BORDEAUX, FRANCE TO LISBON, PORTUGAL.  11-day, 10-night trip. Add the extensions at one or both ends of the tour to prolong the fun!

Details: Tour (without extensions) begins with a welcome reception. Optional pre-tour excursion to the wine-making village of St.-Emilion: Pre-tour begins with dinner the evening before and an extra night of hotel. Optional post-tour extension to the famed beach town of Sesimbra: Post-tour includes an extra night of hotel and ends with breakfast the following day. Single rooms available.

St.-Emilion, France

This optional pre-tour excursion includes a welcome dinner, a private tour of the ancient wine-making village of St.-Emilion, a visit to the world’s largest underground cathedral, and a luxurious lunch with fine wine. Arrive one day early to take advantage of this rare opportunity.

Bordeaux, France

Visit the Portuguese consulate where Aristides de Sousa Mendes wrote visas in 1940 and the Parc des Quinconces where thousands of refugees camped out in the open air. Visit the Bordeaux synagogue and the Aristides de Sousa Mendes bust on Esplanade Charles de Gaulle. Visit the Musée Jean Moulin dedicated to the French Resistance. Enjoy regional cuisine and fine wine.

Bayonne, France

Visit the Portuguese consulate in Bayonne where Sousa Mendes ordered visas to be issued and where he personally also issued visas. See the fountain and cathedral plaza where thousands of refugees stood asking for visas. Enjoy regional artisanal chocolates and Basque cuisine.

Hendaye, France/Irun, Spain

Enjoy a gourmet basque lunch by the beach.  Travel across the “freedom bridge” linking France to Spain.

Salamanca, Spain

Stay in the heart of the Old City, home to one of the oldest universities in the world. Enjoy regional cuisine.

Vilar Formoso, Portugal

Travel across the Portuguese border to the village of Vilar Formoso, where the new “Frontier of Peace” museum pays tribute to Aristides de Sousa Mendes and the refugees of 1940.

Viseu, Portugal

Stay in this ancient city in the heart of Portugal’s wine region and where Jews flourished before The Inquisition. Enjoy a live Fado performance after dinner.

Cabanas de Viriato, Portugal

Visit the Sousa Mendes family home “Casa do Passal” and the cemetery where Aristides de Sousa Mendes is laid to rest. See the “Duty of Memory” garden created by schoolchildren. Dine on regional specialties in nearby Carregal do Sal.

Lisbon, Portugal

Visit Shaare Tikvah Synagogue and other points of interest. Visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to see the Sousa Mendes visa registry book, in whose pages Aristides de Sousa Mendes and his staff listed the names of the visa recipients in May and June of 1940.  The tour ends with a visit to Lisbon’s harbor as we imagine the refugees of 1940 leaving their old lives behind to embark on a new adventure.

Sesimbra, Portugal

Explore Portugal’s famed coastline with this optional post-tour excursion. First visit the Moorish castle that Dom Afonso Henriques (the first King of Portugal) captured on a nearby hill in 1165 and enjoy the spectacular view. Then go down to the beach for a gourmet lunch with a catch fresh from the sea. After lunch relax on Sesimbra’s famed sheltered beach or walk along the coastline. Return to Lisbon at the end of the day.