The Ultimate Spain Tasting Tour: Barcelona, Granada, Marbella, Seville & Madrid

The Zicasso travel agent and her team were fantastic to work with. Communication was prompt and detailed, and we felt very sure they would take great care of us. Our itinerary was well organized and appropriate for our family, including three children.

There were aspects of the trip that were unforgettable and amazing, and there are definitely some things we wish we had done differently. As we traveled to three countries, I will separate my comments for each.

While it may be easy to focus on the things we would have liked to be different or found to be a problem, overall, we had an amazing time and were very happy with our agent and her team. They took excellent care of us and tried very hard to give us a fantastic adventure.

In Morocco, we enjoyed our hotels very much and our excursions were generally excellent, with fantastic guides in Marrakech. The walking food-tasting tour was particularly memorable. The sidecar tour felt short, but it was fun. Starting with the walking tour was the right choice, but the children found it a little slow. We enjoyed walking through the market area. It felt like we were in a different world, which was the point of visiting Marrakech.

On the other hand, the local tour group responsible for us in Morocco caused us stress and things felt chaotic at times. Here are the details that explain this:

We were told to meet our guide for the food-tasting tour in the square, but the guide went to pick us up at the hotel. Our contact person from the tour company in Morocco did not respond to our text messages when the guide didn't appear at the pick-up location. I then called him and he contacted the guide. As a result, we waited 30 minutes in the square for the guide and the tour started late. In the other countries, we were given the guides’ contact information so we could contact them directly, but not in Morocco.

Our itinerary had us going to a different belly-dancing restaurant than the one booked for us. It was difficult to find the restaurant we were booked at and I couldn't show locals its name because our itinerary had the wrong one. Again, I had to call our local contact person to figure out where to go.

There was a holiday in Marrakech. For our transfer to the Agafay desert, we were given different times by different people. It did not seem like everyone was on the same page.

The tour to the Agafay desert was not what was in our itinerary. It was supposed to be eight to nine hours, but was only four-and-a-half hours. Part of this was due to the holiday and the Berber villages being closed. We were not informed in advance that the trip would be shorter and were not given alternative activities. There was a suggestion on the itinerary that we could visit a waterfall or do a hike. This was never offered by the driver. Instead, we were dropped off at the hotel early.

The camel ride was supposed to be at sunset. Instead, it was in the middle of the day in the hot desert sun. While still a great experience, it was not what we were expecting.

The airport in Marrakech was chaos. We almost missed our flight because of the long lines for passport checks. Two hours is not enough there.

Our plane tickets to Malaga from Marrakech, booked by the agency, included three tickets in the exit row. Because you have to be 16 years old or older to sit in the exit row, our two younger children had to sit by themselves.

Overall, our time in Spain was tremendous. The hotels were great and the activities even better. We loved pretty much everything we did and wished we had had more time in each location. Communication with our agent's team was tremendous.

While the hotel/apartment in Estepona was very nice, it was isolated from any village/town, requiring an Uber to get to most restaurants, etc. Because of this, we wished we had had a car or stayed somewhere within walking distance of the town.

Stops in Gibraltar, Benalauría, Granada, Estepona, and Nerja were all fantastic. We loved the canyoning, kayaking, and jetski adventures. We did wish we had had more time to explore the towns of Gibraltar and Granada, but felt a little rushed. The time in Benalauría felt intimate and special.

Sevilla was just incredible. While it was hot, we made the best of it with time at the hotel pool in the afternoons. We very much appreciated the nice touch of getting us front-row seats for the flamenco dancing. The food-tasting tour in Sevilla was not as good as the others we did. We only stopped at two restaurants, whereas in Morocco and Portugal, we stopped at many more. The truth is, we could have done this one without a guide, though he was very pleasant and friendly.

The trip to Jerez may not have been necessary, but on the other hand, our paella-making experience was incredible. Our guide in Jerez was so lovely. The Doñana national park was a nice place to visit on our way to Portugal. The jeep tour there was fun and informative.

We enjoyed being in Portugal, but this part of the trip may not have been the most well-organized for our family. The places were all good, but perhaps this should have been organized differently.

The resort in Sagres was beautiful and could have been relaxing. However, we were only there for one night. Seeing the cliffs at the corner of Europe was indeed memorable and they were beautiful. We also loved the local fish restaurant that was suggested for us. With that said, it was a lot of driving to get there, followed by a lot of driving the next day to get to Lisbon. We probably should have gone directly to the Lisbon area and bypassed Sagres.

The reason for this is that our time in Lisbon didn't include a stop in Sintra, which was a mistake. Fortunately, our guide in Lisbon offered to drive us to Sintra so we could visit for a couple of hours after our food-tasting tour in Lisbon. So we got to see it, but didn't have enough time. We were not particularly impressed with Lisbon and wished we had stayed in Sintra instead. Lisbon seemed less clean and interesting, at least the parts we got to see. Sintra seemed more magical and unique, though we were rushed there.

Our hotel in Lisbon was just OK. Then they emailed me saying we took a water bottle and charged us 15 euros. We didn't take the water bottle! The location of the hotel was just OK as well. With that said, our guide in Lisbon for the tasting tour and trip up the coast of Portugal to Porto was awesome.

Once in Porto, we visited the Douro Valley. Our guide for the day was great, but the tour was not as special as what we've heard from others or other tours we've taken to wine-making regions. We visited a large commercial vineyard. All of their wines can be purchased in the US. It is a huge operation. In Tuscany and Japan, we visited small, family-run vineyards, where the owners prepared us very special meals. In both cases, we were the only people there for the day and they paired their wine with the food. It was so much better.

We also thought the trip would include a boat ride, but ours did not. Perhaps that was a mistake on my part. The point is, this trip was disappointing, whereas we've heard from others that their Douro Valley trip was a highlight.

Our travel agent and her team did a wonderful job in setting up our 25th anniversary trip to Spain.  In a 2 week period we were able to visit Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba, Granada, Gibraltar, Cadiz, Ronda, Seville, Tarifa and Barcelona.  The trip was largely flawless in execution with the exception of a few miscommunications that were readily handled via the travel agency provided local telephone.  The latter was a wonderful touch where we were provided the ability to make local calls, provided the contact numbers to a team of agents as well as a WhatsApp group that allowed us to contact them at will throughout the trip.  The drivers and guides provided were all gracious, polite and did their best to ensure our experience.

WOW! What an amazing experience our family just had in Spain and it was all thanks to our trip planner founder/owner of this tour company. I cannot express how wonderful this tour company made this trip for us. From every detail meticulously planned including drivers, hotels, private tours, dinner recommendations, and unique experiences our trip planner nailed each and every part. Our planner planned for us adventures that were simply perfect for our children and interesting for us parents as well.  Touring around Madrid with a most amazing private guide who taught us history and mixed in some futbol (soccer) fun facts and churros for the kids was our first day. Followed by a day trip to Toledo where our private guide took us zipling across the Toledo River, exploring the Jewish quarter and the mosques, and to a wonderful restaurant for lunch. The skip the line access provided was better than we expected at each place and our guides spoke perfect English and were fabulous with our three children. From Madrid we took the fast train to Cordoba where the tour company book us seats all together and at a table so we really enjoyed the trip. The company set us up with another amazing private tour guide who gave us a 3 hour walking tour of Cordoba with stops to see the quaint and beautiful patios and the smallest street in the world to the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba filled with history and fun facts for the kids. Next stop was Montilla for a day trip to a family run olive oil company and a family run winery. The best part of this experience was that this travel team was our guide here. She immediately immersed herself with our family and we were so happy and pleased with meeting her and having her show us her favorite places in her home town. Our children loved the olive oil factory so much and the owner who we were able to meet and speak with as our planner personally knows him we incredible.  Next onto Seville where again this tour company set us up with a great tour guide for a walking tour, bike tour and boat ride.  No detail was left behind. Our planner is the what all in Spain call simpatico (gracious, kind, wonderful person) and she made our experience all we could have asked for.

Spain is a wonderful country and very clean.  The locals we interacted with were all very nice.  Overall it was a nice and memorable trip, however there were a few things that could have been done better by the travel agency.

Per our itinerary, there was to be a driver that met us at the Madrid Airport.  After we landed, we searched the area several times for someone holding a sign with our name, but we could not find anyone.  We were given the number of the driver, so eventually we called them from our cell phone.  That number was for a taxi company (not an individual driver) who initially did not know who we were and even asked us where we were going.  We were somewhat surprised because we thought this was already set up in advance.  We told them our names and they eventually found us.  After being on hold for several minutes, having the call dropped (they called us back), and talking with the dispatcher again, they said someone should be there with our name.  Again we searched but could not find anyone, so we called them back.  We talked to them again and finally they said someone will be near the coffee shop (which was just a few feet away).  We eventually saw someone with a sign that had our name on it.  Interestingly enough, we noted that that person had been there almost the entire time with no sign, as if he was simply waiting for any tourists to come (not specifically us).

We stayed at a very nice hotel initially.  Wifi and breakfast were included (the latter was paid for in advance).  The next morning we took a nice train ride to Cordoba where we picked up our rental car.  Fortunately for only 5 more pounds per day we were able to upgrade to a BMW with a GPS unit.  Our hotel in Cordoba was rated as 4 stars, although our room had a view of the dumpsters with stray cats directly below our window (which we could smell, forcing us to keep the window closed).  The AC did not work well either making for a less than pleasant sleep.  The employees though were very nice and breakfast was great.  Someone also parked our car for us.  

We soon met our guide for the day who was very knowledgable about the area and its Jewish and Islamic history.  The tour of the Mosque and Jewish Home was very nice.  Later that day we went to a Hammam for a ritualistic bath which was quite relaxing.  The mint tea was also a nice touch.    

The next day we went to Sevilla, which was a nice and pleasant drive.  We drove straight to the parking garage and checked into the hotel.  We then met our tour guide for an amazing biking tour of the city.  The tour guide was very nice and knowledgable and took a lot of pictures of us.  Our itinerary indicated that we would proceed to a boat tour along the river at 3:00 PM.  On our bike tour, we simply happened to run into the person in charge of the boat tour and began talking, and he indicated that the boat tour was at 6:00 PM (not 3:00 PM).  Confused, we contacted our travel agency and it was later confirmed that the correct time was indeed 6:00 PM.  We felt somewhat lucky that we ran into the boat tour guide, otherwise we would have been three hours early and the place would have been closed (and we would not have known to come at 6:00 PM), causing us to miss the tour altogether and stress for my pregnant wife.  The tour itself was relaxing and fun.  The hotel was advertised as 3 stars.  We noted black residue on the bed which we brushed off.  The wifi and AC worked but overall I have stayed at Econo Lodges in the US which were better than this hotel.

The next day we went to Ronda where our tour guide who was quite attentive and was already waiting for us when we arrived.  The tour of Zahara de la Sierra was great and very informative.  We next went to an Olive Mill whose owner was very hospitable and friendly.  We were told how olive oil is made and shown all of the equipment in the process.  We were also given food and allowed to taste and buy their authentic olive oil.  Next we went on a wine tour where we were given delicious wine and home made paella.  Although we told our travel agency that we are vegetarian (and the agency confirmed they will be able to accommodate our request), the owners of the olive mill and winery had no idea.  We again were very lucky that our tour guide quickly called these places up and explained we were vegetarian so that something could be prepared last minute.  The hotel here was advertised as 3 stars, and everything about the hotel was nice although the breakfast had few options compared to the previous ones we stayed at.

The next day we drove to Granada.  We were instructed to meet our tour guide at the Alhambra ticket office.  We punched in the address given to us by our travel agency and walked.  On our way there we called our tour guide to let her know we were coming.  She instructed us to go all the way up the hill which is where we would find the ticket office.  The GPS also told us to go all the way up the hill.  Toward the top (after a 15 minute hike up the hill) we saw a long line up of people and coincided with where the GPS told us to go (from the address we were given) so we figured we were in the right spot.  We called our guide again but she said we were not in the right spot and said to go to the ticket office.  Being in a new place in a new country, we we had no idea where the ticket office was as all we had was the address given to us.  We hiked almost all the way down the hill and found a map.  From the map we were able to find the ticket office and hiked there to meet our guide.  Our guide did not move from her position but rather asked us to walk at least 15-20 more minutes to meet her.  This was very hard on my pregnant wife and we did not have the resources to get a cab at that point.  It would have been nice, given how big this area is, to have a picture or map (like the ones posted there) indicating where to go rather than giving us an address that did not correspond to our meeting point.  The actual tour of Alhambra though was breathtaking and we did learn quite a bit from the tour guide.

At the end of the day we were scheduled to take a tour of the gypsy caves and see authentic flamenco dances.  Once again, the restaurant we went to had no idea we were vegetarian, and the pre-set menu had no vegetarian options.  When we told them, they brought us out another menu but the only vegetarian item on that menu (other than soup) was not available unless we both purchased that item and paid extra.  My wife only had some bread and soup and left hungry, which is not good for someone who is pregnant.  I felt really bad for her.

The next morning we drove a couple hours to Cazorla National Park and went on a hike.  Our tour guide was very nice.  Afterwards, we went to a hotel where lunch had been arranged.  The host was a very pleasant man who even gave us extra ice on request for our water bottles.  He also did not know we were vegetarian but was accommodating and made suggestions for us based on our preferences.  From there we drove back to Madrid and stayed at hotel Europa.  Due to the several hours of hiking and driving that day, coupled with our next morning flight, we were too exhausted to participate in our final tour, and went straight to bed.  We returned our rental car the next morning at the airport.

We had an amazing 10 day trip to Madrid, Cordoba, Sevilla, and Granada arranged by this Spain travel agency!  Our travel agent helped me plan our customized itinerary, giving great suggestions for hotels, restaurants and things to do in each city.  All arrangements and tours were flawless!  We had several private tours and our guides were knowedgable and extremely enjoyable to spend time with...our guides in Sevilla and in Granada were just wonderful!

I would highly recommend this travel agency to anyone!