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Overview

Customized trip to Spain

On this customized trip to Spain, experience the unique combination of Moorish and Western civilization that gives Andalusia its undeniable charm. Start off by immersing yourself in cultural Seville, whose cathedral, a UNESCO world heritage site, is rivaled only by the relics of Alcazar, palace for Arab kings until the Christian Reconquest. Let the colorful labyrinth of the old city’s alleys cast its spell on you, and discover the beauty of the azulejo. Continue to Grenada where the world’s most beautiful Arab palace still proudly stands: Alhambra. Taking a stroll in its perfectly manicured gardens and walking around the sensual ornamental pools will make you feel like a character straight out of Arabian Nights. You’ll then be transported between the sea and the mountains on the world-famous Costa del Sol, where you soak up the sun on one of the many Mediterranean beaches or journey to the heart of Andalusia and visit some of the area’s traditional white villages. Of course, Andalusia will also reward visitors with unforgettable evenings spent enjoying a virtuoso flamenco performance, or simply sitting down on a terrace to sample tapas and traditional dishes. A completely unforgettable experience!

Contact Uniktour’s Spain consultant today for more information on this magnificent customized trip to Andalusia!

Itinerary

Day 1| International Flight

Day 2| Arrival in Seville
Arrival at Seville airport, where a private transport is waiting to take you to your hotel. Settle into your double room in Murillo Hotel (or similar) for 5 days, breakfast included.

Day 3| Seville
Breakfast. Your private English-speaking guide will take you on a half-day city tour on foot during which you’ll get to know more about Seville and its cathedral. At the end of the visit, your guide will give you plenty of tips on what to see and do during your stay in Seville, filing you in on the best museums, squares, sites, and other places of interest.

Days 4 to 6| Seville
Breakfast. Free time in Seville. It’s impossible to measure the wealth of historical treasures scattered around this city. These three days should give you enough time to get a taste of the main attractions and to visit some of the famous parks. With its Hispanic and Moorish influences, the gothic cathedral is often considered the world’s largest, dominated by the 104-meter-high Giralda tower, which was taken from a Mosque that had previously had been built there. The interior is decorated with a dazzling blend of gold and silver that creates delicate religious representations, multicolored stained glass, and beautiful paintings by old masters. One of the aisles houses the tomb of none other than Christopher Columbus.
In the historical city center, discover the palace of San Telmo, where the autonomous Andalusian government now seats. Don’t miss the façade, a fabulous example of Seville’s Baroque influences. Just a few meters away, the palace of Alfonso XIII, built in the 1920s, was initially designed to be Europe’s most luxurious hotel. Many luxurious decorative elements can be found here: crystal and bronze chandeliers, delicate Artesonado ceilings, azulejos, etc.
Also, make sure you swing by the spectacular Plaza de Espana facing the Guadalquivir river: its perfect blend of azulejos, colonnades, and fountains creates a monument unlike any other in Europe.

Day 7| Granada
After breakfast, head to the train station to take your morning train to Granada. When you get there, settle into your double room in Monasterio de los Basilios Hotel (or similar), where you’ll be spending the next three nights. Breakfast included

Day 8| Granada
Breakfast. Your private English-speaking guide will meet up with you and take you on a morning visit to Alhambra and provide you with plenty of interesting and helpful tips to make sure that you get to see all of Granada’s highlights during your stay here. Alhambra is one of Spain’s most visited monuments. This fortified complex built in the highlands of the city includes many different monuments displaying an impressive variety of architectural styles. Built in 1238 by Nasrides rulers, it is one of the most stunning Moorish monuments in all of Spain. Highlights include the sophisticated courtyards and gardens of the Generalife with its delicate fountains and walls covered with the most delicate carvings and inscriptions imaginable. Arcades, colonnades, and royal halls stretch over hectares, following one another in complete stylistic harmony, from the Convento de San Francisco to the Palacio de Carlos V. You’ll spend unforgettable hours strolling around the refreshing alleys that cut across this absolute architectural masterpiece.

Day 9| Granada
Breaksfast. Free time in Grananda. Make the most of it and visit the superb Cathedral of the Incarnation, the country’s finest example of Renaissance architecture. Construction began under the orders of the Catholic Kings Ferdinand II and Isabelle I in 1505 to celebrate the Christian Reconquest of the city a few years earlier. It is an interesting blend of gothic and baroque styles, particularly the majestic façade, whose construction only began much later in 1667. Make sure you also take a look at the baroque influences in the adjoining royal chapel, where these same Catholic Kings were laid to rest.
Each one of Granada’s neighborhoods has its own distinctive ambiance. The Realejo, know for its large upper-class mansions, is an old Jewish area with many convents and churches filled with students from well-established families. Its narrow streets are full of charm and make for a very pleasant stroll. In the Bib-Rambla district, you’ll find some of Granada’s best restaurants, offering delicious and authentic dishes, as well as a very diversified bazaar.
Day 10| Costa del Sol - Benalmadena
Breakfast. A private vehicle and driver take you to Benalmadena, on the Costa del Sol. Settle into Riu Puerto Marina Hotel (or similar) for six nights in a double room, breakfast included. The hotel is very close to Benalmadena marina, one of Spain’s loveliest resort areas, where you’ll find plenty of fine restaurants.

Days 11 to 15| Costa del Sol
Breakfast. Relax on the seashore or explore the surrounding area. You can make the most of your stay in the Costa del Sol region by going on wonderful day trips to the beautiful city of Ronda, or go to Cordoba and visit the magnificent Great Mosque.

Day 16| Return Flight
Breakfast. A private transfer will pick you up at your hotel and take you to Malaga airport for your return flight to Montreal.

Budget

**Rates published on this website are for information purposes only and are not legally binding (since departure dates are not given). Prices on this website are known to fluctuate frequently in relation to changes in currencies and hotel pricing. In order to obtain a definite quote, please click here.

Other fees

Lodging

Overview

Gone are the days when Spain is seen as a one-dimensional destination. A colorful land of powerful spells, Spain has much more to offer than paella and Almodovar. Its many riches and priceless heritage are now open to all, thanks to a wide variety of exciting itineraries. Nowadays, there’s something for everyone: winter sports in the Pyrenees, following in the footsteps of the Maures kings in Andalusia, R&R on Mediterranean beaches, or trekking in the National Parks of the Canaries – the possibilities are endless! Visitors can now discover untamed Galicia and its Celtic roots, feel the power of torrential rivers, and discover luxuriant forests. Discover the Human Castles, Dances of the Dead, and other secular traditions of Catalonia, a region whose identity has been valiantly defended over the years. The bustling cities of Barcelona, Seville, Saragossa, and Madrid are all constantly changing, proudly displaying their recent makeovers: museums, friendly town squares, and restored monuments all are signs that this country is aware of its treasures and is now ready to offer them to the world – in deal travel conditions.
With a lifestyle that includes meals that go on for hours, delicious and rich wines, and one of the continent’s most authentic and diversified cultures, Spain jumped into the third millennium with the same energy that drove the Conquistadores to foreign lands five hundred years ago. There’s only one thing missing from this endless celebration: you.

Geography

Spain is a Western European country with a population of about 46 million people spread over an area of 505 955 km2, with most of the population living in the coastal areas and big cities. It is bordered on the West by Portugal and on the Northeast by France and the Pyrenees. The political and administrative capital is Madrid, located in the center of the country, with an approximate population of 6 million, while Barcelona (4.8 million), on the Northeast shores, is the country’s cultural and financial capital. This is also one of one the most cosmopolitan cities in the continent, welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors coming from all corners of Europe and the Americas every year. Other important urban centers include Valencia on the Mediterranean coast, Malaga, Bilbao, Saragossa, and Seville, the Andalusian capital, in the South. The national language is Spanish. The state religion, ever so influential in people’s daily life, is Catholicism.
Most of the territory is on the Iberian Peninsula, while the rest – roughly 12500 km2 – are islands (the Canaries and Balearics). Lying on the African coast, the cities of Ceuta and Melilla cover an area of about 32 km2.
Geographically speaking, the Spanish territory is divided into many different regions. The average altitude is relatively elevated at about 650 meters – double the European average. The highest peaks are Teide (3718 m) on Tenerife Island, and Mulhacen (3478 m), in the southern province of Grenada. The coastal areas differ greatly from each other, belonging to different weather systems centered on separate seas and oceans. The elevated central plateau (the Meseta de Castile) is itself further divided into two sub-plateaus (North and South), and fractioned by the mountains of the central range and the Toledo Mountains. The waterways of Castile-Leon offer visitors the chance to explore the country’s wilderness via a well-developed river network. One such interesting site to discover from the water is Arribes del Duero National Park, split between Salamanca and Zamora provinces in Southwest Castile. Some of Europe’s longest and deepest canyons can be found here, with gigantic walls rising to more than 200 meters in height. This vast central plateau is flanked by other mountain ranges: the Cantabrian Mountains in the North, where many magnificent caves are now open to the public, and the Sierra Morena to the south, next to Guadalquivir valley. Three other mountain ranges add to the country’s mountainous landscape: the Basque and Catalonian Mountains, and the Pyrenees, separated from the rest of the Iberian mountains by the Ebro valley. Aside from continental Spain, the Canary Islands form a mountainous archipelago of volcanic origin off the shores of Morocco whose highest peaks include Tenerife and Gran Canaria. As for the Balearics, they present a varied landscape that includes the Sierra de Tramuntana in Majorca, the lowlands of Minorque, and Ibiza’s gentle geography. These archipelagos are among Southern Europe’s most popular tourist destinations, offering a wide range of activities, including hiking in the islands’ wilder regions, golf, parasailing, spelunking, swimming, snorkeling, and other water sports, among others. On top of that, Spain has created a few National Parks across the country to protect its abundant, untamed, and powerful nature.

Culture

With such a rich variety of different peoples and cultures having settled here over the years, it’s no surprise that Spain’s culture is extraordinarily rich and varied. Visitors can take in all of the beauty and charm of these civilizations in the country’s many historical sites and prestigious museums.
The country’s two most visited monuments are in the South. The great Mosque of Cordoba, built between the 8th and 10th centuries, is the world’s second largest mosque, after Mecca. It is known for its forest of columns, an immense prayer room whose ceiling is supported by 854 pillars. The Mihrab dome (where seats the imam) is carved from a single bloc of marble and delicately chiseled. It stands as a masterpiece of Moorish art in Europe. In Grenada you’ll find what is often considered the most beautiful Islamic monument in all of Europe: the Alhambra. On its own, this acropolis of fortified gardens and palaces in the upper city summarizes three hundred years of Andalusian history, from the Nasrites all the way to Charles Quint. The Casas Reales, Lion Palace, and Alcabaza each display majestic and refined beauty that impresses all who are lucky enough to feast their eyes on them.
In the North, visitors discover monuments that date back to the Wisigoth and Maure occupations, particularly along the Way of St. James. Later on, the Baroque movement coincided with Spain’s ascent to power and left a heritage divided between two diametrically opposed styles: on the one hand, close to Madrid, we have the monastery of El Escorial and its austere character. On the other hand, there’s the rich ornamentation of the Churriguera, as manifested in Santiago de Compostela cathedral. This exuberant style was subsequently exported to Latin America during Spanish colonial times. World-famous Prado Museum and Madrid’s Reina Sofia National art museum both showcase works by great Spanish and International artists, such as Goya, Vélasquez, Dürer, Tintoretto, Titian, Murillo, and el Greco. Close to the Prado, the Thyssen Museum’s large private collection exhibits works from the 18th and 19th century. As for Barcelona, it is often associated with Miro and Picasso, who each have their own museum in this city. There’s also a contemporary art museum showcasing works by Gaudi, Spain’s most famous architect, whose designs can be seen everywhere across the city. From Park Guell to the incredible Sagrada Familia (whose construction has yet to be completed), by way of Casa Battlò and Milà in Eixample, Gaudi left his signature quasi-organic architecture everywhere, leaving behind all established dogma and replacing it with original and surreal creations. There’s plenty of other interesting places to visit in Barcelona, including the ancient 14th century shipyards, now converted into the Naval Museum, two modern art museums, and many interesting neighborhoods, such as Barri Gotic, and Montjuic, a hill that offers great views of the entire city. In Bilbao, the architect Frank Gehry’s Guggenheaim museum delights visitors with its surprising blend of classical art and contemporary and avant-garde works.
Of course, there’s much more to Spanish culture than visual arts. In this land of music and dance, Iberian souls light up at the sound of flamenco and castanets during improvised celebrations, or any other occasion to celebrate life. San Sebastian’s Jazzaldia, Cordoba’s guitar festival in July, and Benicassim International Festival in August are all great occasions to get a taste of the country’s festive ambiance. Countless carnivals, religious celebrations, and ferias make sure that the party goes on all year long.
Those looking for fine eating won’t be disappointed with this country’s incredible variety of rich and colorful dishes. Fresh or spicy, rich or delicate, Spanish cuisine has everything you need to light up your taste buds, with national treasures like paella, tortillas, Serrano ham, and plenty of regional delicatessen. Adding heaps of seasonings, herbs, and condiments to these dishes confers unique flavors that never fail to delight the palate. Nevertheless, nothing quite compares to sampling an assortment of tapas, probably the world’s most famous finger food, accompanied with a refreshing pitcher of cold sangria.

Climate

When we think of the weather in Spain, sun and heat immediately come to mind. And yet, the country’s varied landscape means that there are considerable weather variations between regions.
Thanks to the Mediterranean sea that borders the country to the South, most of Spain is blessed with a moderate Mediterranean climate: dry summers, temperate winters, little precipitation, and more than 3000 hours of sunshine every year. In Andalucía, the country’s southernmost region, temperatures are generally warmer in both winter and summer, with an average temperature of 10-13°C in January. Winter temperatures in the interior Andalusian plain are generally lower than those on the coasts. In July and August, temperatures range from 22 to 27°C on the coast, while they soar to 33-40°C and the humidity levels decrease as you travel towards the interior. The Mediterranean region is also characterized by warm and dry southern and eastern wind currents from Northern Africa. Summer afternoons are often synonymous with heat waves. Seville is the warmest city in Spain: here, temperatures can soar to 45°C.
In the North, in the Meseta region, the climate gets even more extreme: the summers and dry and sweltering, while winters and very cold and windy. Fall and spring are generally very pleasant here. In the mountains around Meseta, the climate is even harsher, with elevated precipitation throughout the year, including snow during the colder months. Summers are warm and cloudless, with temperatures close to 21°C in the North and 24-27°C in the South of Meseta. Lower in altitude, the Ebro basin is extremely hot in the summertime, where temperatures can rise to more than 43°C. Summer in central Meseta and the Ebro basin is dry, except for the right side of the river, where humidity levels remain high.
Spain’s Northern shores, which stretch from the Pyrenees to Spanish Basque country, Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia, the climate is temperate and tends to be humid and muggy. It is characterized by mild winters, warm summers, and lots of rain throughout the year. In the Northeast, Catalonian winters are also temperate and summers warm. In January, the coldest month, temperatures still stay above 10 °C, while summer temperatures are ideal, hovering around a pleasant 25 °C, (23 °C in the water). This being said, some sporadic heat waves can warm the air to over 30°C, though a cool breeze still manages to keep the air pleasantly fresh. Spring is probably the best time to visit Spain, in order to avoid the crushing heat of the summer (particularly in Andalucía and the heart of the country).