This city was made for walking. Stroll grand boulevards with sweeping views of the city, pristine parks with trees planted in perfect rows, and narrow streets crowded with vendors selling flowers, pastries and cheese. Then head to the Île de la Cité, a small island in the Seine, to see Notre Dame Cathedral. Please note Notre Dame Cathedral is currently closed due to fire damage.

View the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Work began in 1163 on a spot that had been a holy shrine since Roman times. Over the centuries, the cathedral has been the scene of some of France's most momentous occasions, including the coronation of Napoleon.

What's that huge white arch at the end of the Champs-Élysées? The Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 after his victory at Austerlitz. Your licensed local guide will elaborate on this, and other Parisian landmarks. See some of the most famous sites, including the ornate 19th-century Opera, the Presidential residence and the Place de la Concorde, where in the center you’ll find the Obelisk of Luxor, a gift from Egypt in 1836. Spot chic locals (and tons of tourists) strolling the Champs-Élysées. Look up at the iron girders of the Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 World's Fair to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution. See Les Invalides (a refuge for war wounded) and the École Militaire (Napoleon's alma mater).

The world's largest art museum, the Louvre is housed in a Medieval fortress-turned-castle so grand it's worth a tour itself. You walk through the 71-foot glass pyramid designed by I.M. Pei and added in 1989, and step into another world--one with carved ceilings, deep-set windows, and so many architectural details you could spend a week just admiring the rooms. The Mona Lisa is here, as well as the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory (the headless statue, circa 200 BC, discovered at Samothrace). The Louvre has seven different departments of paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures and antiquities. Don't miss the Egyptian collection, complete with creepy sarcophagi, or the collection of Greek ceramics, one of the largest in the world. (Please note the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.)

If you’re coming to Paris, you absolutely need to take a walk in Montmartre! This area will wake the artist in you up. Its narrow alleys, windmills, little details, and soul are some of the things that make Montmartre so unique. As you walk in Montmartre, you will quickly understand how it has inspired so many artists such as Picasso and Van Gogh. As you walk up the hill make sure to take in all that surrounds you, because in Montmartre you are likely to find surprises around every corner!

See the city from the water on an hour-long cruise along the River Seine. The Seine cuts right through Paris, dividing the city in half. See the Eiffel tower rising up on the Left Bank, the walls of the Louvre on the Right Bank. A guide will point out other monuments and architectural marvels as you pass, many of which are illuminated by clear white light at night.

Take France’s fastest train to coastal Biarritz, whose fame as a favorite bathing spot for international royalty earned it the nickname “The Queen of Beaches and the Beach for Kings.” Once a whaling town, Biarritz now boasts some of the best surfing in Europe, fantastic views along the Basque coast, and a relaxed resort atmosphere.

Although originally a whaling port, Biarritz was transformed into a retreat for the affluent after Empress Eugenie (wife of Napoleon III) began travelling there.

Though one of Spain’s most popular resorts, San Sebastián is not just beaches. With a licensed local guide you’ll tour the old quarter, centered around Plaza de la Constitución (known to locals as “La Consti”). Look for the numbers on the balconies around the square – the plaza was once used for bullfighting, and those balconies were rented as private boxes for spectators. The nearby Saint Vincent church, built in the 1500’s, is the city’s oldest standing monument.

This commercial center of the Basque country has been transformed in the past few years into a showplace of modern city-planning and world-class art. Architect Frank Gehry’s stunning new Guggenheim museum leads the way, along with Norman Foster’s futuristic subway and the Santiago Calatrava glass footbridge, which allows visitors to practically walk across water.

Pamplona is the capital of Navarre Province in northern Spain. It’s best known for the Running of the Bulls (Feast of San Fermín) in July. During this legendary multiday festival, bulls are led through the city streets by daredevil runners. A major stop along the Camino de Santiago, a medieval-era pilgrimage route, Pamplona is also home to Gothic-style churches including fortresslike San Nicolás.

See brilliant Barcelona, a city of graceful Gothic churches, wrought-iron balconies and grand avenues filled with outdoor cafés. Throughout the city, daringly innovative buildings sit side-by-side with the medieval past. A licensed, local guide will show you some of the high points of this architectural showcase. First stop, the pointy spires of the La Sagrada Familia (Church of the Holy Family), a half-finished church complex that became the obsession of Barcelona's famously eccentric architectural genius, Antoni Gaudí. At the top of Güell Park, another of Gaudí's masterpieces, is a terraced area where you get a fantastic view of the park and Barcelona City. The vibrant colours of the tiles are breathtaking. Then step back to the past with a journey up to Montjuïc (Hill of the Jews), a fortress built atop an ancient Jewish cemetery. This was the site of numerous battles to control Barcelona, and also the location of the 1992 Olympics.

This breathtaking church, said to be the master-work of architect Antoni Gaudí, has been under construction since 1882 and is not expected to be completed until 2026!

Travel to Barcelona’s mountain of Montjuïc, the focal point of two of the city’s key international events: the World’s Fair of 1929, of which many structures still remain; and the 1992 Olympic Games. Montjuïc features the largest "green zone" in the city with miles of forests and parks.

Spend time in Parc Güell, part of the UN ESCO World Heritage Site, 'Works of Antoni Gaudi'. Designed primarily by Gaudí, particularly interesting areas of the park include a mosaic pagoda, a lizard fountain spitting water, an undulating bench decorated with ceramic fragments, and an array of unique Doric columns, which are hollow and serve as part of Gaudí's drainage system.

Take interactive learning to another level with a Tour Director-led treasure hunt of Las Ramblas, the most famous pedestrian street of Barcelona! Complete exciting activities and solve fun clues. Each clue and every activity is built to maximize on-tour experiential learning.

Tapas purportedly originated when bartenders set a small plate ("tapa") over patrons' glasses of sherry and wine to keep the flies out. The bartenders starting piling the plate with cold cuts, olives, or salad, and the bite-size snack was born. (We're unsure how they kept the flies out of the cold-cuts... maybe that's how the sandwich was invented?) Over time these working-class snacks have become more elaborate, with each region adding its own specialties and cooking techniques to create unique tastes and combinations.