Summer "Luxury Backpacking" through Spain

Two weeks of traveling by train, taxi, bus, anything we could find from Barcelona to Lisbon for our return flight, and it was a time to say the least. Here are all the stops and the itinerary (linked to the image below)!

*click on image for itinerary*

The Stops:

• Barcelona (2 days)

• Ibiza (1.5 days)

• Valencia (1 day)

• Madrid (2.5 days)

• Granada (1 day)

• Sevilla (1 day)

• Additional Stop: Lisbon, Portugal (1 day)

Stop 1: We made it to Barcelona, barely

We're two hours from landing at our layover in Lisbon and I started up in an air sickness bag, cute! We finally make it to the terminal and I passed out in a position that definitely has ruined my back to this day. I nearly missed the next flight because I was so out. Thankfully I made it to Barcelona with nothing more than an empty stomach and a shred of dignity. If you get sick from traveling long distances, this is your encouragement to just push through. It will be worth it.

Our first stop (it was actually Starbucks, but we're not going to talk about that): Sagrada Familia, a beautiful unfinished church with intricate architecture on the outside and beautiful mosaic windows and intricate sculptures on the inside.

What to know before you go:

• No see-through clothing, no hats (except for religious purposes), no clothing shorter than mid-thigh. Think of it as your standard middle school dress code.

• No professional photography equipment

• It's probably one of the most expensive tourist attractions in Barcelona. It's free to look from the outside tho!

Our next stop, Park Guell

I like to compare this colorful park with tiles and mosaics to a Dr. Suess town. It was so pretty and fun and probably the coolest area to walk around in the city, and I mean cool as in not burning hot. I'm embarrassed to say I had to stop in random stores and even sat in a bank for a few minutes to get some air conditioning while we were roaming Barcelona, so this park was a nice break.

Boqueria Market

We loved this place, or any place that gave us food really. But the markets in general are a great place to explore all the standard popular foods in Spain. I highly recommend going to them in any city to try all kinds of food. The markets were the only place I tried things other than paella!

Stop 2: Ibiza, enough said.

We stayed at Hotel Club Can Bossa for a fair price with free breakfast, a pool, and a bar! We booked a few months in advance and places all across Ibiza were still already filling up so definitely book early. Our place was within walking distance of popular clubs like Ushuaïa and a line of bars was on the way.

Women should use their confidence down this line of bars. If you dress the club-like part and show up with a group of your girlies, you're likely to have all kinds of people trying to get you drinks. I'd say the safest bet is to go with the bar owners and promotors. They usually offer a free first round of drinks and you can try to get more! Unfortunately, sometimes the guys can get a little too flirty so definitely stay safe. My creepy story is a dirty 40-year-old man hitting on us by trying to brag about all the younger girls he's been with and then calling me a "good baby" um time to go.

Luckily the clubs tend to be people in the younger age range all there with their own friend groups looking to meet new people! We met people mostly from London, Italy, and Croatia! Did I mention David Guetta was playing? Love Tonight (David Guetta Remix) will forever remind me of summer now.

Stop 3: Valencia

What can I say, it was super cute. We walked around the park, ate gelato, and did a little mall shopping! The best parts? A little festival/parade and my favorite paella of the whole trip.

Stop we missed:

• L'Oceanogràfic, an oceanarium with underwater views of marina animals such as beluga whales, sharks, dolphins, jellyfish, sea lions, and turtles!

Stop 4: Madrid

A woman in line with us said it best, Madrid es la cabeza del pais, y Barcelona es el corazon (Madrid is the head of Spain, and Barcelona is the heart). Madrid is the city that reminds me the most of an American city. There are museums, fun going out places, rooftop bars, and more! The biggest tell-in difference is the architecture and lack of rats 🥴 (shoutout ny).

El Prado Museum

We easily spent over three hours here and still were not done. Photography is strictly prohibited, but people still did it.

Ghost Stop: Reina Sofia

We didn't get to go here because the line was too long before closing (we spent too much time at El Prado). I wanted to go see Picasso's and Dali's works, specifically Guernica so def recommend getting there early to avoid the long lines and have plenty of time to go through.

Parque del Retiro

It was so pretty, I felt like I was a princess walking around on my castle grounds! You could spend hours walking here, there is a cute little pond you can rent a canoe for, a pretty little castle, tons of greenery, and overall it's a nice escape from the city vibes.

Stop 5: Granada

Probably the most relaxing part of our trip, the commute to and from was nice, nowhere was too crowded, and in every direction, you looked you saw beautiful views of mountains.

The Airbnb we got was easily our favorite stay with a contemporary style interior, central air conditioning we could actually get to work properly, and those great mountainous views on the balcony!

Alhambra Palace and General

This is a beautiful palace with Islamic influences with a beautiful garden surrounding it! You can take guided tours or walk the grounds yourself with a ticket.

Flamenco Dancing

If there is one thing to do here it's to watch a Flamenco show in a cave! A basic Google search will show you multiple options in the city where you can do this, I highly recommend it!

Stop 6: Sevilla

I loved it here, it was such a bright and colorful city to walk around in. The most popular area was Santa Cruz with little cart shops lining the street, the famous cathedral and the Real Alcázar! We stopped to buy pretty jewelry and see some street performances on our way to our cooking experience.

Paella Cooking Experience

It's important to know that a cooking experience and a cooking class aren't the same thing. An experience is where a chef cooks the meal in front of you and teaches you about the food, ingredients, and tastes usually ending with everyone tasting the meal. Our cooking experience ended on a beautiful balcony with seafood paella and red wine.

Stop 7: Lisbon

Pena Palace

A colorful castle with textiles everywhere. Pictures barely do it justice, but here are some pictures

anyway.

Sardines

We just missed the sardine festival, but there was still a little leftover celebration. No matter the time of year you can always find a sardine souvenir store with a carnival-like essence.