Paris and Barcelona tour map

Paris and Barcelona

8 Days Paris 3 • Barcelona 3

Accommodations

Accommodations in centrally-located three-star or four-star hotels. Rooming on a triple basis. Double rooms: $240 per person.

Transportation

Round-trip transportation on scheduled airline. Three-day Metro pass in Paris (zones 1-3). Barcelona Metro Pass 10 Rides (Zone 1).

Meals

All breakfasts. All dinners. Crêpes dinner on Day 3. Tapas dinner on Day 5. Paella dinner on Day 6.

Guides

Services of a specially-trained passports Tour Director throughout.

Inclusions

Entrances and activities as noted on itinerary.

Travel Protection

passports provides and pays for a Post Departure Travel Protection Plan that includes coverage for Trip Interruption, Trip Delay, Baggage Loss or Delay, Medical Expense and Evacuation and more.

Days 1-2: Home - Paris

Arrival transfer

Day 3: Paris

Paris City Sightseeing: Local Guide

Photo stop near Notre-Dame Cathedral

Crêpes dinner

Optional Excursion to Versailles by RER train: Visit to the State Apartments and the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles

Day 4: Paris

Visit to the Louvre Museum

Tour director-led walking tour in Montmartre: Visit to the Sacré-Coeur Basilica

Seine River cruise

Day 5: Paris - Barcelona

Departure transfer, Flight Paris-Barcelona, Arrival transfer

Tour director-led walking tour down Las Ramblas

Tapas dinner

Day 6: Barcelona

Barcelona City Sightseeing: Local Guide, Montjuïc Hill, Visit to Parc Güell

Visit to the Sagrada Familia Basilica

Paella dinner

Day 7: Barcelona

Optional Boqueria Food Market lunch cooking class

Tour director-led walking tour in the Gothic Quarter: Picturesque medieval lanes of the Barrio del Born

Day 8: Departure

Departure transfer

Days 1-2: Arrival in Paris

Weeks, or even months of preparation come to fruition at last as you board your airplane bound for Europe and the glittering jewel at her heart, Paris, the "City of Light." Bienvenue!

Settle into your hotel, then have a look at one of the world's most beautiful capital cities.

Day 3: Paris City Sightseeing, Notre-Dame Cathedral Photo Stop, Crêpes Dinner, Optional RER Train Excursion to Versailles
Paris City Sightseeing

Set out on a coach tour of the city. On the Right Bank of the River Seine, see Napoléon's Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Elysées, the Place de la Concorde, and the exuberant Opéra Garnier. On the Left Bank, you'll drive by the Eiffel Tower, the Invalides, the Latin Quarter, the Luxembourg Gardens, and Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

A local guide, well-educated and specially-trained on the history and culture of Paris, will accompany your group.

Photo stop near Notre-Dame Cathedral

View Notre-Dame de Paris, gutted by the fire of April 15, 2019, but still standing, solemn and magnificent with its iconic towers miraculously preserved from destruction.

Begun in 1163 and completed in 1272, this cathedral has presided over centuries of glorious and somber French history, including its desecration during the French Revolution. In 1831, Victor Hugo launched a campaign of restoration with a novel he titled Notre Dame de Paris. Because he saw the cathedral as the main character, he strongly objected to the title of the English edition: The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Crêpes dinner

Dinner this evening will introduce savory and sweet crêpes garnished with a selection of fillings.

Optional Excursion to Versailles by RER train

Travel into the western suburbs aboard an RER train headed for Versailles.

Visit to the State Apartments and the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles

Enjoy a bit of relevant French history today at the palace where the Sun King, Madame de Pompadour and Queen Marie-Antoinette all come to life. In this ultimate example of Baroque architecture, you will marvel at the lavish decoration, abundant gilding and exuberant ornamentation, particularly in the Royal Apartments of Louis XIV and in the Hall of Mirrors. Imagine the sense of self-importance that must have inflated the ego of these kings and queens.

If time allows, you may want to enrich your royal experience with an optional visit to the Petit Trianon and Marie-Antoinette's Hamlet, located within the grounds, about a mile and a half from the palace.

Then, take a stroll around the Main Gardens.

Explore the park. Buy refreshments at a booth, or enjoy the picnic you may have planned earlier by purchasing typically French food at a market. In season, opt for a ride on the tourist train, rent a bike, or rent a boat to row down the length of the Grand Canal.

Day 4: Louvre, Montmartre Walking Tour, Seine River Cruise
Visit to the Louvre Museum

Enter the Musée du Louvre and walk along grand galleries filled with treasures. See Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the Vénus de Milo sculpted between 130 and 100 BC, the 19th century painting depicting The Coronation of Napoléon among many other masterpieces.

Tour director-led walking tour in Montmartre

Enjoy a walking tour on Paris's highest hill and its most celebrated bohemian district. Artists still flock to Montmartre's charming Place du Tertre, as they did when Toulouse-Lautrec painted the French Cancan dancers at the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret.

Visit to the Sacré-Coeur Basilica

Discover panoramic views of the city as you make your way up to the Sacré-Coeur for a visit to this white-domed basilica, which anchors the Parisian skyline.

Seine River cruise

See Paris transformed into a wonderland like no other during a cruise along the River Seine.

Day 5: Flight to Barcelona, Las Ramblas Walking Tour, Tapas Dinner
Flight to Barcelona

Enjoy the sweeping panorama of Spain as you fly to Barcelona, its chief port and second-largest city. ¡Bienvenidos!

Since it hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics, this city has become one of Europe's most vibrant centers.

Get set to discover the vibrant capital city of the ancient kingdom of Catalonia. Note its elegant 19th-century boulevards, parks and fountains.

Settle into your hotel, then walk around your neighborhood. Practice your Spanish (or Catalan, if you can!).

Tour director-led walking tour down Las Ramblas

Get acquainted with the string of shaded avenues stretched from the elegant Plaça de Catalunya to the Columbus Monument, which marks the spot on the waterfront where the explorer stepped ashore in 1493 after his voyage of discovery. Landmarks along the way include elegant palaces such as Palau Güell (designed by Gaudí in the 1890s and now a UNESCO Cultural Heritage site as one of the first Modernist buildings), the Opera House (Gran Teatre del Liceu, inaugurated in 1848), and Plaça de la Boquería, with the city's most colorful market.

Tapas dinner

For dinner this evening, experience tapas, the delightful and varied snack-like servings, which are a specialty of Spain, there's something to please every taste!

Day 6: Barcelona City Sightseeing, Sagrada Familia Basilica, Paella dinner
Barcelona City Sightseeing

A tour will introduce landmarks such as the wide avenues called Las Ramblas, the medieval Gothic Quarter around the cathedral, Modernist landmarks such as the Basilica of the Sagrada Família, and Plaça de Catalunya, the lively heart of Catalonia's capital city.

A half-day local guide, well-educated and specially-trained on the history and culture of the region, will accompany your group.

Montjuïc Hill

You'll go up Montjuïc Hill for a panoramic view of the city, the colorful harbor district, and the Mediterranean coast.

Visit to Parc Güell

Enjoy a visit to Gaudí's most colorful creations on exhibit in Parc Güell, notably the mosaic-decorated pavilions and the cavernous Room of a Hundred Columns.

Visit to the Sagrada Familia Basilica

Visit the extraordinary-looking basilica whose construction was planned in the 1870s. Antonio Gaudí worked for more than forty years to create a unique and huge sanctuary still far from completion. The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia combines elements of Gothic architecture and the tenets of the Modernista movement associated with Gaudí.

Paella dinner

This evening, enjoy a traditional paella dinner. This typically Spanish dish offers a flavorful combination of rice cooked with spices, and sauteed Mediterranean vegetables, usually served with either chicken or seafood.

Day 7: Barcelona, Optional Boqueria Food Market Lunch Cooking Class, Gothic Quarter Walking Tour
Free time in Barcelona

Enjoy some free time in Barcelona today.

Make plans with your tour director.

You may want to explore at the Gothic Quarter, Barcelona's medieval district, where landmarks include the great Gothic Cathedral of Santa Eulàlia (also called La Seu), Palau de la Generalitat (Catalonia's Parliament), Casa de la Ciutat (Town hall), and the picturesque Royal Square (Plaça Reial) with the royal palace (Palau Real Major), where Christopher Columbus is said to have met Isabel and Ferdinand upon his return from the New World.

Optional Boqueria Food Market lunch cooking class

Follow a professional chef on a tour of the Mercat de la Boquería, which has received the "Best Market in the World" award. It's proof that Barcelona is far more than the world's capital of molecular cuisine. The stalls are filled with a wealth of spices, seafood, meat and dairy, fruits and vegetables, bread and pastries, wines, as well as olives and cured hams.

Next, join your chef around a kitchen counter and learn new techniques as you prepare tapas as appetizers, a main dish, and a dessert; all typical Spanish dishes, and all made with high-quality ingredients. Then, sit back and enjoy the meal you prepared. ¡Buen provecho!

Tour director-led walking tour in the Gothic Quarter

Enjoy a walking tour with your Tour Director in the tight maze of streets found in the Gothic Quarter, Barcelona's medieval district, where the focal point is the great Gothic cathedral. Other landmarks, all dating back to the 1300s, include the Palau de la Generalitat (seat of Catalonia's Government), Casa de la Ciutat (Barcelona's Town Hall) and the former royal palace where Christopher Columbus met Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand upon his return from the Indies in 1493. Several of the mansions now house museums.

Picturesque medieval lanes of the Barrio del Born

Nearby lies the medieval quarter known as Barrio del Born. Explore its maze of alleyways and squares, including Passeig del Born, where jousting tournaments were once held. This picturesque neighborhood, which is home to the Picasso Museum, has become a fashionable enclave within the old town.

Day 8: Departure

¡Adios España! Barcelona's airport recedes, and you're 500 miles closer to home with each hour in the air. You'll be back! For now, race the sun westward, arriving home later today, eager to share your experiences with family and friends.

Departure Date is required.
Departure City is required.

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