Dali and Monserrat which is a Monastary located 700 meter high among the rock with the famed statue of the black virgin and supposedly where the Holy gGrain was discovered. South of Bacelona is Valencia that was once the Royal Capital of Spain where Roman, Spanish and Moorish history comes alive.
Spain's South is called the Costa del Sol once you pass through the Mora Pass. Granada is a city at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. In Granada, you can tour the Alhambra a Moorish citidel and palace that is part of Spain's Islamic historical legacy. The beachfront hotels of the Costa del Sol make a great spot ot cool out and eat seafood. Nearby is the Rock of Gibralter that is actually not part of Spain but been in British hands since 1704. Seville was active in Roman times and has a cathedral with Christopher Columus tomb also the Famous Santa Cruz Quarter of the city. Enjoy a flamenco show in Seville as it is truly an Andulsian cultural experience!
Madrid was once the richest and most powerful city in the world as capital of the Spanish empire. In Madrid, Spain you have the golden triangle of museums with the Prado, the Reina Sofia and the Thyssen-Bornemisza. If you are staying in Madrid a few days, get an Arts Walk Pass about 15e to gain entrance to all three museums. Plaza Mayor is the cities largest public square and the Royal Palace is the largest Royal Palace in Europe. From Madrid, you can take daytrips to Avila with golden city walls with 88 towers, Salamanca which is one of Spain's most elegant cities with twin cathedrals an a string of renaissance palaces all in a compact center. Toledo is the most popular daytrip from Madrid as it was the capital of medieval Spain and still headquarters of the Spanish church. This city is dominated by a large Gothic Cathedral, Spain's second largest. Toledo Spain is bounded on three sides by the River Tajo and many building interiors have art by the famous artist El Greco.
Portugal is on the Atlantic side of the Iberian Peninsula. It can be a great add-on if you are doing independent travel in Spain as we sometimes can get you from Madrid to Lisbon for $100 or $150 US on Europe's new cheap airlines like Air Europa. Most people go to Lisbon or coastal towns to soak up the culture. Religious pilgrims go to see The Sanctuary of our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima, Portugal plus the Convent of Christ in Tomar. Wherever you go, you will enjoy Portugal as much as Spain.
Our travel agency has great suppliers that do escorted Tours of Spain and Portugal. We do fly drive vacations with prepaid hotel vouchers and the guaranteed best price on rental cars with Auto Europe prepaid vouchers. We handle tickets for Rail Europe and smaller airlines that connect Spanish
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