National Geographic Expeditions (NGE) confusingly titles this expedition “Inside Spain and Portugal”. Spain is a large country, fifth largest in Europe, and so trying to tackle it in 11 days (not to mention adding in Portugal) would be mad and NGE aren’t that crazy. The tour concentrated on southern Portugal and Spain’s south-western autonomous communities of Extremadura and Andalusia. As a result it was mostly about the Moorish influence on the Iberian peninsular. The Catholic Monarchs would not have been amused but there was also time to visit a Cathedral or two.

The expedition visited a number of UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the Alhambra in Grenada, the Mezquita in Córdoba and the city of Évora, as it travelled from Lisbon to Madrid.

Also there was no shortage of excellent food and wine, just a lack of time to take it all in.