Barceloneta
Hotel Arts
A Gran luxe tower on the beachfront by the Port Olímpic, with rooms over the sea or the city and two outdoor pools in its gardens.
Itinerary · 11 days
Spanish Family Adventure
History, culture and the sea, from Gaudí's Barcelona to the beaches of Marbella.
By Ramin Jafari · Facts checked
A private journey across Spain for the whole family: Gaudí in Barcelona, flamenco in Seville and the horses of Jerez, the Alhambra in Granada and the sea at Marbella, with guides who tell each place to children as well as adults. Every part of it can change, and our luxury family trips to Spain page shows what else we plan for families.
The route
From Barcelona to Marbella, by train and road
The order of the journey, and how you travel between its four places.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
From Barcelona the high-speed train crosses Spain to Seville, with your driver waiting at the station. From there every leg is a private transfer with your own driver: inland to Granada, then 180 km over the mountains to the coast, stopping whenever the children need to.
Highlights
Six moments on the way
Gaudí, told to children
The Sagrada Família and Park Güell with a guide who makes the visit a game.
By bike to the Plaza de España
Through the Parque de María Luisa with a guide, to where Star Wars was filmed.
The horses of Jerez
A day at the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art, in the arena and the stables.
Flamenco, after a class
The children learn the steps or the rhythm first, then watch the dancers.
A tile of their own
Painted in Granada after the patterns of the Alhambra.
Ronda, if you would rather
A day inland from the coast, to the Puente Nuevo over its gorge.
Days 1–3
Barcelona, Gaudí's city by the sea
Barcelona first: the Sagrada Família and Park Güell with a guide who tells them to children, a workshop after each, and the beach at the end of the street.
Day 1
Arrival, and the sea
A private transfer from Barcelona–El Prat, and the afternoon on the beach: the city’s sand begins at Barceloneta and runs for more than 4.5 km to the Fòrum. At dusk, a sail along the coast from the Port Olímpic on a private boat with a skipper, on request, with cool drinks on board and the city’s lights coming on behind you.
Day 2
The Sagrada Família, and chocolate
The Sagrada Família with a private guide who tells it to children, and a game for them to play as they go. It books up weeks ahead, so we reserve it as soon as your dates are fixed; it is one of our twelve treasures of Spain. In the afternoon, a chocolate workshop for the family, piping and moulding chocolates of their own, then the rest of the day on the beach.
Day 3
Park Güell, and a mosaic of their own
Park Güell in the morning with your guide: its 12-hectare monumental area, on the World Heritage List, and the long bench above the city covered in broken tile, the trencadís. Then, in the old town, a mosaic workshop where an artisan shows the children how it is done and they make a trencadís of their own, a frame or a tile, while the adults try their hand beside them.
Where you stay
Eixample
Cotton House
A five-star house in the Eixample, the cotton guild's former headquarters, with a library, a rooftop pool and a tailor's workshop.
Days 4–6
Seville, flamenco and the horses of Jerez
Across Spain to Seville: the Plaza de España by bike, a day among the horses of Jerez, an olive estate, and flamenco.
Day 4
Across Spain to Seville
The high-speed train from Barcelona-Sants to Seville’s Santa Justa, and your driver at the station. In the early evening, as the heat goes out of the day, a bike ride with a private guide through the Parque de María Luisa to the Plaza de España, where Lawrence of Arabia and Star Wars were filmed, and a boat on its canal if the children still have the energy.
Day 5
The horses of Jerez
A day out to Jerez de la Frontera and the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art. Its visit takes in the horses at training in the indoor arena, the stables and the saddlery, and the carriages in its museum, and we time the day for its show, «Cómo bailan los caballos andaluces», staged since 1973, where your dates allow. Lunch in Jerez, then back to Seville with your driver.
Day 6
Olives, then flamenco
Half an hour out of the city, an olive estate where the children walk the groves and see a 16th-century beam press beside today’s mill, and the family tastes its extra virgin oil. The afternoon by the hotel pool. In the evening, a flamenco class for the children, the dance or the rhythm of the cajón and the clapping, then the dancers themselves at a performance where we reserve your seats.
Where you stay
Santa Cruz
Hotel Alfonso XIII
Landmark grandeur: Seville's famous 1929 grand hotel, with a colonnaded courtyard restaurant and an outdoor pool.
El Arenal
Mercer Sevilla
An intimate five-star boutique hotel in a late 19th-century mansion in El Arenal, with a rooftop terrace and pool for guests.
Days 7–8
Granada, and the Alhambra as a story
Granada for two days: a tile of their own, the Alhambra with a guide who tells its stories, and the badlands of the Granada Geopark.
Day 7
Into Granada, and a tile of their own
Inland to Granada with your driver. In the afternoon, a ceramics workshop in the city, where the whole family paints tiles of its own after the patterns of the Alhambra, in the traditional techniques of ceramic decoration and with a ceramicist to guide the brush, before the tiles go into the kiln. The evening is free, for an early night before the Alhambra.
Day 8
The Alhambra, as a story
The Alhambra with an official guide who tells it to children as a story of sultans, princes and princesses: the Nasrid Palaces, the Alcazaba and the Generalife’s gardens. It books up months ahead, so we reserve it as soon as your dates are fixed; it is one of our twelve treasures of Spain. In the afternoon, if the family wants more, the Granada Geopark, a UNESCO Global Geopark since 2020: its badlands around Gorafe by 4x4 with a guide, and nearly two hundred dolmens along the valley.
Where you stay
Centro histórico
Palacio de los Patos
A 19th-century palace in the city centre, with a contemporary second building, a garden restaurant and a spa.
Centro histórico
Seda Club
A twenty-room five-star Gran Lujo house on the Plaza de la Trinidad, with a rooftop bar and a heated pool.
Days 9–11
Marbella, and the sea
Down to the coast at Marbella for the last days: the beach, dolphins, snorkelling and a cooking class, or a day inland in Ronda.
Day 9
Down to the sea
Over the mountains with your driver, 180 km to Marbella and a resort on the beach. The afternoon is for the sea and the pool, with the hotel’s kids’ club for the children who want it, open all year at both the resorts below, and the spa for the adults. Dinner early, by the water.
Day 10
Dolphins, and the sea from below
In the morning, out of Puerto Banús on a sailing boat with a skipper authorised to watch dolphins; they are wild, so never certain. In the afternoon, snorkelling off Cabopino, at the eastern end of Marbella’s coast, with a certified guide and a float for the beginners. Or, instead, a day inland in Ronda, 63 km away: the Puente Nuevo, 98 m above its gorge and one of our twelve treasures of Spain.
Day 11
A cooking class, and home
A last morning in the kitchen: a private cooking class for the family with a local chef, beginning among the stalls of Marbella’s market, then Andalusian dishes cooked together and eaten as a long last lunch in Spain. Then your driver takes you to Málaga airport, about 40 minutes away, in good time for your flight.
Where you stay
Milla de Oro
Marbella Club
A five-star resort on the Golden Mile's beach, with rooms, suites and villas in subtropical gardens, a Beach Club, a Thalasso Spa and a Kids Club.
Milla de Oro
Puente Romano
A whitewashed village of suites on the Milla de Oro's beach, with a Six Senses Spa, a tennis club and more than twenty restaurants and bars.
What the journey includes
From $9,408 per person
Plan this journeyYour proposal sets out the arrangements included in your trip.
- Planned with you — by Ramin Jafari, who shapes the order, the pace and the days around your family; every part can change.
- Ten nights’ accommodation — in the hotels we recommend in each city, shown with each stop.
- Private transport — a private transfer on arrival, the high-speed train to Seville, a car and driver for every leg after it, and the drive to Málaga airport at the end.
- Private guides — for the Sagrada Família and Park Güell, and for the Alhambra, each a guide who tells the place to children.
- Tables and tickets — the monuments, the workshops and the restaurants on the way, reserved ahead.
- Experiences on request — the sail, the mosaic and chocolate workshops, the bike ride, the flamenco class, the 4x4, the dolphins, snorkelling and the cooking class, each arranged for your dates, subject to availability.
- Support while you travel — if a transfer is delayed or a booking changes, we coordinate with the partners involved and take you through the options.
What travellers say
I just finished a glorious four-day visit to Barcelona, arranged for me by Ramin Jafari and Avelia Travel. What a delight. This guy knows his stuff!
Ginny Welek
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Guides for the route
- Things to do in Barcelona
Gaudí with a guide, the table, the evenings, the sea, and days out beyond the city.
- Things to do in Seville
The Alcázar, the Cathedral, tapas, flamenco, the river, and the horses of Jerez.
- Seville food and cuisine
Seville's table, where to eat, and the market, the ham and the sherry.
- Private flamenco in Seville
A flamenco performance arranged for you alone, in the city it comes from.
- Granada travel guide
When to go, where to stay, the food, the Alhambra and the old quarters, and three days in the city.
- Architecture and cultural tours
Spain's great sites for art, architecture and history, with a private guide.
Plan this journey
As it is set out here, or shaped around your dates, your pace and who is travelling. Tell us when you would like to go.
Plan this journeyOur Spain page
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