Lisbon, the Alentejo and Seville

Eight nights from the hills above Lisbon to the plains of the Alentejo and on into Andalucía. Pena Palace opened privately while it is closed to the public, a wine of your own blended at L'AND and a night with its astronomers under the Alentejo sky, then three slow days in Seville, from the Alcázar's upper royal rooms to the House of Alba's palace of Las Dueñas.

Length: Eight nights
Pace: Three stays
Style: City, food and wine, riding
Route: Lisbon and Sintra to The Alentejo to Seville

Lisbon and SintraThree nights
The AlentejoTwo nights
SevilleThree nights

A yellow and red hilltop palace above dense green forest under a blue sky with clouds.

Days 1 to 4 · three nights

Lisbon and Sintra

A walk through the Alfama to the cathedral and castle, then Belém for the monastery and tower, and Chiado and Bairro Alto by evening. In Sintra, a private visit to Pena Palace while it is closed to the public, requested in writing at least 10 working days ahead, and the gardens of Monserrate. The Cascais coast, and fado if you would like it. A day on the Setúbal peninsula can be arranged, joining the cheesemaking at a family-owned traditional cheese factory in Azeitão and tasting the cheeses, then a private visit to José Maria da Fonseca, Portugal's oldest table wine company, founded in 1834 and now in its seventh generation, with a rustic lunch.

Where you stay

Penha Longa Resort

Penha Longa lies within the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, built around a 14th-century monastery and chapel in the green hills between the palaces and the coast. There are 204 rooms and suites, seven places to eat, several pools and a 27-hole golf course.

Cork oaks scattered across a golden meadow under a clear sky.

Days 4 to 6 · two nights

The Alentejo

A private drive east into the Alentejo, with time in the old town of Évora. At L'AND, the winery and cellar, then a wine of your own, blended from Alicante, Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional and Syrah. A morning riding through the vines and olive groves below the castle of Montemor-o-Novo, a picnic, lunch on request at Herdade do Esporão, a wine and olive estate of 576 hectares of vineyards, olive groves and organic crops, sunset from the walls of Monsaraz, and a night with the estate's astronomers and their telescopes in a dark-sky reserve.

Where you stay

L'AND Vineyards

L'AND Vineyards sits in a south-facing valley of organic vines below the medieval castle of Montemor-o-Novo, 20 minutes from Évora and about an hour from Lisbon. Its 35 suites and nine pool villas include Sky View suites whose bedroom ceilings open to the night sky, and guests can make their own wine.

The curved brick colonnade and towers of a grand plaza at sunset, with a few distant figures.

Days 6 to 9 · three nights

Seville

A four-hour drive over the border into Andalucía. Plaza de España, the Guadalquivir by private boat or by bicycle, the cathedral and the Giralda, and the Alcázar with its upper royal apartments, the Cuarto Real Alto, on a separate ticket. The Palacio de las Dueñas, still the House of Alba's, where Antonio Machado grew up and whose lemon-tree courtyard went into his poetry, and an evening of flamenco before the transfer to the airport.

Where you stay

Hotel Alfonso XIII, a Luxury Collection Hotel

Hotel Alfonso XIII was commissioned by the King of Spain for the 1929 Ibero-American Exhibition and stands a short walk from the Alcázar and the cathedral. Its Mudéjar building of brick, plaster, wood and ceramic friezes holds three restaurants, and an outdoor pool set in gardens.

Arranged on request

Pena Palace, closed to the public

Parques de Sintra opens Pena, Monserrate, Queluz and the National Palace of Sintra for private visits at times when they are closed, on written request at least 10 working days ahead.

A wine of your own at L'AND

A lesson in the Alentejo's grapes, then a personal blend made from Alicante, Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional and Syrah.

The Alentejo night sky

A night with L'AND's team of stargazing experts and astronomers and their telescopes, in a dark-sky reserve.

The palace of Las Dueñas

The House of Alba's Seville palace, with more than 1,400 works of art and the lemon-tree courtyard of Antonio Machado's childhood, seen on an hour's visit.

Cheese and wine in Azeitão

On the Setúbal peninsula, a hand in the making at a family-owned traditional cheese factory, then a private visit to José Maria da Fonseca, founded in 1834 and now in its seventh generation, with a rustic lunch.

Subject to availability.

Ways to make it yours

Jabugo and Cinco Jotas, curing ham since 1879, for its cellars, a carving workshop and the oak pastures of the Sierra de Aracena where the pigs graze free.
In Jerez, How the Andalusian Horses Dance at the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art, with a morning's training, the stables and the carriage museum, and a sherry bodega tasting.
A 4x4 visit to a bull ranch.

This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.

Made around you

Most travel is bought. This is designed.

Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.

The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.