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Madrid y el Norte 2009 12 Days • $3,039* |
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Monday,
June 22 • Depart We depart the United States on our scheduled to Madrid, Spain. Meals, beverages and complimentary headset are included on our flight. Inflight D Tuesday, June 23 • Madrid Upon our arrival in Spain’s capital city, visit the Museo del Prado Spain’s most famous art museum where we have a chance to see paintings done by Spain’s most famous artists, including Velázquez, Goya and El Greco. Afterwards we take a stroll in nearby Retiro Park. The remainder of the day is free for shopping and sightseeing on our own. Inflight BD Wednesday, June 24 • Madrid This morning, we tour Madrid by bicycle. On our tour, we see sights such as Spain’s Plaza Mayor in the heart of the city, the Plaza de Cibeles where the very distinctive Banco de España and Madrid’s main post office are located. We also see the Plaza de España with its statues of Miguel de Cervantes and Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Finally, we tour the spectacular Palacio Real. This lavish palace took 26 years to build and has over 1200 rooms. We enjoy the afternoon for some shopping and sightseeing on our own. B/D Thursday, June 25 • Madrid We take a full day excursion to Toledo today. Our sightseeing includes tours of La Catedral with its mixture of different styles of architecture including French Gothic, Renaissance and Mudéjar, La Sinagoga del Tránsito and La Iglesia de Santo Tomé, which houses The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, one of El Greco’s masterpieces. After our tour we have time for lunch and some more sightseeing on our own before we return to Madrid. B/D Friday, June 26 • Burgos We depart Madrid and travel north toward Segovia. Our first stop is Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos, Franco’s stupendous monument to those who fell in the Spanish Revolution. After some time here, we continue on to Segovia where we have lunch before visiting the Alcázar. Built atop a rocky hill, this fortress was rebuilt in 1862 after a fire. We also see the city’s Gothic cathedral and its ancient aqueduct that was built in the first century and used well into the 19th century. We enjoy some free time here before traveling further north to Burgos for our overnight. B/D |
Saturday,
June 27 • Santander This morning we get to know Burgos on a locally guided tour. Our guide tells us about the history of this gothic city that was founded in the 9th century. We tour La Catedral de Santa María where El Cid is buried. We also see El Monasterio de las Huelgas that lies just outside the city and was built in the 12th century. After our tour, we enjoy some time at leisure to explore the city before driving further north to the coastal town of Santander. B/D Sunday, June 28 • Santander This morning we take a very interesting excursion to Santillana del Mar and the nearby Cuevas de Altamira. Santillana del Mar is one of Europe’s most well preserved medieval villages. We truly step back in time as we admire “the prettiest village in Spain.” The Cuevas de Altamira are famous for their prehistoric paintings of bison and horses that date back from the end of the Ice Age. It is not possible to see the actual paintings because bacteria brought in by visitors damaged them. But at the museum we visit here, we can see reproductions of the artwork and learn how the originals were damaged. After our excursion, we return to Santander and enjoy the afternoon at leisure to explore the city or spend some time on the beach. B/D Monday, June 29 • Santander We enjoy an excursion today to Los Picos de Europa the most famous mountain range in Spain. We enjoy spectacular views as we wind our way along a steep ravine containing the Deva River. There are also some small alpine villages that dot our path as well. Our highlight today is our stop at Fuente Dé where we take a cable car ride up to the edge of the Central Massif. Once at the top, we enjoy a spectacular view of the mountains. We ride the cable car down again and return on to Santander for dinner. B/D Tuesday, June 30 • Overnight Train Today we travel to San Sebastián, in the heart of the Basque region. En route we stop in Bilbaó where we have a chance to see Guggenheim Museum. After we visit this very impressive museum, we'll have some time for lunch before continuing on to San Sebastián. We enjoy the remainder of the afternoon exploring this resort town. We may want to take a walk along the Paseo de la Concha that runs along La Concha beach. We have plenty of time for dinner before we will board our overnight train (including sleeper cars) to Barcelona. B |
Wednesday, July 1 • Barcelona Upon our arrival in Barcelona we meet our coach and driver. We have some time to eat breakfast and freshen up before taking in the sights. Our local guide shows us the areas of Barcelona where we find many examples of Modernism, a style of architecture born in Barcelona. The highlights today include some of the works by Antoni Gaudí. Gaudí’s most famous work is the Sagrada Familia Igesia. We also visit Gaudí’s Parc Güell, a park that opened in 1922 that was originally intended to be a garden city, commissioned by Count Eusebi Güell. We also see La Casa Milà, an eight-story apartment building Gaudí designed for the Milà family. Finally, we go to the Barri Gótic, the oldest part of the city, here we see its Gothic style Catedral. After our tour, we check into our hotel and enjoy the rest of the day at leisure. D Thursday, July 2 • Barcelona This morning we take a stroll along Las Ramblas, Barcelona’s colorful boulevard lined with shops and restaurants. We visit the nearby Catedral in the Barrio Gótico. The remainder of the day is ours for shopping and sightseeing on our own. There are some nice beaches to enjoy or we can visit any one of a number of museums in the city. B/D Friday, July 3 • Return Sadly we transfer to the Barcelona Airport for our return flight to the United States. We return with memories of new friends, beautiful landscapes, cathedrals and palaces. ¡Bienvenidos a casa! B/Inflight D |
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