Northern Spain: Basque Country to Madrid

Board your overnight flight to Bilbao today.

Welcome to Spain! Arrive in Bilbao, an industrial port city in the Basque Country that’s home to the iconic, Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum, as well as a world-renowned dining scene. Get to know your Tour Director and fellow group members at tonight’s welcome dinner.

Set off on a guided sightseeing tour of the port city of Bilbao with your Tour Director.

• Admire the architecture in Bilbao’s Old Quarter, known as Casco Viejo
• Enter the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum, a showplace of modern and contemporary art, and admire the unique architecture alongside a local guide

Spend a free afternoon in the city or add an excursion.

En route to the beautiful coastal city of Santander, join a local guide for a walking tour of San Sebastián, a town considered by many to be the culinary capital of Spain.

• Pass by Playa de la Concha and make your way through the Old Quarter
• Wander through the city’s main square, Plaza de la Constitución, a site that previously played host to bullfights
• Take a moment to gaze up at the balconies of the buildings surrounding the square; they once served as box seating for bullfights held in the plaza below
• Walk through the city’s fish market to see a variety of fresh, local catches on display
• Learn from your local guide where in town to go pintxos-hopping and how to make the most of this regional dining experience
• Enjoy free time to explore and to grab a bite to eat

Continue on to the coastal city of Santander, the capital of Spain’s Cantabria province. Enjoy a walking tour through the city’s center and past historic landmarks, such as the Cathedral of Santander and the Plaza Porticada.

Enjoy a free day in Santander or add an excursion.

Head toward Oviedo, stopping to take in some of Spain’s impressive historical sites.

• Take a guided tour of the Altamira National Museum and Research Centre, which houses an exact replica of the Altamira Caves and the Paleolithic cave paintings that revolutionized archaeology when Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola discovered them in 1879
• Enjoy a leisurely stroll through the well-preserved medieval village of Santillana del Mar
• View the 11th-century Collegiate Church before enjoying free time

Then, continue on to Oviedo—capital of Spain’s Asturias province and home to several UNESCO World Heritage sites—and take in its highlights on a walking tour with a local guide.

• Make your way through the Gothic Quarter and enter the Roman Catholic Oviedo Cathedral, an important pilgrimage site along the Camino del Norte route
• Sample some local Asturias cheese to cap off your tour

This evening, tour a cider house and learn about the cider production process from a staffer. Afterward, sample hard ciders, including some straight out of the barrel. Then, sit down for an included dinner at the cider house.

En route to Santiago de Compostela, stop in the city of Lugo to explore its massive, UNESCO-listed Roman walls, which date back to the third century.

Continue along your way, and stop at the hilltop viewpoint known as Monte Viso to enjoy panoramic vistas of the Santiago de Compostela skyline.

Walk through Santiago de Compostela, a town that once ranked just behind Jerusalem and Rome as one of Christendom’s most important pilgrimage sites.

• Stroll along the ancient city’s narrow streets and stop at Parque de la Alameda
• Enter the Gothic Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, which marks the end of the Way of St. James

Enjoy free time in Santiago de Compostela or add an excursion.

Travel to the Castile and León region today to explore Salamanca, a city known for its ornate, sandstone architecture and its 13th-century university. Then, enjoy free time for the rest of the day or add an excursion.

Enjoy an included dinner with your group this evening in Salamanca.

Get to know UNESCO-listed Salamanca, whose yellow-toned, sandstone buildings earned it the nickname the Golden City, on a guided tour this morning.

• Explore Salamanca’s historic city center
• Walk through Plaza Mayor as you make your way to Las Torres de la Clerecía, and to the Gothic-style, 15th-century Casa de las Conchas, whose facade features more than 300 carvings of scallop shells
• Explore the 13th-century University of Salamanca, including the Escuelas Menores courtyard, the “Salamanca Sky” (or “Cielo de Salamanca”) mural, the Escuelas Mayores main building, and the Arzobispo Fonseca School
• View Anaya Palace and the city’s new and old cathedrals

Spend a free afternoon in Salamanca or add an excursion.

Make your way to Madrid, stopping first at a scenic viewpoint to snap photos of the Medieval Walls of Ávila, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Afterward, take a short ride to Segovia and join a local guide for a walking tour of the city, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to a towering, well-preserved Roman aqueduct.

• Explore the aqueduct, which was built in the first century A.D. and supplied water from the Frío River to the city into the 20th century
• Visit Segovia’s Gothic-style, Roman Catholic cathedral, and the adjacent Plaza Mayor
• Enter the Alcázar, the fairy-tale castle on the far end of the Old City
• Spend some time exploring the city on your own, perhaps by trying its famous roast suckling pig

Continue on to Madrid and celebrate your trip with your fellow travelers at tonight’s farewell dinner.

Transfer to the airport for your flight home or extend your stay to explore Madrid.