Madrid to Seville
Madrid → Seville
The Al Andalus Madrid to Seville journey is a seven-day, six-night grand tour of Spain's most storied heartland — a rolling palace that carries just 64 guests through royal gardens, UNESCO World Heritage cities, Roman amphitheatres, Don Quixote windmills, sherry bodegas, and the labyrinthine streets of Andalusia. Beginning with a panoramic welcome in Madrid and ending in the golden light of Seville, the route stitches together civilisations — Moorish, Roman, Jewish, and Christian — that shaped the Iberian Peninsula.
Aboard the Al Andalus, restored vintage carriages blend Mudéjar-inspired décor with modern comforts: two cabin categories (Gran Clase and Deluxe Suite), four open lounge cars, a restaurant car, and a lively bar-pub car for evening entertainment. Every breakfast, lunch, and dinner is included — whether served at white-linen tables in the restaurant car or in celebrated local restaurants — along with wines, guided excursions, luxury coach transfers, and all entrance fees. The train parks overnight at each station so sleep is never disturbed by motion.
Departures run from spring through autumn, with September and October particularly prized for their warm, crowd-free conditions across Andalusia and Extremadura. This is an itinerary for travellers who want depth as well as comfort: each stop is unhurried, each guide is multilingual, and each city reveals a different chapter in Spain's extraordinary story.
- ✦Four UNESCO World Heritage cities: Aranjuez, Toledo, Cáceres, and Mérida
- ✦The legendary Mezquita-Cathedral of Córdoba — architectural wonder of the medieval world
- ✦Equestrian ballet and sherry bodega tasting in Jerez de la Frontera
- ✦Don Quixote windmills at Campo de Criptana in La Mancha
- ✦Ancient Cádiz — the oldest city in the Western world — on the Atlantic shore
- ✦Mérida's Roman Theatre, Amphitheatre, and Temple of Diana — finest Roman remains in Spain
- ✦Grand finale in Seville: Gothic Cathedral, living Alcázar palace, and the Santa Cruz quarter
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Day 1 — Madrid & Aranjuez
Guests are welcomed at 10:00 at the Hospes Puerta de Alcalá Hotel in Madrid for a panoramic city tour taking in the Prado district, Retiro Park, and the grand Paseo de la Castellana before lunch together. In the afternoon, coaches transfer the group south to Aranjuez, where the Al Andalus awaits at the historic station. After a welcome drink and crew introduction, passengers explore the Royal Palace of Aranjuez and its celebrated formal gardens — the Parterre and the Jardín del Príncipe — a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, famous for the interplay of Baroque architecture and waterways fed by the Tagus and Jarama rivers. Dinner is served on board as the train settles for the night in Aranjuez.
Day 2 — Aranjuez, Toledo & Alcázar de San Juan
After breakfast, coaches carry guests to Toledo, once the Imperial capital of Spain and now a UNESCO World Heritage City renowned as the “City of Three Cultures.” The guided tour visits the soaring Gothic Catedral Primada, the Sinagoga del Tránsito (a 14th-century masterpiece of Mudéjar craftsmanship), the Cristo de la Luz mosque, and the winding lanes of the Jewish Quarter. Lunch is taken in Toledo, with free time afterwards to browse the city's famous damascene workshops or climb to a mirador overlooking the Tagus gorge. The group returns to Aranjuez, re-boards the train, and travels east across the plains of Castilla–La Mancha to Alcázar de San Juan. Dinner on board and overnight in Alcázar de San Juan.
Day 3 — La Mancha & Cáceres
The morning is devoted to the essence of La Mancha: a visit to an artisanal Manchego cheese dairy where guests see the traditional production of Spain's most iconic cheese, followed by a local wine cellar tasting featuring the robust reds of the La Mancha DO. After lunch in the region, coaches head to Campo de Criptana to see the iconic hilltop windmills — the very giants that inspired Cervantes when he wrote Don Quixote. The ten surviving 16th-century molinos stand sentinel above the plains and offer sweeping views across the meseta. The group returns to the train for dinner on board as the Al Andalus travels west into Extremadura, arriving overnight in Cáceres.
Day 4 — Cáceres & Mérida
Breakfast welcomes guests to Cáceres, a UNESCO World Heritage City whose old town is one of the best-preserved medieval ensembles in Europe. The walking tour winds through the Plaza Mayor into the walled Ciudad Monumental, passing Romanesque towers, Renaissance palaces (including the Casa de los Golfines and the Palacio de los Galarza), and Moorish defensive walls — a layered tapestry of eight centuries of history. Lunch is taken in Cáceres before coaches move south to Mérida, founded in 25 BC as Emerita Augusta and once the capital of Roman Lusitania. The UNESCO-listed archaeological ensemble — the Roman Theatre (capacity 6,000), the Amphitheatre, the Temple of Diana, the Arch of Trajan, and the National Museum of Roman Art — is among the finest outside Italy. Dinner on board as the Al Andalus travels south overnight towards Jerez.
Day 5 — Jerez de la Frontera
A full day in Jerez de la Frontera, the spiritual home of sherry and Andalusian horsemanship. The morning begins with the world-famous equestrian performance “Cómo Bailan los Caballos Andaluces” (How the Andalusian Horses Dance) at the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art — an extraordinary display of dressage and baroque riding. Lunch follows at a local restaurant. The afternoon brings a visit to one of Jerez's historic sherry bodegas, where guests tour the cathedral-like aging warehouses, learn the solera blending system, and taste the full range from bone-dry Fino to rich Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez. Free time to explore Jerez's Moorish Alcázar, Gothic cathedral, and flamenco-filled old quarter. Dinner and overnight on board.
Day 6 — Jerez, Cádiz & Córdoba
After breakfast, a luxury coach runs to Cádiz — La Tacita de Plata (the Silver Cup) — one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the Western world, founded by the Phoenicians around 1100 BC. The guided tour explores the golden-domed Catedral Nueva, the ancient Barrio del Pópulo, and the atmospheric fish market before guests have free time to walk the sea-front promenade or sample fresh seafood at a harbour-side restaurant. Lunch on board as the Al Andalus departs Jerez and heads north-east to Córdoba. The evening's centrepiece is a guided visit to the Mezquita-Catedral — the Great Mosque of Córdoba — a UNESCO World Heritage monument of breathtaking scale: 856 columns of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite; the gilded mihrab; and the Renaissance cathedral built within its forest of arches. A walking tour of the Judería (Jewish Quarter) and the flower-filled Calleja de las Flores follows. Dinner and overnight in Córdoba.
Day 7 — Córdoba & Seville
After a final leisurely breakfast on board, the Al Andalus makes its last run south-west to Seville, arriving at approximately 13:30. Guests are transferred to the Hospes Las Casas del Rey de Baeza Hotel, where the journey concludes with a guided tour of Europe's largest Gothic cathedral (the Catedral de Sevilla and its iconic Giralda tower), the stunning Mudéjar–Renaissance Real Alcázar, the sweeping Plaza de España, and the colourful lanes of the Barrio de Santa Cruz. The historic city centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and forms a magnificent finale to a journey through the soul of Spain. Farewells are exchanged mid-afternoon.
Destinations & Highlights
Aranjuez — Royal Gardens on the Tagus
Set at the confluence of the Tagus and Jarama rivers 50 km south of Madrid, Aranjuez was the Spanish crown's favourite spring retreat from the 16th century onwards. The Royal Palace, begun under Philip II and expanded under the Bourbons, is flanked by some of the finest formal gardens in Spain — the French-style Parterre, the English-style Jardín del Príncipe, and the romantic Jardín de la Isla. The ensemble was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscape in 2001.
Toledo — City of Three Cultures
Perched on a granite hill encircled by the River Tagus, Toledo served as the Imperial capital of Spain under Charles V and as the seat of the Visigothic kingdom before that. Its remarkably intact old city — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — contains a Gothic cathedral begun in 1226, the 14th-century Sinagoga del Tránsito with its extraordinary Mudéjar plasterwork, the Cristo de la Luz mosque (a jewel of Caliphate architecture), and scores of Renaissance palaces. El Greco spent much of his career here, and several of his masterpieces remain in the city's churches and museum.
La Mancha & Campo de Criptana — Don Quixote Country
The flat, sun-bleached plains of La Mancha are inseparable from Cervantes' Don Quixote, published in 1605 — the first modern novel and the most widely translated book in history after the Bible. The hilltop windmills of Campo de Criptana, some dating to the 16th century, are the very models for the “giants” that the Knight of the Sad Countenance attacks in the novel's most famous scene. La Mancha is also celebrated for its Manchego DOP cheese — made exclusively from local Manchega sheep's milk — and for the full-bodied reds and crisp whites of the Denominación de Origen La Mancha.
Cáceres & Mérida — Extremadura's Twin Heritage Cities
Cáceres old town is one of the most intact medieval-Renaissance urban landscapes in Europe, its skyline of towers and rooftops virtually unchanged since the 15th century — earning UNESCO recognition in 1986. Mérida, founded in 25 BC as the capital of Roman Lusitania, contains the most extensive Roman remains in Spain: the 6,000-seat Theatre, the Amphitheatre, the Circus, the Temple of Diana, two aqueducts, and a bridge across the Guadiana that was the longest in the ancient Roman world. The National Museum of Roman Art, designed by Rafael Moneo, houses one of the finest collections of Roman sculpture and mosaics in existence.
Jerez de la Frontera — Sherry, Horses & Flamenco
Jerez is the soul of three quintessentially Andalusian traditions: sherry wine, pure-bred Carthusian horses, and flamenco. The town's historic bodegas — Tío Pepe, González Byass, Osborne, Lustau — age their wines using the solera system in vast cathedral-like warehouses. The Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art (Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre) is internationally regarded as one of the great equestrian academies in the world. The Barrio de Santiago, birthplace of many flamenco dynasties, pulses with the art form's most authentic expression.
Cádiz — Europe's Oldest City
Founded by the Phoenicians c. 1100 BC, Cádiz is considered the oldest continuously inhabited city in Western Europe — more than 3,000 years of seafaring, trade, and Atlantic adventure concentrated on a narrow peninsula. Its distinctive golden-domed Catedral Nueva, 18th-century watchtowers, Roman theatre, and vibrant market culture make it one of Andalusia's most characterful cities. The city's liberal traditions produced Spain's first democratic constitution in 1812.
Córdoba — Heart of Al-Ándalus
At its 10th-century peak, Córdoba was the largest city in Europe — a brilliant capital of Islamic learning, philosophy, medicine, and art. The Mezquita-Catedral (UNESCO 1984) encapsulates this extraordinary history: begun as a mosque in 784 AD, enlarged to hold 20,000 worshippers, and then converted to a cathedral after the Christian Reconquest, it is one of the most awe-inspiring buildings on earth. The surrounding Judería (Jewish Quarter), with its whitewashed lanes, flower-decked courtyards, and the 14th-century Sinagoga, adds another layer to Córdoba's multicultural legacy.
Seville — Grand Finale of Andalusia
Spain's fourth-largest city, Seville possesses the largest historic centre in Spain and one of the largest in Europe — a UNESCO World Heritage Site encompassing the Gothic cathedral (the world's largest when completed in 1506), the Giralda minaret-turned-bell-tower, and the Real Alcázar, the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe. The Barrio de Santa Cruz, the city's former Jewish quarter, is a maze of orange-tree-shaded plazas and tiled fountains. The monumental Plaza de España, built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition, is one of the grandest public spaces on the continent.