We 're beg inning a tour of Lisbon's
100-kilometre Golden Triangle: the metro-
politan area, the coastal town of Cascais and
the lush, hilltop municipality of Sintra. It's the
first day of my week-long Insight Vacations
tour of the Iberian Peninsula, and we'll be
travelling from Lisbon, through southern
Portugal and into Spain – staying in Lisbon,
Evora and Seville for two nights each.
When I decided to make this journey, I
wasn't entirely sure what to expect. After all,
I'd be covering 500 km on a coach with a group
of strangers, and I hadn't really travelled by
bus since my high school days of claustropho-
bic tours with my marching band and basket-
ball team. Admittedly, I'd also been influenced
by a few negative things I'd heard about coach
tours. I worried I wouldn't get an authentic
feel for the places we were going to visit, that I
might be cramped or bored, or that I wouldn't
have anything in common with my travelling
companions. But this trip dispels all of those
myths, one after the other.
Myth
#
1, Disproven off the Bat:
Coach touring is uncomfortable.
Insight distinguishes between "coach" and
"bus," and I can see why we've been discour-
aged from using the B-word when talking
about our ride: it's seriously spacious. At 5' 9",
I'm usually uncomfortable on buses, my knees
crushed against the seat in front of me. But
my legs are stretched out nearly straight. And
I have elbow room to spare as I use the compli-
mentary onboard Wi-Fi to Instagram a picture
of Belém Tower, Lisbon's 500-year-old lime-
stone edifice on the water, which we've just
visited, along with the Monument to the
Discoveries, the statue honouring Portugal's
Renaissance-era explorers. Insight limits its
groups to 40 passengers, which allows for the
spacious seating. e coach's massive windows
with minimal frames offer unencumbered
views of the fishing boats bobbing around
Cascais harbour and, later, Sintra's striking
pink-and-yellow architecture.
Save 20% on airport
parking at Park'N Fly
in Edmonton.
AMARewards.ca/ParkNFly
Save 15% on airport parking
at Park2Go in Calgary.
AMARewards.ca/Park2Go
