Madrid and Andalucia, days

Flight from Athens to Madrid. Arrival and departure directly for a first acquaintance with the city through a panoramic ride with our bus. With photo stops at places like Plaza Castilla with its twin curved towers (Puerta de Europa), Madrid's bullring (Plaza de Toros Las Ventas) the country's largest, the 2,500-year-old Egyptian temple Templo de Debod. As well as a walk in the largest natural lung in the center of the city, the Retiro Park, where we will see the artificial lake and the Crystal Palace (Palacio de Crystal).

• Arrival and check-in at the hotel, some time to rest and we start for a walk in the historic center in Habsburg Madrid. In the famous Barrio de la letras, one of the most bohemian districts in all of Europe, where many of Spain's great painters and writers lived and created. Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, Mercado de San Miguel.

After breakfast, crossing the plateau of the legendary La Mancha where Don Quixote lived and did his errands, we will end up in the interior of Andalusia, specifically in Granada, built at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, the snow-capped mountain range. In the afternoon we will visit* the impressive Alhambra hill (the red castle in the Arabic language). The heyday of the Sultanate of Granada in all its glory, a masterpiece of Islamic architecture of the 14th century with unimaginable detail in the decoration, with the incredible fountains, with the invocations to Allah, heaven and eternal love.

Next to the Alhambra we will find the Generalife with trees, flowers and waters that will seduce us into a world of contemplation, relaxation and imagination from the era of Sultans, Harems, sensuality and eunuchs... to the power of the Arabs.

Check in at the hotel. In the evening you will have the opportunity to watch the Zambra Mora, the original gypsy version of the dance that later provided the basis for the birth of Flamenco.

After breakfast guided tour of Granada in the area of ​​the Cathedral and the Bib Rambla (commercial square). Departure for Malaga, the most dynamic urban center of the Costa del Sol. Arriving in Málaga we will initially tour its historic center where you will then have the opportunity at your leisure to visit monuments such as Gibralfaro, which offers the best view of the seaside city and the Muslim castle-palace Alcazaba. the Roman theater of the 1st c. BC, the Cathedral, and the house where Picasso was born. Also a walk through the narrow streets of the historic center and an opportunity to try some of the dishes of Andalusian cuisine and shopping in the shopping street Larios (Marqués de Larios) or a visit to one of the important museums such as the Picasso Museum (Museo Picaso) or the Center Pompidou (Centre Pompidou Malaga) or better known as the Cube (el Cubo) taking a walk on Pier 1 (Muelle 1) of the port of Malaga. Arrival in the afternoon in the capital of Andalusia, Seville.

Check in at the hotel.

After breakfast, our guided tour begins in the city of opera where Carmen, Don Juan and Figaro, the barber of Seville "lived". Starting from Maria Luisa Park and America Square we arrive at the impressive and fairytale Spain Square, where we will see buildings representative of the architectural rhythms of the city. Then we will wander through the former Jewish quarter with narrow alleys and typical "steps". Today it is called Santa Cruz and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We will visit the building complex of the Alcazar (fortified palace in the Arabic language) where the Arab Palace dominates, of classic Mudejar architecture with its impressive formal salons, the small harem and the private spaces of the Sultans. In the same area we will see the Giralda Cathedral with the minaret - bell tower which is also the "official" photo of Seville. Here is the tomb of Columbus, the gilded central chapel and important paintings by the great Sevillian painter Murillo. But Seville is not (only) that. Narrow alleys, medieval buildings, beautiful squares, orange trees, centuries-old magnolias and Guadalquivir, where Lorca's love bathed, the city of love. And for the flamenco evening, in the city where he was born.

After the morning departure for Madrid. Passing the Sierra Morena we will end up in the famous Cordoba of the Romans, the later Cordoba of the Arabs, today's Cordoba. In the old capital of the most important caliphate of the West, we will wander through the picturesque narrow streets of the Jewish quarter with the wonderful patios that will lead us to the largest Mosque of the West, the famous Methkita. Over 800 columns (many of them from Hellenistic times) hold on their arches a work of art of incomparable beauty from the 9th and 10th centuries. Here lived Averroes, Mohammed Al Gafeki, Ben Maimonides, important Arab scholars who translated almost all ancient Greek writings into local languages. In the afternoon arrival and check-in at the hotel in Madrid.

After breakfast at the hotel, departure on foot for the Prado Museum. We will pass through Plaza Colon, Paseo de Recoletos, and Plaza de Cibeles with the Bank of Spain and City Hall and through Paseo del Prado to arrive at the museum.

The Prado Museum is one of the most important art galleries in the world with an abundance of famous works that we would need whole days to be able to see them, in the 1 hour and 35 minutes we are given to do our scheduled tour with an official guide we will mainly enjoy from the Spanish School works by El Greco, Velazquez and Goya as well as some paintings of the Venetian School such as Tintoretto or the Flemish School such as Rubens. also here we will have an hour free so you can see other works or visit the museum shop.

Then we have our optional excursion to medieval Segovia, where we will walk through its streets, see the 2,000-year-old Roman Aqueduct, the Plaza Mayor, the Castle-Palace Alcazar de Segovia and have the opportunity to try in local restaurants, dishes such as cochinillo (baby pig) or try the local sweet Ponche Segoviano. Return to Madrid in the afternoon. In order for the excursion to take place, a minimum of 15 participants are needed and the cost per person is €50.

After breakfast, departure for the "City of Three Cultures", Toledo, a city with a great historical, artistic and cultural heritage. We will wander through the narrow streets of the medieval city and visit the Cathedral, a unique building of great artists and a mixture of many architectural styles, where we will see paintings by El Greco, of untold value, such as the Expolio and the Apostles collection. Next, the church of Santo Tome, we will admire El Greco's masterpiece "The Burial of Count Orgath". Then a visit to a factory with "Damasquinad", a well-known Toledan art that comes from the time of the Arabs. Return to Madrid.

• For the afternoon we recommend a shopping stroll in the city's most elegant Barrio de Salamanca, a coffee in the atmospheric Plaza de Oriente overlooking the palace, or simply wander the narrow streets of the old town ending up in the impressive Plaza Mayor for a hot chocolate.

Breakfast at the hotel and some free time at your disposal. Transfer to the airport and flight to Athens