Best of Iberia: 7-Day Spain and Portugal Tour

This travel company organized a 3 week trip through Spain and Portugal for my wife and me in late September and early October. We couldn’t be happier with the outcome.

We started in Barcelona (side trip to Montserrát) and worked our way to San Sebastián (and Bilbao), Madrid (and Toledo), Granada, Málaga, Ronda, Sevilla, and then to Lisbon (and Sintra, Casçais, Estoril). Our travel company arranged 4 star accommodations and activities for us at each destination. The hotels were mostly boutique style - smallish and well appointed, with excellent service and very nice rooms in great locations.

Each stop included a private guide for 3-5 hours, longer for the day trip excursions. These proved to be the difference maker. The private guide experience has so many intangible benefits. It allowed us not only to see the sights but to learn about history and culture and people in a more intimate way. The guides were all high integrity people — punctual, professional, thoughtful, and knowledgeable — and most of them were born and raised in the city or region we were visiting. They looked out for us and took their time to ensure we were having a great experience. They offered recommendations on how to spend the rest of our time in the city and places to eat. We never felt rushed or burdensome. Our stupid questions were met with patience. We laughed a lot and learned a lot. 

It was clear that our travel agency was staying on top of our travels and reconfirming arrangements with service providers ahead of us as the trip unfolded. With the dozens and dozens of detailed arrangements, pretty much everything came off without a hitch. That said, you can often tell the character of a company in how they deal with things that go wrong. We had one minor hiccup in Sevilla when a service provider failed to arrange a horse carriage ride for us. The provider was incredibly apologetic and offered us a meal in the way of making amends, which we accepted. I emailed out travel agency that evening to make them aware and was surprised the next day when our travel agency had booked another carriage ride for us. This minor incident spoke volumes about this company and the quality of the providers they do business with. 

We are eternally grateful to our travel agency and team for making this a trip of a lifetime. Thanks!

We had a really wonderful trip with 5 days in Barcelona where we had an excellent guide for visits to Gaudi sites as well as the Sagrada Familia church and on a separate day a very educational tour of the Picasso museum. Our travel company arranged the guide for us. 

After Barcelona we boarded a cruise ship to Lisbon with stops in several cities in Spain and Gibraltar. At the dock in Lisbon we were met by a driver, arranged by this travel agency, who drove us to our hotel also arranged by the agency. Our guide in Lisbon was excellent. She guided us on a long walk in the Alfama neighborhood to the castle at the top. She also took us to a restaurant for a respite and introduced us to a typical Portuguese snack. Our travel agency arranged a driver and guide to take us to Evora where despite rain we had an interesting tour of the old university and the church followed by a lunch. On the way to Evora we had the opportunity to see cork trees which was very interesting and encouraged my wife to buy a cork purse and other cork gifts. The next day our trip took us to Cascais and Sintra with our guide. A beautiful area with wonderful history and a beautiful palace. We went to a restaurant that night and experienced a Fado performance.

Next we were driven to Porto by our driver, a very friendly, talented person who was an excellent driver. In Porto our guide was very good at introducing us to Porto including the train station and the old palace, all of which we enjoyed very much. The following day we had a fun time going to a recommended winery, Churchill's on the other side of the Duoro river by taking the subway and cable car. After spending time at Churchill's sampling and buying port, we walked back to have lunch and then to our hotel where the next morning we were met by our driver who drove us back to Lisbon for an overnight stay and then our flight home the next day.

We had a terrific trip to Portugal visiting Porto, Lisbon, and the surrounding areas. This travel company specializes in Portugal and was very responsive to both our budget parameters as well as to our unique interests in food, art, and culture. 

Everything from the lodgings to the tours to the guides and drivers was extremely professional. We stayed in the cities and did day trips in Porto to the Douro valley and in Lisbon to Sintra, Cascais, and to an organic farm on the outskirts of the city. Each outing was well planned making optimal use of our time. We didn't need to think about ground transportation or timing and our travel planner even allowed for sufficient free time so that we could explore the cities on our own.

Our visit was slightly complicated by requirements for EU proof of vaccination (as opposed to CDC vaccination documentation). However, nothing was insurmountable and our travel planner facilitated testing appointments for our return to the USA (72 hours in advance was required).

Our Zicasso tour agent organized an incredible trip to Portugal and Spain, which included the cities of Lisbon, Sintra, Seville, Madrid, and Barcelona. She engaged experienced and knowledgeable tour guides in each of the cities, which made our trip enjoyable. We were able to learn about the culture and history of each of the cities from our tour guides.

She secured reservations for four-star hotels, in-country transportation, tickets to museums, and entertainment, all of which were wonderful.

We have many beautiful memories from our trip, thanks to our agent. She was resourceful and responsive before and during our trip. We would recommend this tour company and would use them again for travel to Portugal and Spain.