What We Plan in Spain

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Barcelona - Gaudí, Gothic Quarter & the Mediterranean

Barcelona is one of Europe's most immediately rewarding cities, compact enough to walk, dense enough with extraordinary architecture, food, and neighborhood character to occupy a week without running out of things to discover.

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Antoni Gaudí's work dominates the city's architectural identity: the Sagrada Família, under construction since 1882 and still not finished, one of the most extraordinary buildings in the world; Casa Batlló, Casa Milà, and Park Güell are all within the city. The Gothic Quarter's medieval streets conceal a Roman temple, a medieval Jewish quarter, and Barcelona's oldest café. The Picasso Museum and the Joan Miró Foundation round out a city whose cultural life matches its culinary one.

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The Barceloneta beach, the Boqueria market, and the neighbourhood of Gràcia, more village than city, with its local restaurants and Saturday morning market, complete a Barcelona that most visitors only partially discover. We arrange skip-the-line access to the Sagrada Família and Park Güell, essential in peak season, and private guided tours of the Gothic Quarter that take visitors into courtyards and passageways most people walk past without noticing.

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Andalusia - The Moorish South

Andalusia is Spain's soul, the region that gave the world flamenco, tapas, sherry, and the most beautiful Islamic architecture in the Western world. The Alhambra Palace in Granada, the Mezquita Cathedral in Córdoba, and the Alcázar in Seville are among the most extraordinary buildings in Europe regardless of period or style, and the three cities that contain them are each worth several days.

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The Alhambra requires advance booking; timed entry tickets sell out weeks ahead in peak season, and we arrange access as a matter of course. A private licensed guide inside the Nasrid Palaces transforms what is already a visually overwhelming experience into something historically intelligible. The gardens of the Generalife in the afternoon light are worth an extra hour that most visitors don't allow themselves.

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Seville's Cathedral, the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, and the flamenco tablaos of the Triana neighborhood complete an Andalusian itinerary that most travelers consider the highlight of any Spain trip. Córdoba's Mezquita, a mosque converted to a cathedral, its forest of candy-striped arches one of the most beautiful interior spaces in the world, and the Jewish Quarter's whitewashed lanes make it a natural half-day stop between Seville and Granada.

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The Basque Country - Europe's Best Food Destination

San Sebastián has more Michelin stars per capita than any city in the world except Kyoto. The old town's pintxos bars, counter tops lined with small open-faced snacks, washed down with local txakoli white wine, represent a food culture that is genuinely unlike anything else in Spain or Europe. Three days in San Sebastián eating, walking the Concha beach promenade, and visiting the fish market at dawn is a trip in itself.

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Bilbao, an hour west, offers the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Frank Gehry's titanium building that transformed a post-industrial port city into one of Europe's most visited art destinations, and a pintxos culture that rivals San Sebastián without the crowds. The Rioja wine region, a 45-minute drive south through mountain passes, adds vineyard visits and wine tastings to a Basque itinerary that is one of our most frequently requested.

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Madrid - Spain's Capital

Madrid is Spain's political and cultural capital, a city of world-class museums, grand boulevards, neighborhood markets, and a nightlife culture that starts where everywhere else finishes. The Prado Museum, containing the world's finest collection of Spanish painting including Velázquez, Goya, and El Greco, the Reina Sofía museum (Picasso's Guernica), and the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection together constitute one of the greatest concentrations of art in the world.

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Day trips from Madrid reward the traveler with range: Toledo, the medieval fortress city with its Jewish, Moorish, and Christian monuments; Segovia with its intact Roman aqueduct and fairy-tale Alcázar; El Escorial, Philip II's vast monastery-palace in the Sierra de Guadarrama. Each deserves a half day; each rewards a full one.

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Mallorca & the Balearic Islands

Mallorca is Spain's most sophisticated island destination, a place where rural finca hotels in ancient olive groves and glamorous marina restaurants in Palma coexist comfortably. The northwest coast road from Sóller to Deià is one of the most beautiful drives in the Mediterranean. The village of Valldemossa, where Chopin spent a winter composing, and the ancient town of Alcúdia with its intact medieval walls are worth a full day each.

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Ibiza, famous for its summer nightlife but genuinely beautiful outside season — and the quieter Menorca, with its unspoiled beaches and prehistoric monuments, complete a Balearic itinerary for travelers who want islands without the Greek island crowds.

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The Camino de Santiago

The ancient pilgrim route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, walked by millions of pilgrims since the Middle Ages, has experienced a modern revival that brings walkers of all backgrounds and beliefs to its various routes every year. We arrange private Camino itineraries for travelers who want the experience of walking a section of the route with the full support structure of pre-booked accommodation, luggage transfers, and route guidance, without the organizational burden of independent planning. The most walked section, the final 100km of the French Way from Sarria to Santiago, makes an extraordinary five-day journey.

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Sample Itineraries

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Spain Classic - 10 Days

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Barcelona, Andalusia & Madrid

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Day 1 — Arrival in Barcelona. Private transfer to hotel in the Eixample or Gothic Quarter.
Day 2 — Barcelona: Sagrada Família, Park Güell, Gothic Quarter with private guide.
Day 3 — Barcelona: Boqueria market, Picasso Museum, Barceloneta beach. Optional: Casa Batlló or Casa Milà.
Day 4 — High-speed train to Madrid (2h40). Afternoon: Prado Museum. Evening: tapas in La Latina.
Day 5 — Madrid: Reina Sofía, Thyssen-Bornemisza, Retiro Park. Optional day trip to Toledo.
Day 6 — High-speed train to Córdoba (2h). Mezquita with private guide. Evening train to Seville.
Day 7 — Seville: Cathedral, Alcázar, Triana neighborhood, flamenco evening.
Day 8 — Seville to Granada by bus or private transfer (3h). Check in, evening in the Albaicín.
Day 9 — Granada: Alhambra Palace and Generalife Gardens with private guide (timed entry pre-booked). Afternoon free.
Day 10 — Granada to Malaga Airport for return flight.

 

Spain & Morocco - 14 Days

 

Barcelona and Andalusia paired with Tangier, Fez, Marrakech and the Sahara

 

One of the most historically coherent combination journeys in the Mediterranean, eight centuries of Moorish civilization traced from the Alhambra in Granada across the Strait of Gibraltar to the medinas of Morocco. The contrast between the two countries is immediate and extraordinary. The ferry crossing from Tarifa to Tangier takes 35 minutes and covers 14km of water that separates two entirely different worlds.

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See our combination tours page for the full Spain & Morocco itinerary →
 

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Basque Country & Rioja - 7 Days
 

San Sebastián, Bilbao, Guggenheim & the Wine Country

 

Day 1 — Arrival in Bilbao. Private transfer. Evening pintxos in the old town.
Day 2 — Bilbao: Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Afternoon: La Ribera market, Casco Viejo neighborhood.
Day 3 — Drive to San Sebastián (1h). Concha beach, La Brecha market. Evening pintxos crawl in the old town.
Day 4 — San Sebastián: cooking class or guided pintxos tour. Afternoon free.
Day 5 — Drive to Rioja wine region via mountain passes. Vineyard visit and private wine tasting.
Day 6 — Second Rioja winery. Return to Bilbao or continue to Pamplona.
Day 7 — Departure from Bilbao Airport.

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When to Go

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April to June and September to October are the best months for most Spain itineraries, with comfortable temperatures, manageable crowds, and Andalusia at its most beautiful. The Alhambra in October, with fewer visitors and autumn light, is a genuinely different experience from the July version.

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July and August are peak season in Barcelona and the coast, hot, crowded, and significantly more expensive. The interior cities (Madrid, Toledo, Segovia) are extremely hot in August and better avoided. The Basque Country remains cooler and more comfortable in summer than the south.

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November to March offers the lowest prices and fewest crowds. Madrid and Barcelona are fully operational year-round. Andalusia has mild winters; Seville in January is 15°C and largely uncrowded. Mallorca and the Balearics are quiet and cheap in winter, though beach season is definitely over.

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Practical Information

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Visa: No visa required for US passport holders for stays up to 90 days within the Schengen Area.

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Currency: Euro (€). Credit cards are widely accepted throughout Spain. ATMs are plentiful in all cities and major towns.

 

Language: Spanish (Castilian) is the official language. Catalan is spoken in Barcelona and Catalonia; Basque (Euskara) in the

Basque Country; Galician in Galicia. English is widely spoken in tourist areas, hotels, and restaurants in major cities.

 

Getting Around: Spain's high-speed rail network (AVE) is one of Europe's best; Madrid to Barcelona takes 2h40, Madrid to Seville 2h30. We arrange all inter-city rail travel as part of your itinerary, including first-class tickets and seat reservations.

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How We Plan Spain

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Spain rewards the traveler who goes beyond the obvious itinerary. Most first-time visitors do Barcelona, Madrid, and one Andalusian city, a perfectly good trip that nonetheless misses the Basque Country's extraordinary food culture, the emotional weight of the Alhambra with the right guide, and the Spain that exists in the village markets and family-run restaurants that no booking platform lists.

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We have been planning private Spain itineraries for nearly thirty years. We know which Alhambra time slot gives the best light in the Nasrid Palaces, which San Sebastián pintxos bars are worth the wait and which are tourist traps, and how to pace a 10-day itinerary so Barcelona, Madrid, and Andalusia all get the time they deserve.

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Every Spain itinerary begins with a conversation. Tell us what draws you to Spain, and we'll build from there.

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Begin Planning Your Spain Journey

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Tell us when you're thinking of traveling, who's coming, and which parts of Spain are calling you most. We'll take it from there.

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AnemosTours.com | (718) 777-5050 | tours@anemos.net
Private Mediterranean Travel Since 1996

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