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Royal Iberia: Portugal and Spain

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Fly into: Lisbon Fly out of: Madrid
Total Duration: 13 days

Looking for a royal flush? This itinerary takes in royal themed sites in Portugal and Spain. You'll follow in the footsteps of kings, queens, and royal explorers, visiting castles, monasteries, and palaces. Start in Lisbon and Sintra before heading to Spain to explore Madrid, Segovia, and Toledo. It's not all palaces and churches, though; we've included plenty of cultural and food stops as well as the occasional nature break.

    This Trip's Top Experiences:

  • Art and Culture
  • Architecture
  • Food and Wine
  • History
Days 1-3
Jose Manuel-ITP

1 Lisbon

Castles and Kings

  • The kings of Portugal once resided at the Castelo de São Jorge
  • The Museum-School of Decorative Arts is inside the 17th-century Azurara palace
  • View one of the best collections of royal coaches in the world at the Coach Museum in Belém
  • History
  • Museums
Discover Lisbon »
Days 4-5
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Vinicius Tupinamba/shutterstock

2 Sintra and Queluz

Where the Wealthy Summered

  • Palácio Nacional de Sintra is the only surviving palace from the Middle Ages in Portugal
  • Take a horse-drawn carriage to visit the Pena Palace
  • The town of Queluz is dominated entirely by its impressive palace
  • History
  • Architecture
Discover Sintra and Queluz »
Days 6-8
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Vinicius Tupinamba/Shutterstock

3 Madrid

Art, Palaces, and Peace

  • See portraits of Spain's royals at the legendary Prado
  • The 18th-century Palacio Real has 2,800 rooms
  • Picasso's Guernica is the showpiece at the Queen Sofia Art Center
  • Parque del Buen Retiro was once the private playground of royalty
  • Museums
  • Natural Beauty
  • Architecture
Discover Madrid »
Days 9-11
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Hakan Svensso/wikipedia.org

4 Segovia

Royal Sites and Inspiring Landscapes

  • The Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial has a wealth of paintings—and plenty of dead kings
  • Visit the Roman aqueduct, one of the greatest surviving examples of Roman engineering
  • Climb the rampart of the imposing Alcázar castle
  • Museums
  • Architecture
  • History
Discover Segovia »
Days 12-13
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Jose Luis Mesa/shutterstock

5 Toledo

El Greco's Inspiration

  • Lose yourself in the maze-like streets
  • See El Greco's work in many churches here
  • Toledo's cathedral is one of the most richly endowed in Spain
  • Architecture
  • Art and Culture
  • Museums
Discover Toledo »

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