Arrived in Barcelona. Checked in and got out for a walk along La Rambla, the tree-lined pedestrian street, from Plaça de Catalunya to Port Vell.

Explored the city, visited La Sagrada Familia basilica, designed by famous Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi. Also Parc Guell. Spent half of the day there. Superb.

Went up, on Montjuic Hill, there are spectacular views over the see from up there, visited Montjuïc Castle. Spent the afternoon on the beach down in Barcelona. Aaand then had a delicious paella.

Explored the city, visited La Sagrada Familia basilica, designed by famous Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi. Also Parc Guell. Spent half of the day there. Superb 

Took the train to Girona, known for its medieval architecture in Barri Vell and the Roman remains of the Forca Vella fortress. Spent the day there.

Spent the day in Cadaqués, north of Barcelona, near the border with France, on the coast. It's a beautiful city on a bay. Visited Salvador Dali House there. 

Spent a nice relaxing day on the streets of the city and on the beach, as it was the last full day around.

Barcelona and Costa Brava

San Sebastian is a beautiful city located on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, in the Basque region of Spain. It used to be  Spain’s royalty favourite summer destination. Now, it's still one of the most famous spots of Spain with belle époque architecture, vibrant culture and great beaches.

We explored the popular area of old town in San Sebastian, located at the bottom of Mount Urgull walking on the beautiful streets and gazing all around us.

We mingled with locals in Mercado La Bretxa. It's an old iconic market dating back to 1870 with food stalls offering local products. We tried the famous Idiazabal cheese.

We passed by Victoria Eugenia Theater, the venue that hosts the annual San Sebastian film festival.

We had a coffee at this beautiful place by the river. 

We crossed the beautiful Maria Cristina Bridge over Urumea River and enjoyed the nice views over the city from there.

We arrived in Constitution Square, a historc square that used to serve as a bullring

We spent the last part of the day on the Beach of Concha, the large beautiful sandy beach in the shape of a shell, where we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset.

We spent the night in the old town of San Sebastian.

We started the second day with a trip to Mount Urgull, the tree covered mountain near the old town of the city. From the top of the mountain we had the best views of the city and the sea. 

We came down of the mountain and arrived in the beautiful Bay of La Concha. We had a stroll along the promenade and enjoy the views of the cityscape.

We continued our walk until the western tip of the bay. This is the place where the famous sculptures of Basque artists Eduardo Chillida "El Peine del Viento" are located.

On the way back we stopped to eat at this lovely terrace by the sea.

Weekend in San Sebastian

Lanzarote is a mesmerising island in the Canarys, off the coast of Morocco. It's known for its year round warm weather, beaches and volcanic landscape. We arrived on the airport late afternoon. We rented a car and drove to our base on the island.

We settled in Puerto del Carmen, in Lanzarote. After we checked in, we went to spend what remained of the day on the beach.

We simply relaxed at Playa Chica Beach before the day ended.

The next day, we took the car and started to tour the island.

We drove from Puerto del Carmen, where we stayed to Le Jardin de Cactus. The garden has some  4500 species of cactus. We walked the paths with beautiful cactus flowers.

After the garden of cactus flowers, we went to see a fantastic spot. Jameos Del Agua is a volcanic site with tunnel and caverns and an underground concert hall, plus a restaurant and salt lake.

Cueva de los Verdes are caves created from the eruption of the Volcan de la Corona.

Our last visit for the day was at Caldera de Los Cuervos, the volcano crater that has a trail around it. We walked the trail and admired the surresl scenery.

We returned to Puerto del Carmen for the night.

As the previous day was a busy one, we decided to take this one slowly.

We went for some wine tasting at Bodegas Vega de Yuco.

Then moved to a fantasting beach where we spent most of the day. Famara Beach is a gorgeous beach with dunes and the gorgeous mountains behind. You can also take surf lessons there if you're into this.

Today we were anxious to discover some of the main sites of Lanzarote.

Today we went to visit Timanfaya National Park, one of the main attractions in Lanzarote. It's a Mars-like landscape there, made up of pure volcanic soil. The park is part of the Lanzarote Biosphere Reserve.

Then we explored the coastline near the Timanfaya National Park, starting with El Golfo and its green lagoon.

At Los Hervideros, the ocean is so blue, it's a beautiful contrast against the orange landscape. We witnessed a gorgeous sunset from there.

It was our last day in Lanzarote so we hurried to explore some other beautiful spots on the island.

We drove through Valley of a Thousand Palm Trees located in the mountains. The valley with a carpet of palms was created in 17th centuryand is one of the few green areas. We stopped in the village of Haria for a coffee.

It's a viewpoint that looks over the edge of Lanzarote to a small island, La Graciosa.

Awesome Lanzarote

Alicante is a Spanish town located on the Mediterranean Sea, on Costa Blanca. You can easily spend an entire day or more in the beautiful town with fine beaches. This is my day tour of the city.

First thing, I paid a morning visit to Alicante Mercado Central, where local people use to sell and buy fresh fruit and vegetables. It's also a place where you can have sothing to eat.

I started my day tour of the city with a visit at Santa Barbara Castle, the 9th century Muslim castle that sits on top of a hill overlooking the city, with spectacular views from there.

Fron the castle I headed back downhill an walked along the hillside and into the simply beautiful old town of Alicante, with its narrow streets and beautiful buildings.

In the old town of Alicante, there's this beautiful art museum, MACA, or Contemporary Art Museum of Alicante. It's a large museum with modern deco offering exhibitions of contemporary art.

For lunch I stopped at La Taberna de Luceros, which is a small and lovely restaurant where they serve delicious traditional Spanish dishes.

After lunch, I made my way to Explanada de España, which is a pedestrian streets lined with palm trees and with a floor made from mosaic marble tiles. It's also one of the city’s emblems.

I paid a visit to Basilica of Santa María, the oldest and prettiest church in the city built over a former mosque.

And finally I spent the last part of the day at the beach, on beautiful Playa del Postiguet, relaxing after a full day.

One Day in Alicante, Spain

We arrived in Malaga, where we rented a car and started a road trip in Andalucia region.

We stayed in Marbella for two nights and explored the beaches on Costa del Sol.

Marco Beach is a beautiful cove located in the town of Nerja, one of the most highly rated beaches in Andalucia. The its cliffs and rock formations, it's a dream destination in Andalucia

Torre del Mar Beach is a blue flag beach with good quality of the sand and waters

This corner of Costa del Sol is less explored by tourists. We relaxed on the beach and in the water and had a panoramic view over Costa del Sol.

On your way from Costa del Sol to Seville, we passed through the cliffside town Ronda. It's a unique place and very  very beautiful. The town is built above El Tajo gorge on a steep cliffside which creates a wonderful landscape. We spent half of the day here.

The most visited monument in the city. The first thing that impress when you enter the Cathedral is the sense of scale. It’s huge. It was built in 1400s on the foundations of an ancient Almohad mosque and it took 100 to get it done.

Visited La Giralda, Spanish Renaissance-style minaret topped by a Gothic and baroque bell tower. From the top of La Giralda there's a great panoramic view over the city of Seville

An important landmark of Seville, the Arab and Moorish palace is still a Royal Residence. It's in fact the oldest royal palace in Europe.

One of the most beautiful plazas, with canals, bridges , arcades and the famous 48 azulejos benches.

Visited the city of Cordoba, with its beautiful Jewish Quarter, Roman Bridge with 16 arches and the Great Mosque.

We woke up in beautiful Granada with the mountains on the background.

Started the exploration with Alhambra Palace, the most visited site in all Spain.

The Cathedral was built on top of Granada’s mosque at the start of the 16th century.

One of Granada's traditional neighbourhoods, Sacromonte sits the hills above Granada. It is known as the gypsy quarter, atracting visitors for music and dancing after dark. Hikin and bike trails lead off into the mountains.

Andalucia Road Trip

I first heard of Oviedo in Woody Allen's film “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”. Years later, I had the chance to visit the place, so here it is what I visited there.

We visited the emblematic Cathedral of Oviedo, with its chapel of Santa Barbara and its impressive 1663 altarpiece.

Mercado El Fontán is a food market and one of the most popular places in Oviedo. It's where you can discover some of the area's local products and feel the city life. 

We had lunch at La Palmera del Indiano Restaurant, set in an early 20th century building, and famous for using local ingredients for preparing the dishes.

Campo de San Francisco is a really beautiful green area, one of the largest urban parks in the region. We had a nice walk along its alleys.

We had a walk along Calle Gascona Street, especially to look for "sidrerías". The region of Asturia is famous for its cider and the street of Calle Gascona hides some of of the famous places you could try cider. It's actually informally called “Cider Boulevard. We tried it too and we really loved it.

We paid a visit to Santa Maria del Naranco Church, situated on top of a hill a bit outside of the city center. Built in 842 AD as part of a palace complex, it was transformed into a church in 12th century. There are beautiful views over Oviedo from there. 

Oviedo

We took a beautiful day trip from Bilbao to a great spot on the coast in North Spain on a lovely summer day.

We drove from Bilbao for about an hour to the parking area near San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. We left the car in the parking and prepared for the hike to the islet of Gaztelugatxe.

The hike to Gaztelugatxe, our destination, takes about one hour. It starts with a descent to sea level and on the way, there is a beautiful panoramic view towards the islet of Gaztelugatxe. We stopped to admire the beautiful view and took tons of photos.

The hike continues with a winding cliffside trail, then this beautiful path over the tall bridge that connects the mainland with the islet. We felt the adrenaline rush while crossing the narrow path with the sea on the left and on the right down below us.

We arrived at the destination, the rocky promontory of Gaztelugatxe, on the coast of Biscay, with amazing views over the sea. On top of the island it's this small Church of San Juan dating back to 10th century.

After we spent some time on the wonderful top of the island, we got back to the car.

We headed to Bermeo, a small fishing town, also on the coast of Biscay. We visited the lovely old fishing harbor with narrow beautifully coloured houses and fishing boats adding to the charm of the place.

We sat on the lovely terrace of Andeko, a genuine Basque tavern serving excellent food.

Day Trip to Wonderful Gaztelugatxe Islet

We enjoyed our time in the small city of Bilbao, in the Basque region of Spain. Set amid rolling green hills and mountain ranges in north of Spain, Bilbao is vibrant and stylish city located along the Nervion River.

Casco Viejo is the old town of Bilbao. It is quite small, locals often call it "The Seven Streets", but is the beautiful heart of the city with narrow pedestrian streets filled with painted stone buildings and nice local bars and cafes.

Right in the center, Plaza Nueva is a small beautiful sqaure enclosed by fine buildings and restaurants.

We visited Santiago Cathedral, the 14th century church with a Gothic facade and decorations, now a UNESCO listed site

La Vieja or Bilbi is another old and nice neighbourhood of Bilbao, right next to Casco Viejo, on the Nervión River. It has become a cool spot of the city with funky bars, art galleries,  colorful street murals, bars and nice boutiques.

Miribilla Parkea is the nice green area of the neighbourhood that often hosts markets and concerts.

We walked the cool streets of the neighbourhood and had a late something to eat at El Perro Chico, a beautiful place right by the river, with delicious food and friendly staff.

As we walked along the river with beautiful views over the city, we came across Ribera Market, located also on the river bank. It's Europe’s largest covered market. It was rewarded with the title of "the most complete market in the world" by Guinness Book.

We started the second day where we ended the previous one, at Ribera Market.

We then took a nice long walk on the river till we arrived at one of the coolest spots of the town.

We admired the Zubizuri Bridge over the Nervion River, it's a beautiful modern tied arch footbridge that looks like a sailboat on the river.

We arrived at the cool Guggenheim Museum. It's a museum of modern and contemporary art in a super interesting titanium and glass building, designed by Frank Gehry. It's one of Bilbao's symbols.

We explored the cosmopolitan El Ensanche neighbourhood, with first rate shops, restaurants, and modern buildings.

Casa Montero is an Art Nouveau building called the "Gaudi House", though it was not designed by Gaudi, but it resembles the Gaudi style.

We then took the funicular to Mount Artxanda, a beautiful mountain peak that offers spectacular views over the city and the surroundings. We spent some time there as it was our last spot in Bilbao.

Weekend in Bilbao, Spain

We were in Catalonia region when we spotted some pictures of Girona city. We decided to take one day to visit it. It's a great place with nice cobbled streets, good food and an easily walkable town, it was just perfect for one day trip.

We started out tour with a great breakfast at Federal cafe, in the city center. The fact that there are many customers in the cafe is a proff of the quality of the services and the food.

We then took a long lovely walk along Onyar River and some of the 11 bridges in Girona that are pretty easy to explore.

We visited the Pont de les Peixateries Velles Bridge. It's a beautiful red steel bridge built by Gustave Eiffel who constructed it before building the Eiffel Tower.

Along the river there are some beautiful colourful houses we admired during our walk.

We visited the French Gardens. This park is one of the most emblematic places in Girona. It has a restored space with garden in front of its former owner.

We took a stroll along Girona’s city walls. Muralles de Girona are 9th century city walls with walkways, towers and beautiful panoramic points over the town and area.

We stopped to eat at Café le Bistrot. The place has a reputation of being one of the most romantic restaurants in all of Spain. It's situated in a fantastic little square with stairs going up  and down and the food at Le Bistrot is absolutely delicious.

Cathedral of Girona is a beautiful Roman Catholic church in Romanesque and Gothic styles, where some scenes of Games of Thrones were filmed.

Our last stop in Girona was in beutiful Placa d’Indepedencia for a drink.

Girona

Our Costa Brava summer itinerary starts in Barcelona and covers some of the most beautiful coastal lanscapes, hidden gems and gorgeous beaches between the city of Barcelona and the norther coastal point of Spain.

We rented a car from Barcelona and drove to Cadaqués for about two hours. We arrived in the evening in beautiful Cadaqués, so we only found our way to our accommodation in town that evening.

The next day we explored the charming city of Cadaqués with its beautiful whitewashed buildings spreading on the steep hills, its cobblestone streets and the deep blue sea coloured by fishing boats.

After we walked the city streets up and down for a few hours, we went to visit Salvador Dalí House, where famous painter lived and worked for some 50 years. He was not the only famous artist who loved this city so much. Others like Pablo Picasso or Gabriel Garcia Marquez used to spend summers in the beautiful town.

We ate at Compartir, delicious foody prepared by famous chefs. We had some of the best seafood we have ever tried.

We spent late afternoon at Platja del Ros Beach.

Today it was hiking and exploration day. We jumped in the car and followed the coast north.

Half an hour north of Cadaques, we arrived at Cap de Creus Natural Park. It's a beautiful peninsula with amazing views, a lighthouse and nice hiking paths. We spent a couple of hours there hiking and admiring the scenery.

We spent the afternoon at this gorgeous remote beach relaxing and swimming and sunbathing.

We spent the night in El Port de la Selva.

We had dinner at Ca l'Herminda. Beautiful place with delicious food. It was a recommendation from some nice local people.

The next day, just after grabbing a breakfast, we got back on the car and headed to the north again.

We stopped at Platja de Garbet, a beautiful sandy cove. We spent some nice time in that lovely peaceful corner. 

Then we decided to head still to the north, crossing the border with France. Beautiful landscapes on the way. We stopped for a while at Les Clos de Paulilles, a beautiful seaside vineyard established in the 1800s. We tasted some good there.

We then drove a bit inland to the beautiful medieval town Castelnou. We had a nice walk on its lovely cobblestones streets up to Castelnou Castle

Our last day of the trip was mainly the way back to Barcelona.

Back to Barcelona and back home from here.

Costa Brava Road Trip

Valencia is one of Spain's largest cities and one of its top attractions, located on the Mediterranean Sea. It's probably best known for its famous paella, but the city has plenty to offer. We had two days to explore the city and made sure to fill them up.

We started our visit in Valencia with a walk in the old town. We visited Valencia Cathedral, the beautiful Gothic cathedral built on the site of a mosque after Valencia was taken from the Moors. Inside the church, we admired paintings from 15th century. We also climbed Miguelete in belfry, on the cathedral site, nice views from there.

It's a lively square surrounded by important buildings, such as Valencia Cathedral, Basílica de la Mare de Déu dels Desemparats and the Palau de la Generalitat.

We paid a short visit to Almoina Archaeological Museum, the modern archeological museum with exhibits from Roman times up to Valencia’s Moorish eras.

La Lonja de la Seda is listed as a UNESCO heritage site. The beautiful Gothic building dating from 15th century once was a silk exchange.

Time to eat so we went to Central Market hosed in an Art Nouveau building. The market includes stalls with products and also restaurants and cafes.

We then took a walk on the Bohemian neighborhood of El Carmen. Narrown winding streets filled with tapas bars, cafes, bars and many nice  graffiti and street art.

It's an imposing gate built in 14th century, located at the limit of the old town, once part of the city walls that surrounded Valencia. You can climb on the gate for a panoramic view.

We started our second day in Plaza del Ayuntamiento. It's a large square and a popular meeting point surrounded by somptuous buildings, including Valencia's City Hall a nice Neoclassical building.

We went to see famous Bullring of Valencia, the arena where the Spanish shows with bulls and bullfighters take place.

The museum is one of Valencia's fines museums with an impressive collectin of Renaissance, and Gothic paintings, housed in beautiful palace.

Jardín del Turia is a long park that devides the old part of the city from the new one.

City of Arts and Sciences is a cool cultural complex at the end of the Jardín del Turia that includes Hemisfèric planetarium, IMAX theatre and the Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe science museum.

You can't be in Valencia and not enjoy some beachtime. We spent the afternoon relaxing at Playa de la Malvarrosa.

Two Days in Valencia

We took a trip from Bilbao to Cantabria region of Spain, stopping on several beautiful cities.

Our first stop of the day was in Castro Urdiales, a seaport with a beautiful old town, Puebla Vieja, and a nice harbour with colourful fishing boats. We had a walk in the town and stopped at a terace by the sea for a coffee.

We continued the route towards Santander, the capital city of Cantabria region. After a short walk in the city center, it started to rain, so we went to visit a famous palace in the city.

The Palace of Magdalena was built at the beginning of the 20th century for the Spanish Royal family. Now it is used as a as a conference hall and it is also open to public. There are fantastic views from the palace's site over the sea.

We walked the trail along the beautiful cliff that led us from the lighthouse to the viewpoint on the lighthouse peninsula. It's a beautiful wild corner. We learnt that it is also a good spot for sunsets.

Our next stop was on a fabulous beach, Playa de los Locos, which means "Beach of the Crazies". We took a walk along the beautiful beach with great views of the surroundings.

We continued the walk from Playa de los Locos on a trail towards a beautiful viewpoint, La Roca Blanca. It's a wonderful cliffside with spectacular views of the coastline.

We had a short hike from the parking area to Ermita de Santa Justa, a cute small chapel hidden beneth a cliff and facing the sea. It's a small beautiful beach with great landscapes.

We left the coastline and stopped in Santillana del Mar, a beautiful medieval town with lovely streets, houses and medieval towers. We loved the town.

We returned to Bilbao late in the evening.

Cantabria Road Trip

Rented a car and headed to Betancuria, stayed in the village. It's a beautiful village, maybe the most beautiful on the island.

Headed south to Costa Calma. On Sotavento Beach there are fine sand beaches where you can do wind and kite surfing.

Visited Oasis Wildlife Park on a safari tour.

Then visited Morro Jable lighthouse and around, beautiful corner of the island.

one of the wildest and most beautiful beaches in Canary Islands. It's a wild beach witout any bars around. You have to do a bit off-road to get there. One of my favourite spots on the island.

Moved north to Flag Beach. Super long beach with windy sands. The perfect place for kitesurfing or lessons of kitesurfing.

Trip to Isla de los Lobos, home to diverse flora and fauna, including rare birds. The main beach, beautiful Playa de la Concha, is known for its clear waters.

Spent the last day at El Cotillo Beach, with white sands and dark lava rock.

Fuerteventura Island

Flew to Seville. It's a good starting point for a tour of Andalucia region. The beautiful region is one of the sunniest and warmest places in Europe, with mild winters.

Visited the city, beautiful Plaza España, climbed in iconic Giralda Bell Tower, nice view over the city. Could not miss the Bullring either. And, of course, enjoyed some great tapas.

Took the train to continue exploring the region of Andalucia!

The first stop was Cordoba, we spent most of the day here. It was a Roman city and an important Islamic center in the Middle Ages. Visited La Mezquita, the huge mosque dating from 784 AD, impressive.

Took the train again, headed to Granada. It's situated right at the foothills of Sierra Nevada Mountains, such a beautiful scenery.

Visited Alhambra, a fortress complex and UNESCO World Heritage Site, it's a must see.

Moved on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, in Malaga, the birthplace of famous Pablo Picasso painter.

Took a day trip to the mountaintop city in Spain’s Malaga province. It’s set directly above a deep gorge, which separates the old town from the new one. Puente Nuevo Bridge (El Tajo) is quite a spectacular view.

Train from Malaga back to Seville, had some more tapas before we left. :)

One Week in Andalusia

We took a day trip along the Bsque Coast from San Sebastian stopping on the following points.

Our first stop of the day was in Orio, the small fishing town known for being part of Camino de Santiago, the costal path of it. We strolled for a bit in the old town and on the beach promenade.

We next stopped in the beach town Zumaia, famous among the surf lovers. But it's not only for surfers. The town has some amazing landscapes.

Itzurun beach, the main beach of the town of Zumaia is surrounded by incredible cliffs. The landscapes with the cliffs, the sea the wonderful beach and the green top of the cliffs make this place a magical spot. On this beach there were filmed some scenes in Game of Thrones.

We visited Ermita de San Telmo, the chapel on top of the cliffs, especially from the views from there. 

We next stopped in the fishing village of Lekeitio, visited its beautiful beaches and a colorful harbor lined with restaurants and a beautiful Gothic basilica.

We ate at Antzarrak, a restaurant in the harbour of Lekeitio, specialized in fish. It was really delicious and we had a good time while there.

We moved to another fishing village, Elantxobe, built on a steep cliff, with great views overthe harbour and the sea.

We got back to San Sebastian in the evening.

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