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YOUR journey
J² crafts journeys of inspiration, education, and Jewish connections to Israel and worldwide. We are guided by a simple but powerful concept: No two trips are the same; each experience should be personal, meaningful, and backed by superb service. Travel is not just about the places you visit, but the connections you make along the way.
Art & Culture 
Archaeology 
Expert Scholar 
Food & Wine 
Heritage - Local Specialists
UNESCO Heritage Sites
THE EXPERT
Program Itinerary
DAY 1
ON OUR WAY
Sun. Oct 27, 2024
- Depart the US. Recommended Flight: Depart from Miami International Airport at 5:30pm on TAP Air Portugal flight 0224, arriving to Lisbon Airport the following day at 5:35am.
Overnight: Flight
DAY 2
FIRST STEPS THROUGH LISBON
Mon. Oct 28, 2024
- Arrive at Lisbon International Airport and transfer to your hotel.
- Orientation dialogue with your J² Expert Educator, including an overview of your journey.
- Explore the Belem district of Lisbon, located on the River Tagus, from where many of the great Portuguese explorers embarked on their momentous voyages.
- Stop at the Monument to the Discoveries to pay tribute to the Portuguese Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries.
- Pass by the impressive Jerónimos Monastery and learn about the story behind it impressive walls.
- Taste Lisbon's most famed pastry, Pasteis de Belem, whose exact recipe remains a secret to this day.
- Welcome dinner at a restaurant.
Overnight: Lisbon
Meals: Dinner
DAY 3
EXPLORING LISBON
Tue. Oct 29, 2024
- Experience Lisbon’s breathtaking scenery and beauty with a panoramic tour.
- Explore with your J² Expert Educator the Alfama Quarter, including the site of the Lisbon massacre of 1506. This Quarter still shows signs of the Moorish presence in the city. Discover the neighborhood's steep winding alleys, hidden landmark churches, and breathtaking views of the Tagus River.
- Enjoy a tour of the center of Lisbon, including Rossio Square, Baixa (the downtown area), and Praça do Comércio, an impressive plaza facing the Tagus River.
- Visit the Shaaré Tikva Synagogue, which was the first synagogue to be built in Portugal since the late fifteenth century and learn about the local Jewish community that once walked these streets. Meet with leaders of Lisbon's Jewish community.
- Return to the hotel with free time to explore Lisbon on own.
Overnight: Lisbon
Meals: Breakfast
DAY 4
JEWISH HISTORY IN TOMAR
Wed. Oct 30, 2024
- Check out of the hotel, depart Lisbon, and drive to the historic city of Tomar, where you will visit the famous and ancient Jewish synagogue dating back to the 15th century and Abraham Zacuto Luso-Hebrew Museum.
- Visit the Convent of the Order of Christ, originally a Templar stronghold built in the 12th century and one of Portugal's most important historical and artistic monuments. The Convent is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Depart Tomar and drive to Belmonte.
- Stop in Castelo de Vide on the way to Belmonte and learn about its Jewish History.
- Arrive in Belmonte and check into the hotel.
- Dinner at the hotel with a representative of the local Jewish community for a conversation on the Anussim of Portugal.
Overnight: Belmonte, Portugal
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
DAY 5
THE ANUSSIM OF PORTUGAL
Thu. Oct 31, 2024
- Check out of the hotel.
- Explore the Jewish Museum, which showcases the history of the Belmonte Jewish community since the Middle Ages.
- Discover the synagogue in Belmonte and meet with members of Belmonte's Jewish community and hear testimonies about those who resisted expulsion.
- Depart for Madrid.
- Lunch en route.
- Late arrival in Madrid and check into the hotel.
Overnight: Madrid
Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
DAY 6
TOLEDO AND TWO THOUSAND YEARS OF CONQUEST AND CULTURE
Fri. Nov 1, 2024
- Depart for Toledo, which remains much as it was in the 16th century, and begin with a panoramic tour of the city.
- Tour through the Jewish Quarter, including the Samuel Halevi Abulafia Synagogue, which was turned into a church known as Nuestra Señora del Tránisito, the Sephardic Museum, and the Santa Maria La Blanca Church (formerly the Grand Synagogue).
- Visit the Church of Santo Tomé which was constructed on the site of an 11th-century mosque.
- Return to Madrid with time to freshen up before Shabbat.
- Shabbat service at a local synagogue followed by dinner with the community.
Overnight: Madrid
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
DAY 7
SHABBAT IN MADRID
Sat. Nov 2, 2024
- Optional Shabbat services.
- Morning at leisure.
- See for yourselves the beauty of Madrid with a walking tour of the city, including stops at:
- Puerta Del Sol, the center of the city.
- Plaza Mayor, site of multiple "acts of faith"- the infamous auto-da-fé of the Spanish inquisition.
- The Prado, one of the world's most renowned art museums and the best collection of classical art in Madrid.
- Ben Kodesh Lechol: Havdalah.
Overnight: Madrid
Meals: Breakfast
DAY 8
CORDOBA - MY HEART IS IN THE EAST AND WE ARE HERE
Sun. Nov 3, 2024
- Check out of the hotel and transfer to the train station.
- Travel by AVE (high-speed) train to Córdoba, the capital of the Moorish Kingdom of al-Andalus.
- Visit Córdoba’s famous Cathedral-Mosque with its 1,000 colored columns.
- Visit the Jewish Quarter, including Plaza Tiberias and the Yehuda Halevi Square. Continue to the Statue of Maimonides and the Maimonides Synagogue.
- Special program and ladino concert at Casa de Sefarad, dedicated to the history of the Sephardic Jews in Córdoba and Spain prior to the Inquisition and the expulsion of 1492. Meet with the people responsible for the creation of this private historical venture in the Jewish Quarter.
- Check into the hotel.
Overnight: Cordoba
Meals: Breakfast
DAY 9
GRANADA OF THE JEWS THROUGH 1492
Mon. Nov 4, 2024
- Check out of the hotel.
- Drive to Granada, the last stronghold of the Moors before it fell to Isabella and Ferdinand in 1492.
- The Kaleidoscope That is Spain: Tour the Alhambra Palace and Generalife Gardens. The palace exhibits Spain’s most significant and well known Islamic architecture, together with 16th-century and later Christian building and garden interventions. The Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Visit the Albaycn, an old Moorish neighborhood, with cozy narrow streets and charming white houses full of local color (now a UNESCO World Heritage site).
- Jewish History in the Shadows: Guided visit to the Realejo, the former Jewish Quarter and the site of the original town bearing the name Garnata al-Yahud. Explore the meandering streets and traditional neighborhood, which have no tangible remains of the Jewish community, but a wealth of stories.
- Check into the hotel.
Overnight: Granada
Meals: Breakfast
DAY 10
INTRODUCTION TO SEVILLE
Tue. Nov 5, 2024
- Check out of the hotel.
- Drive to Seville, a city shaped by both Renaissance and Arabic influences. Ancient texts place Jews in Seville at the time of the destruction of the first Temple (586 B.C.E.).
- Spend time at the Plaza de España, an impressive plaza built for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929.
- Tour the Alcazar Palace, the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe.
- Visit the Great Cathedral, the burial place of Christopher Columbus, and La Giralda, built in the 12th century, whose bell tower became the city's symbol.
Overnight: Seville
Meals: Breakfast
DAY 11
JEWISH SEVILLE
Wed. Nov 6, 2024
- Visit the Santa Cruz neighborhood, formerly Seville's Jewish Quarter, once known as La Juderia.
- Stop at the parking lot where ancient Jewish graves were discovered.
- Continue to the Centro de Interpretacion Juderia de Sevilla, a small private initiative created to preserve the memory and heritage of the Sephardic people of Seville.
- Snapping and Stepping: Participate in a flamenco workshop to learn the basics of this typical Andalusian art form.
- Farewell dinner at a restaurant.
Overnight: Seville
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
DAY 12
UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN
Thu. Nov 7, 2024
- Check out of the hotel and transfer to Sevilla airport for your return flight to the USA. Recommended Flight: Depart from Seville Airport at 6:30am on TAP Air Portugal flight 1107, arriving to Lisbon Airport at 6:30am. Depart from Lisbon Airport at 10:15am on TAP Air Portugal flight 0223, arriving to Miami International Airport at 2:40pm.
Meals: Breakfast
RATES & LODGING
participants
25+
Cost p/p in double room
$6,698
Cost p/p in single room
$8,348
Lisbon: Iberostar Selection Lisboa
- Nights: 2
- Room Category: Standard Room
- Hotel Website
Belmonte: Convento de Belmonte
- Nights: 1
- Room Category: Run of House
- Hotel Website
Madrid: Hotel Urban 5*GL
- Nights: 3
- Room Category: Superior Room
- Hotel Website
Cordoba: Las Casas de la Juderia
- Nights: 1
- Room Category: Classic Room
- Hotel Website
Granada: Hospes Palacio de los Patos
- Nights: 1
- Room Category: Dreamer Room
- Hotel Website
Seville: Hotel Colón Gran Meliá
- Nights: 2
- Room Category: Deluxe Room
- Hotel Website
What to expect
- 10 nights' accommodations.
- 10 days of touring with a Jewish educator and local guides, in a luxury, air-conditioned bus.
- 1 AVE train group ticket from Madrid to Cordoba.
- All arrival transfers from Lisbon Airport to your Lisbon Hotel.
- All departure transfers from your Sevilla Hotel to Sevilla Airport.
- Daily breakfast, 1 lunch & 4 dinners.
- The J² adventures App available on the App Store & on Google Play (active 7 days before your departure and throughout your trip).
- Water on the bus.
- Porterage at the hotels.
- All site entrance fees & program fees as per your final program.
- Credit card fees.
- Flights to & from Portugal/Spain.
- COVID related expenses, including tests.
- Evening transportation when dinner is not included.
- Amendments to the program: In the event that any sites, programs or meals etc. are added to the program, an additional fee may be required.
- Personal extras: Items of personal nature such as laundry, wines, mineral water, beverages, coffee, tea, food other than the table d’hotel menu, passport and visa fees, insurance, and foreign port taxes, unless otherwise specified.
- Gratuities are excluded. For groups of 20 and more participants traveling to Europe: We recommend the following guidelines for tipping (amounts are in US dollars): Jewish Tour Educator: $12 | Local Guides: $10 | Driver: $5. Amounts are per day per person.
- US and foreign airport taxes, Q fuel surcharge and border taxes when applicable.
- Please review our terms & conditions (T&C’s) or request that we send you our full T&C’s. Until you do that, here is the small print, and other stuff you may want to know:
- Validity | All prices quoted are based on exchange rates as of the proposal date and are subject to change without notice. Rates are per person and are based on shared twin room occupancy.
- How to Make a Reservation | The quickest way to make a reservation is to register online or contact us by email. We accept VISA, MasterCard, and American Express credit cards. A non-refundable deposit of $1,000 is required in order to complete the registration process.
- For any assistance with this registration process or other trip-related queries, please email Customer Care: customercare@j2adventures.com.
- Payments | The balance of your payment is due 120 days before your trip begins, or as specified in your invoice. You will receive an email reminder 2 weeks before this date. Various payment options are available as follows:
- Credit card | We accept Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Please check with your credit card provider regarding international processing fees. We are unable to process payments of over $1,000 over the phone. Please submit payment online via a credit card or by wiring funds via your bank.
- Domestic bank wire transfer | Payment should be wired in the same currency that is listed on your invoice. Please add the name of your group or invoice number as a reference and forward a copy of the transfer receipt by email. The bank transfer should clearly state the beneficiary’s name on the wire transfer.
- J² Adventures reserves the right to automatically cancel your reservation on that date and it may be subject to reconfirmation should the final payment not be received.
- Cancelation Policy | All cancelations need to be made in writing. The cancelation fee depends on the date when we receive written notification of your request to cancel your booking. Please note that the deposit is non-refundable.
- Cancelation fees | Cancelations made 130 or more days prior to departure incur the loss of the deposit. Cancelations made 129 to 46 days prior to departure incur the loss of 50% of the full trip cost. Cancelations made 45 days or less prior to the departure incur the loss of 100% of the full trip cost.
- Cancelation fees may also include: Hotel or supplier cancelation fees. J² Adventures reserves the right to adjust its terms of payment, including cancelation policies and initial deposits.
DISCOVER NEW WORLDS.
JEWISH JOURNEYS.
A family vacation to Israel. An adventure of a lifetime traveling with friends to Morocco. A trip to Poland or Portugal with your community. What do these trips have in common? No matter where you go, you will come back with a fresh perspective and appreciation of the place you visited as well as a heightened awareness of your identity as part of the global Jewish community.
J2 STUFF.
We have everything you need to know before you go. Check out our Instagram my_j2adventures for cool updates and interesting tidbits.
The J2 App
available on the App Store & on Google Play.
