Andalusia and White Villages

Full Program

Lisbon - Badajoz - Córdoba
Day 1: Meeting at the Gare do Oriente (bus station), on platform 48, in Lisbon, 30 minutes before departure. We start our journey at 9:30 am, crossing the Tagus River estuary and discovering the stunning landscape of Lisbon from the Vasco da Gama Bridge. We will then enter the Alentejo region, where the golden plains are dotted with cork oak trees, olive trees, and flocks of sheep. After entering Spanish territory, we will have lunch in Badajoz and cross the western part of Andalusia, arriving in Córdoba. Classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the city once housed half a million inhabitants during the time of the Western caliphs. Dinner and accommodation at the hotel.

​Córdoba - Granada
Day 2: After breakfast at the hotel, accompanied by a local guide, we will visit the historic center of Córdoba, where Jews, Christians, and Muslims coexisted peacefully for several centuries. The current inhabitants have wisely preserved the labyrinthine streets, patios, and alleys, where the scent of orange blossoms and jasmine is a challenge to the senses of visitors. The visit to the city's ex-libris, the Mosque-Cathedral (included), is mandatory, and its interior is truly unique, with a forest of columns that transports us to an oasis filled with palm trees. We will continue southeast, crossing the largest olive-producing region, which has always contributed to the economic sustenance of the region. Lunch at a local restaurant. In the afternoon, we will head to Granada, the city situated at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, the last bastion of Arab civilization in Europe, conquered by the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile in 1492. Dinner and accommodation at the hotel.

Granada
Day 3: After breakfast, the morning will be dedicated to the guided visit of Granada, the city that the Arab civilization called "a silver cup covered with emeralds and precious stones." By bus and with our local guide, we will start with the visit of the Cartuja monastery, one of the most splendid works of Spanish Baroque. We will continue to a viewpoint to appreciate a panoramic view of the city and the Alhambra complex, with the Sierra Nevada as a backdrop, a view that you will never forget. On foot, we will descend to meet the history of the Moorish neighborhood of Albaicín, with its narrow and labyrinthine streets full of life and soul, and then pass by the Royal Chapel, where the tombs of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand, are located (entrances included). After lunch at a local restaurant, we will return to the hotel or take the opportunity to visit the Alhambra (). If you like handicrafts, immerse yourself in the vibrant atmosphere of a market whose origins date back to the Nasrid domain, the Alcaiceria, with its shops selling local products such as ceramics, leather, jewelry, and Andalusian fans. Visit the Cathedral or stroll to the Carrera del Darro, where you will find the Bañuelo, one of the best-preserved Arab baths in the Western world. Dinner and accommodation.

Granada - Málaga - Ronda
Day 4: After breakfast at the hotel, we will depart towards the cosmopolitan Costa del Sol and the city of Málaga. Facing the sea, its port has earned a reputation as an open door to the Mediterranean and later to the New World. The guided bus tour will take us through the modern avenues that prove the current economic prosperity of this city, as well as the historic center, which will be explored on foot: Marqués de Larios street, the Constitution square, Santa Maria street, the Roman theater at the foot of the Alcazaba, once the seat of power of the Arab rulers. After some free time to feel the relaxed atmosphere of the city, birthplace of Picasso, we will have lunch at a local restaurant. In the afternoon, we will return to the interior of Andalusia to visit one of the most spectacular Andalusian villages, Ronda. Hanging from a geological fault, it has been visited, admired, and sung by artists from all over the world, such as Alexandre Dumas, Rainer Maria Rilke, Ernest Hemingway, and Orson Welles. With a local guide, we will explore the main places of interest on foot: the façade of the bullring of the mythical triumphs of the Romero clan, the new bridge, the old neighborhood with the maze of streets where the wealthy Andalusian aristocracy built their mansions overlooking the void. Dinner and accommodation at the hotel.

Ronda - White Villages - Seville
Day 5: Breakfast at the hotel. Today's journey will take us along the route of the White Villages: Setenil de las Bodegas, unique for its houses embedded in the landscape, giving rise to the popular saying, "it is not known whether the house is born from the rock or the rock is born from the house"; Zahara de la Sierra, austere sentinel of a historically volatile border, with its white houses crowned by the tower of the castle, and at its feet, a vast expanse of crystal-clear water. After lunch at a local restaurant, we will continue our route through the deep Andalusia, glimpsing here and there hills topped with white houses, where the white of the lime contrasts with the wild beauty of the landscape. Our destination is the capital of Andalusia, the proud Seville, which lives to the rhythm of the sun, flamenco, and castanets. Dinner and accommodation at the hotel.

Seville - Aracena - Lisbon
Day 6: After breakfast at the hotel, we will visit the city, a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, with a local guide: the "Torre del Oro", the "paseo" of Christopher Columbus, where we find the "Maestranza", a bullring of indescribable triumphs, the María Luisa Park, and the Spain Square, the proud cathedral (exterior), the third-largest in the world, dominated by the bell tower "La Giralda", which from above seems to watch over the charming neighborhood of Santa Cruz, where the old Jewish quarter was located. We will depart for the mountainous lands of Aracena, the natural habitat of the Iberian pig, which feeds freely, contributing to the unmistakable flavor of the famous Jabugo ham. Lunch at a local restaurant. At a time to be determined locally, we will begin our return journey to Portugal, via Beja, to the Gare do Oriente in Lisbon. END OF TRIP