Spain Vacation Review: Seville, Madrid, Prado Museum, Local History, Six-Day Tour

My family of three, including a teenage boy, only had six days in Spain over Thanksgiving week. Our Zicasso travel partner helped us narrow down our itinerary to Seville and Madrid. He arranged all of our transportation, such as transfers from the airport/train station/hotels. The drivers were so courteous and always prompt. We always had a luxury Mercedes van. We landed in Madrid in the morning and went to the train station to take a three-hour ride to Seville. This worked out because check-in times for hotels are usually around 3pm. We chose first-class train tickets, which included access to the VIP lounge in case we had to wait.

The hotel suggested by our travel agent was charming and clean, and the front desk folks were very warm and welcoming. It had a daybed, so the three of us could comfortably fit in one room. The bathroom was updated and the water pressure was great!

Seville is stunning. Our agent arranged a flamenco show the night we arrived and provided many tapas dining recommendations. The next day we had a guide who took us to the royal palace and the cathedral. They arranged the ticket purchases ahead of time, so we stood in a short line and went into the palace right away. The guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. The palace was amazing and the cathedral was a wonder. We learned a good deal of Spanish history. We had the afternoon on our own to walk through the park and see the esplanade. Seville felt very safe and we walked everywhere.

We took an early train back to Madrid. Our tour operator allowed us to choose our own hotel in Madrid because we wanted to use points. The service was great, and it was a very busy hotel.

The travel company arranged a tour of the Prado, the guide for which was excellent, very knowledgeable, and animated! We learned so much and felt as if we saw the major art pieces.

We had another guide give us a tour of the palace in Madrid and the famous plazas, and that was also wonderful. The guides spoke English very well and took pride in what they did. They also bought the tickets in advance so we didn’t have to wait in line.

We walked through the park and toured the Reina Sofia on our own. It was so nice to have someone take care of the details and we had a relaxing, stress-free vacation, while seeing most of the major sites.

We would definitely use this travel company on our next trip to Spain.