For this trip we wanted to hit two countries we’d never been to before: Spain and Portugal. During the planning phases, Emily had seen many pictures and videos of the Azores, the small archipelago roughly 1,000 miles from the Portuguese mainland. Naturally, we saw that the Azores are becoming increasingly popular, so we knew that we had to stop at the “Hawaii of the Atlantic.”
From the Azores we made our way to Lisbon and on to Porto via train, then took a quick flight to Madrid. Our itinerary included hiking, wine tours, food tours, cooking classes, history, hot stone massages, and more. This was a superb trip and we hope that this itinerary will help you plan your next dream vacation, especially if Portugal or Spain are on your mind!
Table of Contents
Day 1 – Sao Miguel (the Azores)
Our first exposure to Portugal was the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores Island chain. We landed relatively early in the morning after our overnight flight, and immediately picked up our rental car. We used Micauto Rent a Car and we had a wonderful experience so we would recommend them. Sao Miguel is best explored with your own car, so we strongly recommend getting a car to maximize your time on the island.
After picking up our car, we headed to Pedras do Mar Resort and Spa to check in. We absolutely loved this hotel and couldn’t have asked for a more perfect experience. Pedras do Mar is a 5 star hotel that is still affordable and offers stunning views of the ocean, a great restaurant, spa services, and a beautiful pool overlooking the Atlantic. It’s also only located about 15 minutes from the main city of Ponta Delgada, and is pretty much in the middle of the island giving you the flexibility to explore both sides with an hour drive or less from your hotel.
After checking in, we took the car to Ponta Delgada, found parking near the Portas da Cidade, and started to explore the downtown area. By this point we were pretty hungry so we stopped at Café Central for lunch and Emily had a great cappuccino chantilly. Then we walked around the shops in downtown and became acquainted with this charming Portuguese island town.
We then drove a few minutes to the Azorean Pineapple Plantation, where we were able to see how they grow pineapples in the Azores (hint: lots of greenhouses!) and then had a free sample of their pineapple jam and liquor. Their pineapples were so sweet and delicious, and we even sampled some of their pineapple ice cream as well! This shouldn’t be missed on any trip to Sao Miguel.
Since we were tired from the flight and time change we decided to just get dinner at our hotel restaurant. The food was really good, though on the expensive side. It’s a great option if you stay at the hotel, and you must try their rosemary crème brulee! Matt still talks about it and wishes he could get it again.
Day 2 – Hike Mata do Canario – Sete Cidades
After a quick breakfast at our hotel, we drove to the town of Sete Cidades to use as a base to hike the Mata do Canario Sete Cidades trail. The actual starting point of the hike is not in town, though it does finish there, so we parked our car and hailed a taxi to get to the starting point in the Canary Forest near Mata do Canario. Most taxis seemed to be familiar with exactly where the hike begins, so getting dropped off at the trailhead was simple.
The roughly 7.5 mile hike begins with a few hundred feet of gentle elevation gain before settling in to a gradual decline all the way to Sete Cidades. Throughout the entire hike we were treated with gorgeous views of Lagoa des Sete Cidades and hydrangeas which have grown rampant on the island.
After finishing the hike, we arrived in town and got a pastel de nata (certainly not the last we had on the trip!) at one of the local shops. We walked to the Church of Sao Nicolau and were mesmerized by the tree and hydrangea lined pathway leading to the door. This pathway and Church were absolutely stunning.
We worked up a pretty big appetite from the hike, so for dinner we headed back to Ponta Delgada and stumbled upon this beautiful restaurant on the water called Cais da Sardinha. Ordinarily you need a reservation, but we just happened to get very lucky and were seated without one. This should be at the top of your list for restaurants to try in Ponta Delgada. The food and wine were mouthwateringly good, and Emily tried the passionfruit pie for dessert that she loved. We highly recommend eating here (with a reservation!), just know that like most restaurants in Ponta Delgada it is closed on Mondays.
Day 3 – Tea Plantation and Terra Nostra
This morning we drove to Cha Gorreana, the oldest tea plantation in Europe! Cha Gorreana has been growing tea since 1883 and we were able to visit and try some green and black tea samples. The plantation itself is gorgeous and we spent time walking through the picturesque tea rows. We didn’t walk around the whole plantation, but there are trails that lead roughly 2 miles though the entire property.
We then went to the town of Furnas and the Terra Nostra Gardens, a botanical garden featuring an iron-rich hot spring. We spent time exploring the gardens and marveling at the meticulous planning and care that went in to designing this peaceful park. There is an entrance fee for the gardens, but that also includes access to the hot spring.
After exploring the gardens, we decided to get in the hot spring and feel it’s healing power. The water came up to about shoulder height on Matt, so kids may not be able to touch and you probably don’t want to put your head under the water. Also, make sure to wear an older, dark bathing suit as the water has the potential to stain due to the iron. There are showers to rinse off immediately after getting out as well.
Furnas itself is known for being a very active geothermal area, with many steam vents throughout. We explored the vents a bit and then tried some sweet corn that was cooked in the geothermal pits and it was delicious! It is a must try when visiting Furnas.
For dinner we went to Calcada do Cais in Ponta Delgada and tried some delicious soup, octopus, and steak. We had tried octopus for the first time in Greece, and it was definitely fun to have it again since it is not something we get often in the US.
After dinner we walked around Ponta Delgada and passed Louvre Michaelense, a restaurant that was very busy and looked really nice so we decided to get drinks and dessert there. We had to wait a little bit and this was later in the night, so again we highly recommend making reservations. We also tried their ravioli and it was very tasty, so we imagine the rest of menu would be great as well!
Day 4 – Hot Stone Massage, Tea, and Relaxing
This morning we decided to get an Azorean hot stone massage at the Pedras do Mar Spa and it definitely did not disappoint! It was the first time we had a hot stone massage and we loved it because it was so relaxing and unique! Definitely recommend doing it whether or not you stay at this hotel!
After the massage, we spent the next few hours relaxing at our hotel’s pool and sipping on some Aperol Spritz. The view from the pool overlooking the Atlantic was beautiful! We then decided to go back to the tea plantation since they also had Azorean wines available to try and we just couldn’t get enough of the scenery.
We headed back to Ponta Delgada for dinner, though because it was Monday there were many restaurants closed. In fact, many restaurants are closed on both Sunday and Monday, so definitely plan ahead and try to make reservations at restaurants that are actually open on those days! We tried to go to A Tasca which came highly recommended, however it was very busy and there was a 2 hour wait. Instead, we went back to Calcada do Cais which was just as good the second time.
Day 5 – Fly to Lisbon and a Walking Food Tour
After 4 days on Sao Miguel, we felt we had seen and done just about everything. It was the perfect amount of time there, just enough to really explore the island but not too much where we ended up bored. On to the next leg of our trip – Lisbon!
We landed in Lisbon and checked into the Urbano Flh Hotels Lisboa which was in the perfect location and included breakfast. It was another wonderful hotel that we really enjoyed and would highly recommend to anyone visiting Lisbon.
We explored a bit until the main event for the day – our Lisbon walking food tour at 3:30. This might be our favorite walking food tour we’ve ever done! The tour guide, Jaoa, was phenomenal and each of our stops were so authentic and delicious. We were able to try very popular dishes specific to Portugal such as codfish cakes and tomato rice, sardines, chorizo, and ginja shots out of chocolate cups. It was a relatively small group of 12 people from all over the world, and we really enjoyed interacting with everyone.
We then walked up to the Castelo de Sao Jorge, a very impressive fortification that towers over the rest of Lisbon. The castle was originally established by the Romans more than 2000 years ago, and thus has been a part of all the major events in Lisbon since. While there is an entrance fee, we believe it is worth it just to see the grounds and experience sunset over the city from there. As an icing on the cake, there are beautiful peacocks that roam everywhere around the castle.
Day 6 – Sintra
This morning we wanted to get out of Lisbon and take a day trip to a neighboring town, specifically the beautiful city of Sintra. Sintra is an easy 40 minute train ride from the Rossio train station in Lisbon, and the train station was fairly small and easy to navigate. You can buy your tickets there or online ahead of time, but be prepared as trains leave exactly on time!
We arrived at Sintra’s train station and hiked up to Pena Palace. It is a 2 mile hike that is fairly uphill and you will be walking a ton throughout the day in Sintra, so we believe the much better option is to taxi instead. We arrived at Pena Palace around 10:45 and it was already pretty busy even though it only opened at 10am.
Pena Palace itself is beautiful with vibrant colors and unique architecture each direction you look. There is a reason it’s always listed at the top of best things to do in Sintra and it definitely did not disappoint. Just make sure you arrive early as it gets much more crowded as the day goes on!
After exploring Pena Palace, we headed to the Castelo dos Mouros (Castle of the Moors) which is only a 5 minute walk from the exit of the palace. The Castle of the Moors is an interesting juxtaposition to the extravagance of Pena Palace, but the early medieval feel of the fortification is worth the price of admission. Originally constructed by the Moors (the Christian name for the Muslim inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula that conquered Iberia beginning in 711) in the 8th Century, the castle has played an important part of the history of this region and should not be missed on your trip to Sintra.
We then made our way to the backside of the castle and walked about 20 minutes back down the hill into the historic old town of Sintra. The walk down was well marked and easy and leads you directly into the old town. At this point we stopped to have lunch at Paco Real which had very tasty codfish cakes, codfish bacalhau, pizza, wine, and dessert!
After refueling with lunch, we walked 10 minutes away from town to Quinta da Regaleira, a quinta (translated as a a large home on the outskirts of a town) which features an ornate palace, beautiful gardens, and a conglomeration of various intriguing architectural wonders including the Portal of Guardians with Juliet balcony, Initiation Well, and Gods Promenade. The Initiation Well is likely to have a line, but it is a can’t miss attraction in Sintra.
We didn’t have time or energy to also visit Monserrate, but it was also highly recommended for it’s romantic palace and extravagant gardens. Instead we walked around the historic old town a bit more and went into some of their cute shops for some souvenirs. We also got more gingja (Matt loves the cherry liqueur) and pastel de nata crema shots in chocolate cups from a window shop, both of which were excellent and should be tried at least once! At the end of the day we hopped back on the train and returned to Lisbon.
Day 7 – Wine, Food, and Tile Tour of Setubal
This day was also all about leaving Lisbon and experiencing Portugal outside it’s major cities. We booked a wine and food tour of Setubal which was supposed to be a small group but ended up only being us. Because it was only us, our guide was able to tailor the tour to us a bit which we really appreciated.
Our first stop was Cabo Espichel, where the Sanctuary of our Lady of Cape Espichel is perched fascinatingly on the side of a cliff overlooking the Atlantic. We really wanted to visit here because it was prominently featured on the Amazing Race (we are huge fans!) as one of the challenges during season 33. Matt wanted to recreate the challenge and see if he was able to count all the columns as well!
After our stop at Cabo Espichel, we drove on towards Setubal and saw a great number of sheep in the fields. It was crazy to think we were less than 40mi from Lisbon at this point! Our guide then took us to Azulejos de Azeitao, a tile factory where we were able to watch tilemakers master their craft and create incredible pieces of art by hand. We were even able to make a couple ourselves and ended up buying a few tiles to bring home as souvenirs!
We then arrived in Setubal, a cute fishing town famous for having some of the best seafood in Portugal! Our guide recommended Baio do Sado, which was absolutely incredible and was probably the best meal we had on the trip. We had a delicious grilled seabass and clams, all for a relatively low price. If you happen to be in Setubal, you must eat here!
Once we finished lunch we drove along the coast and stopped at a gorgeous overlook which would be stunning during sunset. We stopped for a few minutes to enjoy the view and then continued on to the winery for the included wine tasting.
The winery we visited was called Jose Maria da Fonseca, a beautiful venue with stunning gardens and a massive barrel room with wines dating back 50+ years. We unfortunately were able to try only 2 wines, but they were both delicious and then we ended up buying a few of the bottles to bring home because they were so cheap!
Our last official stop of the day was a cute café right across the street from the winery called Cafes Casa Negrito for an afternoon espresso and pastry. Our guide recommended that we try the Torta de Azeitao which we would describe as a sweet sponge cake filled with a custard that originated in Setubal. Emily said it was one of her favorite desserts she had during the entire trip!
On our drive back to Lisbon we stopped briefly at Cristo Rei, the large statue of Jesus modeled after the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil. It overlooks the Sea of Straw and the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge that is designed to be like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
Once we returned to Lisbon we walked around Alfama, the oldest part of Lisbon with the most character. For dinner we stopped at Maria Catita, which we really enjoyed as well.
Day 8 – Lisbon and Cooking Class
We spent our last day in Lisbon exploring the city and doing our last bit of shopping. In the morning we walked to Praca do Comercio, a stunning plaza with beautiful architecture on 3 sides and the sea on the other. This is one of the largest plazas in all of Portugal and we definitely were happy to see it!
Our second stop on the day was the area of Lisbon known as Belem. It’s too far to walk from Praca do Comercio, so we decided to take an Uber. You could also rent a scooter or take a taxi, but we were most comfortable with an Uber.
We bought our tickets for the Tower of Belem ahead of time online, which we highly recommend as the line for tickets was quite long! The Tower of Belem on the north side of the Tagus River, along with similar towers on the south side, were designed to defend Lisbon in the 16th Century at the height of the Portuguese Empire’s power. We really enjoyed it and would recommend visiting if you have the time to get outside the main part of Lisbon.
We then walked over to Pasteis de Belem, the bakery famous for their Pastel de Belem (i.e. the pastel de nata). We thought it was good, but it actually was not the best we had on the trip in our opinion and we don’t think a super long line would be worth it. We got our pastries to go and sat in a park to enjoy them before heading back to central Lisbon and grabbing an Aperol Spritz while overlooking the city.
We then made our way to the meeting point for our Portuguese Cooking Class in Lisbon at 6:30. This was an absolutely wonderful cooking class where we shared responsibilities, so we all contributed something to at least one of the dishes. We generally would rather make every dish, but we still enjoyed the class! We made codfish cakes, fried green beans, fried deviled eggs, salads, caldo verde soup with chorizo, and meringue for dessert. We highly recommend this class!
Day 9 – Train to Porto
Today we made our way up to Porto via train. We took a taxi from our hotel to the Lisbon Oriente Station for the 12:10 train to Porto as it was much too far to walk, especially with luggage. We arrived in Porto just before 3pm and then took an Uber from the Porto train station to our hotel, the Ceuta Terrace Suites. This was a really nice hotel in a great location and also included breakfast.
Once we arrived in Porto we made our way to Café Majestic for a latte macchiato and tea. Café Majestic is, well, majestic! It was built in 1921 and was designed to look like a Parisian café in order to cater to the affluent sects of society. Today, it is a must visit in Porto just to see the extravagance up close!
We then made our way down to the Douro River, stopping by the Porto Cathedral along the way. Be warned: Porto slopes fairly steeply down to the Douro River from Café Majestic, so walking back uphill to the hotel will be tiring!
Once we got down to the river we meandered around the river walk and went in various shops and restaurants to get an idea of where we’d want to eat while in Porto. We then crossed the Douro to the other side and stopped at Quinta do Noval so that Matt could do a port wine tasting. After all, you can’t go to Porto and not try port wine!
We then crossed back over the Douro and stopped by Vinhas D’Alho for dinner. This restaurant is located right along the river, but elevated above the crowds on the river walk below so that we had an unobstructed view of the river and opposite bank. We recommend not only this specific restaurant for it’s delicious food, but we also recommend choosing a restaurant that is more elevated so that you can have a better experience than being in the middle of the crowds right on the river’s edge.
Day 10 – Douro Wine Tour
This day was dedicated to sampling wine on a winery tour to the Douro Valley! We were picked up just around the corner from our hotel and started the drive to the Douro Valley and our first winery – Quinta dos Castelares.
At Quinta dos Castelares we were able to taste wine, olive oil with bread, port wine, and their freshly made honey. Each of these items were absolutely delicious and the winery itself was beautiful as well.
We then had lunch at Vintage Theory Boutique Port Winery, which featured stunning gardens and a beautiful mansion that we were able to tour as well. Emily had the cod bacalhau and Matt had the pork risotto, and we enjoyed both of them very much! Part of the visit here included wine tasting a white and red with lunch, then going to the cellar and trying some different tawny port vintages.
After this port tasting we drove further into the Douro Valley for our last stop which was centered entirely on port wines. We toured the final winery before heading inside and trying a few different ports. The scenery was amazing, however it was incredibly hot as the valley doesn’t have much wind coming through and it can be significantly hotter than Porto. It was so hot that the tour guide handed out umbrellas while we walked around the grounds! Definitely ensure you are prepared and bring plenty of water.
Overall, the tour was fantastic and we highly recommend it if you are at all interested in port wines. Be prepared that they are generally very sweet, but this port wine tour was a ton of fun and a must do in Porto! After the tour we drove back down to Porto and walked around the river for the evening.
Day 11 – Porto
This was our last day in Porto before going on to Spain so we saved it as a free day in Porto. The day had intermittent rain, but we didn’t let that stop us from having fun!
We began our morning by walking around and seeing several of the major architectural sites we hadn’t seen yet like Se Catedral. We wanted to go to Livraria Lello, the famous bookstore prominently featured in the Harry Potter movies, but the line was insanely long so we just stopped by the outside to see it. If you are a major Harry Potter fan and this is high on your list, definitely arrive very early or there will be a line!
We then made our way back down to the Douro River and did some shopping along the river walk. We crossed the bridge over the river and walked up to the Monastery of Serra do Pilar for a gorgeous view of the river and Porto beyond. There is a really pretty restaurant up there and we heard from many people that this was an amazing place to experience sunset.
This side of the river also contains all the major port houses, and we considered going in to one for a tour/tasting but Emily is not a huge fan of port wine and the prior day was enough for Matt. Instead, we stopped by Natas D’ouro for some pastries, an espresso, and a bit of relaxation as the rain started. It was a great place to stop and have a bite to eat.
After the heavier rain passed we made our way back over the bridge and hopped on one of the boats for the “7 bridges” boat tour of the Douro River. This was recommended by several people, and the tour was 45 minutes long and cost 15 euros per person. For us this was just an ok experience. It wasn’t horrible or a waste of money by any means, but we don’t look back on it as a highlight of our trip.
After the boat tour it was beginning to rain again so we went to the Wine Quay Bar and it was amazing! This was an experience we will never forget! We were covered from the rain but had a stunning elevated view of the river. They have lots of amazing local wines, cheeses, olive oil and many other small bites. We got the fresh bread with tomatoes and olive oil and sat there and drank wine for several hours until the evening. It was just lovely. We loved some of the wine so much we bought 3 bottles to bring home!
We then walked back up to Brasao Cervejaria Coliseu, as this was a highly recommended restaurant to get Porto’s famous Francesinha. It is like a gravy smothered sandwich with lots of different meats topped with a fried egg. We heard several people describe it as tasty but on the heavy side. Matt was so excited to try it and he was not disappointed! It is a very large sandwich so we split it and a salad and that was plenty. The ambiance of the restaurant was very nice and we ended the meal with a sherbet that was the perfect cherry on top since it was so light and refreshing.
We walked by City Hall one last time in the evening and it was gorgeous and a perfect lasting image to wrap up our time in Porto.
Day 12 – Madrid and a walking food tour
This morning we made our way to the last stop of our trip, Madrid. The flight over was only about an hour, and we would definitely recommend flying as the train connections are not convenient and driving would take up a large portion of the day (and would be very expensive due to the 1 way fee!).
When we arrived we Ubered to the Innside by Melia Madrid Gran Via hotel right along the famous Gran Via. The hotel was very nice and featured a rooftop bar and breakfast daily, though it was about a 30 minute walk away from the Atocha train station which we ended up going to 2 times for day trips. Otherwise the hotel is centrally located to most of the Madrid specific sites you’d want to see.
After checking into the hotel, we spent some time exploring on our own before our walking food tour of Madrid at 7pm. We have normally always loved our walking food tours and this one came very highly rated, though this was not our favorite mostly because of the amount of fried food chosen on our particular tour.
We started at the Mercado de san Miguel which was a really cool indoor market that was extremely popular. Our guide showed us a very popular drink that originated in Madrid that Matt absolutely loved called Vermouth. We then got to try some local cheeses, a calamari sandwich, fried shrimp, fried cod bites, and a fried dessert that is typically served at Easter time. The items were good and the places they took us to were very popular, it was just too much fried food in one tour.
Day 13 – Ribera del Duero Wine Tour
This was one of our favorite days of the trip. Today we booked a guided winery tour to Ribera del Duero, and the entire day was lovely! We truly think this might have been the best winery tour we’ve ever done.
We met for the tour near the Atocha train station (so a 30 minute walk from our hotel) and packed into a van with 6 other people and our tour guide. The drive out to the first winery, Dominio de Cair, was about an hour and a half.
We had an incredible experience at Dominio de Cair! We had a guide show us all around the winery and then took us outside to the vineyard to show us all the different grape varietals on the vines. We even were able to try some of the chardonnay and tempranillo grapes right off the vine, which was a first for us!
We then went back inside and were shown where the wine is fermented and the winery’s hidden barrel room downstairs. We were able to do a barrel tasting which is something we have always wanted to do! The barrel tasting allowed us to compare the differences that French Oak and American Oak barrels impart on the same exact wine. The juxtaposition of these two wines was striking, all because of the barrel! We then had a regular tasting of 3 wines in their tasting room. This experience continues to be the best we’ve ever had at an individual winery.
We then drove only 5 minutes up the road to Bela Winery for our second stop. Our tour guide showed us around the winery and specifically into their gigantic wooden barrel room which smelled indescribably good. The entire winery was beautiful, and we sampled 3 of their wines along with some local cheeses. Their wine was so good we ended up buying several bottles to bring home. We also just recently learned that one of their wines is available in a local Total Wine & More, so we will be stocking up on that for the foreseeable future!
After the second winery we stopped for lunch at El Ventorro. We were able to pick 2 main dishes, table wine, and dessert – all included in the tour! The food was all extremely delicious and we loved how off the beaten path this restaurant is. Our tour guide translated the menu for us because it was all in Spanish and we didn’t know what some of the dishes were, which was very helpful.
After lunch we drove to our third and final winery, Val Sotillo. This was such a cool and unique experience! The winery is known for its underground wine tunnels/caves (which just so happens to feature prominently on their bottles). The owner of the winery himself led us through the tunnels, the total length of which is miles with thousands of barrels stacked along the walls. The tunnels were insane! We then went inside the winery for our tasting, and once again the wines were so good. We bought multiple of these bottles as well! By this point we were good friends with our group and we even took group photos before the drive back to Madrid.
For dinner in Madrid we went back to the Mercado de San Miguel to try a bunch of different Spanish tapas. We were really excited to try a bunch of different dishes in this way, but it definitely does get pricey to make an entire meal this way as this market is generally higher priced than most food in Madrid. We definitely recommend visiting Mercado de San Miguel, but maybe just try one or two dishes to save some money and go somewhere else for dinner.
Day 14 – Toledo and Flamenco Show
In our research for this trip we had seen that Toledo makes for an excellent day trip and is a must see, so we decided to take the train over for the day. We took the train from Atocha Station, which we found to be pretty difficult to navigate. The train station is very big with multiple levels, many trains, and few signs in English so we had a difficult time figuring out where to go to purchase our tickets (and we were told wrong info by multiple workers!).
You are required to have your passport or some form of photo ID to buy a ticket, which was a first in Europe for us. We unfortunately only gave ourselves 20 minutes before our train was due to depart (that had always been enough before) but we ended up missing the train because it took so long to figure out where to get our tickets. We ended up having to wait an hour for the next train, but we still had plenty of time in Toledo. Just make sure to give yourself enough time at the train station!
Once we arrived in Toledo we had about a 25 minute walk from the train station to the entrance to Toledo. We entered Toledo through the Puerta del Sol (Sun Gate) and walked up to Plaza Zocodovor, which put us in a central area of Toledo to explore everything else!
One of the first things we saw was El Alcazar, a fortress which sits on the highest point in the city. Originally built by the Romans, the fortress was eventually rebuilt after the Spanish Civil War into what we see today.
We then made our way to Catedral Primada, just a quick 7 minute walk from El Alcazar. This cathedral is an absolute MUST while you are there! It is probably the must stunning cathedral we have ever seen. The cathedral is so big, and both the outside and inside are gorgeous. There is a small fee to enter, but it is very worth it to see this striking cathedral.
After exploring the cathedral we stopped at a local sweets shop to try the marzipan. There is a debate whether marzipan was invented in either Toledo or Lubeck, Germany, but either way this is a must try dessert while you are in Toledo.
We then stopped in Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes, which was also very stunning and we thought it was very worth going inside.
At this point we decided to head back to Madrid, and along the way we crossed the Puente de Alcantara Bridge. This was a gorgeous way to leave the city and left a lasting impression on us of Toledo, which overall we really enjoyed and would highly recommend it as a day trip from Madrid.
Once we returned to Madrid we stopped back by our hotel to rest for a little bit after a tiring day of walking. We then set out for this Flamenco show for our evening entertainment. We had never seen a Flamenco show before, but it was highly recommended and something we definitely wanted to experience. The show was an hour long and we thought they did a great job. It was an interesting experience that we were very happy to have while in Spain. Our specific Flamenco show was at Centro Cultural Flamenco.
This evening we had dinner at our hotel and then headed up to the rooftop bar for a nightcap. Matt was able to get more Vermouth which turned out to be one of his favorite drinks he’s ever had!
Day 15 – Madrid and Cooking Class
Our last day in Madrid was relaxing and very laid back. We started the day by heading to Parque Del Retiro, a gorgeous park with an interesting history full of peaks and valleys in terms of prominence for the park. At times it was a mainstay of the royal court life, and at others it was completely neglected. Today it is a beautiful outdoor park that should not be skipped on your visit to Madrid.
After meandering through the park we stopped by Aarde, which was right across the street, for a drink while we waited to go to our cooking class. This is a super nice restaurant but definitely on the pricey side!
We then made our way to the small group Tapas cooking class we had booked for the evening. This was a really fun cooking class! We made some really good Spanish dishes from all over Spain, not just those local to Madrid. Some of the dishes included a potatoes and egg dish, fried calamari, flat bred, and cold tomato soup. You will not be making everything yourself, but will pitch in for various parts of the whole meal.
After the class we walked around the city one last time to see everything lit up in the evening light and had one more Vermouth to end our trip.
That’s our trip to the Azores, Lisbon, Porto, and Madrid! Overall, this is a strong contender as one of the best trips we’ve taken. With a little bit of everything, from hiking to wine to good food to history, this trip will be one we remember forever.
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