OK so as an American, when I first visited Europe for the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Normandy invasion by the USA (and allies) in 1994, I was clueless. Meaning I had no idea about the relative sizes of the many countries in Europe, especially Spain, Italy and Portugal.
So when comparing Spain, Portugal and Italy for luxury experiential travel tours, all three are INCREDIBLEworld-classs destinations. All have a gazillion UNESCO World Heritage attractions, amazing foods, wines & olive oils, great hotels and a safe, beautiful and friendly ambiance for discerning world travelers.
So in this post, I will address a different luxury vacation travel perspective… I want to be sure we are comparing distances and sizes, apples to apples.
Executive Summary: The size of Italy is similar to the state of Arizona in the USA. The size of Iberia (Spain & Portugal) is closer to Texas. More details and data below:
1) Assuming you wanted to do all the top highlights from north to south and east to west, a big difference is the distances and so the cost of transport with high fuel cost of Europe & tolls, etc.
Also note Spain & Portugal have a fair amount of mountains so overland routes by vehicle or train are not always “as the crow flies”.
* souce: https://mapfight.xyz/map/iberian/#it
1) a quick data comparison of sizes Italy vs. Spain & Portugal shows a big disparity.
With an area of 301,318 km² (116,340 sq. mi.), Italy is 20% smaller than Japan or slightly larger than the U.S. state of Arizona
Surprisingly, Spain is much bigger than Italy with 505,000 km² compared to 301,318 km² for Italy and is bigger than Germany in fact the 2nd biggest country of western Europe after France
Spain+ Portugal (Iberia) is 583,254 km² so close to doubling the size of Italy. Iberia is closest in size to Texas.
2) Longer distances & much larger scope of out Spain & Portugal itinerary:
Our Best of Spain and Portugal Private Luxury Tour includes the far northeast of Spain in Barcelona, then heads west then south to Madrid. Next up, south again to the exotically gorgeous Andalucia region with Granada’s Alhambra & Seville. From there it’s over the border into Portugal’s Algarve coastal region playground, UNESCO-listed Evora and due west to the Atlantic to lovely Lisbon.
Next steps?…
1) contact us to get a FREE custom Spain or Portugal travel itinerary suggestions made to fit your unique interest and dates. With our private Iberia tours, it’s only your people and only your dreams.
2) Or schedule a time for zoom or phone call => http://www.magicalspain.com/contact with one of our Spain & Portugal luxury travel experts.
Life is short, vacation memorably!
Muchas gracias / Muito obrigado / Many thanks 🙂
Dan O’Beirne – managing partner Magical Spain & Portugal Private, Luxury Travel
http://www.MagicalSpain.com“USA’s #1 Spain & Portugal Private & Custom Travel Experts… Your Way Since 1998 ”
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