Glories of Spain & Portugal

Embark the Panorama II at 4 pm. Settle in to your cabin and attend a welcome dinner on board. Overnight at sea to Portimao, Portugal.

Enjoy a half day excursion to Silves, a city largely destroyed by a 17th-century earthquake. Marvel at the centuries-old Moorish castle complex with an underground water reservoir, a 13th-century Cathedral built by Alfonso X of Castile on the site of a former Mosque, and a fine strong 15th-century bridge over the Rio Arade. During your visit to Silves, spend some time browsing the historic exhibits at the Museu Arqueológico. Leave Silves and travel into the Serra de Monchique to reach the picturesque city of Monchique and walk through its cobbled streets with small doorways housing various artisan trades. There is a 17th-century Franciscan monastery overlooking the town and a 16th-century Parish Church decorated with hand-crafted blue ceramic tiles.

Return to Portimao for a late lunch. In the afternoon, take an optional walking excursion to Portimao town or spend free time shopping and bathing at the local beach. Sail to Cadiz in the late afternoon. Overnight at sea to Cadiz.

This morning leave port to drive inland for a full-day optional excursion to Seville, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, where Moorish and Spanish art and culture have left their mark. Your optional excursion brings you to the Cathedral, the Alcazar Palace and its Andalusian gardens, the Maria Luisa Park, and the quaint and elegant district of Santa Cruz. Return to Cadiz in the late evening. Overnight in port.

Take part in an optional full-day excursion to Jerez de la Frontera, famous for its wines, horse breeding, and flamenco. Visit the Alcazar, the cathedral, and a “ganadería”, where bulls are raised to take part in bull fighting, very much part of Spanish culture. Go back on board for lunch followed by an optional guided tour of Cadiz and Sanlucar de Barrameda. Begin with a guided visit of Cadiz, with its white and blue buildings and its rich historic and cultural wealth. Later reach the area of Sanlucar de Barrameda and visit a wine cellar renowned for its production of “Manzanilla”. Return to the ship in the late afternoon. Overnight at sea to Gibraltar. 

Arrive at Gibraltar in the early morning and enjoy an optional half day excursion in the “Rock”. Visit the Cable Car Base Station and reach the Top Station perched on the summit of Gibraltar for a breathtaking view as you are suspended in mid-air. Then travel to the Middle Station and the sanctuary of Gibraltar’s older inhabitants, the Barbary Apes, roaming free around this station. Return to your coach for a 5-minute drive to Princess Caroline’s Battery and the entrance to the Great Siege Tunnels, a system of tunnels carved out of solid limestone. Proceed to the Gibraltar Museum with its enormous amount of artifacts on display. Return to your yacht or stay in town and make your own arrangements for returning to the yacht in the night. Overnight in port

Enjoy an early morning sailing to Porto Banus, Spain. Arrive in Porto Banus. Enjoy an optional full-day excursion to Ronda, 50 km inland, a city which retains much of its historic charm, particularly its old town and the nearby 18th-century Puente Nuevo. Ronda is also famous as the birthplace of modern bullfighting, today glimpsed once a year at the spectacular Feria Goyesca. Plaza de Toros is now a museum, and visitors can stroll out into the arena. Your full-day optional excursion includes visits to an elegant cloistered 16th-century convent and old Ronda with its cobbled streets hemmed by handsome town mansions, some still occupied by Ronda's titled families such as the Casa de Don Bosco. Walk to the leafy Plaza Duquesa de Parcent, which boasts a convent and two churches, including the toy town bell tower of the iglesia Santa Maria de Mayor. Return to port and take some time to visit trendy Marbella. Overnight at sea to Motril.

Arrive to Motril in the morning and enjoy an optional full-day excursion to Granada, one of the most fascinating cities in Europe and the last Muslim city to fall to the Christians in 1492. Visit one of the most brilliant jewels of universal architecture, the Alhambra, a series of palaces and gardens built under the Nazari Dynasty in the 14th c. Explore the Cathedral with its Royal Chapel where Isabel and Ferdinand lie buried, and the Monastery of La Cartuja and many churches built by Moorish craftsmen after the Reconquest, in Granada's unique "mudéjar" style. In the afternoon, leave Grenada to return to Motril. Overnight at sea to Malaga.

Arrive in Malaga early in the morning and disembark after breakfast. Transfer to the airport for your continued independent journeys.