Seville to Madrid
Seville → Madrid
The Al Andalus luxury train's seven-day journey from Seville to Madrid is one of Spain's most celebrated rail experiences — a rolling palace that carries guests from the sun-soaked plazas of Andalusia through the ancient heartland of Extremadura and across the windswept plains of Castilla-La Mancha before arriving at the Spanish capital. Travelling in carriages originally built in France in 1929–1930 for the British Royal Family, passengers experience a seamless blend of Belle Époque grandeur and 21st-century comfort.
The route is deliberately curated to trace the great civilisations that shaped the Iberian Peninsula. Within seven days, guests encounter the Islamic Caliphate legacy of Córdoba, Phoenician and Roman Cádiz, the medieval Portuguese frontier town of Zafra, two separate UNESCO World Heritage cities (Cáceres and Mérida), the cheese and wine traditions of La Mancha, the three-culture splendour of Toledo, and the royal gardens of Aranjuez — a journey through more than 2,000 years of history without ever unpacking a suitcase.
Because the Al Andalus sleeps in station yards overnight, every daylight hour is devoted to exploration. All excursions, entrance fees, on-board meals with wine, entertainment, and multilingual guide services are included, making this a genuinely all-encompassing experience from the welcome toast in Seville to the farewell breakfast approaching Madrid.
- ✦Guided visit to the UNESCO Mezquita-Cathedral of Córdoba, the jewel of Moorish Spain
- ✦Equestrian ballet and sherry bodega tasting in Jerez de la Frontera
- ✦Two UNESCO World Heritage cities — Cáceres and Mérida — in a single day
- ✦Don Quixote windmills at Campo de Criptana in La Mancha
- ✦Three-culture Toledo: Gothic Cathedral, Moorish mosque, and Sephardic synagogue
- ✦Travel in restored 1929–1930 Belle Époque carriages originally built for the British Royal Family
- ✦All meals, excursions, wines, and entertainment included throughout the journey
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Day 1 (Sunday) — Seville
Guests are welcomed at 10:00 at the landmark Hotel Alfonso XIII in Seville for a panoramic guided tour of Andalusia's capital — the largest historic centre in Spain, home to the UNESCO-listed Cathedral and Alcázar, and the evocative Barrio de Santa Cruz. After lunch in the city, passengers board the Al Andalus, are greeted with a welcome drink and introduced to the crew. The train departs in the afternoon as dinner is served in the elegant dining car, and the journey begins as dusk falls over the Guadalquivir valley. Overnight: Córdoba station.
Day 2 (Monday) — Córdoba · Cádiz · Jerez
Breakfast is served on board as the train rests in Córdoba. The morning is devoted to one of Spain's most extraordinary monuments: the Mezquita-Cathedral of Córdoba, a UNESCO World Heritage masterpiece where a forest of 856 red-and-white striped arches surrounds a Renaissance cathedral inserted at its heart. A guided walking tour continues through the Judería (Jewish quarter) and across Roman-era streets. Lunch is served on board as the train makes its way south. The afternoon is spent in Cádiz — widely considered the oldest continuously inhabited city in Western Europe, founded by the Phoenicians around 1100 BC — with a guided tour of its baroque old town, golden-domed cathedral, and sea-wall promenades before dinner in the city. Overnight: Jerez de la Frontera station.
Day 3 (Tuesday) — Jerez · Zafra
The morning's headline event is the celebrated equestrian show «Cómo Bailan los Caballos Andaluces» (How the Andalusian Horses Dance) — a graceful ballet of purebred Spanish horses set to traditional music, performed in Jerez, the world capital of the Andalusian horse and sherry wine. Lunch follows at a local restaurant. The afternoon brings a visit to a historic sherry bodega, where guests learn how the solera system ages fino, amontillado, and oloroso sherries. The train then departs north towards Zafra in Extremadura, with dinner on board. Overnight: Zafra station.
Day 4 (Wednesday) — Cáceres · Mérida
After breakfast the train arrives in Cáceres, whose old city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of rare completeness: an almost unchanged medieval and Renaissance ensemble of towers, palaces, and convents built by noble families who grew wealthy on the riches of the Americas. A guided walking tour navigates the Plaza Mayor, the walled Ciudad Monumental, and the intricate stonework of palaces such as the Casa de las Cigüeñas and the Palacio de los Golfines de Abajo. Lunch is served in the city before the train moves on to Mérida, the former capital of Roman Lusitania and another UNESCO World Heritage ensemble. Guests visit the superbly preserved Roman Theatre (built 16–15 BC, still used for performances today), the adjacent Amphitheatre, the Temple of Diana, and the monumental Trajan's Arch. Dinner and overnight on board in Mérida.
Day 5 (Thursday) — Mérida · Alcázar de San Juan · Campo de Criptana
Breakfast is served as the train heads north-east into Castilla-La Mancha. The morning excursion visits an artisan cheese dairy producing the DOP Manchego cheese that has been made on these plains for centuries, followed by a local wine cellar showcasing the wines of La Mancha. Lunch is taken nearby. The afternoon excursion travels to Campo de Criptana to see the iconic whitewashed windmills on the ridge of the Altos del Romeral — the very landscape that inspired Cervantes to write the scene in Don Quixote in which the knight errant tilts at giants. Ten of the original windmills survive, several converted into small museums. Dinner is served on board. Overnight: Alcázar de San Juan station.
Day 6 (Friday) — Toledo · Aranjuez
Breakfast on board as the train reaches Aranjuez, from where a coach excursion departs for Toledo — one of Spain's most historically layered cities and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986. Toledo served as the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom and later as the centre of Christian Spain's intellectual and artistic life. The guided tour visits the soaring Gothic Cathedral (one of the largest in Spain, housing works by El Greco, Goya, and Velázquez), the 10th-century Cristo de la Luz mosque (one of the best-preserved Moorish buildings in Spain), and the El Tránsito Synagogue, a jewel of Mudéjar architecture. Lunch is taken in Toledo with free time to explore the narrow lanes and browse the city's famous damascene metalwork workshops. The group returns to Aranjuez, where guests may explore the baroque Royal Palace of Aranjuez and its UNESCO-listed landscape gardens before an elegant gala dinner on board. Overnight: Aranjuez station.
Day 7 (Saturday) — Aranjuez · Madrid
A final celebratory breakfast is served on board as the Al Andalus makes the short run north to Madrid. Upon arrival, guests are treated to a panoramic tour of the Spanish capital, taking in the Paseo del Prado, the Puerta de Alcalá, the Plaza Mayor, and the Palacio Real. Lunch is served in Madrid before the journey concludes at the Hospes Puerta de Alcalá Hotel. The train arrives in Madrid in the early afternoon, bringing to a close seven days of immersive travel through the landscapes and cultures that define the soul of Spain.
Destinations & Highlights
Seville — Gateway to Andalusia
Seville is the capital of Andalusia and Spain's fourth-largest city, situated on the banks of the Guadalquivir River. Its historic centre — the largest in Spain — encompasses the great Gothic Cathedral (burial place of Christopher Columbus), the Alcázar palace complex, and the labyrinthine Barrio de Santa Cruz. Seville was the commercial hub of Spain's colonial empire and its architectural wealth reflects those centuries of prosperity. The city is also the undisputed home of flamenco.
Córdoba — Heart of the Caliphate
Córdoba was at its peak the largest city in Western Europe, the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate of Al-Andalus, and a centre of learning that preserved classical knowledge while the rest of Europe was in the Dark Ages. Its Mezquita-Cathedral — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — is one of the most extraordinary buildings in the world: a vast prayer hall of 856 columns built under successive Caliphs between the 8th and 10th centuries, into which a Renaissance cathedral was inserted in the 16th century. The surrounding Judería preserves medieval streets, Roman columns, and the 14th-century synagogue.
Cádiz & Jerez — Ancient Coast and Sherry Country
Cádiz, on a narrow peninsula jutting into the Atlantic, is arguably the oldest continuously inhabited city in Western Europe, founded by the Phoenicians around 1100 BC. Its old town is a compact maze of baroque churches, golden-domed cathedral, market halls, and sea-wall promenades with views across the Bay of Cádiz. Jerez de la Frontera, inland from the coast, is the home of sherry wine and of the legendary Andalusian horse. The Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art here is the world's foremost institution for the classical Spanish riding tradition.
Cáceres & Mérida — Extremadura's UNESCO Pair
Cáceres' walled old city is a near-perfect survival of medieval and Renaissance urban architecture, awarded UNESCO status in 1986. Noble towers, Moorish gates, and Renaissance palaces built by families enriched by conquest of the Americas crowd within its ancient walls. Mérida was founded by Augustus in 25 BC as Emerita Augusta, capital of the Roman province of Lusitania, and its archaeological ensemble — also UNESCO-listed — is the most extensive in Spain: a Roman theatre that seats 3,000 and is still used today, an amphitheatre, circus, aqueducts, bridges, and the National Museum of Roman Art.
Toledo — City of Three Cultures
Toledo was successively the Visigothic capital, a prosperous city under Moorish rule, and then the imperial capital of Castile. For several centuries in the Middle Ages it was home to the three great Abrahamic faiths living in relative coexistence — a legacy that survives in its extraordinary religious architecture: the massive Gothic Cathedral, ancient mosques converted and preserved, and Sephardic synagogues of Mudéjar craftsmanship. The city's medieval street plan is virtually unchanged, and its panoramic site on a granite outcrop encircled by the Tagus River makes it one of the most dramatically beautiful cities in Europe.