Spain and Portugal at a slower pace: Lisbon, Seville, Granada, Madrid and Barcelona

1. Day 1: Arrive in Lisbon

   Lisbon Airport (LIS) to your hotel in central Lisbon

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Lisbon
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Lisbon's Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS), which sits inside the city about 7 km from the centre, so the drive in takes under half an hour. A driver meets you in arrivals at any time of day, carries your bags to the vehicle and takes you to the hotel, where a lift serves every floor. There is nothing to do today but settle in. If you feel like a stroll, the Baixa below the hotel is flat, a grid of streets rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake that runs down to the riverside arcades of Praça do Comércio, with café tables all the way. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group in the hotel for a short briefing: how the days are paced, where the seats and rest stops are, which tickets are timed and why. Then a short ride to a neighbourhood restaurant for a welcome dinner of Portuguese dishes, grilled fish or a slow-cooked stew, and a glass of vinho verde.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Lisbon Airport (LIS)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner in central Lisbon

   Free time: Free until the early-evening briefing

   Activity: Plan to land by mid-afternoon to join the briefing; later arrivals are met and briefed the next morning.

2. Day 2: Belém and a fado dinner

   Lisbon: Belém, then Alfama by vehicle

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Lisbon
   Day 2 details

   After an unhurried breakfast our vehicle takes us along the Tagus to Belém, about 20 minutes, and drops us at the door of the Jerónimos Monastery for a mid-morning timed entry. With a local guide we walk the double-storey cloister, carved in the Manueline style with ropes, shells and sea creatures, and see the tomb of Vasco da Gama in the church; the cloister is on one level and there are benches along it. The monastery and the Belém Tower share a UNESCO World Heritage listing, and we see the tower from the flat riverside path. Next door is the bakery that has sold pastéis de Belém since 1837, and we sit down for a warm custard tart and a coffee. We are back at the hotel by lunchtime and the afternoon is free. In the evening the vehicle takes us up into Alfama, Lisbon's oldest and steepest quarter, so nobody climbs its stairways, and we walk a few level metres to dinner with live fado.

   Included

   • Jerónimos Monastery on a timed entry with a local guide
   • Pastéis de nata and coffee in Belém
   • The Belém Tower and the Monument to the Discoveries from the riverside
   • Dinner with live fado in Alfama, with door-to-door transport

   Optional experiences

   • São Jorge Castle by taxi in the free afternoon (entry on the day)
   • The Gulbenkian Museum, flat and with a lift and seating

   Easier option: Stay in the vehicle for the short hop from the monastery to the riverside and see the tower from the window.

   More active option: Walk the riverside from the Belém Tower back to the Monument to the Discoveries, about 1.5 km on the flat.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Lisbon

   Activity: About 3 km on foot, mostly level; Alfama is reached by vehicle, not on foot.

   

3. Day 3: Sintra's palaces, at our pace

   Lisbon to Sintra and back

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Lisbon
   Day 3 details

   This is one of the few mornings we leave a little early, because Sintra fills with day-trippers by late morning and the first timed entry at Pena Palace, which we confirm with your departure, is the calmest hour there. Our vehicle takes about 40 minutes to reach the park gate, and the park shuttle (or our vehicle where permitted, confirmed with your departure) carries us up the steep hill to the palace door, so the climb is done for you. Pena is the yellow and red 19th-century royal palace on the summit; inside are the rooms the last kings of Portugal used, and the terraces look over the Moorish Castle to the Atlantic on a clear day. The palace has stairs inside, and your guide shows the way round that keeps them to a minimum. The shuttle brings us down to the village for a long, seated lunch. Afterwards we visit the Sintra National Palace on the village square, known for its two great conical chimneys and its tiled rooms, before an early return to Lisbon.

   Included

   • Pena Palace on the first timed entry, with the park shuttle up and down
   • Sit-down lunch in Sintra village
   • Sintra National Palace with your guide

   Optional experiences

   • Quinta da Regaleira and its Initiation Well, for anyone happy with many steps and uneven paths

   Easier option: Skip the National Palace and spend the afternoon over coffee and travesseiros on the village square.

   More active option: Visit Quinta da Regaleira instead of the National Palace; its spiral well is nine levels of narrow steps.

   Free time: Evening free in Lisbon

   Activity: About 3.5 km on foot. Pena has stairs inside and some slopes on its terraces; the shuttle covers the hill.

4. Day 4: A short flight to Seville

   Lisbon to Seville by direct flight

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Seville
   Day 4 details

   The road from Lisbon to Seville is about 4 hours 45 minutes and there is no direct passenger train, so instead of a long day in a vehicle we plan a direct flight of a little over an hour, with the operator and timing confirmed with your departure. The morning is free: a last coffee in the Rossio, or the flat Baixa streets once more. Around midday our vehicle takes you and your bags to the airport, ten minutes away, and your guide handles the check-in as a group. You land at Seville's San Pablo Airport (SVQ) in the afternoon; remember to put your watch forward an hour, as Spain is an hour ahead of Portugal. Another vehicle meets the flight, and it is about 20 minutes to the hotel in the old town, our base for three nights. There is time for a rest before an easy evening walk with your guide through the orange-tree squares of the Santa Cruz quarter to see the Cathedral lit up, with plenty of places to stop for a drink.

   Included

   • Transfer to Lisbon Airport and from Seville Airport, with bags handled
   • Direct flight from Lisbon to Seville in economy, with one checked bag
   • Short evening walk in Santa Cruz with your guide

   Free time: Morning free in Lisbon, late afternoon free in Seville

   Activity: About 2 km on foot. Flight times are confirmed with your departure; the flight is booked by us in your name.

5. Day 5: The Alcázar and the Cathedral

   Seville: the Real Alcázar and the Cathedral

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Seville
   Day 5 details

   We walk a few minutes from the hotel to the Real Alcázar and go in at opening, while its courtyards are cool and before the heat and the crowds. With a licensed local guide we see the Palace of King Peter, built in the 14th century by Moorish craftsmen for a Christian king, the plasterwork of the Courtyard of the Maidens, and the gardens of orange trees, pools and tiled pavilions, which have shaded benches all through them. After a coffee break we cross the square to the Cathedral, one of the largest Gothic churches anywhere, with the tomb of Columbus. The Giralda, the old minaret, is climbed by 35 gentle ramps rather than stairs; go up if you like, or wait in the shade of the Patio de los Naranjos. The Alcázar, the Cathedral and the Archive of the Indies are listed together by UNESCO. The afternoon is free, when Seville itself rests. In the evening we take seats at a flamenco show.

   Included

   • Real Alcázar at opening with a licensed guide
   • Seville Cathedral, with the Giralda ramps for those who want them
   • Flamenco show with reserved seats in the evening

   Optional experiences

   • Hospital de los Venerables and its Velázquez painting, in the free afternoon
   • A horse-drawn carriage ride to Plaza de España and María Luisa Park

   Easier option: Skip the Giralda and wait in the Patio de los Naranjos.

   More active option: Climb the Giralda's 35 ramps for the view over the city.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Seville

   Activity: About 3.5 km on foot, flat, with benches in the Alcázar gardens and the Cathedral.

6. Day 6: Córdoba by fast train

   Seville to Córdoba by high-speed train and back

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Seville
   Day 6 details

   A high-speed train takes about 45 minutes from Seville to Córdoba, so we visit for the day and come back to the same hotel instead of packing. We take a mid-morning train in reserved seats, and a vehicle meets us at Córdoba station and drops us near the Mezquita-Catedral, which saves the 20-minute walk in. Begun as a mosque in 785 and enlarged over two centuries, it holds a forest of more than 800 columns joined by red and white striped arches, with a Renaissance cathedral nave built into its centre from 1523, after the city was taken in 1236. A licensed guide takes us through the prayer hall to the gilded mihrab; the floor is level throughout. Afterwards a short, flat stroll through the Judería, the old Jewish quarter of whitewashed lanes and flowered patios, brings us to a long, seated lunch of Córdoba dishes such as salmorejo. We are back in Seville by late afternoon, with a free evening.

   Included

   • Reserved high-speed train from Seville to Córdoba and back
   • The Mezquita-Catedral with a licensed guide
   • Short walk through the Judería
   • Sit-down lunch in Córdoba

   Easier option: After lunch, rest in a café near the Mezquita while the group looks at the synagogue.

   More active option: Walk out over the Roman bridge for the view back to the Mezquita, about 1 km there and back.

   Free time: Evening free in Seville

   Activity: About 3 km on foot, flat. Covered shoulders are expected in the Mezquita.

7. Day 7: Antequera's 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 after breakfast and drive east through olive country, about an hour and 40 minutes, to Antequera, a market town in the middle of Andalusia. Just outside it are the Dolmens of Antequera, burial mounds built more than 4,500 years ago from enormous stone slabs, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2016. The path from the visitor centre to the Menga dolmen is short and level, and you can walk into the chamber under its capstones without a step. Lunch is a long, seated meal in town, with porra antequerana, the local cold tomato soup. In the afternoon it is just over an hour on to Granada, our base for two nights, so we reach the hotel by about 4 pm with two hours to rest. As the light softens, a small minibus takes us up the steep Albaicín, the old Moorish quarter, to the Mirador de San Nicolás, where the Alhambra turns red against the Sierra Nevada at sunset; nobody has to walk the hill, and anyone who would rather stay at the hotel simply does.

   Included

   • Dolmens of Antequera with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Antequera
   • Sunset at the Mirador de San Nicolás, reached by minibus

   Easier option: Stay at the hotel instead of the sunset outing and rest; you still see the Alhambra close up, inside and out, on tomorrow’s guided visit, so nothing on the trip is missed.

   More active option: Walk back down from San Nicolás through the Albaicín lanes with your guide, about 25 minutes downhill on cobbles.

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Granada

   Activity: Our longest day: start about 9:30, about 2 h 45 of driving in two legs of 1 h 40 and 1 h 5 with a long seated lunch between, hotel by about 4 pm, rest until about 6 pm, sunset outing back by about 8:30 pm. About 2 km on foot.

8. Day 8: The Alhambra, early

   Granada: the Alhambra and the Generalife

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

   This is the morning the early start pays off. Nasrid Palaces entries are timed and in your name, and the first slot of the day is the calmest one, so our vehicle takes us up the hill to the Alhambra gate for the first slot, usually around 8:30 and confirmed with your departure. With a licensed guide we walk through the Mexuar and the Comares Palace, past the long pool of the Court of the Myrtles, into the Court of the Lions and under the honeycomb ceiling of the Hall of the Two Sisters. The Alhambra is large, so we take it in stages with seated breaks: a rest on the terraces of the Partal gardens, then the Palace of Charles V, and the lower water gardens of the Generalife. The Alhambra, the Generalife and the Albaicín are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The vehicle has us back at the hotel by early afternoon for a free afternoon and a siesta. In the evening we sit down together to a dinner of Granada dishes.

   Included

   • The Alhambra with a licensed guide: the Nasrid Palaces on the first timed entry, the Partal gardens, the Palace of Charles V and the Generalife
   • Dinner together in Granada

   Optional experiences

   • Granada Cathedral and the Royal Chapel, with the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella, both flat and close to the hotel
   • An Arab-style bathhouse in the old town

   Easier option: Skip the upper Generalife gardens, which are reached by stairs, and wait in the café by the Palace of Charles V.

   More active option: Walk the upper Generalife terraces and the stairway of the water, with its handrail of running water.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Granada

   Activity: About 4 km on foot over gravel paths and some steps, in stages with seated breaks. Bring your passport: tickets are checked against it.

   

9. Day 9: By train to Madrid

   Granada to Madrid by direct train

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Madrid
   Day 9 details

   A direct train runs from Granada to Madrid in about three and a half hours, across the olive groves of Jaén and up onto the plateau of La Mancha, and we take a mid-morning one in reserved seats. A vehicle carries the bags from the hotel to the station and from Atocha station to the hotel in Madrid, and your guide helps lift cases onto the racks. We reach Madrid in the early afternoon and check in to the hotel, our base for three nights, between Sol and the Paseo del Prado. The rest of the day is free. Most people are glad of a quiet afternoon, and a late lunch on your own at one of the cafés on the Paseo del Prado or a rest in the hotel suits the pace. In the early evening your guide offers a short, level stroll to the arcaded Plaza Mayor for anyone who wants to get their bearings. Madrid eats late, so a 9 pm table is early.

   Included

   • Reserved direct train from Granada to Madrid, with bags moved by vehicle
   • Short evening stroll to Plaza Mayor with your guide

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Madrid

   Activity: About 1.5 km on foot. The train takes about 3 h 20 to 3 h 40, plus about 30 minutes of transfers at each end; the under 3 hours limit covers road driving, and on the train you can stand, walk to the café car and use the toilet.

   

10. Day 10: Toledo

    Madrid to Toledo and back

    • Drive about 2 h
    • Breakfast and lunch
    • Stay in Madrid
    Day 10 details

    Toledo is about an hour south of Madrid by road, set on a rock almost wrapped by the Tagus, and we go in the morning, before the midday heat. First the vehicle stops at the Mirador del Valle across the gorge, for the view El Greco painted, without leaving the roadside. Then we ride the public escalators from the riverside up into the old town, which saves the steep streets. A local guide leads us through a UNESCO World Heritage city where Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities lived side by side for centuries. We see the Cathedral, with its carved choir stalls and the Transparente, a baroque altar lit through a hole cut in the vault, then the small church of Santo Tomé for El Greco's Burial of the Count of Orgaz, and the Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca with its white horseshoe arches. Lunch is a long, seated meal in the old town, and we are back in Madrid by late afternoon.

    Included

    • The Mirador del Valle viewpoint
    • Toledo with a local guide: the Cathedral, Santo Tomé and the Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca
    • Sit-down lunch in Toledo

    Easier option: Skip the synagogue after lunch and wait in a café on the Plaza de Zocodover.

    More active option: Walk down through the old lanes to the San Martín bridge with your guide, about 1.5 km downhill, where the vehicle collects us.

    Free time: Evening free in Madrid

    Activity: Toledo is hilly; with the escalators and the vehicle the walking is about 3.5 km, with benches in the Cathedral.

11. Day 11: The Prado, unhurried

    Madrid: the Prado, then a free afternoon

    • Breakfast
    • Stay in Madrid
    Day 11 details

    The Prado opens at 10, so there is no rush this morning; we walk a few level minutes from the hotel and go in with an art guide. Rather than trying to see everything, the guide chooses the rooms that matter most and the visit lasts about two hours, with benches in many galleries: Velázquez's Las Meninas, the court portraits and dark late paintings of Goya, El Greco's tall, flickering saints, and Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights. There are lifts between floors, and the museum has offered wheelchairs on loan; we confirm this with your departure. We finish in time for a late-morning coffee in the museum café or across the road in the Retiro park, where the boating lake and the Crystal Palace are a gentle stroll away. The afternoon is free. The Royal Palace, the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum or a long Spanish lunch are all easy from the hotel, and your guide can book a taxi for any of them.

    Included

    • The Prado with an art guide

    Optional experiences

    • The Royal Palace of Madrid in the free afternoon
    • The Thyssen-Bornemisza museum, next to the hotel area

    Easier option: Ask us about a museum wheelchair (loan confirmed with your departure), or leave after the Velázquez rooms and wait in the café.

    More active option: Walk through the Retiro to the Crystal Palace with your guide after the museum, about 2 km on flat paths.

    Free time: Afternoon free in Madrid

    Activity: About 2 km on foot, with benches in many rooms and lifts between floors.

12. Day 12: Fast train to Barcelona

    Madrid to Barcelona by high-speed train

    • Drive about 30 min
    • Breakfast
    • Stay in Barcelona
    Day 12 details

    We leave the hotel mid-morning for Atocha station, while the vehicle takes the bags, and board a reserved high-speed train to Barcelona, about two and a half to three hours across Aragon and down to the Mediterranean. Seats are assigned and the carriages have room to stretch. We arrive at Sants station in the early afternoon and a vehicle takes us to the hotel, our base for the last two nights, where the afternoon is yours to rest. In the late afternoon your guide offers a short, level walk through the Gothic Quarter, the medieval core of the city, past the Cathedral and the Roman columns of the Temple of Augustus to the Plaça del Rei, with a café stop on the way. Anyone who would rather keep the energy for tomorrow can stay at the hotel. The evening is free in a city that dines even later than Madrid.

    Included

    • Reserved high-speed train from Madrid to Barcelona, with bags moved by vehicle
    • Short walk through the Gothic Quarter with your guide

    Easier option: Stay at the hotel and join the group tomorrow.

    More active option: Carry on with your guide into El Born and the Gothic church of Santa Maria del Mar, about 1 km more.

    Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Barcelona

    Activity: About 2 km on foot.

13. Day 13: The Sagrada Família, Casa Batlló and a farewell dinner

    Barcelona: the Sagrada Família, then Passeig de Gràcia

    • Drive about 30 min
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Barcelona
    Day 13 details

    Our vehicle takes us to the Sagrada Família for a mid-morning timed entry with a licensed guide, when the sun comes through the stained glass on the east side and the nave glows blue and green. Antoni Gaudí worked on the basilica from 1883 until his death in 1926, and building still goes on; your guide explains how the tree-like columns carry the vault and what the Nativity and Passion facades tell, and there are seats in the nave. The Nativity facade and the crypt are part of the UNESCO listing of Gaudí's works. Lunch is a seated meal in the Eixample, and afterwards we visit Casa Batlló on the Passeig de Gràcia, Gaudí's apartment house with a facade of broken tile and bone-like balconies; a lift serves its floors, and how step-free the roof terrace is we confirm with your departure. Back at the hotel there is time to rest before the farewell dinner of Catalan dishes, when your guide goes over tomorrow's transfers.

    Included

    • The Sagrada Família on a timed entry with a licensed guide
    • Sit-down lunch in the Eixample
    • Casa Batlló, with its lift
    • Farewell dinner in the old town

    Optional experiences

    • A tower lift at the Sagrada Família, booked with your entry, subject to availability and with a stair descent
    • Park Güell, which is hilly, by taxi on your own

    Easier option: Skip Casa Batlló and rest at the hotel before dinner.

    More active option: Walk from Casa Batlló up the Passeig de Gràcia to Casa Milà, La Pedrera, about 600 m.

    Free time: Late afternoon free in Barcelona

    Activity: About 3 km on foot. Bring your passport; Sagrada Família tickets are in your name.

    

14. Day 14: Depart Barcelona

    Your hotel to Barcelona Airport (BCN)

    • Drive about 30 min
    • Breakfast
    Day 14 details

    The trip ends after breakfast, with no early call. A driver takes you and your bags from the hotel to Barcelona El Prat Airport (BCN), about 15 km and 30 minutes away, at a time set around your flight, so flights at any hour of the day work. If you are flying out late, leave your bags at the hotel and spend the morning nearby: a last coffee in the arcaded Plaça Reial, the Picasso Museum in El Born, or the seafront promenade at Barceloneta, which is flat and lined with benches. If you would like more time, ask us about extra nights in Barcelona, or a few quiet days in Girona or on the Costa Brava, and we will quote for them with the same kind of hotel. Your guide says goodbye at breakfast, and a driver does the transfer; your guide first checks that everyone's transfer and flight details are right before the group goes its separate ways.

    Included

    • Drop-off at Barcelona Airport (BCN)

    Free time: Free until your airport transfer

    Activity: Any flight time works; allow 2 hours at the airport for international flights.

Wildlife and weather: Spring and autumn are mild, with warm afternoons and cool mornings, the best weather for walking cities slowly. Southern Spain is hot by June and from mid-September, so the guided visits are in the mornings and the afternoons are for rest. We do not run this version in July and August.

• Lisbon3 nights
• Seville3 nights
• Granada2 nights
• Madrid3 nights
• Barcelona2 nights