There are really two Spains, and they barely agree on lunch. The south is Andalucia: Moorish palaces, whitewashed villages, orange trees in the squares and a summer heat that makes siesta less a custom than a survival strategy. The north is green, rainy and ravenous: Atlantic cliffs, the Camino’s final stretch, cider poured from a great height and San Sebastián, a city that has elevated the bar snack to an art form. Then there’s everything in between, which is how most first-timers end up wanting a bit of both.
This guide compares the escorted tours on our Spain tours page that stay within Spain, from a week in Andalucia with flights to an 18-day circuit of the whole country, plus a few for walkers. Each comes with who it suits and the honest drawback. For trips that add Portugal or Morocco, see our guide to Spain, Portugal and Morocco tours.
The quick answer
- If you want Andalucia in a week with flights, pick Classical Spain.
- If you want Andalucia plus a beach, pick Seville, Granada & Córdoba with Marbella.
- If you want the green north in comfort, pick Northern Spain or the Historic Paradores.
- If you want the whole country on a budget, pick Best of Spain.
- If you want to walk into Santiago, pick the Camino from Sarria.
Every Spain escorted tour compared
| Tour | Days | Price from | Physical rating | Group size | Flights included | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andalucia | ||||||
| Classical Spain: Seville, Córdoba & Granada Escorted Tour – 7 Days | 7 | £839 pp incl. flights | Not stated | Max 25 | Yes | A week, flights included |
| Highlights of Andalucia: Granada, Cordoba & Seville – 8 Days | 8 | £810 pp | Medium | Max 16 | No | By bus and train, with village walks |
| Solo Classical Spain: Seville, Córdoba & Granada with Flights – 7 Days | 7 | £1,599 pp incl. flights | Low | Max 25 | Yes | Solo travellers |
| Seville, Granada & Córdoba with Marbella Beach & Flights – 11 Days | 11 | £2,992 pp incl. flights | Low | Not stated | Yes | Culture plus a beach, two bases |
| Luxury Andalucía & Marbella Beach with Flights – 11 Days | 11 | £2,798 pp incl. flights | Low | Not stated | Yes | Comfort plus a beach |
| The green north | ||||||
| Northern Spain: Madrid, Santiago & San Sebastián – 11 Days | 11 | £3,015 pp | Low | Not stated | No | Coach touring, Madrid to Barcelona |
| Historic Paradores of Northern Spain with Flights – 8 Days | 8 | £2,236 pp incl. flights | Low | Max 24 | Yes | Historic paradores, flights included |
| North Spain Discovery: Barcelona to Madrid – 8 Days | 8 | £1,795 pp | Low | Max 12 | No | Pintxos and Rioja in a week |
| Northern Spain Food Adventure: Barcelona to Santiago – 9 Days | 9 | £3,715 pp | Low | Max 12 | No | Food lovers, Barcelona to Santiago |
| The whole lot | ||||||
| Best of Spain: Madrid to Barcelona – 15 Days | 15 | £2,308 pp | Low | Max 12 | No | Best value, by train |
| Luxury Spain: Madrid, Andalucia, Valencia & Barcelona – 11 Days | 11 | £3,645 pp | Low | Max 12 | No | Comfort, Madrid to Barcelona |
| Spanish Heritage: Andalucia, Madrid & the Green North – 18 Days | 18 | £5,650 pp | Low | Max 40 | No | The full circuit by coach |
| On foot and by bike | ||||||
| Walk the Camino de Santiago: Sarria to Santiago – 7 Days | 7 | £995 pp | Medium | Max 12 | No | The Camino's last 100km |
| Walking in Andalucía: Grazalema & the Caminito del Rey – 8 Days | 8 | £1,514 pp | Medium | Max 15 | No | Andalucia's mountains |
| Hiking the Picos de Europa: Cares Gorge & Peaks – 8 Days | 8 | £1,012 pp | Medium | Max 15 | No | The Picos de Europa |
| Cycling Spain’s Mediterranean Coast: Barcelona to Valencia – 8 Days | 8 | £2,246 pp | Medium | Max 16 | No | The Mediterranean coast by bike |
Prices are per person, twin share, live from our tour pages (updated October 2026). The lowest price can apply to a later departure, so check the dates you want on each tour page.
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Andalucia: palaces, patios and white villages
The Andalucia trio of Seville, Córdoba and Granada is one of Europe’s great cultural triangles: the cathedral and Alcázar of Seville, the forest of striped arches inside Córdoba’s Mezquita, and the Alhambra, which is quite possibly the most beautiful building you’ll ever queue for. Five tours do it in different styles.
Classical Spain: the classic week, with flights
Classical Spain: Seville, Córdoba & Granada Escorted Tour – 7 Days
- 7 days
- From £839 per person incl. flights
- Max 25 people
- Starts and ends in Málaga, Spain
- Flights included
- Departures in February, March, April, May, June, September, October, November
Seven days with return flights to Málaga from a choice of UK airports, four-star hotels and a tour leader throughout. A night near the white village of Mijas, the clifftop bridges of Ronda, a tapas introduction in Seville and a city tour, a guided visit to Córdoba with entry to the Mezquita, and the Alhambra in Granada. Breakfast is included daily.
Suits: first-timers who want everything arranged in one tidy week. The honest drawback: three hotel changes in seven days, and entry to Seville’s Alcázar and cathedral is paid locally.
Highlights of Andalucia: by bus, train and on foot
Highlights of Andalucia: Granada, Cordoba & Seville – 8 Days
- 8 days
- From £810 per person
- Max 16 people
- Malaga, Spain to Seville, Spain
- Physical rating: medium
- Flights not included
- Departures in March, April, May, June, September, October, November
Eight days with a tour leader and four to 16 travellers, travelling the local way. Two nights in Granada with a timed visit to the Alhambra, Córdoba and the Mezquita, then two nights in a family-run posada in the hill village of Castaño del Robledo for guided walks in the Sierra de Aracena, before finishing in Seville.
Suits: active travellers on a budget who want the cities and the countryside. The honest drawback: simple guesthouses, a few shared bathrooms, and no coach to carry your bags.
Seville, Granada & Córdoba with Marbella
Seville, Granada & Córdoba with Marbella Beach & Flights – 11 Days
- 11 days
- From £2,992 per person incl. flights
- Starts and ends in United Kingdom
- Physical rating: low
- Flights included
- Departures in February, April, May, June, September, October, November
Eleven days with return flights to Málaga, from two comfortable bases: seven nights in Antequera with included excursions to Seville, Córdoba and its Mezquita, and Granada for the Alhambra gardens, the Generalife and the Alcazaba, then three nights in Marbella for the beach, the old town and Puerto Banús.
Suits: travellers who hate packing and want a beach at the end. The honest drawback: day trips from a base mean more time on the coach, and only breakfasts are included.
Two more variations. Luxury Andalucía & Marbella (11 days) tours Ronda, Seville, Córdoba, Priego de Córdoba and Granada in four- and five-star hotels, with entry to the Alcázar, Mezquita and Alhambra, before three nights at a Marbella resort. Solo Classical Spain (7 days) is the classic week designed for people travelling alone, with flights and a welcome dinner with drinks.
The green north
Northern Spain is the country’s best-kept secret, if you can call somewhere with Michelin stars on every other corner a secret. It’s cooler, greener and quieter than the south, with a coastline that looks more like Cornwall than the Costa del Sol, and food that will ruin you for tapas back home.
Northern Spain: Madrid, Santiago and San Sebastián
Northern Spain: Madrid, Santiago & San Sebastián – 11 Days
- 11 days
- From £3,015 per person
- Madrid, Spain to Barcelona, Spain
- Physical rating: low
- Flights not included
- Departures in April, May, June, July, August, September, October
Eleven days by coach with a tour director, four-star hotels and several late starts. Bourbon Madrid with a local expert, then over the Guadarrama Mountains to Santiago de Compostela, the Costa Verde to Oviedo with a farm lunch and cider tasting in Asturias, the shrine of Covadonga, medieval Santillana del Mar, the Guggenheim in Bilbao, two nights in San Sebastián, Pamplona and a farewell dinner in Barcelona.
Suits: first-timers to the north who like comfort and a relaxed pace. The honest drawback: coach groups, and most dinners are up to you (in San Sebastián, that’s a feature).
Historic Paradores of Northern Spain, with flights
Historic Paradores of Northern Spain with Flights – 8 Days
- 8 days
- From £2,236 per person incl. flights
- Max 24 people
- Starts and ends in United Kingdom
- Physical rating: low
- Flights included
- Departures in May, June, August, September, October
Eight days with return flights to Bilbao and seven nights in four-star paradores, the state-run hotels in historic buildings, with a tour director and 16 to 24 travellers. Santander and Santillana del Mar from the parador at Limpias, the Asturian and Galician coast to Vilalba, where the parador sits partly in a 15th-century tower, Santiago de Compostela, Lugo and León, and Santo Domingo de la Calzada on the Camino. Four dinners are included.
Suits: history lovers who like sleeping somewhere with a story. The honest drawback: only three bases, so some long days on the coach, and a few highlights are optional extras.
North Spain Discovery: pintxos and Rioja in a week
North Spain Discovery: Barcelona to Madrid – 8 Days
- 8 days
- From £1,795 per person
- Max 12 people
- Barcelona, Spain to Madrid, Spain
- Physical rating: low
- Flights not included
- Departures in April, May, June, July, August, September, October
Eight days by train and bus with a local leader and up to 12: Pamplona, San Sebastián with the Monte Igueldo funicular and a free day for the pintxos bars, a txikiteo tapas crawl in Logroño, a winery tour and tasting in medieval Laguardia, and Madrid.
Suits: food lovers on a budget. The honest drawback: no Galicia or Asturias, and only breakfasts are included, though you won’t go hungry.
For serious foodies, the Northern Spain Food Adventure (9 days) runs from a Barcelona market tour to a pintxos crawl in Logroño, two nights on a Basque farmstay with a cooking class, an organic cider house in the Picos de Europa, Oviedo and Albariño country before Santiago. It’s priced like the gourmet trip it is.
The whole lot
Best of Spain: Madrid to Barcelona, by train
Best of Spain: Madrid to Barcelona – 15 Days
- 15 days
- From £2,308 per person
- Max 12 people
- Madrid, Spain to Barcelona, Spain
- Physical rating: low
- Flights not included
- Departures in January, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
Fifteen days by train and local transport with a local leader and up to 12, in simple hotels: Madrid, Granada with a guided Alhambra visit, Ronda, the windsurfing town of Tarifa with a day for whale watching or a trip to Morocco, Seville, Córdoba’s Mezquita, Valencia with a bike ride through the Turia gardens to a beach picnic, and Barcelona.
Suits: first-timers who want the whole country at good value. The honest drawback: you carry your own bags on trains, and it skips the green north.
Luxury Spain: Madrid, Andalucia, Valencia and Barcelona
Luxury Spain: Madrid, Andalucia, Valencia & Barcelona – 11 Days
- 11 days
- From £3,645 per person
- Max 12 people
- Madrid, Spain to Barcelona, Spain
- Physical rating: low
- Flights not included
- Year-round departures
Eleven days in characterful upscale hotels with a tour leader and up to 12, by private vehicle and high-speed train. Madrid with a welcome dinner, Seville with the Alcázar and a flamenco evening and two nights in boutique converted cottages, Córdoba’s Mezquita and Jewish quarter, the Alhambra twice (by day, and the Nasrid Palaces by night), Valencia and Barcelona.
Suits: couples and city lovers who value comfort. The honest drawback: no beach time and no green north, and it costs more than the small-group trips.
For the full circuit, Spanish Heritage (18 days) goes by coach with extra legroom and a tour director from Barcelona to Valencia for a paella experience, Granada, Seville, Córdoba with a local historian, three nights in Madrid with the Prado, then Santiago, Asturias with a farm-to-table lunch and the Basque Country. Coach groups can reach 40.
On foot and by bike
Walk the Camino de Santiago from Sarria
Walk the Camino de Santiago: Sarria to Santiago – 7 Days
- 7 days
- From £995 per person
- Max 12 people
- Sarria, Spain to Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Physical rating: medium
- Flights not included
- Departures in March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October
Seven days walking the last stretch of the Camino Francés, enough to earn your Compostela certificate, with a local leader, up to 12 walkers and your luggage moved each day. Collect your pilgrim passport in Sarria, then walk through the Galician countryside via Portomarín and Palas de Rei, eat octopus in Melide, try the flaming queimada in Arzúa and walk into Santiago and its great cathedral.
Suits: first-time pilgrims and walkers of all kinds. The honest drawback: daily walks of 15 to 29km, and this final stretch is the busiest on the Camino.
Walkers can also pick Walking in Andalucía (Grazalema and the Caminito del Rey) or Hiking the Picos de Europa, and cyclists Cycling Spain’s Mediterranean Coast from Barcelona to Valencia, all 8 days. If Catalonia tempts you, see our Catalonia holidays.
How to choose
By region. Andalucia only: Classical Spain, Highlights, the solo trip or the Marbella combinations. The north only: Northern Spain, the Paradores, North Spain Discovery or the food trip. Both: Best of Spain, Luxury Spain (south and east) or Spanish Heritage (the full circle).
By time. A week: Classical Spain, Highlights, the solo trip, the Paradores, North Spain Discovery, the Camino. Ten or 11 days: Northern Spain, Luxury Spain and the Marbella trips. Two weeks or more: Best of Spain and Spanish Heritage.
By budget. Highlights of Andalucia, Classical Spain and the Camino are the cheapest, and Classical Spain includes flights. Spanish Heritage, the food trip and Luxury Spain cost the most. Live prices are in the table above.
By travel style. Coach with a tour director on Classical Spain, Northern Spain, the Paradores, the Marbella trips and Spanish Heritage; trains and buses with a local leader on Highlights, Best of Spain and North Spain Discovery; private vehicle and high-speed train on Luxury Spain.
When to go
Spring and autumn are perfect almost everywhere. Andalucia is gloriously mild from March to May and in October, and can top 40°C in July and August, when Seville is best admired from inside an air-conditioned café. The north is at its best from May to September. The Andalucia tours run well into winter too. The months for each tour are in its fact panel above.
Before you travel, check the FCDO travel advice for Spain. Some Spanish regions and cities charge a tourist tax, usually paid at the hotel.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best escorted tour of Spain for first-time visitors?
For Andalucia, Classical Spain covers Seville, Córdoba and Granada in a week with flights. For the whole country, try Best of Spain or Spanish Heritage.
Which Spain tours include flights?
Classical Spain, Solo Classical Spain, the two Marbella trips and the Historic Paradores of Northern Spain include return flights from the UK.
Which tours visit the Alhambra?
All the Andalucia tours, Best of Spain, Luxury Spain and Spanish Heritage include the Alhambra in Granada.
Are there tours of northern Spain?
Yes: Northern Spain, the Historic Paradores, North Spain Discovery and the Northern Spain Food Adventure.
Can I walk the Camino de Santiago on a tour?
Yes, Walk the Camino de Santiago covers the last stretch from Sarria, with luggage transfers and a local leader.
Is there a tour of Spain for solo travellers?
Yes, Solo Classical Spain is designed for people travelling on their own, with flights included.
Ready for Spain?
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Keep planning
- All escorted tours in Spain
- Spain, Portugal and Morocco tours
- Catalonia holidays
- Escorted tours in Portugal
- Spain holidays
Prices are live from our tour pages (updated October 2026). Tour details and dates can change; your specialist will confirm everything before you book.
