Home to a rich cultural heritage, spectacular countryside and coastlines, tasty tapas and a tipple or two, it’s easy to see why Spain and Portugal are amongst the top destinations to visit in Europe. Travel by luxury coach on this grand tour and cover great historical cities, plus the treasures of the Iberian Peninsula including Madrid, Seville, Lisbon, Porto and Granada. What’s more, you’ll also have the opportunity of visiting one of Andalucía's must-see places, The Alhambra Palace, on this Grand Explorer holiday.
17 days from $5073 pp
We offer flexible payment options
Once you have booked your tour either online, or by telephone ( 1300 811 500 ), you have the flexibility of how you pay off the remainder of your balance. You can:
Our contact and online banking payment details will be on your confirmation invoice to remind you of your choices.
The Alhambra Palace* A visit to the Alhambra Palace and its beautiful gardens is highly recommended and extremely popular, and must be booked in advance. The cost is from £45 and includes a fully guided tour. Please ask for details when booking this holiday.
For your convenience, you may choose to start this tour in the UK or at the first city in Europe.
Arrival in Santander, then travel to our overnight hotel in Salamanca.
This morning we see the beautiful city of Salamanca, considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in Spain and has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. We then head west, crossing the border into Portugal and continuing to the city of Porto, regarded as being one of the oldest tourist destinations in Europe. Porto is famous for its artistic heritage, Port Wine and open-air leisure spaces. To introduce you to the city, why not join our optional sightseeing tour accompanied by a local English speaking guide. Later this afternoon we continue to our hotel in Porto or Aveiro for an overnight stay.
Included Highlights
Optional Excursions
Our optional excursions are a great addition to enhance your holiday experience and are highly recommended.| 2022 | 2023 | |
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TBC | TBC |
En route, we pause in the famous pilgrimage town of Fatima. Fatima is one of the most important Catholic shrines in the world dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It is famous for the apparitions of Our Lady of the Rosary that appeared to three shepherd children; Lucia dos Santos and her two younger cousins, Francisco and Jacinta. Between May and October of 1917, the three children witnessed several apparitions. The last one, on October 13th, was confirmed as a miracle witnessed by approximately 60,000 people and is known in the Catholic world as "the day the sun danced". We head south to Lisbon for a two-night stay.
Included Highlights
Enjoy a full day at leisure in Lisbon. We start with a panoramic drive around the main sights to allow you to get your bearings. The remainder of the day is free for you to relax and explore this spectacular city at your leisure.
Included Highlights
We leave Lisbon and commence our journey back over the border into Spain. En route we pause in the Moorish hill-top town of Évora, one of Portugal’s most beautifully preserved medieval towns. Aside from its historic and aesthetic virtues, Évora is also a lively university town, and its many attractive restaurants serve up hearty Alentejan cuisine. We continue to our hotel in Seville for a three night stay.
Included Highlights
Join us today as we spend an included full day in Seville. To help you discover Seville’s fantastic sights and stories, why not join our local guide for an optional sightseeing tour. The city is over 2000 years old, and has a very rich architectural and monumental history. We see Plaza de Espana and the area of the 1929 Ibero-American exhibition. We will also visit the Barrio Santa Cruz area, a maze of narrow streets, picturesque alleys and hidden delights. For the rest of your time, you are free to relax and enjoy the unique atmosphere of this lovely city. <i>Please note that the Seville Sightseeing tour does involve a degree of walking and is not suitable for any clients with walking difficulties. </i>
Included Highlights
Optional Excursions
Our optional excursions are a great addition to enhance your holiday experience and are highly recommended.| 2022 | 2023 | |
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TBC | TBC |
Today our optional excursion takes you to the old town of Cádiz. It is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in Europe and is now well into its fourth millennium. The ancient centre, surrounded almost entirely by water, is a romantic assortment of sinuous streets, municipal beaches and rambunctious taverns. Worth a visit are the city's Cathedral and churches of Santa Cruz and San Felipe Neri, which is famous throughout Spain as the place where, in defiance of Napoleon's siege, the provisional government was set up with its own liberal Constitution. Other points of interest are La Santa Cueva, home to several paintings by Goya, and stately mansions such as the Casa del Almirante and Casa de las Cadenas. The old city looks quite Moorish in appearance and is intriguing with narrow cobbled streets opening onto small squares. The golden cupola of the cathedral looms high above long white houses. There will be ample free time for you to explore the town at your leisure.
Optional Excursions
Our optional excursions are a great addition to enhance your holiday experience and are highly recommended.| 2022 | 2023 | |
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TBC | TBC |
We leave Seville and head east to Granada for a two night stay. En route we visit Córdoba, where you can join our optional guided walking tour seeing the celebrated courtyards and patios, the Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter and the famous Plaza del Potro. Córdoba was once the largest city in Europe and its incredible history is represented by the beautifully preserved buildings and squares. It is home to the famous Mezquita, a 12th century mosque, which dominates the town centre and is a symbol of worldly and sophisticated Islamic culture. (Entrance not included). It is impossible to overemphasise the beauty of Córdoba’s great mosque, with its remarkably peaceful and spacious interior. The Mezquita hints at a lavish and refined age when Muslims, Jews and Christians lived side by side and enriched their city and surroundings with diverse and vibrant cultures. The medieval centre is a warren of narrow streets surrounding the Mezquita. It is home to some excellent bars and restaurants, some of which have become sights themselves. The main shopping streets are found to the north and west of Plaza de las Tendillas, which is the city’s main square.
Included Highlights
Optional Excursions
Our optional excursions are a great addition to enhance your holiday experience and are highly recommended.| 2022 | 2023 | |
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TBC | TBC |
A visit to the Alhambra Palace and its beautiful gardens is highly recommended and extremely popular, and must be booked in advance. The cost is from £45 and includes a fully guided tour. Please ask for details when booking this holiday.
Included Highlights
Optional Excursions
Our optional excursions are a great addition to enhance your holiday experience and are highly recommended.| 2022 | 2023 | |
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TBC | TBC |
We leave Granada this morning and head north to Toledo, often regarded as the Spanish city with the greatest wealth of monuments. The top attractions in Toledo include the city's magnificent cathedral, which houses some beautiful stained glass, delicate wood and stone sculptures plus a large collection of paintings. We continue to Torrejon, Madrid for a three-night stay.
Included Highlights
This morning we have an included full day in Madrid, a truly cosmopolitan city with a wealth of cultural attractions. Why not join our optional guided coach tour, which will allow you to discover many highlights of the city. We will see the famous Salamanca quarter, with its exclusive boutiques and embassies. We also discover the Borbones Quarter, with its many museums, Jardin del Retiro, and House of Parliament, and the Asturias Quarter which is home to the superb Royal Palace of Madrid (Palacio Real de Madrid), which is the official residence of the King and Queen of Spain. Our guide will also help us discover 21st century Madrid with the New Parliament, 4 towers, and Stadium Santiago Bernabeu.
Included Highlights
Optional Excursions
Our optional excursions are a great addition to enhance your holiday experience and are highly recommended.| 2022 | 2023 | |
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TBC | TBC |
Free day in Madrid or join us on our optional excursion as we discover the Cities of Castile – Avila and Segovia. We head first to the World Heritage Site of Avila, which is well known for the amazingly intact 11th century wall that surrounds the city and the old town. We then travel to Segovia, which quite rightly lays claim to being the most spectacularly sited city in Spain. It is also famous for its Alcazar, a beautiful 11th-century medieval fort known to be Walt Disney’s inspiration for Cinderella’s Castle.
Optional Excursions
Our optional excursions are a great addition to enhance your holiday experience and are highly recommended.| 2022 | 2023 | |
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TBC | TBC |
We travel through the spectacular mountain scenery of the Basque region to Ciboure or Biarritz on the Basque coast for a two-night stay.
Join our optional excursion back into Spain and to the beautiful Basque town of San Sebastián. San Sebastián has four main districts. The lively Parte Vieja (old town) lies across the neck of Monte Urgull, the bay’s eastern headland. South of the Parte Vieja is the commercial and shopping district, the Centro Romántico. It’s a handsome grid of late-19th-century buildings extending from behind Playa de la Concha to the banks of Río Urumea. On the east side of the river is the district of Gros, a pleasant enclave that, with its relaxed ambience and the surfing beach of Playa de Gros, makes a cheerful alternative to the honeypots on the west side of the river. Right at the opposite, western end, of the city is Playa de Ondarreta (essentially a continuation of Playa de la Concha), a very upmarket district known as a millionaires' belt on account of its lavish holiday homes. There will be ample free time for you to explore all the town has to offer.
Optional Excursions
Our optional excursions are a great addition to enhance your holiday experience and are highly recommended.| 2022 | 2023 | |
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TBC | TBC |
To the Paris area for an overnight stay.
If you are leaving the tour in Europe, you will say farewell to the group after breakfast this morning. If you joined the tour in the UK, today you will return and continue to your original joining point.
Book online OR call our friendly travel advisers on:
1300 811 500
If you prefer, then you can join the tour at the hotel. To do this, we will require a copy of your passport for identification purposes and you must advise us at the time of booking.
No reduction will be given if you should choose to do this.
We are unable to guarantee that the hotel will be able to meet your dietary requirements. We find that the majority of European countries do not generally cater for vegetarians and that the meal supplied may well be what everyone else is having minus the meat.
We will of course endeavour to arrange for a vegetarian meal at the hotel. We do however suggest that you advise us of your dietary requests at the time of booking and recommend that you speak to the receptionist on arrival with regard to your request.
You will stay in 3-star superior and 4-star hotels throughout your time in Spain and Portugal.
Your overnight stays in France/northern Spain will be in city-style hotels.
On the overnight ferry sailing, accommodation will be in en suite inside cabins (meals at extra cost).
Front row seats can be reserved for $35pp (up to 6 days' duration), $55pp (7 & 8 days' duration) and $60pp (9 days' duration and over) on all European tours. This offer is only available for bookings of two or four persons on the front row and is subject to availability. In addition to this, seats on the second row can be reserved for $18pp (up to 6 days duration), $35pp (7 & 8 days duration) and $42pp (9, 10 and days duration) $50pp (12 days and over). Guaranteed front/second row seats cannot be reserved on transfer journeys to/from the interchange. Children under 15 years cannot occupy a front row seat due to French Law. Central view seats are free.
Please note: On some coaches the legroom on front seats may be slightly less than that available on other seats due to the presence of a modesty board in front.
If your tour is cancelled for any reason and front/second row seats are not available on your new tour, you will be refunded the supplement. No other compensation will be payable.
Alternatively, we can take seating requests on your booking. However, requests are not guaranteed. All seat numbers are confirmed on travel documents approximately 7-10 days prior to departure.
Transfer coaches are routed approximately 2-3 weeks before departure. The route taken depends on where passengers are booked to travel from on any particular date as to which route is taken. If you require further detailed information regarding the route to the port you can contact our Customer Service Department on 1300 811 500 two weeks before you are due to travel. With regard to the route taken by the main tour coach, this is determined by the driver.
With regard to the route taken by the main tour coach, this is determined by the driver.
When it comes to getting you to your destination, McLachlan European Holidays make it easy, with a selection of travel options for you to choose from.
