I am interested in comments and tips on the Spectacular Spain tour. Has anyone taken this tour recently, and what do you have to say about it?

It is a fabulous tour. I replied to someone else's same topic. I checked multiple itineraries before I booked it. Seriously, you visit some of the major sites in Southern Spain, which are included in the price. The Alhambra, Ronda, Seville, Cordoba's mezquita mosque. Our guide Hassan was fabulous and potentially would be your guide as well.

I took the optional tours to Gibraltar (worth it), Escorial and Valley of the Fallen (where Franco is buried)-- good, but you can probably do this on your own (at least to the El Escorial), Dinner on the shore at Torremolinos-worth it, Madrid night tour (disappointing), but the farewell dinner meant something to be with the rest of the tour group. The food was disappointing.

Also, August in Spain.. ..all I can say is Madrid is on vacation. Buy something you like when you see it, because you never know what stores are going to be closed. We found that Lladro was cheapest in Torremolinos.. ..and not Gibraltar like Globus said. Definitely not Madrid.

I was on a tour with Hassan too! Isn't he great?

I have to agree with you about Lladro in Gibralter. We were strongly recommended to a small store called Jason near the Palace of Gibralter. They were rude and arrogant when my wife told them that their prices were higher than Torremolinos. A store called Mortinas was giving up to 20% discount with free shipping and yet Globus (possibly in exchange for a huge comision) forced us elsewhere.

The icing on the cake turned out to be that another store in Gibraltar offered the Lladro cheaper if we bought a perfume from them! Our tour guide was Rui.

I too found the dinners disappointing on the optional excursions especially in Madrid. We did a night tour of the area that we had done previously during the day for instance. This was with Cosmos. I feel the excursions are mostly overpriced. The tour companies must make a fortune because the food is only quite basic and in small amounts and I am sure the restaurants dont get all the money. I am thinking of doing a Globus tour next time and hope that the nights out include more entertainment. The tour of the Colliseum in Rome for instance, we couldnt hear a word the guide was saying because the wind was blowing so strongly and we just stood there until she finished, dying to get back to the bus.

hey.. ..Hassan was my guide when i went with globus to morocco. isn't he awesome! And quite the looker huh? anyways, when was your tour? we exchanged emails for awhile, but then it just kinda dropped.