Payment of bespoke trip to Spain | 21st – 29th of December 2024 | 4 pax
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Description and schedule of services
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21st of December: flight from the US to Madrid, transfer to Granada and day at leisure in Granada to recover from your journey
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8am: (3 family members) upon arrival of your flight (DL126 from New York) to Madrid airport, collect your luggage and walk to the arrivals hall. Your personal driver will be waiting for you there holding a sign saying “Berman family – Genuine Andalusia”. Then be transferred in a modern and comfortable Mercedes minivan to your hotel in Granada.
1:30pm (estimated): arrival to your hotel in Granada and rest of the day at leisure to recover from your trip. We will give you recommendations of things to do and see in Granada and also of places to eat. We will also book tables for you if you wish.
Overnight in Granada: Alcoba Real room for parents and Anna and 1 separate deluxe room for Jonah, both of them with breakfast included at Hotel Seda Club (5*) (hotel with Spa and massage service)
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22nd of December: day trip from Granada to hike El Caminito del Rey followed by lunch in the undiscovered city of Antequera
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8:30am: meet your personal driver at your accommodation and be transferred in a modern and comfortable Mercedes minivan to the start of the approach route that leads to the scenic hike of El Caminito del Rey.
10:15am: upon arrival to the start of the approach route, meet your personal nature guide for the day and start your nature adventure from there.
10:45am: once at the control point of the hike, be given your helmets and start El Caminito del Rey. El caminito del rey is a walkway with some sections pinned along the steep walls of a stunning gorge, offering amazing views of the surrounding nature. Early winter is simply gorgeous in Southern Spain and this hike will allow you to enjoy its beautiful nature through a fun adventure.
1:45pm: at the end of the hike, reconnect with your personal driver, say goodbye to your nature guide and be transferred to a selected local restaurant in the historic yet undiscovered town of Antequera.
2:40pm: upon arrival to Antequera, enjoy a well deserved lunch at leisure. We will book a table for you.
4pm: after lunch, reconnect with your driver and be transferred back to your hotel in Granada.
5:20pm: arrival to your hotel in Granada and end of services for the day.
Overnight in Granada: Alcoba Real room for parents and Anna and 1 separate deluxe room for Jonah, both of them with breakfast included at Hotel Seda Club (5*) (hotel with Spa and massage service)
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23rd of December: morning walking tour of Granada old town and its historic quarters and evening flamenco and tapas tour
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10am: meet your personal local host by the reception desk of your hotel to go on a walking tour of the city that will allow you to discover, learn about the history and architecture and experience the beauty of the three most iconic quarters of the city: El Realejo, el Albayzin and el Sacromonte.
This introduction to the city of Granada will also help to set the historic context for your tour to the Alhambra and el Generalife the next day.
You will start with the quarter of El Realejo. This part of Granada was once home to the Sephardic community that lived in the city from the 8th century until 1492. Your tour of El Realejo will take you to the spot where the main synagogue was while you are explained about the origins of this Hispanic-Jewish settlement and about the events that happened in this part of the town during the centuries when it was inhabited by Jewish people. Along your tour you will also learn about important members of the Sephardic community of Granada and about their contribution to subjects such as medicine, poetry, philosophy and translation in medieval Spain.
From el Realejo, you will move on towards the quarter of el Albayzín. Located on top of a hill and overlooking the Alhambra, el Albayzín was the part of Granada where regular people would live: people whose social scheme inside the walls of the palatial areas of the Alhambra was rather unclear.
The quarter of Albayzín is a UNESCO site and it treasures some of the most beautiful corners that the city of Granada has to offer. Your local host will share the most special ones with you, while you are explained about the architecture and infrastructures that the quarter had in the medieval times and of which you will see beautifully preserved evidence.
From El Albayzin, you will continue on towards the quarter of el Sacromonte. This hilltop quarter is probably the most unique in Granada. Perched on a hillside offering the most beautiful views of the Alhambra and with a very particular residential architecture of cave houses, el Sacromonte also has some very interesting inhabitants. This tour offers a visit to this magical area of the city aimed not only at enjoying its rustic beauty but also at learning about the arrival of the first gypsy communities to Granada.
Finally from el Sacromonte, you will be escorted back to your accommodation by taxi.
1:30pm: arrival to your accommodation and free time until your flamenco and tapas tour in the evening.
6pm: meet your personal local host by the reception desk of your hotel to start a guided walk towards a selected flamenco venue in town. Along this walk you will be explained about the origins of flamenco music in Southern Spain and also about its evolution throughout the centuries. This will set the context for (and enhance your appreciation and enjoyment of) the flamenco performance in a small and intimate venue that will follow, with 4 people on stage (one singer, one guitarist and two dancers).
7pm: start of the flamenco performance.
8pm: after your flamenco performance, enjoy a tapas tasting tour through Granada old town. Along the journey, your host will take you to 2 – 3 selected tapas bars where the locals like to gather with family and friends and where you will taste a selection of 6 – 9 local dishes to share and up to 3 drinks per person (wine, beer, refreshments, water). This will give you a very good overview of Southern Spanish gastronomy and wines before deepening into both during the following days of your trip.
10pm: after your tapas adventure, be escorted back to your hotel stopping along the way for a sweet local treat.
10:30pm: arrival to your hotel and end of services for the day.
Overnight in Granada: Alcoba Real room for parents and Anna and 1 separate deluxe room for Jonah, both of them with breakfast included at Hotel Seda Club (5*) (hotel with Spa and massage service)
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24th of December: half day walking tour of the Alhambra and el Generalife
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10am: be met by your personal local host at your hotel and be transferred in a modern and comfortable Mercedes minivan with a dedicated driver to the top of the hill of la Sabika, where the Alhambra and el Generalife are located.
10:15am: upon arrival to the Alhambra, be taken on a private walking tour of this palatial city which is the most exquisite example of the Hispanic-Muslim architecture. The Alhambra was the city where the Hispanic-Muslim sultans used to live with their army, their court and some selected artisans. Because of this, it has several parts, all of which you will get to visit during your tour while you understand the role that each of them had. Later you will visit the summer palace or Generalife. This is the place where the sultans would go to escape from the hustle and bustle of the Alhambra. It was a place designed for relaxation and contemplation and because of this, it has the most beautiful gardens and some of the nicest views that the city of Granada has to offer.
1:45pm: end of your tour of the Alhambra and rest of the day at leisure.
Overnight in Granada: Alcoba Real room for parents and Anna and 1 separate deluxe room for Jonah, both of them with breakfast included at Hotel Seda Club (5*) (hotel with Spa and massage service)
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25th of December: from Granada to Seville and day at leisure in Seville
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9:30am: meet your personal driver at your accommodation and be transferred in a modern and comfortable Mercedes minivan to your hotel in Seville.
12:15pm: arrival to your hotel in Seville and rest of the day at leisure. We will give you recommendations of things to do and see in Seville during your free time and also of places to eat. We will also book tables for you if you wish.
Overnight in Seville: Executive Suite (king) for parents and 2 deluxe rooms (king) for son and daughter, all of them with breakfast included at Hotel Alfonso XIII (5*)
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26th of December: day trip from Seville to see the horse show at the Royal School of Equestrian art in Jerez and to discover the colonial city of Cadiz
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9am: meet your personal local host at your hotel and be transferred in a modern and comfortable Mercedes minivan with a dedicated driver to the city of Jerez. Along the way, your personal local host will set the context for your stay in the area by giving you some general information about the culture, customs, history, economy, landscape and general character of Southernmost continental Spain.
10:15am: upon arrival to Jerez, enjoy a short walk through the old town aimed at learning about its Hispanic-Muslim origins and about the transformations that it experienced (architecture, urban planning, social composition and overall character) in the 13th century when it was conquered by Christians and later in the 18th and 19th centuries when the local wines (sherries) became probably the most fashionable beverages in the world, thus giving birth to a booming local economy.
Your tour will also take you to discover the vibrant atmosphere of the city and its colorful and joyous local market. There you will be explained about the local culture and personality of the city while you learn about the different produce that shape the local gastronomy. At the market you will also understand the important proximity service it is for the local community as well as the key role it plays in the social fabric of the city.
11:45am: your private walking tour of Jerez will finish at the Royal School of Equestrian Art. Upon arrival, your personal local host will give you a brief overview of the site and its different sections to finally escort you to your seats.
12pm: start of the performance. You will see these iconic Southern Spanish animals and a team of olympic riders in a performance involving classic Spanish country riding as well as horse-carriage driving. In the interlude of the show, you will be taken privately to the stables and backstage of the school to see the animals and the riders from a privileged close perspective. During this part of the tour you will be able to visit the tack room also.
1:30pm: end of the performance and private transfer to a selected local restaurant in Jerez for lunch.
1:50pm: arrival to the restaurant and lunch.
3:15pm: after lunch, reconnect with your driver and be transferred to the colonial coastal city of Cadiz.
3:50pm: upon arrival to Cadiz, enjoy a panoramic tour along the perimeter of the city in order to understand its particular geography and to see its colonial defensive architecture.
After your panoramic tour, start a private walking tour of the old town with a special focus on the period when the city held the monopoly of all trade with the Americas, formerly established in Seville. The bourgeoisie that settled down in Cádiz in this period transformed the city completely into a refined and cosmopolitan colonial hub. These new inhabitants of the city brought to Cádiz not only gold, silver, mahogany and other precious materials but also new ideas that transformed the mentality of the city and later of the whole of Spain.
Along this second part of the tour you will visit some selected buildings that will reveal the wealth, refinement and change of mentality that the city enjoyed in this colonial period.
5:40pm: after your discovery journey of the colonial gem of Southern Spain, reconnect with your driver and be transferred back to your hotel in Seville.
7pm: arrival to your hotel in Seville and end of services for the day.
Overnight in Seville: Executive Suite (king) for parents and 2 deluxe rooms (king) for son and daughter, all of them with breakfast included at Hotel Alfonso XIII (5*)
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27th of December: morning walking tour of Seville World Heritage Sites and evening tapas tour through the quarter of Triana
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10am: be met by your personal local host at your hotel in Seville to start a private walking tour that will take you to visit its impressive World Heritages Sites: the Alcazar or Moorish palace, the Cathedral with its Giralda tower and the Archive of the Indies.
You will start your discovery journey by visiting the Alcazar, which is a massive complex of palaces erected in different periods and of breath-taking gardens of different styles. The Alcazar has stunning historical constructions featuring a very particular crossover between Hispanic-Muslim and Christian architecture styles, called Mudejar. This style became very fashionable in Spain in the 14th and 15th centuries amongst the Christian nobility and it reached its maximum splendor in Seville. Another essential part of the Alcazar is the famous house of Trade, which once hosted the offices from where all the commerce with the New World was managed. After enjoying these inner areas, you will be taken to the gardens, which are an exquisite sample of European landscaping from the 16th until the 20th centuries.
Then you will be taken to visit the Cathedral, which is the largest gothic temple in the World and where Christopher Columbus is buried. The Cathedral of Seville was built on a vast extension of land where previously a Mosque had been erected. An important part of the Mosque was preserved and it is now a part of the Cathedral. This makes it a unique construction featuring styles as diverse as Hispanic-Muslim, Gothic, Renaissance, Neoclassical and Baroque. A most important part of the Cathedral is its bell tower known as la Giralda, which is a perfectly preserved Hispanic-Muslim minaret from the period when a Mosque occupied the grounds where the Cathedral stands today. During your tour you will be taken to the top in order to enjoy the wonderful views of Seville that one can admire from there.
To finish you will visit the Archive of the Indies. The Archive of the Indies is an iconic neoclassical building erected to keep invaluable documents from all those commercial expeditions that took place between Seville and the New World. Learning about it will uncover probably the most glorious period of the history of Seville and how it connects to the American continent and to the present character of the city.
2pm: end of your tour and rest of the afternoon at leisure before your evening tapas tour through the quarter of Triana.
7:30pm: be met by your personal local host at your hotel to go on a discovery journey of the tapas scene of the iconic quarter of Triana. The city of Seville is divided into two parts by the famous Guadalquivir river. The Eastern part concentrates the impressive World Heritage sites of the city and the vast majority of its hotels. Because of this, travelers rarely venture into the iconic Western quarter of Triana, historically famous for its bullfighters, flamenco dancers and skilled ceramicists and potters.
This tour will take you from your hotel, across the river into this unique area of the Andalusian capital. Once in Triana, you will be given a short introduction about the quarter to later start a tapas tasting tour that will take you to 2 – 3 selected local bars, where you will be offered a selection of 6 – 9 local dishes to share with the corresponding drinks.
This will make an excellent opportunity to deepen into the Southern Spanish way of life, gastronomy and wines after your previous experiences during the trip. Seville is a tapas paradise and the quarter of Triana keeps this local tradition untouched.
10:30pm: end of the tour back at your hotel.
Overnight in Seville: Executive Suite (king) for parents and 2 deluxe rooms (king) for son and daughter, all of them with breakfast included at Hotel Alfonso XIII (5*)
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28th of December: from Seville to Madrid via the city of Córdoba to visit the Great Mosque – Cathedral and the old city quarters
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9am: meet your personal driver at your hotel in Seville and be transferred in a modern and comfortable Mercedes minivan to Córdoba old town.
10:40am: upon arrival to Córdoba old town, meet your personal local host to go on a 3h discovery journey of the historical center of the city.
A UNESCO site since 1994, Córdoba is an inspirational city, which during the Middle Ages, saw a peaceful interaction between the three great Mediterranean cultures. Jews, Muslims and Christians coexisted then in the city turning it into a unique intellectual hub that gave birth to very renowned philosophers, poets, scientists and doctors. This also resulted in the construction of unique buildings of remarkable historical significance.
During your private walking tour, you’ll learn about the period of maximum intellectual splendor of the city and you will see beautiful examples of architecture and urban planning that will allow you to recreate all the grandeur of this era, which has the Great Mosque – Cathedral, the synagogue and the Chapel of Saint Bartholomew as its most representative constructions.
The Great Mosque-Cathedral is probably the most thought-provoking building in Spain and your personal local host will uncover all its beauty and complexity for you. You will understand its origins, its different enlargements and the role that the building has played in the culture and social fabric of the city throughout the centuries.
The synagogue will allow you to understand the very important Jewish – Sephardic community that Córdoba once had and how much it embraced Hispanic-Muslim decorative arts in its places of devotion.
In the Chapel of Saint Bartholomew you will be explained about the transformations that the Jewish quarter of Cordoba suffered after the historical pogrom of 1391 and how it was repopulated with Christians, who were also very heavily influenced by the elaborate Hispanic-Muslim decorative arts of that time.
1:40pm: after your tour, enjoy some free time for lunch at leisure. We will give you recommendations and will book a table for you if you wish.
3:30pm: after your free time in the city, reconnect with your driver and be transferred back to your hotel near Madrid airport.
7:30pm: arrival to your hotel near Madrid airport and end of services for the day
Overnight near Madrid airport: Hilton Madrid Airport hotel (own arrangements).
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29th of December: departure from Madrid
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Time TBC: take a taxi or the hotel’s shuttle service to get to Madrid airport.
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Pricing
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The cost of this bespoke trip for a private group of 4 pax is 32130 Euros
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This price includes
– 7 nights accommodation with breakfast included as per mentioned above.
– All private transportation services mentioned above in a modern and comfortable Mercedes minivan with a personal driver.
– All private tours and experiences mentioned above with a knowledgeable, personable, kind, flexible and interactive fully licensed guide with a great command of the English language.
– All entrance tickets for all your guided tours.
– Admission to a selected flamenco performance in Granada with 4 artists on stage: 2 dancers, 1 singer and 1 dancer.
– A tapas and wines dinner through 2 – 3 selected tapas bars of Granada old town including a selection of 6 – 9 local dishes to share and up to 4 drinks per person (beer, wine, refreshments, water) and finishing with a sweet local treat.
– Preferential admission to the horse show at the Royal School of Equestrian Art in Jerez and private tour of the backstage, the stables and the tack room during the interlude of the show.
– A tapas and wines dinner through 2 – 3 selected tapas bars of the quarter of Triana in Seville including a selection of 6 – 9 local dishes to share and up to 4 drinks per person (beer, wine, refreshments, water) and finishing with a sweet local treat.
– A list of recommended things to do and see and of places to eat in each of the places you will visit. We will also book tables for you if you wish as long as credit/debit cards are not needed to finalize the reservations. In these cases, we will send you a link so you can finalize the reservations easily online yourselves.
– 24h Guardian Angel service for any emergencies you may have during your trip.
– All taxes.
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This price excludes
– Your international flights.
– Your accommodation near Madrid airport on the 28th of December.
– Any meals not mentioned right above. During your day trips to El Caminito del Rey, to Jerez and Cadiz and to Córdoba, we will give you recommendations of places to go for lunch and we will book tables for you if you wish but the cost of lunch is not included.
– Anything else not mentioned right above.
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Confirmation and payments
This trip is confirmed after you paid a deposit of 10515 Euros via credit/debit card. The balance of the trip (21615 Euros) must be paid no later than 30 days prior to its scheduled start.
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Grand total of this trip: 32130 Euros
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Deposit needed confirm the trip (already paid): 10515 Euros
Balance needed no later than 30 days prior to the start of the trip: 21615 Euros
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Cancellation policy
– If you cancel your trip more than 30 days prior to its scheduled start, we will only charge the deposit you paid to confirm the trip.
– If you cancel your trip between 30 and 8 days prior to its scheduled start, we will charge 45% of the full cost of the trip and we will refund the remaining 55%.
– If you cancel your trip between 7 and 4 days prior to its scheduled start, we will charge 70% of the full cost of the trip and we will refund the remaining 30%.
– If you cancel your trip 3 days or less prior to its scheduled start, we will charge 100% of the full cost of the trip.
(*) Please note that partial cancellations won’t result in partial refunds (this applies to the group size and to the duration, activities and services included in the trip) except for partial cancellations of hotel reservations, communicated in writing no later than 7 days prior to the date of the corresponding stay. These will be fully refunded.
(**) Genuine Andalusia strongly recommends purchasing travel insurance for any international trip. Most of our US guests buy their travel insurance from MedJet.
