Barcelona: The City Experience
🔹 Curated experiences: Every program is intentionally designed to feature guided learning, cultural engagement, and independent exploration experiences to drive global competency development, denoted on each itinerary with a blue diamond. Learn more about these experiences.
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Day 1: Fly overnight to Spain
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Day 2: Barcelona
Meet your Field Director at the airportTake a walking tour of Las Ramblas, a pedestrian mall where you’ll find endless entertainment, restaurants, markets, monuments, and shopping
Enjoy a paella dinner in Barcelona, a rice dish served with various types of meat and seafood and seasoned with delicate saffron
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Day 3: Barcelona
Take a tour of Barcelona
With an expert local guide you will see:
- Why Barcelona is an art lover’s haven and the perfect home for master painters like Miró, Picasso, and Dalí
- Avant-garde gems in open-air plazas, such as the Plaza de Catalunya and Plaça d’Espanya
- Snap photos of the spires on La Sagrada Família
Visit Park Güell, a vast public park designed by Antoni Gaudí that features colorful mosaics and remarkable architecture
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Day 4: Barcelona
🔹 Guided learning: Take a guided walking tour of the Modernist District and Barrio Gótico
Visit Casa Milà, a rock-like structure which features no straight lines and is often called “La Pedrera,” or rock quarry
Visit Casa Batlló, now a museum, and marvel at the bold colors that shimmer from the delicate tiles covering the outside
Add this in-depth excursion:
🔹 Cultural engagement: Cooking class
Spanish cuisine is as diverse as the country’s geography, climate and culture. This mouth-watering excursion gives your group a chance to prepare—and savor!—a Spanish specialty of your own.
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Day 5: Barcelona
Add this in-depth excursion:
Montserrat
Journey northwest of Barcelona on this guided half-day excursion to the picturesque town of Montserrat. Its rugged mountain setting provides a dramatic backdrop for the 9th-century monastery whose basilica houses the Black Virgin Mary of Montserrat. Legend has it that the Benedictine monks could not move the statue to construct their monastery, choosing to instead build around it. If you are lucky you might hear the renowned boys’ choir sing during your visit.
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Day 6: Barcelona
🔹 Cultural engagement: Tour La Boquería, Barcelona’s central produce market, with an expert local guide to see limitless varieties of cheeses, meats, and sweets
Add this in-depth excursion:
🔹 Guided learning: Dalí Museum in Figueres
Join an exciting half-day excursion to Figueres, a Catalan city on the exquisite Costa Brava. You’ll visit a one-of-a-kind theater museum dedicated to the surrealist world of renowned Spanish painter Salvador Dalí. This museum contains the broadest range of Dalí’s works and offers a unique experience to step into the world of the artist.
Enjoy dinner in Barcelona
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Day 7: Depart for home
Add more days
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Day 7: Barcelona • Madrid
Travel by AVE train to MadridTake a guided tour of Madrid
With your expert local guide you will see:
- Puerta del Sol, one of the city’s busiest squares
- Plaza Mayor, the center of old Madrid where you’ll learn about the grand square’s history of bullfights, royal weddings, and public executions
- Plaza de Oriente, the Royal Palace square, located across from the Royal Palace
Visit the Royal Palace and get a glimpse of regal Madrid, where you’ll wander the fabulous palace interior
Visit the Prado, Madrid's famed art museum where you can behold Velázquez’s Las Meninas and Goya’s paired canvases
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Day 8: Madrid
Add this in-depth excursion:
Toledo
This half-day excursion will take you to the former Spanish capital of Toledo. Known as the “city of the three cultures,” this was a place of peaceful coexistence of, Jews, Christians and Muslims. Toledo preserves an artistic and cultural legacy in the form of churches, palaces, fortresses, mosques and synagogues. Enjoy a panoramic drive around the city and visit the cathedral that dominates Toledo’s skyline. Then continue on to the Church of Santo Tomé where you’ll view The Burial of Count Orgaz, one of El Greco’s most famous works. Step inside one of Toledo's synagogues and finish off your excursion with a stop at a local sword-making workshop.
Enjoy dinner in Madrid
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Day 9: Depart for home
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Day 1: Fly overnight to Spain
-
Day 2: Barcelona
Meet your Field Director at the airportTake a walking tour of Las Ramblas, a pedestrian mall where you’ll find endless entertainment, restaurants, markets, monuments, and shopping
Enjoy a paella dinner in Barcelona, a rice dish served with various types of meat and seafood and seasoned with delicate saffron
-
Day 3: Barcelona
Take a tour of Barcelona
With an expert local guide you will see:
- Why Barcelona is an art lover’s haven and the perfect home for master painters like Miró, Picasso, and Dalí
- Avant-garde gems in open-air plazas, such as the Plaza de Catalunya and Plaça d’Espanya
- Snap photos of the spires on La Sagrada Família
Visit Park Güell, a vast public park designed by Antoni Gaudí that features colorful mosaics and remarkable architecture
-
Day 4: Barcelona
🔹 Guided learning: Take a guided walking tour of the Modernist District and Barrio Gótico
Visit Casa Milà, a rock-like structure which features no straight lines and is often called “La Pedrera,” or rock quarry
Visit Casa Batlló, now a museum, and marvel at the bold colors that shimmer from the delicate tiles covering the outside
Add this in-depth excursion:
🔹 Cultural engagement: Cooking class
Spanish cuisine is as diverse as the country’s geography, climate and culture. This mouth-watering excursion gives your group a chance to prepare—and savor!—a Spanish specialty of your own.
-
Day 5: Barcelona
Add this in-depth excursion:
Montserrat
Journey northwest of Barcelona on this guided half-day excursion to the picturesque town of Montserrat. Its rugged mountain setting provides a dramatic backdrop for the 9th-century monastery whose basilica houses the Black Virgin Mary of Montserrat. Legend has it that the Benedictine monks could not move the statue to construct their monastery, choosing to instead build around it. If you are lucky you might hear the renowned boys’ choir sing during your visit.
-
Day 6: Barcelona
🔹 Cultural engagement: Tour La Boquería, Barcelona’s central produce market, with an expert local guide to see limitless varieties of cheeses, meats, and sweets
Add this in-depth excursion:
🔹 Guided learning: Dalí Museum in Figueres
Join an exciting half-day excursion to Figueres, a Catalan city on the exquisite Costa Brava. You’ll visit a one-of-a-kind theater museum dedicated to the surrealist world of renowned Spanish painter Salvador Dalí. This museum contains the broadest range of Dalí’s works and offers a unique experience to step into the world of the artist.
Enjoy dinner in Barcelona
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Day 7: Depart for home
Add more days
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Day 7: Barcelona • Madrid
Travel by AVE train to MadridTake a guided tour of Madrid
With your expert local guide you will see:
- Puerta del Sol, one of the city’s busiest squares
- Plaza Mayor, the center of old Madrid where you’ll learn about the grand square’s history of bullfights, royal weddings, and public executions
- Plaza de Oriente, the Royal Palace square, located across from the Royal Palace
Visit the Royal Palace and get a glimpse of regal Madrid, where you’ll wander the fabulous palace interior
Visit the Prado, Madrid's famed art museum where you can behold Velázquez’s Las Meninas and Goya’s paired canvases
-
Day 8: Madrid
Add this in-depth excursion:
Toledo
This half-day excursion will take you to the former Spanish capital of Toledo. Known as the “city of the three cultures,” this was a place of peaceful coexistence of, Jews, Christians and Muslims. Toledo preserves an artistic and cultural legacy in the form of churches, palaces, fortresses, mosques and synagogues. Enjoy a panoramic drive around the city and visit the cathedral that dominates Toledo’s skyline. Then continue on to the Church of Santo Tomé where you’ll view The Burial of Count Orgaz, one of El Greco’s most famous works. Step inside one of Toledo's synagogues and finish off your excursion with a stop at a local sword-making workshop.
Enjoy dinner in Madrid
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Day 9: Depart for home
Confidence • Curiosity • Global perspective • Empathy • Adaptability • Relatability • Self-Awareness
What's Included
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Transportation
Various modes of transport are tailored to your program. While some transfers are included, others may come at additional cost.
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Accommodations
Safe, comfortable lodging will be waiting for you at your destination.
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Select meals
Enjoy a combination of included meals and the freedom to explore local cuisine on your own.
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End-to-end support
Your dedicated EF team helps secure administrative approval and academic credit, provides enrollment tools, and helps establish your program’s ongoing presence on campus.
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EF Global Learning Toolkit
We offer various tools to help educators facilitate student growth abroad and on campus, including academically enriched travel programs, industry engagement opportunities, global learning resources, and a Global Competencies Assessment tool.
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Guided exploration
Gain insider knowledge and cultural perspective from licensed local guides: natural historians who provide cultural insights to enhance learning moments throughout the program.
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Field Visits
Experience academics in action during engaging visits with relevant organizations, thought leaders, and partners.
