Spain Local culture Trips

It was absolutely wonderful to be on this tour thru Spain and Portugal. I like Sevilla with its old town and cathedral, but I was mesmerized by Cordoba an old Mosque - Cathedral and 2000 years old Roman bridge we walked thru. I also loved Toledo that I visited 20 years ago, but it looked to me much better. Barcelona stole my heart - Sagrada Familia is build up and gorgeous. Spanish People are wonderful to be with - warm, funny and happy, the food is delicious - paella and the restaurants are great. Forgot about Valencia - old town and modern Art and Science Center built by Santiago Calatrava (Oculus in New York City is his as well) Portugal is a bit different and people more reserved. I was happy to be there and see Columbus' and Vasco De Gama's graves. Great tour, recommend to all.

Would like to see a side trip to Fatima as an option since we are already very close in Lisbon. If it is an option people that are not interested can always have other options available. Visit of historical site were very interesting to me such as Peniscola, Valencia, Sevilla, Alhambra, Cordoba, Madrid, Lisbon, Belem and many more.

My first time with Collette tours and my first trip to Spain& Portugal. Everything was so well organized, excellent local tour guides and our tour manager Luis was the best, always very helpful and very knowledgeable. Our tour bus was new and comfortable and our bus driver Carlos was the best, excellent driver! I really enjoyed my trip! Will be using Collette again for my next tour.

Truffle hunting Sitting in our down time on the Goudi Avenue in Barcelona Fragonard Purfumeur in Grasse My suggestions for improvement: I would like to have had less included meals. Some were delicious but some were just okay. My husband and would have preferred to select what we wanted to eat more times during the tour. We wanted more down time and a slower pace. In looking back, much of my favorite moments were when we stopped touring for even just a few minutes to enjoy a cup of delicious hot chocolate or green tea, in a quiet place, but even that was rushed and no time to linger or even finish our delicious drink. We had to leave to stay on schedule. That exact thing occurred twice on the tour and we were disappointment both times.

The tour was AWESOME! Our tour guide, Javier was totally AWESOME! It went by too fast. We didn't have enough time in the wonderful places, but it was GREAT!

Our tour of the Mediterranean Coastal Journey, far exceeded our expectations. The tour manager was absolutely amazing! Having been thrown some curveballs, especially when the rain and windy weather caused Cinque Terre to be closed! Barbara pulled together a tour of the Imperiale Palace for the next day, with a demo on making Pesto sauce, then each of us made pesto as well. I was so looking forward to Cinque Terre, but in the long run we had a great experience in Genoa. Also, the hotel there was lovely being located on the marina, and all the shops and restaurants were just across the street. I was not looking forward to our stay in Genoa but came away pleasantly surprised. Our group of 22 turned out to be incredibly friendly right from the beginning. All the restaurants were very good, she even surprised us with a 1* Michelin dinner experience in substitution for that evening dining experience having been cancelled, so we got to eat at the number 1 restaurant in Marseilles! I have to say that Barbara was responsible for getting the group off to a great start being together, with her great sense of humor, friendliness, being firm about the start time to be on the bus :-) She went above and beyond making the last night of our tour so very special for my daughter, being it was her actual birthday. It was all just perfect! Thank you, Barbara, what tour will you be leading next season? I would consider going on it knowing how you can handle even those last-minute curveballs!