Enjoy a glass of sherry while learning to make authentic tapas at the Bodega Casa del Marques, a 19th-century palace built for a wine merchant. The elegant residence is decorated with period furnishings that lend it an ambiance so authentic that it feels as if you were transported to another time. While there, you will learn to make tapas, some traditional and others topped with surprisingly inventive ingredients. These small-plate snacks reflect the local cuisine and are typically served with a glass of sherry, especially in Jerez, which has been producing the fortified wine for more than 175 years. The exact tapas that you will prepare will depend on which ingredients are freshest and most flavorful. They might include fried fish, meatballs or something a bit more unusual such as stewed ox tail. Be sure to add favorite ingredients, as you will dine on the tapas afterwards.

HIGHLIGHTS:
• Participate in a hands-on culinary class at a 19th-century palace built for a wine merchant.
• Learn to prepare authentic, small-plate tapas with traditional and unusual ingredients.
• Dine on the finished tapas and enjoy a glass of sherry as an accompaniment.

Drive through the beautiful Andalucia region to an acclaimed cheese-producing village for an insider’s look at the artisanal process and to sample the most representative cheeses. Your host will be a farmer that tends payoya goats and Grazalemeña sheep, whose milk is used to produce the cheeses. The most well-known and award-winning cheese is El Bosqueño, a smooth textured, light-colored cheese. The farmer will lead you through the fields where the goats and sheep graze and walk you through the cheese-making process step by step. You will also browse a cheese museum with displays of cheese-making hand tools and exhibits detailing the history of cheese production in the area. Afterwards, you will enjoy a sampling that may include an emborrado cheese cured in olive oil and wheat bran. Other cheeses produced here are cured with fresh spices such as rosemary and paprika. To complement the experience, you will be served a glass of locally produced wine.

HIGHLIGHTS:
• See how several award-winning cheeses are produced at a farm in the town of El Bosque.
• Browse a cheese museum with displays that trace the importance of cheese in this region.
• Sample various cheeses made with milk from payoya goats and Grazalemeña sheep.

Discover the traditional ways being practiced in the fishing village Pedregalejo, where you will see how an old-style fishing boat is made and learn how to grill sardines on an open fire. The origin of the wooden boats, known as jábegas, dates to the Phoenician era. They have recently experienced a rebirth of sorts with rowing clubs using them in competitive events. Pedregalejo is also revered for its old-style beachfront restaurants known as chiringuitos. At one of the most popular chiringuitos, you will learn how to prepare espeto, which is barbecued fish, most often sardines. The fish are heavily seasoned with coarse sea salt and skewered on long flat bamboo sticks. They are then placed over an open fire of olive wood, which imparts an unmistakable flavor. If sardines are used, their silvery color will turn golden brown as they cook. Once the sardines are done, you can eat them with your fingers right off the skewer.

Stroll through the atmospheric streets of the Old Quarter on the way to a nightclub, where you will watch a mesmerizing flamenco performance that tells a passionate story.After walking from the pier, you will continue at a leisurely pace toward the narrow, cobbled streets of the Old Quarter, which the Phoenicians founded in the 12th century. Being the oldest continuously occupied city in Western Europe, Cadiz exudes history, as you will soon discover in the Plaza of San Juan de Dios, a square that originated in medieval times.

As you meander the labyrinthine streets of the Old Quarter, you will pass one architectural treasure after another. Highlights may include the Neoclassical-style Cadiz Cathedral, which boasts a tile dome that appears Moorish, and Calle Ancha, a wide boulevard that is considered the heart of the city. In time, you will arrive at Taberna Flamenco La Cava, a nightclub that showcases the art of flamenco. Before taking your seat, be sure to notice the photos on the wall of some of the most acclaimed flamenco performers in the past 50 years.UNESCO honored flamenco by recognizing it on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Andalusia, especially Cadiz, is the heartland of flamenco, an electrifying art form that fuses expressive songs, passionate dancing and emotional music. To enhance your immersion into the local culture, you will be served traditional tapas that may include Serrano ham and Manchego cheese.

Spend time at a traditional goat farm in the Malaga province, learning how regional cheeses are made from goat’s milk and then sample a selection of them with sausages and wine. Near the white-washed village of Casares in the shadow of Sierra Crestellina, you will visit a family-owned farm that raises goats for their milk, which is primarily used to make cheese. You will learn the process step by step and the variations that make the different cheeses. You will see how the goats are milked, how the milk is ripened with cultures and induced to form a thick curd by adding the natural enzyme rennet. In time, the watery whey will be drained off to make ricotta cheese, and the curds will be pressed into cheese molds. You will then taste a selection of cheeses made months earlier. The younger cheeses are typically creamier, while the more mature cheeses tend to be firmer and more pungent.

HIGHLIGHTS:
• Gain a thorough understanding of how regional cheeses are made at a family farm.
• Watch the process step by step, which will make the tasting that follows more relevant.
• Taste the difference between younger cheeses and more matures ones, while sipping wine.

Stroll through two lesser-known neighborhoods that will present an authentic look at daily life, as you will experience them as a local. While browsing one of the most vibrant markets in the Corts neighborhood, you can expect to watch a lively interaction between the residents and the vendors, as they socialize and amicably haggle over prices. Later, over coffee at a nearby restaurant, you can discuss the experience with the guide and how it might differ from your upcoming stroll through the Sarria neighborhood, which is more affluent and traditional. While meandering through its pretty streets, you can sense that the neighborhood was once an independent rural village. Largely quiet and residential, Sarria offers a unique perspective of Barcelona life, as well-heeled celebrities, politicians and artists are among its residents. You will have the chance to mingle with the locals at one of the bakeries, in a church and later over tapas at Bar Tomás.

Tour a country estate with one of the owners, who will regale you with stories of the family’s history as a prelude to a picnic. Generations of the family have lived at the estate, and there are countless stories about their lives, the founding of the property and how the Murcian region has changed over the decades. Farms sprawl across much of the land in Murcia, some of them dedicated to growing grapes for wine and others devoted to fruits and vegetables that thrive in the semi-arid Mediterranean climate. As part of your tour, the owners of the estate will share the family cookbook, whose recipes have been handed down for generations. You will hear entertaining stories about the recipes and see handwritten notes in the margins that show how they have been altered to make the dishes even more delectable. Afterwards, you will picnic in the countryside and taste just how spectacular Murian cuisine can be.

HIGHLIGHTS:
• Spend time with the owners of a country estate who will show you around their property.
• Gain an understanding of the local agriculture and see family recipes that make the most of it.
• Enjoy a picnic in the countryside with dishes that reflect traditional Murian cuisine.

Discover the charms of two inland villages, one a medieval gem with fine shopping, the other featuring a rare olive mill. Unlike other villages in Provence, Valbonne was designed on a Roman grid plan, so the streets are straight and perpendicular rather than winding. After a guided walking tour through the leafy plazas, you will enjoy free time in Valbonne. You might be surprised by how cosmopolitan it is, especially with regard to shopping and dining. You will then drive a bit farther inland to Opio, a smaller village surrounded by olive groves and pine trees. Opio has one of the area’s few remaining olive mills, which has been operating since the 15th century. Now powered by electricity rather than water, the mill still presses fresh oil from locally gathered olives as it has for centuries. After hearing about the mill’s history, you will sample some the olives and freshly pressed oil with a glass of wine.

HIGHLIGHTS:
• Enjoy a leisurely and immensely picturesque drive inland to two villages in Provence.
• Spend free time in medieval Valbonne, where you may shop in its sophisticated boutiques.
• Sample olives, freshly pressed olive oil and a glass of wine at a 15th-century olive mill.

On this 90-minute Private All Access Tour (exclusive to NCL guests), you will have a unique opportunity to explore the 2.5-mile Speedway from a variety of vantage points. Take the rare opportunity to come face-to-face with the track as you visit the well-known start/finish line and 31-degree high banks or ride down pit road to get a close-up view of the pit stalls. This tour provides you with unprecedented access like a visit to the media deadline room, a photo in Gatorade Victory Lane and a look inside the world's first motorsports stadium as you hop onto one of the 40 escalators and are transported into the new front-stretch stadium for a stunning view of the tri-oval and infield.

End the day by standing next to the car of this year’s DAYTONA 500 champion, left in the same condition as the day it conquered the World Center of Racing inside the new Motorsports Hall of Fame of America that is now housed in the DIS Ticket and Tours Building. The Hall of Fame showcases spectacular displays honoring all forms of motorsports: Stock Cars, Sports Cars, Open-Wheel, Motorcycles, Drag Racing, Land Speed Records, Power-boating and Aviation.

After your tour, visit ONEDAYTONA located across the street via raised safety-bridge. ONE DAYTONA will serve as the Daytona Beach area’s epicenter for premier retail, dining and entertainment.

Follow a local guide on an enlightening walk through Lisbon’s most atmospheric districts, pausing at various venues to sample Portuguese delicacies. In the Baixa district, you will stop at Manteigaris Silva, a delicatessen that dates to the 19th century. Chances are, you will sample local ham and cheeses such as Serra da Estrela. You will then head to Mouraria, a Moorish-influenced district that is considered the birthplace of the music genre fado. There you will be served a sweet, cherry liqueur known as ginja. A tram ride with the locals will bring you to the historical Graça district, where you will become even more familiar with daily life in Lisbon. While pausing for photos at the more than 100-year-old Villa Bertha, you will enjoy superb views of the city and the Tagus River. One last stop will be made at a café, where you will sample Portuguese products such as cod fish pastry and cornbread with sausage, perhaps with another glass of ginja.

HIGHLIGHTS:
• Walk through Lisbon’s historical districts and stop on occasion in the cafés.
• Snack on an array of Portuguese specialties, such as ham, cheeses and traditional beverages.
• Ride the tram through the capital city for an authentic slice of daily life.

Stroll through the trendy, revitalized El Raval neighborhood, taking in the highlights before enjoying a sampling of beers and tapas at a microbrewery. While walking through the engagingly Bohemian neighborhood, you can expect to encounter outdoor art installations and leafy plazas before visiting the San Antoni Market. The market is enclosed in an 18th-century metal structure that covers an entire city block. The walls flanking the market may look newly constructed, but they date to medieval times. While at the market, you will sample a glass of chilled vermouth, a deeply rooted Barcelona tradition that has recently become more popular than ever. It will be a natural introduction to the beer tasting that follows at Fabrica Moritz, a microbrewery in a former factory. Besides sampling two of its most popular beers, you will be served Coca de recapte, a traditional pastry topped with roasted vegetables, and potato bravas, a potato tapa with a spicy tomato sauce.

Explore two lively markets in downtown Cartagena; one for food and the second a favorite locale for handmade jewelry and crafts. While walking to the Santa Florentina covered market, you will pass landmarks such as Conception Castle and several leafy parks. Long a staple for shopping, the market offers every imaginable culinary ingredient, and you can expect the atmosphere to be extraordinary lively as the residents and vendors interact and socialize. The guide will lead you to stalls where you can taste tapas topped with favorite ingredients. You might try one of these small-plate appetizers with fried squid, anchovies, artisanal cheese or vegetables, as produce is a specialty. Continuing on to the nearby Artisan Center, which is housed inside an 18th-century palace, you will browse stalls full of locally made arts and crafts. The ceramics, jewelry and glassware are particularly noteworthy. Chances are, you will see artisans making their pieces by hand.

HIGHLIGHTS:
• Browse the stalls of the Santa Florentina market, which is revered for its fresh produce.
• Sample small-plate tapas at the market, topped with local specialties such as squid and cheese.
• Shop for hand-made jewelry and glassware at the Artisan Center, another favorite venue.