| INTRODUCING SPAIN & MOROCCO |
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Day 1 Arrive in Madrid Tuesday, 12 September 2006 Upon your arrival in Madrid and after the usual customs formalities you are met by your English-speaking Tour Manager and transferred to your hotel where you enjoy a hearty breakfast. After breakfast you are taken on a panorama tour of Madrid. You view, inter alia, the world famous Museo del Prado which contains the world’s greatest collection of Spanish paintings ranging from the 12th to the 19th centuries, especially Velàsquez and Goya. The remainder of the day is at leisure. Dinner at your hotel. Overnight: Madrid Day 2 Madrid – Escorial – Madrid Wednesday, 13 September 2006 Breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast you depart for the San Lorenzo de El Escorial Palace, situated ± 60 km north-west of Madrid at the foothills of the Sierra de Guadarrama – built between 1563 and 1584 in honour of St Lawrence. Its artistic wealth, including some of the most important works of art of the Habsburg collections, is concentrated in the museums, chapterhouses, church, royal pantheon and library within the palace. This palace has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. You return to Madrid, having lunch en route, and you then visit the Palacio Real, built on the site of the former Moorish fortress or alcazar and reconstructed in the 18th century by King Phillip V of Spain after being destroyed by a fire. Of special interest will be the grand entrance stairway with 72 steps in Toledo marble, the regal crimson-and-gold Throne Room with a rock crystal chandelier and the lavish dining room, formerly the queen’s private chambers. The remainder of the day is at leisure. Dinner at your hotel. Overnight: Madrid Day 3 Madrid – Segovia – Madrid Thursday, 14 September 2006 Breakfast at the hotel. Today has been reserved for a trip to the city of Segovia, also declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Of special interest will be the Roman Aquaduct built at the end of the 1st century AD by the Romans who turned ancient Segovia into a military base. ( With this feat of engineering water from the Río Frío filtered through a series of tanks along the way); the Alcázar, reconstructed in 1862 after a fire and decorated with armour, paintings and furniture with a medieval atmosphere; and the Gothic Cathedral of Segovia dating from 1525. Lunch. In the afternoon you visit a wine cellar where you have an opportunity to taste the cellar’s best vintage. You then return to Madrid. Dinner at your hotel. Overnight: Madrid Day 4 Madrid – Casablanca Friday, 15 September 2006 Breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast you are transferred to Madrid International Airport for your flight to Casablanca (Flight No IB 3704: departing 10:25, arriving 11:05). Upon your arrival, you are transferred to your hotel and have time to freshen up. In the afternoon you are taken on a introductory tour of the city of Casablanca, once a small Portuguese settlement called Casabranca or White House and now a city of ± 3 million inhabitants and today the industrial and commercial hub of Morocco. Of special interest will be the Mosque of Hassan II with a prayer hall which can accommodate roughly 25 000 people and therefore the second largest religious building in the world after the mosque in Mecca. The minaret of the mosque is 200 m high and serves as the lighthouse of Casablanca - two laser beams shine from the minaret over a distance of 30 km in the direction of Mecca. Dinner at your hotel. Overnight: Casablanca Day 5 Casablanca – Rabat – Fes Saturday, 16 September 2006 Breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast at the hotel, you depart for the city of Rabat, capital of Morocco and residence to King Mohamed VI of Morocco. You undertake a tour of the walled city viewing, inter alia, the King’s Palace, the Mausoleum of King Mohamed V, in white Italian marble and containing a mosque and museum devoted to the Alaouite dynasty; and the ruins of Hassan Tower – the unfinished minaret of the Hassan Mosque built by Yacoub el-Mansour in 1196 and destroyed by an earthquake in 1755. Outside the walls are the ruins of the necropolis Chellah or burial complex of the Merinid dynasty dating back to the 13th century and built on the ruins of the Roman settlement Sala Colonia. You then depart for the imperial city of Fes. Upon your arrival, you check into your hotel and have time to freshen up before dinner. Dinner at your hotel. Overnight: Fes Day 6 Fes Sunday, 17 September 2006 Breakfast at the hotel. Today has been reserved for sightseeing in Fes and Meknès. Fes, resplendent with minarets and domes, is nestled in a high valley and dates back to 789 AD, becoming an imperial city at the time of the Merinids in 1250. You experience the sights and sounds of Fez' dazzling medina, a completely preserved medieval city with its extensive labyrinth of alleys, have time to shop at the souk, the biggest in Morocco, and view the city’s many beautiful mosques and Medersas (Koran schools). Meknès, the capital of the Berbers, founded by the tribe of Meknassa in the 10th century and is situated in the heart of an agricultural area that has provided Morocco’s grain since ancient times. It became an imperial city during the reign of Moulay Ismail (1672). Today the city is a dynamic economic centre renowned for its wine, olives and mint tea. You visit the ramparts and the different quarters of the city – the Medina with its winding alleys and souks, Grand Mosque and Bou Iania Medersa (Koranic school) and the Imperial City or Kasbah of Moulay Ismail, with its wide avenues and palaces with attractive pools and extensive gardens. Of special interest will be the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail with its magnificent Prayer Hall and Burial Chamber. Dinner at your hotel. Overnight: Fes Day 7 Fes – Marrakech Monday, 18 September 2006 Breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast you depart for Marrakech. Marrakech, with its ochre ramparts and standing in the shadow of the snowy Atlas Mountains, was for two centuries the hub of a mighty empire. The city was founded in 1062 by the Almoravids from the Sahara who soon carved out an empire that stretched from Algiers to Spain. It is today the capital of the South and although it is now only Morocco’s third city after Casablanca and Rabat, its fabulous palaces and luxuriant palm grove continue to hold a fascination for visitors. En route you enjoy magnificent scenery travelling via Immouzer du Kandar, a small hillside town overlooking the Saïss Plain where one can still see cave dwellings dug into the hillside, Ifrane, a town with a European rather than Moroccan flavour where one can view the King’s Summer Residence set in a dense cedar forest, and Beni Mellal, famous for its orange and olive groves stretching to the horizon. You arrive in the imperial city of Marrakech in the afternoon. You check into your hotel and are then treated to a panoramic tour of the city viewing, inter alia, the magnificent snowy Atlas Mountains in the background. Dinner at your hotel. In the evening you enjoy the famous Moroccan Fantasia – a splendid Moroccan folklore show. Overnight: Marrakech Day 8 Marrakech Tuesday, 19 September 2006 Breakfast at the hotel. Today you have an opportunity to experience the magic of this ancient city. Included in the program are visits to Jemaa el-Fna, a unique and extraordinary square and the nerve centre and symbol of the city declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, which becomes a veritable open-air show after sunset as the air fills with smoke from grilling meat and the aroma of spices and the square fills with musicians, dancers, storytellers, fortunetellers, acrobats and snake charmers and more, …. La Menara, imperial gardens covering almost 90 ha and containing mainly olive and fruit trees, as well as the a pool and pavilion built by Moulay Abderrahman in the 19th century, and the Koutoubia Mosque with its famous minaret and built in 1147 by Sultan Abd el-Moumen to commemorate the victory of the Almohad over the Almoravid - a masterpiece of Muslim architecture, as well as .. the Bahia Palace, built by two powerful viziers – Si Mousa, vizier of Sultan Sidi Mohammed ben Abderrahman, and his son Ba Ahmed, vizier of Moulay Abdelaziz at the end of the 19th century and decked out with highly prized materials such as marble from Meknès, cedar from the Middle Atlas Mountains and tiles from Tetouan, and the Saadian Tombs – excellent examples of Islamic architecture. For the shoppers, time will naturally be spent at the many souks for which Marrakech is famous. Dinner at your hotel. Overnight: Marrakech Day 9 Marrakech – Asni – Marrakech Wednesday, 20 September 2006 Breakfast at the hotel. Today has been reserved for a full-day excursion to the green valley of the Nfiss River. The Atlas Mountains rise to a height of up to 4 160 m on either side of the valley and you are treated to magnificent scenery. Near to Asni you have an opportunity to see a typical Kasbah. Dinner at your hotel. Overnight: Marrakech Day 10 Marrakech – Casablanca – Madrid – home Thursday, 21 September 2006 Breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast you depart for Casablanca for your flight to Madrid (Flight IB 6050: departing 11:55, arriving 14:30) Up arrival in Madrid you are transferred to the Torrejon Hotel *** near the airport where a dayroom has been arranged for you to grant you an opportunity to rest and freshen up before your return flight to Johannesburg. Dinner this evening for own account. In the late evening you are transferred to Madrid International Airport for your flight home (Flight IB 6051: departing 00:35, arriving 10:25 on Friday, 22 September 2006). The tour price: R17 600 per person sharing accommodation Single Supplement: R2 100 per person not willing or able to share accommodation Included in the price:
Not included in the price:
Visas: South African citizens need to apply for visas to enter Spain and Morocco. Selected Tours & Destinations, charges a handling fee of R200-00 per visa application. Visa requirements will be provided upon request. |
10 DAYS / 9 NIGHTS