"...For it was in Spain that what was for centuries the largest and most important Jewish community in the world lived and flourished, a community which at the moment of its abrupt departure left behind fifteen centuries of history lived in coexistence..."  by Jose Luis Lacave.
Lacave Riaño, José Luis (2002). Sefarad culturas de convivencia. Barcelona, Lunwerg Editores. Translated into English by Kenneth Lyons.
Come and experience the history of Jews in Spain: explore museums and world heritage sites, walk through the old cobbled lanes of Jewish neighborhoods, take in the splendid architecture and eat delicious food, drink Spanish wine while learning about the Golden Age of the Jews of Sepharad on this unique family run Jewish Heritage Tour to Spain.

(Tuesday): MADRID

  • Arrival in Madrid, the modern capital of Spain and its largest city. The city has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighborhoods and streets.
  • This day is at leisure to get settled in and adjusted to Spanish time.
  • There is a small but active Jewish community in Madrid. The main centre is the Beth Yaacov Synagogue where there is a small history museum inaugurated in 2007 by the Jewish Community of Madrid that can be visited though a pre-booked appointment is necessary.  Its opening coincided with the 90th anniversary of the opening of the first synagogue in Madrid since the days of the Inquisition.  With its collection of photographs, documents and published materials, it provides information about the recent history of the Jewish Community of Madrid.  Visitors are reminded of what it was like for Jews to return to Spain after an absence of some 400 years. 

(Wednesday): MADRID

  • This morning, after breakfast we'll met at the hotel for the introduction and welcoming.
  • We will have a walking tour of Madrid:  Tour the historic  Habsburg Quarter and see Madrid’s magnificent plazas such as the Plaza de Oriente where we'll visit the outside of the Royal Palace, Royal Theater, the Plaza Mayor (site of multiple trials or ‘acts of faith' of the Spanish inquisition), Puerta del Sol, the San Miguel market, and more.
  • Lunch on your own. (Market of San Miguel, famous for its tapas dishes, is a great option).
  • Rest of the day at leisure. Optional visit to the Museum of El Prado.
  • Group dinner.

(Thursday):
TOLEDO (Day Excursion)

  • Breakfast at the hotel.
  • Depart for Toledo, the Imperial City once known as “Jerusalem of the West”, and one of the main centers of Sephardic Jewry in the Middle Ages. Toldedo remains much as it was in the 16th century and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  • After entering the city through one of the medieval gates, we areready to stroll the winding narrow streets which have created a stunning historic labyrinth that opens to hidden plazas. The guided tour of the city will include the Jewish Quarter, the Samuel Halevi Abulafia Synagogue, which was turned into a church known as Nuestra Señora del Transito, the Sephardic Museum and Santa Maria La Blanca (formerly the Grand Synagogue and later transformed into a church). You can also visit El Greco’s museum, that used to be the home of Don Shmuel Halevi Abulafia, the wealthy treasurer to king Pedro I of Castile.
  • Lunch on your own and free time to explore Toledo.
  • Return to Madrid and dinner on your own.

(Friday): CORDOBA

  • Breakfast at the hotel in Madrid and check out.
  • Morning high speed train (AVE) to Cordoba, the capital of the Moorish Kingdom of al-Andalus.
  • Guided tour of the magnificent 8th century Mosque-Cathedral, famous for its 1000 colored pillars of granite, marble, and jasper.
  • Lunch on your own.
  • Meet in the afternoon for a guided tour of Cordoba, the birthplace of Lucius Seneca, Maimónides (Rambam) and Averroes. First we will visit the old Jewish Quarter, (including Plaza Tiberias, the Yehuda Halevi Square, the Statue of Maimonides). Then we will enter its beautiful medieval Synagogue, built in 1315, and the only one that has survived in this city, finishing our tour in Calleja de las Flores (the alley of the flowers).
  • We will enjoy a special tour and a Ladino musical performance and Kabalat Shabbat experience at Casa de Sefarad.
  • Group dinner.

(Saturday): CORDOBA

  • Day at leisure in Cordoba.
  • Optional walking tour.
  • Among other places, you can visit  the Alcazar of Cordoba, the Arab baths or the  Al-Andalus Life Museum, located inside the Calahorra Tower by the Roman bridge.
  • You can even take an excursion to Madinat Al-Zahra, a fortified palace-city on the western outskirts of Cordoba, built in the 10th century by Abd-ar-Rahman III (912–961), a member of the Umayyad dynasty and the first caliph of Al-Andalus. It served as the capital of the Caliphate of Cordoba and its center of government.
  • Alternatively, you can simply stroll through the narrow streets of the center of Cordoba or cross the Roman bridge over the Guadalquivir river, the only entrance to the city in ancient times.
  • Dinner on your own.

(Sunday): GRANADA

  • ​Breakfast at the hotel in Cordoba and check out.
  • Depart from Cordoba and head to Granada.
  • Arrival in Granada, the last stronghold of the Moors before it fell to Isabella and Ferdinand in 1492, and whose name derives from the original settlement of Garnata al-Yahud (Granada of the Jews).
  • Lunch on your own.
  • Guided walking tour of the Albaycín, an old Muslim neighborhood (now a UNESCO World Heritage Site), that maintains the layout of Medieval Moorish streets. With its neat narrow lanes and well-kept traditional houses, the area has retained its old charm and is the ideal place to discover Moorish architecture. It is especially famous for its dramatic views overlooking the Alhambra palace.
  • Group dinner.

(Monday): GRANADA

  • ​Breakfast at the hotel.
  • Guided tour of the city's main attraction: Alhambra 
    (اَلْحَمْرَاء – the Red), the mighty yet graceful Citadel and Palace planned by the 13th and 14th centuries Moorish Rulers of Granada. Walking across the Court of the Myrtles you will stop at the “Hall of the Ambassadors’’ in Comares Tower, where the terrible Edict of Expulsion was issued on March 31st, 1492. Also amble through the magnificent terraced Generalife Gardens, with its shadowy cypresses, oleander, pavilions and cool fountains. This palace exhibits Spain's most significant and well known Islamic architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  • Lunch on your own and free afternoon. Optional visit to the Royal Chapel of Granada where Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand are buried and the Granada Cathedral.
  • Dinner on your own (lots of delicious options for Tapas at the Plaza Nueva) and evening at leisure.

(Tuesday): SEVILLE

  • Morning bus to Seville, the passionate capital of Andalusia. The city, which lies mostly along the right bank of the Guadalquivir River (from the Arabic al wadi al-kvir –the big river-) is shaped by both Renaissance and Arabic influences. Seville was Islamic from 711 until 1248, when King Ferdinand III of Castile conquered it back from the Almohads.
  • Free time to explore Plaza de España (architectural complex located in the María Luisa Park. The area was built between 1914 and 1929 by architect Aníbal González as the main center of the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929). This complex is a huge half-circle with buildings continually running around the edge accessible over the moat by numerous bridges representing the four ancient kingdoms of Spain. It is a landmark example of the Regionalism Architecture.
  • Lunch on your own.
  • Free afternoon to explore on your own. Optional visit to the Alcazar Palace and its impressive gardens. Built by King Pedro I of Castile in the 14th century, -inspired by Granada’s Alhambra- is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe. It has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visit the Great Cathedral, the burial place of Christopher Columbus, considered the third largest church in the world. Climb La Giralda, a former minaret built in the 12th century, whose bell tower became the city's symbol.
  • Flamenco show.

(Wednesday): SEVILLE

  • Breakfast at the hotel.
  • Guided tour through the narrow lanes of the charming Santa Cruz neighborhood, formerly Seville's Jewish Quarter, once known as La Judería, with its winding alleyways and rare remnants of Jewish life found within the contemporary city.
  • Farewell Group Lunch.
  • Optional transfer to airport/train station for those who fly back home, and airport transfer for those who  to continue to Barcelona.
​
*The group will stay at 4 and 4 superior star boutique hotels throughout Spain. Exact hotels will be confirmed and shared with participants before arrival.
**Group meals will be held at restaurants. The exact location in each destination will be confirmed at a later stage, depending on the city, the number of participants and their dietary needs.
***We will offer a list of suggested places to explore on your own.
****We will offer a list of suggested places to eat on your own in each location.
*****Optional activities during free time are not included in the itinerary. These are only suggestions and can be changed or adapted according to the personal preferences of the participants.

Optional Barcelona 4 days extension

​(Wednesday): BARCELONA

  • Arrival in Barcelona, the most modern and European city in all Spain, and capital of the region of Cataluña (Catalonia).
  • Dinner on your own.

(Thursday): GIRONA and FIGUERES
(Day Excursion)

  • Departure in the morning heading north for a visit of Girona, with probably the best preserved old Jewish quarter in all Spain, and also considered the cradle of the Jewish Kabbalah.
  • Girona’s medieval quarter is surrounded by ramparts that rise from the original Roman walls. At its heart is the old Call, restored in 1980. From its main street, once an old Roman Road, steep and narrow cobbled alleys wind under archways and between stone buildings that sunlight rarely reaches. It is here where we will visit the home of RaMBaN or Rabbi Moshe Ben Nahman (1194-1270) known in Spanish as Nahmánides or Bonastruc Ça Porta, the great Kabbalist, which houses today the Jewish Museum.
  • We continue to Figueres to visit the Salvador Dalí Museum. The Dalí Theatre-Museum is the largest surrealistic object in the world. It is located in  the  the former Municipal Theatre, a 19th century construction destroyed at the end of the Spanish Civil War. On its ruins, Dalí decided to create his museum.
  • Returning to Barcelona and dinner on your own.​​

(Friday): BARCELONA

  • Panoramic tour of the city: we will head to Montjuic (literally Mount of the Jews), where the ancient Jewish cemetery was located until the end of the XIV Century (right after the riots of 1391). It was declared a landmark site in 2009 at the petition of local Jewish congregations as well as the civil society. From this vantage point we gain a breathtaking view of the whole city, especially the Olympic Stadium situated high above the city and the harbor below. Gaudi’s buildings and monuments as Casa Batlló, La Pedrera and La Sagrada Familia.
  • We head back to the city to have lunch (lunch on your own).
  • We will walk through the pulsing heart of the city (Barrio Gotic), the medieval quarter. We will see the impressive Gothic Cathedral, the Royal Square (Plaça Real), the place of the famous Jewish-Christian dispute of 1263, and also the “Carrer dell Call”, the old Jewish quarter.
  • Kabalat Shabbat followed by group dinner.

(Saturday): BARCELONA

(Sunday): BARCELONA

  • ​Breakfast at the hotel and check out.
  • Optional transfer to airport/train station to fly back home or to continue your journey.

*The group will stay at 4 and 4 superior star boutique hotels throughout Spain. Exact hotels will be confirmed and shared with participants before arrival.
**Group meals will be held at restaurants. The exact location in each destination will be confirmed at a later stage, depending on the city, the number of participants and their dietary needs.
***We will offer a list of suggested places to explore on your own.
****We will offer a list of suggested places to eat on your own in each location.
*****Optional activities during free time are not included in the itinerary. These are only suggestions and can be changed or adapted according to the personal preferences of the participants.
Our Jewish History Tours to Spain are available for individuals and groups. Please be in touch, we are happy to work with you for dates for synagogue and Jewish community group tours.