Spain for three generations: Madrid, Andalusia and Barcelona

1. Day 1: Arrive in Madrid

   Madrid-Barajas Airport to your hotel in central Madrid

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Early welcome dinner, about 7 pm
   • Stay in Madrid
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD), about 15 km from the centre, where a driver meets your family in the arrivals hall and takes everyone and the bags to the hotel. Plan to land by about 2 pm so there is time for a rest or a nap after the flight. At about 5:30 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group in the hotel for a short briefing, a chance for the children to learn each other's names, then leads a gentle walk of about 2 km on level streets: Puerta del Sol and its bear-and-tree statue, the arcaded Plaza Mayor, and the gardens of Plaza de Oriente facing the Royal Palace as the evening light comes on. Madrid usually eats at 9 pm or later, so the welcome dinner is booked for about 7 pm at a restaurant that serves from that hour, with simple dishes for children alongside the Spanish ones. Everyone is back at the hotel by about 8:30.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Short evening walk: Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor and the Royal Palace from Plaza de Oriente
   • Early welcome dinner

   Optional experiences

   • Royal Palace interior for early arrivals

   Free time: Free until the 5:30 pm briefing

   Activity: About 2 km of easy, level walking. Benches in Plaza de Oriente for anyone who wants to sit.

   

2. Day 2: The Prado and the boats in the Retiro

   A day in Madrid

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Madrid
   Day 2 details

   We walk to the Prado for its 10 am opening, ahead of the coach groups, for about 90 minutes with a licensed guide on a route planned for children and grandparents together: Velázquez's Las Meninas, where children look for the painter hiding in his own picture; Goya's portraits of a royal family; and Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights, full of odd creatures to spot. There are seats in most rooms, and the visit ends before anyone tires. Lunch is a sit-down meal nearby in the Barrio de las Letras. After lunch the hotel is ten minutes away for a rest through the hottest hours, when Madrid itself slows down. At about 5 pm we meet again and walk into the Retiro park, where families rent rowing boats on the big lake under the monument to Alfonso XII, and the Crystal Palace, a glass hall built in 1887, sits beside a pond of ducks and turtles. Dinner is your own, at the hour that suits your family.

   Included

   • The Prado at opening with a licensed guide, on a family route of about 90 minutes
   • Sit-down lunch in the Barrio de las Letras
   • Rowing boats on the Retiro lake
   • The Crystal Palace and the Retiro gardens with your guide

   Optional experiences

   • Museo Reina Sofía and Picasso's Guernica
   • The Royal Palace interior

   Easier option: Our vehicle takes anyone who prefers to ride to the Prado and to the Retiro gate, and you can sit by the lake while others row.

   More active option: Walk on through the Retiro to the Rose Garden and back, about 3 km more.

   Free time: Afternoon rest and evening free

   Activity: About 5 km on foot over the day, all level, with a long rest in the middle.

3. Day 3: Toledo, the city on the Tagus

   Madrid to Toledo and back

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Madrid
   Day 3 details

   We leave at about 9 am and drive about an hour south to Toledo, a walled city on a rocky hill wrapped on three sides by the Tagus, listed by UNESCO in 1986. The first stop is the Mirador del Valle across the river, where the whole city spreads out in one view for the family photograph. Then public escalators carry us up into the old town, so nobody climbs the steepest part on foot. With a local guide we visit the Primate Cathedral, with its gilded altarpiece and a hole cut into the roof to let light down on a marble sky; the church of Santo Tomé, where El Greco's Burial of the Count of Orgaz hangs in the chapel it was painted for; and the shop windows of Toledo steel, the swords and armour children want to stop at. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the old town, and everyone tastes Toledo marzipan after. We are back at the hotel by about 4 pm.

   Included

   • Mirador del Valle viewpoint over Toledo
   • Toledo with a local guide: the Primate Cathedral and Santo Tomé with El Greco's Burial of the Count of Orgaz
   • Sit-down lunch in Toledo
   • Marzipan tasting

   Optional experiences

   • The zip line across the Tagus in Toledo, with the operator's own age, height and weight rules

   Easier option: Stay on the level streets around the cathedral square with a café stop while the group walks to Santo Tomé.

   More active option: Walk the riverside path below the walls to the San Martín bridge with your guide, about 2 km with a climb back up.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Madrid

   Activity: About 3 km on foot in Toledo, on cobbles, with escalators for the main climb. Departures never put this day on a Sunday, when the cathedral is closed to visitors in the morning.

   

4. Day 4: The Mezquita of Córdoba, then on to Seville

   Madrid to Córdoba by high-speed train, then by road to Seville

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Seville
   Day 4 details

   Our vehicle takes the family and the bags to Atocha station for a morning high-speed AVE train, about 1 hour 45 minutes across La Mancha to Córdoba; your guide and our Andalusia driver lift the bags on and off, and the driver meets the train with the vehicle that stays with us to Granada. From the station it is a short ride to the Mezquita-Catedral, where a licensed guide leads about an hour inside: a forest of more than 800 columns under red-and-white striped arches, raised from the 8th century, the gold mosaics of the mihrab, and the surprise at the centre, a Renaissance cathedral built inside the mosque. Children tend to remember the orange-tree courtyard outside, where we wait in the shade. Lunch is a sit-down meal nearby, with salmorejo, Córdoba's cold tomato soup. In the mid-afternoon we drive about 140 km to Seville, around an hour and three quarters, and the rest of the day is for the hotel pool or a rest.

   Included

   • Reserved high-speed AVE train, Madrid to Córdoba
   • The Mezquita-Catedral of Córdoba with a licensed local guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Córdoba
   • Drive to Seville in our own vehicle

   Easier option: Sit in the Patio de los Naranjos while the group walks the far side of the prayer hall.

   More active option: Cross the Roman bridge over the Guadalquivir with your guide before lunch, about 1 km there and back.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Seville

   Activity: About 3 km on foot, level. Your only lifting is a day bag. Departures never put this day on a Sunday, when Mass splits the Mezquita's visiting hours.

   

5. Day 5: The Real Alcázar and the boats of Plaza de España

   A day in Seville

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Seville
   Day 5 details

   The Real Alcázar opens at 9:30 am and we take the first entry, while its courtyards are cool and quiet. A licensed guide shows the family through the 14th-century palace of Pedro I, the tiled halls and the Courtyard of the Maidens, then lets the children loose in the gardens, with fountains, peacocks, orange trees and a hedge maze. Next door is the Cathedral, the largest Gothic church in Spain and the tomb of Christopher Columbus, and the Giralda, its old minaret, climbed by 35 ramps instead of stairs, built wide enough, the story goes, for a rider on horseback. From about 1 pm the day is free: a long lunch and the afternoon at the hotel pool, as Seville rests through the heat. At about 6 pm we meet at the Plaza de España, built for the 1929 exposition, where families row small boats along its canal under tiled bridges and children look for the tiled bench of each Spanish province.

   Included

   • The Real Alcázar at first entry with a licensed guide, with time in its gardens and maze
   • Seville Cathedral and the ramps of the Giralda
   • Rowing boats on the canal of the Plaza de España

   Optional experiences

   • Hospital de los Venerables and its Velázquez paintings

   Easier option: Skip the Giralda and rest in the Patio de los Naranjos; our vehicle runs anyone who prefers to the Plaza de España.

   More active option: Walk from the Plaza de España through the Parque de María Luisa and back along the river, about 4 km.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Seville

   Activity: About 5 km on foot, level, plus the 35 ramps of the Giralda.

   

6. Day 6: Triana, the river and an early flamenco show

   A day in Seville

   • By boat
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Seville
   Day 6 details

   A slower morning. At about 10 am we cross the Isabel II bridge into Triana, the old district of potters and flamenco singers, and walk through the Triana market, where the stalls sell olives, oranges and churros, and past the tile workshops whose blue and yellow azulejos cover half of Seville. Then we board a boat for a cruise of about an hour on the Guadalquivir, seated, with the Torre del Oro, the bullring and the bridges passing by. Lunch is free, and the afternoon is for the hotel pool, a siesta or the Plaza de España again. In the early evening the group goes to an early flamenco show of about an hour, starting at about 7 pm, sized so children can see the dancers' feet, followed by a tapas dinner of small plates for every age. Everyone is back at the hotel by about 9:30 pm, early by Seville standards.

   Included

   • Triana market and the tile workshops with your guide
   • Guadalquivir river cruise of about an hour
   • Early flamenco show
   • Tapas dinner

   Optional experiences

   • The Torre del Oro and its small maritime museum

   Easier option: Ride to the boat in our vehicle and skip the Triana walk.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Seville

   Activity: About 3 km on foot, level, and an hour seated on the boat.

7. Day 7: The Antequera Dolmens on the way to Granada

   Seville to Antequera, then Granada

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Granada
   Day 7 details

   We leave Seville at about 9:30 am and drive about 160 km east through olive country to Antequera, an hour and three quarters with a stop for coffee and the toilets halfway. On the edge of town stand the Dolmens of Menga and Viera, burial chambers built from huge stone slabs more than 5,000 years ago and listed by UNESCO in 2016. Children can walk right inside Menga, roofed by single stones weighing many tonnes, and look out of its entrance at the Peña de los Enamorados, a mountain shaped like a sleeping face. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Antequera, where the local dish is porra, a thicker cousin of salmorejo. Granada is about 100 km further on, an hour and a quarter, and we arrive at the hotel by about 4 pm, with the rest of the day free to unpack and rest. Your guide suggests early dinner places near the hotel.

   Included

   • The Antequera Dolmens: Menga and Viera
   • Sit-down lunch in Antequera
   • Drive to Granada in our own vehicle

   Easier option: Stay by the visitor centre and the vehicle while the group walks the short path to Viera.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Granada

   Activity: The day's road time of about 3 hours comes in two legs of under 2 hours, split by the Dolmens and lunch. About 2 km on foot. The Dolmens close on Mondays, so departures are set so this day never falls on one.

8. Day 8: The Alhambra, and the sunset from San Nicolás

   A morning at the Alhambra, Granada

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Granada
   Day 8 details

   Our vehicle takes everyone up the hill to the Alhambra gate, so the climb from town is not part of the day. The Nasrid Palaces entries were booked as soon as sales opened for your departure, on a morning time slot, and a licensed Alhambra guide leads the family visit of about three hours. We start at the Alcazaba, the fortress at the tip of the hill, where children can climb the Torre de la Vela for the view over the white houses of the Albaicín. At our set time we go into the Nasrid Palaces: the Court of the Myrtles with its long pool, the honeycomb ceilings of the Hall of the Ambassadors and the twelve stone lions of the Court of the Lions. We finish in the gardens and fountains of the Generalife. Lunch is a sit-down meal in town and the afternoon is free. At about 6:30 pm the small Albaicín minibus carries us up to the Mirador de San Nicolás to watch the Alhambra turn red at sunset.

   Included

   • Vehicle up to the Alhambra gate
   • The Alhambra with a licensed guide: the Alcazaba, the Nasrid Palaces on a timed entry and the Generalife
   • Sit-down lunch in Granada
   • Sunset at the Mirador de San Nicolás, up by minibus

   Optional experiences

   • The Royal Chapel, burial place of Ferdinand and Isabella
   • An Arab-style bath for adults

   Easier option: Skip the Torre de la Vela and the upper Generalife; the vehicle collects you after the palaces.

   More active option: Walk up to the Alhambra from Plaza Nueva through the woods of the Cuesta de Gomérez, and walk down the Albaicín lanes after sunset.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Granada

   Activity: About 4 km on foot inside the Alhambra, with slopes and some steps; benches in every garden. The walk down from San Nicolás is steep and cobbled, and the minibus runs back down too.

   

9. Day 9: Fly to Barcelona, an afternoon by the sea

   Granada to Barcelona by air

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Barcelona
   Day 9 details

   Granada and Barcelona are about 860 km apart by road and more than six hours apart by the one direct train, a long day for a grandparent or a 9-year-old. So we fly instead: a morning flight of about 1 hour 30 minutes, with times confirmed when we book your seats. Our vehicle takes the family and the bags to Granada airport, about 17 km from the centre, and a vehicle meets the group at Barcelona El Prat for the half-hour ride to the hotel. Lunch is a sit-down meal near the hotel. The afternoon is for the sea: from late May to September, the beach at Barceloneta, a metro ride or a short taxi away, with sand, shallow water and seafront showers; the rest of the year, the Ciutadella park, with its boating lake and the great cascade fountain children can climb around. Dinner is your own, and your guide points out places that serve from about 7:30 pm.

   Included

   • Flight from Granada to Barcelona, economy, with one checked bag each
   • Airport transfers with luggage at both ends
   • Sit-down lunch in Barcelona
   • An afternoon at Barceloneta beach or the Ciutadella park with your guide

   Easier option: Rest at the hotel after lunch instead of the beach.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Barcelona

   Activity: The flight replaces a six-and-a-half-hour train. Flight times are indicative until we book them; if no suitable flight runs on your date, we take the direct train and tell you before you travel.

10. Day 10: The Sagrada Família

    Barcelona: the Sagrada Família and the Eixample

    • Breakfast
    • Stay in Barcelona
    Day 10 details

    We are at the Sagrada Família for its first entry of the day, at 9 am, on tickets booked as soon as sales opened for your date. Begun in 1882 and taken over by Antoni Gaudí a year later, the basilica is still being built. A licensed guide leads a family visit of about 90 minutes: the turtles holding up the columns of the Nativity facade, the part Gaudí saw finished, then the nave, where the columns branch like trees and the morning sun pours through the eastern windows in blues and greens. Afterwards we ride the metro two stops and walk the Passeig de Gràcia past Gaudí's Casa Batlló, with its roof like a dragon's back. Lunch is free, and the afternoon is yours: the beach again, the hotel pool if yours has one, or Casa Batlló inside, where a handheld screen brings the rooms to life for children.

    Included

    • The Sagrada Família at first entry with a licensed guide, on a family visit of about 90 minutes
    • Passeig de Gràcia walk with your guide
    • Public transport in Barcelona

    Optional experiences

    • Casa Batlló or La Pedrera inside
    • The Sagrada Família towers, for older children and adults

    Easier option: Take a taxi from the basilica back to the hotel and skip the Passeig de Gràcia walk.

    Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Barcelona

    Activity: About 4 km on foot, level. Departures never put this day on a Sunday, when the basilica opens at 10:30 am.

    

11. Day 11: Park Güell, the Gothic Quarter and a paella farewell

    Barcelona: Park Güell, the Gothic Quarter and La Boqueria

    • Drive about 45 min
    • Breakfast and dinner
    • Stay in Barcelona
    Day 11 details

    Our vehicle takes us up the hill for the first timed entry to Park Güell's monumental zone, when the mosaic dragon on the stairs, the serpent bench and the gingerbread-style gatehouses are quiet and the city spreads to the sea below. Then we ride down into the old city for a short walk through the Gothic Quarter, past the cathedral and into the Plaça del Rei, and finish at La Boqueria market off the Rambla, where children choose fruit juices and grandparents choose ham. The middle of the day is free for lunch, the beach or a rest. At about 5 pm the group meets for a paella workshop, three generations at one table learning to make Spain's best-known rice dish, which then becomes the farewell dinner. We finish by about 8 pm, early enough for the youngest, with a last walk back to the hotel.

    Included

    • Park Güell monumental zone on a timed entry, up by vehicle
    • The Gothic Quarter with your guide
    • La Boqueria market
    • Paella workshop and farewell dinner

    Optional experiences

    • The Picasso Museum
    • The Montjuïc cable car

    Easier option: Wait in the shade by the park's lower gate while the group walks the upper paths.

    More active option: Walk up from the monumental zone to the stone cross on the Turó de les Tres Creus, the park's highest viewpoint, about 30 minutes.

    Free time: Middle of the day free in Barcelona

    Activity: Park Güell is on a hillside with slopes and steps; about 4 km on foot over the day.

    

12. Day 12: Depart from Barcelona

    Your hotel to Barcelona El Prat Airport

    • Drive about 30 min
    • Breakfast
    Day 12 details

    The trip ends after breakfast. A driver takes your family and the bags to Barcelona El Prat Airport (BCN), about 15 km and 30 minutes from the centre, at a time set by your flight, so any departure time works; we time the transfer from the flight details you send us when you book. If your flight is in the evening, the hotel can hold your bags and the morning is free for one more swim, the Ciutadella park or a hot chocolate with churros in the Gothic Quarter. Your guide says goodbye at breakfast and checks every family's transfer time. If you would like to stay on in Barcelona, or arrive a day or two early in Madrid to get over the flight, ask us when you book and we can add hotel nights before or after the trip.

    Included

    • Drop-off at Barcelona El Prat Airport (BCN)

    Free time: Free until your transfer

    Activity: Book any flight time; the airport transfer is timed to it.

Wildlife and weather: April, May, June, September and October bring warm days and mild evenings. From late May Seville and Córdoba can pass 35 °C by mid-afternoon, which is why every afternoon there is free for the pool or a rest; July and August often pass 40 °C, so the small group does not run then. Barcelona's sea is warm enough for most children from about June.

• Madrid3 nights
• Seville3 nights
• Granada2 nights
• Barcelona3 nights