Spain Soccer & Sightseeing Tour: Futbol VIP Tickets, Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo, Bilbao, Guggenheim Museum Visit, San Sebastian

The games were excellent, with "the return of Raul" being an amazing highlight. It was very special to be there, and we enjoyed the VIP tickets for that event. We felt that all the tickets were very good, giving us different views but always very good seats--better than we anticipated. We also found a sports bar in Madrid, The Seven Sins, to watch the Madrid v. Cordoba game, and that worked out well. We would recommend that spot to see a game; a friendly staff and good food, and you can make reservations for seats so that you can watch the game that you want to see. We were happy with all of our hotels: The Salamanca hotel was pleasant and well located. Our Madrid hotel also had an excellent location, and we were delighted with the junior suites that you booked for us--we had two different versions, each very nice and very spacious in its own way. The Parador in Toledo lived up to the reputation for the view, which was just breathtaking. We enjoyed the pool and the dinner on the terrace, although in each case, bees were an issue--they were everywhere, and a particular problem at dinner until it became dark. The hotel in San Sebastián did have a beautiful view and a nice breakfast, although the hotel was busy with the summer crowds. The Miro in Bilbao was nice, with a view of the Guggenheim museum. There was a festival that week and the closing concert was across the street by the museum, so we did not get much sleep one night. Our hotel in Barcelona also had an outstanding location and we had a bit of a view of the old city. This was the noisiest hotel (apart from the festival night!); I think the metro is a source of a continuous low rumble. The pool was nice, but small and crowded. We had our one problem at this hotel. Returning from our last football game at 2 p.m. we found that we were locked out of our room because the batteries in the card reader in our door had died. It took 10 minutes to determine that was the problem and half an hour to fix it. We received three coupons for free drinks with apologies from the hotel, which we appreciated, but at that point in the trip, we were not anxious to lose more sleep! We enjoyed our tours and your fine guides. Our Madrid guide was very good about meeting us on arrival and helping us to the train station for the trip to Salamanca. That was helpful given that it was a holiday and unbeknownst to us, that limited the metro schedule. We then had great fun with our guide during our Tapas tasting on our return to Madrid. That was also something that we would not have been able to enjoy in the same way without his assistance. Our guide for the Prado was very good and we enjoyed her focus on the historical background in addition to the art. It was very helpful as we continued to enjoy the sights on the rest of the tour. Our tour guide in Bilbao was a real delight and we had great fun with her exploring the art; we were so impressed to have someone with her expertise and ties to the museum to guide us. Plus she was very helpful with her stories about football in Bilbao. Our final guide was also very knowledgeable and did a fine job. We felt that you tried to give us the best of the best, which we greatly appreciated. Transportation worked well. We had no problem with the connections, any trains or the plane flight to Barcelona. Other than the fact that this was an exhausting trip with late meals, late soccer matches, lots of touring and so much to see and do, we would recommend it to anyone. Riding the subway and busses to and from games with the local fans, we really felt in touch with Spain and at least a part of Spanish culture that is different from the usual tourist experience. We would definitely recommend your services to anyone planning a trip to Spain. We felt you did an amazing job for us. We also hope to return to Spain to see more of Madrid and surrounding areas, like Avila and the Escorial, and then travel to the places in the South and elsewhere that we could not see on this trip. Maybe we will even do El Camino! You can be sure that we will want to use your services again, and see if you can top this spectacular trip.