My husband and I chose to do this tour, as it was our first visit to Spain, and we thought it would be a good way to visit the places and see the sights we wanted, without the hassle of car rentals and doing all our own planning. It was the best decision we could have made. We also chose the month of May, as we thought the sites would be less crowded, that there would be fewer families, and the weather would be nice. We were right on all accounts. I know these sites can be very crowded, and while there were still lots of tourists, I can’t imagine how packed it would be in the summer months. The weather was incredible, with above normal temperatures on some days.
We lucked out with the best guide we could have had, Ophelia. She was amazing; friendly, knowledgeable and fun. Augustine, our driver, was great as well. Also, there were only 13 people on our tour. How perfect to have such a small group.
The hotel and meals in Sevilla were ok. The meals and the hotels in Granada and Marbella were very good. Generous, impressive buffets and nice accommodations.
I liked the arrangement of driving to the new locations in the morning, seeing the designated attraction upon arrival, and then having “free time” in the afternoons, until meeting for dinner at the hotel.
I noticed that some reviews stated they didn’t like that. We loved the freedom to wander around and explore a little on our own, or with another couple we met on the tour. We found nice little places for lunch and sangrias. We walked along a beach, did a little shopping, and toured one or two places off the grid. Not that we had a lot of time to do that, but we took advantage of every opportunity.
I saw that some reviews stated that they had to sit in designated seating at meals. We didn’t find that at all. We could sit anywhere we wanted to. Some in couples, some in small groups, spread out wherever we wanted to sit. The wait staff in Marbella and Granada were particularly friendly.
We met nice people on our tour. There were 6 English speaking tourists and seven Spanish.This was not a problem at all, and Ophelia managed each group easily. Our entire group laughed a lot, teased each other, took photos for each other and we ended up at our last site taking group photos and singing happy birthday to a member of our party. My husband and I made friends with another couple and spent much of the tour together, which added to the fun.
This tour will forever be a happy memory for us!