Grand Tour of Spain

I have never been on a tour group trip or even abroad before. This was a fantastic trip and I enjoyed it Immensely. I want to go back and stay longer in some of the cities we visited, especially Barcelona. It was also great getting to know all the people in our group and our tour leader Larra was wonderful. She was so thoughtful and kept us all organized and took care of everything. I would most definitely go on anouther trip with Go Ahead Tours. In fact, I am thinking of Australia and New Zealand in 2015.

GRAND INDEED!

The Grand Tour of Spain is a great introduction to the history, culture, and beauty of southern Spain. It was exactly as advertised, a continuous cascade of sensory overload. Our Tour Guide, Laura, was superb! She repeatedly went above and beyond for those of us who needed something extra. While every day was a unique highlight, we especially enjoyed the excursion to Toledo (the local guide was exceptional), the stopover in Peniscola on the way to Barcelona, the evening in Granada enjoying flamenco dancing in the caves above the city, exploring the old towns of Marbella and Sevilla, the drive up to the top of Gibralter, the Alhambra, and, of course, Barcelona (we did extend two extra days, which I would recommend if you want to really see Barcelona). We thought the Tour provided meals (with one exception) were the best we have had on our five European tours (2nd with Go Ahead) and the wine was outstanding. All the hotels were good quality and well located, except for the hotel in Madrid, which would have preferably been more centrally located, My only suggestion would be to explore the feasibility of using the bullet train (which was great for the trip from Madrid to Cordoba) for the transfer to Valencia, perhaps also incorporating more time in Granada and a stop in Rhonda in place of the trip to Gibralter (maybe make this an optional). Just a thought. And did I mention that Laura was great. You need to clone her.

Spain in 14 Days

The breadth and depth of our Tour Director 's - Laura's - knowledge of Spanish history and culture was a highlight. It placed what we saw, felt and heard in context - both past and present. In addition - the tour was well organized and appropriately paced, making it really easy to watch and learn and enjoy without worry for travel, food, or rest. The selection of stops and the time in each place - while certainly short - was a marvelous introduction to a fascinating and significant country.

It was a Grand Tour of Spain, indeed!

The tour was very well organized. The hotels were either right in the center of things or near metro stops that made easy access into the city centers. I loved the luggage handling, the comfortable buses, and Madrid dinner and entertainment on 2nd night and Morocco excursions. Morocco was multi-sensory, so different from anything else we saw. The estudiantina music group and restaurant at the dinner excursion in Madrid was excellent. Our tour director, Laura, was very helpful. I had a friend in Sevilla I wanted to visit when there and this prevented me from going on flamenco excursion, but Laura helped me with good directions and recommendations for where to go instead. She did the same in Barcelona as I really wanted to go inside Sagrada Familia (having missed it on a previous visit). I found Laura to be flexible and accomodating to my needs. Food had too much salt throughout Spain, so take along something to help prevent water retention. Also, feel free to opt out of a 1 or 2 planned city tours/visits to museums as it starts to feel like sensory overload. But all in all, I fell in love with all of Spain and plan to return. Thank you Laura.

Spain was Grand

Just returned from my sixth adult tour with Go Ahead Tours, my 12th trip overall if we count the 6 student tours with EF! Spain is a beautiful country. The people are very friendly and helpful. And the historical sights on this tour are awesome: the Royal Palace in Madrid, Seville's Cathredral, the Rock of Gilbraltar, the Alhambra in Granada, and none of us could find words for Gaudi's breathtaking La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona! Our tour director, Leonor, was one of the very best I've had in my 12 trips. She was extremely knowledgable, both of the current circumstances in Spain and of Spain's history and contributions to our world. Her personality was delightful.I would love to tour with her again! Gilbraltar and Morocco are two optionals to definitely keep. Everyone I spoke with loved both! Especially refreshing, after half the trip and a long bus ride, was our time with the Rock apes! Our stop at the little town of Gaudix, where half the people live in caves, was perhaps my favorite of this tour, and one of the most memorable experiences of my twelve trips! My group of six ladies and I have one serious complaint/request. Travelers you have clearly listed as room mates should fly on the SAME international flight! Our group flies out of Portland OR, and we added a 71 yr old friend from NYC for this trip. It was her first international trip. She was originally routed thru San Francisco and then after we complained about that, straight from NYC to Madrid, and it took 2 months and many phone calls and emails to Go Ahead saying that she needed to travel WITH our group. Finally, her itinerary was changed, but since it took so long for Go Ahead to fix this issue, she was charged an extra $800+. This is unacceptable. Your booking people need to be trained to look for "roommates" and place them on the same international flight, thus avoiding this serious problem, which put a damper on our last month before this trip. We expect this to be solved before our next Go Ahead trip! Thank you, Elyse Gilbert

Spain

If your numbers above are:#1 poor and #5 best, (you don't specify), then I rate the Grand Tour of Spain #5, best. The tour and the Tour Director were both superb! Time of our own and the visits to museums, cathedrals, places of interest and landscape were magnificant. My favorites, as an art historian, were all the museums, especially the Museo del Prado and the Salon de Reina with it's numerous Picasso and Dali masterpieces, in Madrid; Picasso Museum and the Art Nouveau Palace de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona. Gaudi's fantastical architecture; from the Park Guell to the rooftop of the Casa Mila and his magnificant Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona were very special. My favorite city has to be Barcelona. My only wish is that Go Ahead include the inside chapel of the Sagrada Familia in it's tour. It was a disappointment not to be able to get inside that magnificant structure. I would hope that subsequent visits to Barcelona would include that feature - it would be well worth the effort. Food in Spain was excellent and varied, the people were accommodating and eager to assist in multiple instances. The tour director, Fernando Derque, was exceptional. His knowledge of history and customs of the country was invaluable, and the people on the tour were friendly and enthusiastic. Dolores Arrington

WOW !!

We just got back and another amazing trip :) Thank you !!!!Fernando was amazing tour guide :)

Grand Tour of Spain

This was first time I traveled on a group tour- and by myself. I really enjoyed the variety of things we saw and did. The pace was good. I also had free time to explore and felt safe wandering the streets by myself. Our tour guide was EXCELLENT! She was so knowledgeable, so helpful , always prepared us so we would know what to expect. She was a pleasure to travel with. The local guides we had were also very good.

great trip and tour director Rafi

Rafi did her best to make our trip the best ever. This was my second trip with go-ahead and we are already planning another. Rafi is a great asset to your company., She is warm, friendly, and extremely well versed and professionl------ C. Jacobson

Good time in Spain

Just got back from the Grand Tour of Spain. Had a great time, saw tons of cool things, learned a lot, and we loved our tour director Rafaella (Rafi)! One note - you move around a lot and change hotels about every two/three days. I recommend this tour for active people who want to see a lot, not if you are looking to relax.