Recently updated on June 30th, 2025 at 02:58 pm
Arriving in Seville on Day 6 of my Highlights of Spain & Portugal trip, we celebrated our first night in the Andalusian capital with a Be My Guest dinner at a local hacienda. We were greeted by a Spanish rider and dancing horse. Very entertaining! Our hosts served us drinks and then we went inside for a delicious meal of Andalusian specialties. A very memorable evening all round.
First thing in the morning was a tour of the city. We walked through the Jewish quarter, old town and Maria Luisa Park, which was built for the 1929 World’s Fair. Then we came to the cathedral where Christopher Columbus is buried. An amazing and beautiful cathedral.
Next day we headed to Lisbon, Portugal, driving through dramatic mountain regions and beautiful green countryside. We stopped along the way at a gift shop and while we were shopping, our Travel Director, Manuel, had a great idea. He asked the store owner if it was possible to visit a local private home to see how they actually live in the countryside. The owner, without hesitation, offered to show us his sister-in-law’s home not far from the store. We were all charmed by this middle class family’s farmhouse with its pool, a few animals and nice garden. It was a lovely visit, and very unexpected.
Our city tour of Lisbon with a Local Guide the following day was very interesting, with stops to take photos at some of the city’s famous monuments. Later I opted to visit some of the seaside towns. At the fishing village of Cascais we had time to do some shopping and then we continued to Sintra. This very cute town has a lovely summer palace, which we visited and then had lunch at one of the town’s outdoor restaurants.
Next day we headed to Fatima, a religious town where the Virgin Mary appeared to three children and revealed the future. Pilgrims often come to pray here, some crawl on their knees all the way to the shrine, which was very emotional to witness.
From there we drove to Oporto where we took in some of the city’s sights followed by a visit to a port wine cellar for a tasting of this famous Local Specialty. In the morning, we headed back across the Spanish border to Madrid, stopping along the way in Salamanca, a small town with the oldest University in Spain.
Dinner that night was at a very elegant restaurant in the old city of Madrid. The food was delicious and it was an excellent restaurant. After dinner, we drove through town to see Madrid at night.
The last day of our trip began with a tour of this beautiful city with its interesting architecture, historic buildings and monuments. We visited the Royal Palace and then I went on an optional excursion to the Prado museum, which houses one of the greatest collections of works by Goya and other famous Spanish painters. Our final Farewell Dinner was at a small, family-owned restaurant. Lovely setting and the food was very good.
It was a great adventure, filled with history, lots of interesting places to visit and wonderful food to taste. And doing the trip in the springtime brought us near-perfect weather that let us make the most of the outdoors, eating, shopping and strolling the streets without the crowds of the peak season!
By Anna Dolgin from USA
To read Anna’s full Highlights of Spain & Portugal travel tale, visit the Trafalgar Community Forums here