Malaga Tours in Spring

My first memorable moment on this trip was the "home hosted" luncheon. Our hosts were friendly, warm & welcoming. We met some of their children & had a great time laughing & navigating our language differences. Our meal was delicious & ended with an amazing homemade flan dessert. My second memorable moment was our "flamenco" dance lesson. We had so much fun!!

Tremendous holiday. Explore were efficient and helpful during the booking process and in answering our queries regarding the trip. The holiday itself was a great way to get a sense of the beauty, culture and history of Andalucia. It’s a fast paced and busy tour, but huge fun, and we really enjoyed the mixture of city and rural locations. Craig, our tour leader, worked incredibly hard throughout to organise the content and travel logistics, and gave us a fascinating overview of the region - covering the history, the political, economic, cultural and geological context (and in a way that was funny, accessible and effortlessly erudite). Cities and countryside were all stunningly beautiful, the food and wine delicious. I’d heartily recommend the trip.

This is a full-on trip. You need energy and stamina with days starting early and ending late. Craig, our tour leader, was very knowledgeable and resourceful. He led from the front and coped calmly and compassionately in the event of an unfortunate accident to one of the party. Everything was as described and the optional activities very worthwhile. The main sights are breathtaking. Having the contrast of city and countryside worked well. Breakfasts are basic except at Craig’s own house, which was excellent, and all the accommodation clean albeit simple and occasionally noisy - ask for a quiet room away from street noise in the cities if you can. Craig offered an additional experience at the end of each day such as a walk in Granada to see the Alhambra floodlit or a visit to the oldest bar in Sevilla to sample sherry. Overall a fantastic and memorable experience which made me want to see more of Spain.

The tour provided a great balance of city tours and unique experiences e.g lunch at a home, horse farm and olive farm. Walking into the mosque cathedral in Seville was breathtaking! Our tour guide Ricardo, was knowledgeable, considerate and delightful!

I expected the tour sites to be amazing but was surprised by how much fun we had in Ronda with lunch with local family. Multiple course lunch and sangria by chef husband and entertaining wife.

Our Tour Manager shared much history about the areas we were visiting. He was always willing to assist with any problems or issues the travelers might have, and he sent emails to everyone with a synopsis of the next day's schedule and included news articles and music about the places we had just seen or that we would be visiting. We experienced local culture by visiting an olive farm where the owner explained the process of growing olives, creating olive oil, and how the oil is judged. We were able to sample two of their olive oils and had a lovely lunch at the farm. We also learned about Pastel de Nata, the famous Portuguese pastry, and sampled some on a tour in Lisbon. The local tour guides were excellent and were able to take us to very interesting places. For example, we arrived the day after Easter and in Malaga we visited a building which housed pasos, or floats that were paraded throughout an area in Malaga with statues of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary the previous week. The history was fascinating. It was enjoyable, educational, and well worth it.