Highlights of Spain - Small Group

Your journey begins in Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia and home to Gaudí’s landmark Modernist architecture, set between the Mediterranean coast and the Collserola hills. After checking in, you’ll meet your Travel Director and fellow travelers joining your small group journey. Dinner tonight is at La Pau, a community-minded restaurant supporting teenagers and young adults as they move towards independent living, offering a first look at the city’s strong culture of social initiatives and local care.

Start with an experience at the Palau de la Música Catalana, where you’ll see the stained-glass skylight and hear a short organ performance in the main auditorium. Meet a Local Expert this morning for a Barcelona walking tour. You’ll follow Passeig de Gràcia, an avenue known for its Modernist buildings and some of Gaudí’s most recognizable work. From here you’ll move into the Eixample for time inside the Sagrada Família*, Gaudí’s basilica begun in 1882 and still under construction, where the tall nave, tree-like columns and shifting stained-glass color give a clear sense of his ambition and detail. The afternoon is yours to explore — browsing the stalls at La Boqueria, walking the waterfront at Barceloneta or exploring the quieter streets of Gràcia. *Access to the basilica may be restricted due to special masses, pilgrim visits, or official ceremonies, and entry cannot be guaranteed. In such cases, you will instead visit the Hospital de Sant Pau, a striking example of Catalan Art Nouveau by Gaudí’s contemporary, Domènech i Montaner. Afterwards, join your Local Expert in the gardens surrounding the Sagrada Família to admire the extraordinary exterior of Gaudí’s iconic masterpiece.

You’ll travel with your small group along the Costa Dorada, passing the rice fields of the Ebro Delta on the way to the seaside town of Peñíscola, where a hilltop castle featured in the film El Cid. From here you’ll continue through orange-growing country towards Valencia, taking time to see the City of Arts and Sciences and the medieval streets of the Old City.

Travel south into Andalucía with your small group, passing Lorca where a hilltop castle overlooks the town, and the cave districts of Guadix, where homes are dug into soft rock to stay cool in summer. Continue towards Granada, once the last Muslim stronghold in Spain. With a Local Expert, you’ll explore the Alhambra, a fortified palace complex from the Nasrid period, walking through tiled halls, courtyards and water channels. Afterwards, you’ll enter the Generalife gardens, the former summer retreat laid out with terraces, pools and views back towards the city.