The most common question I receive in the planning email: "Do we have enough time? Should we add days?" The answer is rarely about the number of days. It is about what kind of journey you want. Here are the two itineraries we run most often, and which type of traveler each suits.
The 10-day Iberia Classic
Madrid → Toledo → Sevilla → Lisbon → Porto. Five cities, the spine of the peninsula, in ten days. This is our most-booked program.
Day 1-2: Madrid. Prado, Retiro, Plaza Mayor, late dinner at La Tasquita. Day trip to Toledo on day 2 (90 minutes by train, three civilisations in stone).
Day 3-4: Travel to Sevilla via fast train (2.5 hours). Plaza de España at dawn day 4, Real Alcázar afternoon. Flamenco evening.
Day 5-7: Travel to Lisbon (5 hours by train). Alfama walking tour, Belém pastries and monastery, Sintra day trip with Pena Palace.
Day 8-10: Train to Porto (3 hours). Riverside walking, port wine tasting, Douro Valley day trip with vineyard lunch. Departure from Porto.
Pace: brisk but not exhausting. You see the highlights, you eat well, you get a feel for each city without exhaustion.
Best for: First-time Iberia travelers, time-constrained couples, business-style trips. From €3,900 per person.
The 14-day Grand Tour
Same five cities, plus Granada, Córdoba, the Algarve, and a slower pace throughout.
Day 1-3: Madrid (one extra day for a slow afternoon and a flamenco evening).
Day 4-7: Andalusia. Sevilla, day trip to Córdoba and the mosque-cathedral, Granada with the Alhambra (full half-day, with dawn time), one of our white villages (Setenil or Frigiliana).
Day 8-11: Lisbon, Sintra, plus the Atlantic coast (Cabo da Roca, the actual end of Europe, and Praia da Adraga for an afternoon swim).
Day 12-14: Porto and the Douro Valley, with two nights at a wine quinta in the valley, port tasting at sunrise, gentle return to Porto for departure.
Pace: you eat lunch slowly. You sleep in once. You revisit a place that surprised you.
Best for: Honeymooners, repeat travelers, gastronomy enthusiasts, couples who hate feeling rushed. From €5,400 per person.
The real difference
People assume the difference is "more cities". The actual difference is two things:
1. The slow afternoon. On the 10-day, every afternoon is scheduled. On the 14-day, three afternoons are deliberately unscheduled — for the couple to nap, swim, wander, or just sit somewhere. These unscheduled afternoons are where memories form.
2. The repeat visit. On the 14-day, we usually return to one place that surprised the couple — a small town we passed through, a market we walked past, a beach where they wanted more time. The 10-day cannot accommodate this.
Which to choose
If this is your first time in Iberia and you have ten days, take ten. The classic itinerary covers the essentials at a fair pace.
If you have flexibility and any of these are true — honeymoon, repeat visit, food-first traveler, age 50+, prefer slow over packed — take fourteen.
If this is a "trip of a lifetime" decision, take fourteen. The marginal cost is the difference between a great trip and a transcendent one.
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