Walking the Cotswold Way in England
A Classic British Ramble - April 20 to 28, 2027
Let us show you Zahara de la Sierra, our favorite town in Spain
May 25 to June 1, 2027
Explore sunny Andalucia, the gem of southern Spain, as you paint amazing vistas, white villages, and beautiful landscapes dominated by olive groves. This all comes with our 2027 artist workshop in Zahara de la Sierra led by artist Mary Giammarino.
Zahara sits on a north-facing hill, providing lovely views over a lake to high hills beyond. From our hotel the vista is to the west and its lovely sunsets. The scenery offers many options for painting, as does the town itself, with its picturesque church in the village center and the castle tower above.
Mary is a skilled painter and a veteran workshop instructor for Travel Fever Tours. See below for samples of her recent work.
The town of Zahara lies less than 1.5 hours from the modern airport in Seville where we’ll meet you. The town is half an hour from Ronda, which we’ll visit. This town sits on an extraordinary cliff and was first made known to Americans by Ernest Hemingway.
To reach Seville, the meeting point of this workshop, you can fly directly into the airport there or take a high-speed train from Madrid. And Seville can be a perfect place to spend a few days acclimating to Spain prior to the workshop.
What we will do
As this is a painting workshop, we’ll obviously spend much time with a paintbrush in our hands. Mary will provide demonstrations and then circulate among the workshop participants to provide one-to-one feedback on your work.
There will also be several excursions. One will take us up into the neighboring national forest and the town of Grazalema, another beautiful town that was once a major wool producer. On another day we’ll visit Ronda, a larger town perched on its cliff. Before and after our workshop, you may wish to visit Seville on your own, or other places in Andalucia and beyond.
At the end of the workshop there’ll be the chance to share your work with Mary and our group, if you like. Most people find the gentle feedback to be both helpful and encouraging.
Non-painters:
Non-artist partners and others are very welcome on this tour and will enjoy some alternative activities available to you while the artists are painting.
Dates: May 25 to June 1, 2027
Location: Zahara de la Sierra (Andalucia), Spain
Cost: $4450 (see below for details)
Maximum group size: 14
More:
See below for full trip details and costs
See below for more details about this workshop
Questions about payments, costs, our cancelation policy and more? Consult our Frequently Asked Questions.
Meet your workshop instructor
Mary Giammarino
Andalucia is the perfect setting to be inspired to paint with the aid of instructor Mary Giammarino.
Mary has led many workshops for Travel Fever Tours in Mexico, Provence, Portugal, and Spain. She works in oils, acrylics, and watercolors and you may work in any of these media. Mary’s demonstrations will be in oil.
Mary’s devotion to light and color is evident in all her paintings. While her work is influenced by the impressionist palette of the Cape School of Art, her work is less idealized and more contemporary by design. Mary’s plein-air paintings reflect her passion and devotion to capturing the exquisite drama of nature’s fleeting moods.
Mary has had numerous solo shows and exhibitions in Provincetown, Philadelphia, and Vermont. Her work is in private collections and museums in Europe. Mary makes her home in Vermont where she lives with her husband, the sculptor John Cassin, and their dogs and cats.
Mary studied fine art with a scholarship at the University of Massachusetts. Being drawn to plein-air painting, Mary sought out the Cape School of Art in Provincetown on Cape Cod. She studied with Hilda Neily, John Ebersberger and Cedric and Joanette Egeli. Today, Mary carries on the tradition by teaching plein-air painting classes on the Cape, in Vermont, and on trips to Italy, Mexico, France, Portugal, and Spain.
More information about Mary and her work can be found on her site at: www.mary-painting.com
Some of Mary’s Work
From Spain:
From Vermont:
(click/tap to enlarge)
Trip Details
(Click + to expand)
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May 25 to June 1, 2027 (7 nights - 8 days)
Total cost of the tour: $4450
Supplement for single occupancy: $525
Deposit required to reserve a place on the tour: $600
(Places in the tour are limited to 14 and are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. We recommend that you reserve your place early!)Payment schedule
$600 deposit is due when you make your reservation.The remainder of the cost will be due in 4 installments on:
September 1, 2026
November 1, 2026
January 1, 2027
March 1, 2027
Each installment payment will be $963. The cost of a single room is additional and will be due November 1, 2026. You can pay in fewer installments if more convenient for you.
Cancellation Policy:
If you cancel up to 90 days prior to the trip’s start, any payments you’ve already made will be held for you so that it can be applied to a future trip. If you are within 90 days of the trip’s start, we’ll have already incurred substantial costs related to your reservation and so we won’t be able to offer you a credit. Instead, you will need to file a claim through your travel insurance. More information is found in our FAQ.If we need to cancel a trip for another reason, such as a natural disaster at the trip’s destination, the trip will be rescheduled. You will also have the option to apply the payments you’ve made to another trip.
** Receive a $350 credit on your next trip when you bring or refer a friend. Read More.
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Art instruction by professional instructor
7 nights lodging
7 Dinners with an appropriate amount of beer or wine
7 Breakfasts at our hotel
Pickup and drop off at Seville airport
Local transportation by van and driver
Excursions to Grazalema and Ronda
Olive oil tasting
What’s not included:
Airfare & Travel Insurance
Lunches
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During this workshop, we will stay at the quiet, family-run Los Tadeos Hotel. It is a traditional but modern Spanish hotel. It is small and boasts a delightful restaurant where we’ll have breakfasts and some dinners. Many rooms have a terrace with a westerly view over the hills towards the sunset. There is also a beautiful infinity pool which in late May, when we’ll be there, should be warm enough for a swim.
We have had groups at this hotel many times previously and before that we often stayed here on weekend getaways when we lived in Spain. It’s a lovely place and is run by a wonderful Spanish family.
See more about the hotel at: www.alojamientoruralcadiz.com
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Dinners will be taken at local restaurants. Breakfasts are included and will be at our hotel. Appropriate amounts of beer or wine are included with dinners. On some days, we may have our main course of the day at lunch, rather than at dinner.
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To extend your trip, and take some time to catch up on your sleep before the workshop begins, you may wish to arrive early in Spain or elsewhere in Europe. This also protects against travel delays and missed connection. Consider a few days in Seville, an attractive small city.
You can also extend your trip with a longer visit to Europe.
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Yes, you may cancel your trip if you need. Up to 90 days prior to the trip’s start, any payments you’ve already made will be held for you so that it can be applied to a future trip. If you are within 90 days of the trip’s start, we’ll have already incurred substantial costs related to your reservation and so we won’t be able to offer you a credit. Instead, you can file a claim through your travel insurance.
Contact Us as soon as you know you must cancel and going forward, let us know what future trip you’d like to join and we’ll set it up for you.
You will not be responsible for any payments that have not yet been made.
Any credit you have with Travel Fever Tours may be applied to a different person’s account, if you like. Credits are valid for a period of three years.
You will be contacted once the trip reaches minimum enrollment so that you can proceed with purchase of your flights and make other travel arrangements.
Note: This trip will involve a reasonable amount of walking. Within the towns and elsewhere, there may be cobblestones and other uneven surfaces. You should be able to walk, as city dwellers do, over uncertain surfaces to participate in this trip.
Our hotel does have an elevator.
About Zahara de la Sierra
The town of Zahara de la Sierra, where we’ll be based, is a classic, white Spanish village. It enjoys fabulous views across a valley and a lake. A Moorish castle stands vigil on the hill about the town.
This “Pueblo Blanco” owes its history to a strategic position between Seville and Ronda. This central location, and its breath-taking setting, makes Zahara an ideal homebase for this workshop.
Zahara sits on a north-facing hill, providing lovely views over the lake to high hills beyond. The scenery offers many options for painting, as does the town itself, with its picturesque church in the village center and the castle tower above.
The town lies an hour and a quarter from the modern airport in Seville, where we’ll meet you. The town is half an hour from Ronda, a town that sits on an extraordinary cliff and was first made known to many Americans by Ernest Hemmingway.
Our Hotel
During this workshop, we will stay at the quiet, family-run Los Tadeos Hotel. It is a traditional but modern Spanish hotel. It is small and boasts a delightful restaurant where we’ll have breakfasts and some dinners. Many rooms have a terrace with a westerly view over the hills towards the sunset. There is also a beautiful infinity pool which in late May, when we’ll be there, should be warm enough for a swim.
We have had groups at this hotel many times previously and before that we often stayed here on weekend getaways when we lived in Spain. It’s a lovely place and is run by a wonderful Spanish family.
See more about the hotel at: www.alojamientoruralcadiz.com
Click/Tap to enlarge photos
