The tour starts with a three-night stay in Barcelona’s Gothic quarter with guided tours of Las Ramblas and La Boqueria market before visiting Gaudi’s unfinished cathedral La Sagrada Familia. Parc Guell, the Unesco-listed Art Nouveau park by Gaudi, is also on the itinerary. An excursion to the 11th-century Montserrat Monastery, home to the Black Madonna, is optional.
Guests then take the AVE high-speed train to Madrid, with a sight-seeing tour included. Three nights are spent at the Hotel Rafael Atocha with a visit to the Prado museum, a guided stroll through Madrid’s literary quarter, Barrio de Las Letras, and a chance a drink in Hemingway’s favourite bar, La Ceverceria Alemana.
The group then heads back south to Seville, where there is an optional river cruise along the Guadalquivir. To round off the trip there is a mountain train ride on one of Spain’s oldest railways, which once served the British copper mines of Rio Tinto.
Richard Newsome, holiday buyer at Saga who created the tour, said: “The cities that are visited in this tour offer a distilled version of each region’s particular characteristics and taking the AVE train is a fast and fun way to get between them.”
The nine-night escorted package leads in at £999 including Gatwick flights, breakfast and six dinners.
