Andalucia: the very word is like a bell. Between 710 and 730 the Arabs overran virtually the whole of Spain and an area stretching up beyond the Pyrenees as far as Poitiers. Driven south again by Charles Martel, they were gradually compressed by the Christian reconquest of Spain into a smaller and smaller area of its southernmost province, until the last oozings of their culture were distilled and condensed in the Royal Court of Granada in the 14th and 15th centuries. These extraordinary people who transformed themselves in less than a century from illiterate tent-dwelling nomads into the cultivated custodians of the mediterranean civilisation of antiquity, left

behind them an eclectic cultural heritage so rich and persuasive that not even its most determined enemies - the Christian Kings - could learn to live without it. Much that we take for granted, from the principals and precepts of systematic theology to the procedures of ophthalmic surgery, we owe to the Arabs. Our tour concentrates on the high places of this Islamic adventure, but also notices the Graeco-Roman heritage which the Arabs absorbed from their Visigothic predecessors here, and the culture of conspicuous wealth which succeeded their departure.

Fly to Malaga and transfer by coach to the Hotel in Granada. After settling in to our rooms, we will visit the Cathedral, the Treasury and the Royal Chapel. Dinner this evening will be taken in a local restaurant.

Our day is spent in and around the Alhambra. In the morning we visit the 13th century Moorish Palace and the 16th century Renaissance Palace which Charles V parked like a time-machine next door to it. After an independent lunch in the Palace gardens, we stroll across to the Generalife, summer Palace of the Caliphs, with its famous water gardens. In the evening we will take a stroll through the Albaicin, the colourful Old Quarter of Granada from which the buildings and gardens we visited during the day can be seen across the narrow valley, spread out against the night sky and the snowy backdrop of the Sierra Nevada.

We leave Granada for the drive to Cordoba visiting Medina Al Zahara en route. Begun in 936 by Abdelrahman III , destroyed by the Berbers in 1010 and buried for centuries, this ideal Palace complex , designed to house the Caliph's extended family, a garrison of 12,000 soldiers, and a household of 4000 servants, lay forgotten until the discovery in 1944 of the magnificent Royal Apartments. Dinner this evening will be taken in a local restaurant.

We begin our day with a visit to the Meszquita Cathedral of Cordoba, without doubt one of the world's most astonishing architectural experiences. After an independent lunch , we take a stroll through the ancient Jewish quarter of Cordoba, silent witness to a brief and golden age when Muslims, Jews and Christians lived peaceably side by side under the government of a Philosopher King, ending our afternoon in the quiet Courtyard gardens of the Palacio Viana.

We check out of the hotel and drive through the countryside to Palma del Rio where we will stop for lunch (which today is included) in a 16th century Franciscan monastery. After lunch we drive on to Carmona where we will pause to stretch our legs and inspect the vestiges of Carthaginian, Roman and Moorish occupation of this strategic fortified town. Arriving in Seville at the end of the afternoon, we check in to the picturesque Hotel in the heart of the old city.

We begin our visits today with the Alacazar. This, the essentially Mudejar residence of the Spanish Kings for over 600 years, constitutes an anthology of Moorish and Spanish interior and exterior decoration over that period, and houses among other things a spectacular series of mid-16th century tapestries recording Charles Vth's invasion of Tunisia in 1535. From the Alacazar we cross the square to the Cathedral. Built, as at Cordoba, on the site of the mosque, its enormous footprint was designed to obliterate its predecessor, making it, in ground-plan, the world's largest Gothic building. Of the original Mosque, only the famous Giralda remains, a minaret transformed into a campanile by the Christians. The ascent of the tower is still made not by a spiral staircase, but by a succession of ramps, which enabled an aged muezzin to make the his five daily journeys up and down it on a donkey. After an independent lunch, we take a stroll through the narrow streets and lanes of the Old Quarter - the Barrio de Santa Cruz - visiting the so-called Casa de Pilatos, and ending our afternoon in the Museo de Bellas Artes whose collections include works by El Greco, Ribera, Zurbaran, and Murillo.

Our journey today will be broken by a visit to Ronda, where we will take a turn about the little white-washed town before lunch (which today is again included) in another Parador, perched over the spectacular Tajo which separates the new town from the old. After lunch we continue our descent to the coast and our hotel in Malaga. Dinner this evening is included and will be taken in the hotel.

After some free time in the city we make our way to Malaga airport and our flight home to the UK.

• Accommodation -
  • Bed & breakfast in 4 star hotels in Granada, Cordoba, Seville and Malaga.
  • 3 dinners and two lunches
• Transport
  • Private coach throughout for all transfers and excursions
• Excursions as outlined in the itinerary.
• Entrance fees to all places mentioned in the itinerary
• Services of an experienced lecturer/tour leader -
• Local guide where required by local legislation
• All tips and gratuities

• Insurance
  • It is a condition of booking that you have adequate travel insurance to cover your needs when you travel with us. This will need to cover a missed departure, any emergency that may arise while you are travelling with us, and should also enable you to claim back from the insurance company any monies already paid to us or due to us in the event of your having to cancel the tour after booking and before the departure date.
    
    If you have difficulty finding cover due to your age, it may be of help to know that there are at least two companies who provide Travel Insurance to those over retirement age:-
    • Age Concern - Tel 0845 601 2234 Click here for Website
    • Saga - Tel 0800 559 3231 Click here for Website
  
  
• Walking - Most of our tours involve a good deal of walking.
• Sites and Museums - Archaeological sites in some countries can be rough and uneven underfoot and do not always conform to western standards of health and safety.

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ACCOMMODATION:                 Single Rooms: 0 1 2 3 4          Double Rooms: 0 1 2 3 4          Twin Rooms: 0 1 2 3 4

FLIGHTS:             Economy Class    Club Class (if available and at supplementary cost)    None