Spain Private Tour ... Itinerary 1
Barcelona - Granada - Ronda - Seville - Toledo - Salamanca - Madrid.
SATURDAY
Emily and her sister Maria from the Phillipines arrived at Granada airport on
an internal flight from Barcelona. They had insisted on a hotel with
air-conditioning which proved a very wise move as we drove into Granada at 19:00
with the car's thermometer showing 38ºC.
They checked in at the 5-star Palacio de Santa Paula which was formerly an
old convent which has been recently restored into a modern luxury hotel which
maintains the architectural splendour of former days.
After a brief information session in which we finalised our plans for the
week I handed over the pre-booked entrance tickets for the Alhambra Palace plus
maps and other useful information to help them enjoy their stay in Granada.
MONDAY
At 10:30 we met at the hotel reception as previously arranged, loaded the
(substantial) luggage (sorry Emily!) into the car and headed for Marbella.
On the journey down to the coast at Motril Emily and Maria told me what a
great time they'd had in Granada. They attended a flamenco performance in the
Cuevas de Sacramonte, dined in Restaurante Las Tinajas which is one of the
city's best restaurants specialising in local Granadino dishes, explored the
Moorish Albayzín district and, of course, visited the magnificent Alhambra
Palace.
We travelled along Granada's Costa Tropical into the province of Malaga and
onto Marbella. For lunch we headed out to the jetset harbour at Puerto Banus
where the ladies went for lunch while I guarded the luggage for a couple of
hours.
At 16:00 we met up again and headed up the mountain road to Ronda where Emily
and Maria would stay at the stunningly located Parador which overlooks the 130
metre deep gorge made famous in Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls. (Distance:
275 km)
TUESDAY
After a horse and carriage tour of Ronda we met at 11:30 and headed into the
Sierra de Grazalema which rather surprisingly is the wettest place in Spain. No
rain today though so we stopped in th town of Grazalema for a look around and to
get a few souvenirs then headed on through the Pueblos Blancos to Arcos de la
Frontera for lunch at Restaurante El Convento.
After lunch we continued west to Jerez de la Frontera, the sherry capital of
the world, then north to Seville. In the elegant Andaluz capital we made our way
to the 5-star Hotel Alfonso XIII which was originally designed to be Europe's
most luxurious hotel. Since 1929 it has been the hotel of choice for the
distinguished traveller, located in the historic city centre only minutes from
the Plaza de España.
This location was superb in allowing our guests two days and three nights to
visit Seville Cathedral and Giralda as well as discover the former gipsy
district of Triana which today boasts an enormous supply of quality restaurants
whilst maintaining the ambience of its past. They also attended a flamenco
performance at El Arenal and savoured the best of Spain's tapas in the Barrio
Santa Cruz. (Distance: 196 km)
FRIDAY
We met at the Alfonso XIII at 9:30 and headed east for Cordoba on what would
be our longest day's drive. In Cordoba Emily and Maria got out at the Mezquita
whilst I parked over the river and waited for them for a couple of hours whilst
they visited the Great Mosque and strolled around the Judería.
Our journey continued on through the mountains at Despeñaperros where we left
Andalucia and entered Castilla La Mancha. At the wine producing centre of
Valdepeñas we left the main Madrid road and drove through the vineyards to the
pretty town of Almagro where we took a break.
From here we continued on to the amazing city of Toledo where the ladies
stayed at the Hostal del Cardenal which has a restaurant famous for its typical
roast meat dishes.
(Distance: 523 km)
SATURDAY
Having visited the wonderful Cathedral of Toledo and seen El Greco's
masterpiece "El Encierro del Conde de Orgaz" in the church of Santo Tomé we
headed out of town across beautiful countryside with scattered villages whose
church steeples each contained stork's nests.
We stopped at Avila for lunch where estofado de cabrito (goat stew) was much
enjoyed. After a visit to the Cathedral and Convento de Santa Teresa we
continued on to Salamanca which was our destination for the day and the Gran
Hotel the chosen accommodation located right on the city's Plaza Mayor.
Trying some of Spain's finest cured ham was the gastronomic objective for the
evening and it was achieved in style! (Distance: 230 km)
SUNDAY
We met at 11:30 and crossed the Castillian landscape to arrive in Segovia in
time for a roast suckling pig lunch at El Candido beneath the Roman aqueduct.
After a stroll through the old town as far as the fairy tale Alcazar we met for
the last time to complete the final stage of our journey into Madrid.
We said our goodbyes at the Ritz hotel and I left Emily and Maria to explore
the capital over the coming days. Hope the planned shopping spree was a success!
(Distance: 256 km). More Information
about our Private Tours of Spain
|
