Spain
Barcelona
Barcelona is by far our favorite big international city we’ve visited, to date. This Mediterranean city has a comfortable climate year-round, beaches walking distance from the heart of town, art and history around every corner, an incredible foodie scene, and friendly locals. We’ve had some of our most memorable meals (both Michelin starred as well as mom-and-pop establishments) here, and the wine is out-of-this-world.
We highly recommend taking a free walking tour with Sandeman’s (hopefully they’re still operating!). We loved hearing about the history of the city, as well as learning about some of the architecture and outdoor artwork we passed along the way.
The famous Gaudi sites (Park Güell, La Pedrera-Casa Milà, Casa Batlló, and of course, La Sagrada Familia) are well worth visiting, even if you’re not a Gaudi “fan”!
We recommend avoiding Las Ramblas (since it’s known for heavy pickpocket activity), and instead, get happily lost in the winding streets of the Gothic Quarter, learn your way around town using the underground Metro system or relax on the beach for an afternoon. We also paid for a private sunset sailing tour, enjoying the view back to the city with a glass of wine in-hand.
It’s very easy to rent a car for 1 day in Barcelona, so we took ourselves on a private tour of Costa Brava, and Girona (about 90 min from Barcelona). The coastline north of Barcelona is stunning and is speckled with tiny towns basking in the warm sunshine during the summer days. We stopped in Tossa de Mar and Girona (the photo used in the header of this page) which is an ancient city with parts of the original roman fortress walls still being visible. Also - fun fact, scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed here.
Madrid
We’ve heard many times that travelers often prefer either Madrid or Barcelona. I suppose it depends on the experiences you have in each/either city, but for us Madrid was just okay. It felt like a more Spanish (less international), working city. We were only there for 3 days, and spent much of it with expat friends living there, which was wonderful and relaxing. We did a mediocre walking tour in the heart of town which, sadly, didn’t pique our interest in re-visiting any of the sites.
Mallorca
This sleepy island in the Balearic Sea (not far from from the famous night-life filled Ibiza) was fun to explore. Sadly we got unlucky with quite a bit of rain, however our Airbnb private home was beautiful and we loved just sitting on the patio with a glass of wine enjoying the views.
San Sebastian
In 2019 we spent a week in San Sebastian so Kristina could do an in-person Spanish language immersion school. A college friend of ours was on sabbatical at the time, so she joined us and did a week of language school at the same time! Our Airbnb apartment was perfect — it was in a great location (walking distance to the school, and right in the heart of town), and also had good Wi-Fi so Spencer could work during the day while Kristina was in school. In the afternoons we explored San Sebastian. We did some drop-in CrossFit classes, a foodie walking tour, walks up both Monte Urgull and Monte Igueldo and tried our best to taste all the local Pintxos (tapas) in town. One afternoon Spencer also rented a surf board and refreshed his old surfing skills with the San Sebastian locals.
The food here was incredible, and the people were SO friendly. We left feeling like we could live there, and we can’t wait to go back.
Summary
Spain is one of our favorite countries we’ve visited to date, and we think it has something for everyone. Whether you’re into history, architecture, art museums, relaxing on a beach, joining thousands of people at a dance festival, eating at new and amazing restaurants every day, hiking, sailing etc.…Spain can be the answer! So, if you’re thinking about putting Spain on your travel list, we’d say DO IT!
“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.”
- Anthony Bourdain