Palace Tours 12000 Biscayne Blvd. #107 Miami FL 33181 USA 800-724-5120 / 786-408-0610 Call Us 1-800-724-5120 Porto and Lisbon from Madrid (Multilingual Tour) Get a taste of Portugal on this enchanting 5 day journey. The tour starts in Madrid and brings you over the border, touring the historical city of Trujillo on the way. You will have free time to explore the fascinating birthplaces of the explorers of the New World. Continue to Lisbon, where you spend a day exploring this glorious city. You will see Belem Tower, Jeronimos Monastery, the Coach Museum, and many other sites. Afterward, you will have free time to enjoy yourself. Then, you visit small towns and cities like Nazere, Alcobaça, and Óbidos. You will then travel to Fatima, the site of the apparition of the Virgin Mary. Your last city tour will be Caceres, before returning to Madrid. Highlights: Plaza Mayor in Trujillo Jeronimos Monastery Coach Museum Monument to the Discoverers Pousada do Castelo in Óbidos Tombs of Pablo and Inês de Castro Basilica and Cova da Iria in Fatima Itinerary Day 1 - Tuesday: Cross the border into Portugal Departure from bus terminal, located in the underground parking of the Plaza de Oriente at 08:30 a.m. Drive to Avila. A city that preserves its medieval wall. Short stop to know its walled and old town. Then to Salamanca. Free time in this University City Heritage of Humanity of great architectural and artistic wealth. Departure to the Portuguese border until you reach Porto. Accommodation and overnight in Porto. Day 2 - Wednesday: Explore Porto Breakfast. Panoramic sightseeing tour of Porto, considered World Heritage city. We admire the Cathedral, Stock Exchange building and Santa Clara church. In the afternoon, possibility of an optional visit to a famous winery with tasting of its world-famous "port wine". Overnight in Porto. Day 3 - Thursday: Behold Fatima Breakfast. Departure to Coimbra. City seat of one of the oldest universities in Europe and the birthplace of Fado. Free time. Then to Fatima. Center of the Christian Faith and World Pilgrimage Sanctuary with its impressive Basilica and the Cova da Iria place where the Virgin Mary appeared. The Chapel of the Apparitions, heart of the sanctuary, with the tombs of the three shepherds, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta. At night possibility to attend the procession of the candles. Accommodation and overnight in Fatima. Porto and Lisbon from Madrid (Multilingual Tour)(© www.palacetours.com) 1/9 Day 4 - Friday: Cities and Villages of Portugal Breakfast at the hotel. Departure to the Batalha Monastery, a masterpiece of Gothic and Manueline style considered a World Heritage place by UNESCO. Continue to the picturesque fishing town of Nazaré. Free time and continue to Alcobaça (World Heritage) visit the XII C. church and admire the tombs of Pedro and Inés de Castro and then to Lisbon. Accommodation. Optional night tour to attend a show of Fado, typical Portuguese song and music. Overnight in Lisbon. Day 5 - Saturday: Lisbon Breakfast at the hotel. Morning sightseeing tour of the ancient Olissipo, drive through its main squares and avenues, Belem Tower, Jeronimos Monastery, Coach Museum, Monument to the Discoverers, Marquis of Pombal Square, Liberty Avenue. Afternoon at leisure for you to catch the nostalgic corners of Alfama Quarter, the old city gathered next to its Castle, with old buildings nested in narrow twisting “Ruas” full of colour housing the genuine “tabernas” where Fado sounds as a missing past. Overnight in Lisbon. Day 6 - Sunday: Visit the World Heritage city of Caceres Departure to Caceres considered as World Heritage place because of the city’s blend of Roman, Islamic, Northern Gothic and Italian Renaissance architecture. Walk through its Plaza Mayor and the Old Town with its famous Medieval Quarter. Continue to Madrid where your tour ends. We can assist you with your transfer to the airport or add some more nights to your hotel and enjoy Madrid or maybe join another tour that will let you enjoy Spain a little bit longer. Destination Information Alcobaça Alcobaça is a city in Leiria District, Portugal. The city grew along the valleys of the rivers Alcoa and Baça, from which it derives its name. The city of Alcobaça became notable after the first king of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, decided to build there a church to celebrate the conquest of Santarém to the Moors, in 1147. The church later evolved into the Monastery of Alcobaça, one of the most magnificent gothic monuments in the country. In the church are the tombs of King Peter I and his murdered mistress Inês de Castro. Over the centuries this monastery had an important role on Portuguese culture. Avila Ávila, is the capital of the province of the same name, which is now part of the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. The city is 1131 meters (3665 feet) above sea level, the highest provincial capital in Spain. It is built on the flat summit of a rocky hill, which rises abruptly in the midst of a veritable wilderness: a brown, arid, treeless table-land, strewn with immense gray boulders, and shut in by lofty mountains. The city walls are the symbolical emblem of the city. They contribute to the defining image of the warring and monastic center that Ávila was and has been able to maintain throughout the years. It constitutes a unique symbol that encloses within its walls mysticism and history, art and heroic chivalry. Ávila is a city of contrasts, the hustle and bustle of the Mercado (market) contrasts with the quiet repose of the temples and its cloisters. Churches, convents, and hermit; beautiful palaces and the impressive cathedral provide Ávila's character and identity, in which the spirit of Santa Theresa of Jesus and of Saint John of the Cross still vibrate. And yet, the crowning point of Ávila is, that once you have spent your energies walking through, gazing, admiring the beauty and, and you have allowed its peace to permeate through you, to sit in front of a well laden table. To sweeten your memories, Santa Theresa's yolks, and many other Castillian desserts, constitute one of the most exquisite culinary forms of this land of saints and knights. Batalha Porto and Lisbon from Madrid (Multilingual Tour)(© www.palacetours.com) 2/9 A small town amidst the hills of the Leiria area, Batalha is known for its magnificent monastery, one of Europe's greatest Gothic masterpieces, now honored with UNESCO World Heritage status. It was built to celebrate the Portuguese victory over the Castillians in the Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385, thus keeping a vow made by King João I to the Virgin Mary prior to the momentous conflict. The exterior possesses countless pinnacles, buttresses and openwork balustrades above Gothic and Flamboyant windows, while the front portal is decorated with statues of the apostles in intricate Gothic style. Cáceres Cáceres is the capital of the same name province, in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It was declared a World Heritage City by UNESCO in 1986 because of the city's blend of Roman, Islamic, Northern Gothic and Italian Renaissance architecture. Long ago, in Extremadura, Cáceres was, and still is, a city that offers an excellent example of evolution. Well defined by two time periods or eras: The Arabic fortress and the feudal city. Still maintains its roots and history thanks to the people, who have been able to pass on to the next generation, and has been able to protect, one of the best examples of the medieval and renaissance eras of the world. Its palaces and ancestral homes, once inhabited by lords' families and public institutions, with their coats of arms, their towers and machicolations, demonstrating the defensive character of the city. The attraction for the traveler to the city's beauty will create the desire to get lost within its labyrinth of medieval streets and plazas, under its arches, its towers and its battlements; within its churches, beautiful convents and amazing palaces. The traveler will discover the mixture of styles in its architecture from the Arabic through the northern Gothic, the Italian renaissance and the influential legacies of the Americas. He or she will always find peace, quietness and temperance within its inns and restaurants, that with their country cuisine and wines from excellent grapes, will rejuvenate in the stillness of a patio or simply a refreshing shadow. Cáceres is a city we are certain will occupy a privilege place in the memories of the visitor. Coimbra Coimbra served as Portugal's capital during the First Dynasty (12th Century) and remains home to the University of Coimbra, the oldest academic institution in the Portuguese-speaking world and one of the oldest in Europe. The city contains important archeological remains of structures dating from the time when it was the Roman town of Aeminium. In the Late Middle-Ages, declining as the political center of the Kingdom of Portugal, Coimbra began to evolve into a major cultural center with the foundation of the University of Coimbra in 1290. Today this impressive university is still one of the world's most illustrious and the city's biggest attraction. On another square nearby is the historic Santa Cruz Monastery, containing the tombs of Portugal's first two kings. Fátima Fátima is a city in Portugal famous for the religious visions that took place there in 1917. Fátima is a place of pilgrimage for many Catholics in commemoration of the apparition of the Virgin to three young shepherds in Cova da Iria. The Marian shrine in Fátima attracts a large number of Catholics, and every year pilgrims fill the country road that leads to the shrine with crowds that approach one million on May 13 and October 13, the significant dates of Fatima apparitions.