A little video of our six days in Spain covering Barcelona, Valencia, Montserrat, Navajas, Montanejos and Albarracín… (watch in HD)
Below is a map of the route we covered over the six days, from the 6th to 12th July, blog following below…
Barcelona (B on the map)
This is one of those cities that never sleeps, where there’s midnight traffic jams any night of the week, and the streets have an occasional smell of urine, sewerage and marijuana (yes, personal use of weed is now legalised in Spain and looks like it’s a hit!).
Despite the bedlam that is Barcelona in summer, there’s a reason why the tourists flock here in hoards – plentiful sunshine for the beachgoers, unique architecture and history, and a rich array of traditional foods and drink to sample. You just have to be brave enough to battle the crowds!
We spent two and a half days here out of our total six days in Spain. We’re not huge fans of big cities, so this was enough crowd-dodging in one go. But even for us nature lovers, we thoroughly enjoyed our brief stay in Barcelona. For Pavel, who frequented Barcelona in the past during his bboy busking days, it was a bit of a trip down memory lane, except this time was the “comfort” version.
One of the distinct features of Barcelona is the unusual architecture of the many buildings designed by renowned Spanish architect, Antoni Gaudí. If you love good architecture, this place will knock your socks off! There are several of his works scattered around Barcelona, including his masterpiece, the Sagrada Família. With tourists flocking there daily, don’t even think about showing up without tickets purchased in advance! When purchasing tickets online, you can also add on tickets to visit the Gaudí museum at Park Güell – well worth a look.
On arrival in Barcelona in the late afternoon, we wandered along the beach Esplanade and marina – an enjoyable walk to do late afternoon to check out all the flashy bars and restaurants.
Day two began with a trip to La Boqueria Markets off Barcelona’s famous La Rambla Street for some fresh fruit and juices. This got us energised for a huge day of walking and Metro-ing around the city to see a couple of Gaudi’s more famous works, including Casa Milà and Casa Batlló, a visit to the Gaudi House Museum at Park Güell to learn more about the renowned architect, the Barcelona Cathedral in the vicinity of the Gothic Quarter, cable car ride up Montjuïc Hill to Montjuïc Castle, and a Flamenco show with dinner. The Flamenco show and dinner was a little surprise Pavel had booked and was a definite highlight mainly due to the location, Poble Espanyol, an open air architectural museum. The architecture on display here is simply beautiful, and it was a perfect place to get away from the crowds as there is an entrance fee (cheaper when purchased online).
Day three was a bit more slow paced after our jam-packed day prior. We’d managed to secure ourselves tickets for an afternoon visit to Sagrada Família, so made our way there after our quick stopover at La Boqueria for juices and fruit. We can’t say we’re huge architecture fans, but this one was well worth the money! The amount of work and detail put into the design of the exterior and interior is awe-inspiring. The self-guided audio tour, an option when purchasing the tickets, is recommended.
We finished the day with a stroll to the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc for the one-hour synchronised light and music show (held on most nights of the week during the summer months). Of course, we were packed in with hundreds of other tourists to watch the show, but the atmosphere was great and the fountain lived up to its name – absolutely magical!
Montserrat (A on the map)
In need of an escape from the big city to get our nature-fix, we took a day trip to Montserrat (“serrated mountain”), a one hour train ride from Barcelona Plaça d’Espanya station. No need to pay for an expensive tour for this day trip, the train tickets can be purchased from Plaça d’Espanya station and come with pretty much everything you need to enjoy the full day at Montserrat.
Although the tickets to Montserrat come with a return funicular ride almost up to the top of the mountain, we highly recommend hiking all the way up from the base. It’s not everyday you get to see such unique rock formations and landscape, so the two-hour hike to the top of Sant Jeroni (1,236m altitude) was well-worth the sweat! The views at the top are spectacular! We opted for the funicular ride back down the mountain though. The Spanish summer sun really takes it out of you!
After arriving back in Barcelona on our return train from Montserrat, we took a Bla Bla Car ride (share ride service similar to Uber) to our next destination – Valencia! With the train and bus journey options to Valencia being either too expensive or too slow, Bla Bla Car was our next best option at only €20.50 per person for the almost 4-hour journey. This was our first experience of Bla Bla Car and we highly recommend it. Our driver was a young Spanish guy who lives in Barcelona and studies in Valencia, and this was a bit of extra cash on the side for him. We’ll definitely be using Bla Bla Car as an alternative to public transport in future! We’ve even signed up for it ourselves in case we ever find ourselves with some empty car seats to fill during our travels.
Valencia (C on the map)
For our first day in Valencia, started with a visit to Mercado Central Market, the largest markets in Europe. You could say that these markets give you an authentic Spanish experience – pig legs hanging in front of all the meat stalls and skinned sheep heads with eyeballs intact peering at you through the display windows. You may not be able to stomach any food after the experience, but the range of food produce and products is still pretty interesting to check out.
We spent a lazy afternoon wandering though Valencia’s Turia Gardens, a huge garden haven in the middle of the city. It’s a great place to escape the crowds for some peace and quiet, take a easy stroll or bike ride (bikes available for hire here), and see some historical structures located in the gardens.
With the benefit of long summer days, we headed to the main beach esplanade for a late afternoon swim in the sea, when the crowds on the beach had dispersed a little. With the great selection of restaurants along the esplanade, we followed up with traditional seafood paella for dinner, washed down with sangria.
Road trip from Valencia – Navajas (D), Montanejos (E) and Albarracín (F)
A road trip inland from Valencia is like driving through the Wild West, with the dry landscapes and endless rocky mountains. Of our time in Spain, this day trip “off the beaten track” was a definite highlight. Although the car we hired for the day ended up costing us more than we originally expected (thanks to very sneaky hidden costs in the fine print which we’d failed to read when we were booking the car rental in haste the night before), it was still worth the cost to have some freedom to explore in a car of our own and experience the raw beauty of the Spanish countryside.
About 50 minutes drive from Valencia was our first stop – Navajas. Not only is this little mountain-side town pretty cool to drive through, there’s a spectacular waterfall to swim in at the nearby Salto de la Novia (just a short walk down the access road). The unique rocky backdrop of the waterfall is breathtaking. A perfect place for a picnic lunch post-swim.
About another 40 minutes drive north of Navajas, was our second swim stop of the day – Montanejos Hot Springs (“Fuente de Baños”). These hot springs were constructed by an Arabic king back in the 13th century due to the special healing properties of the minerals present in the water, and were publicly opened in 1863. The water is said to have a constant temperature of 25 degrees Celsius, but it still felt a little chilly, despite being a hot summer day. If the chilly water doesn’t sound inviting, the sight of the clear blue waters and surrounding rocky cliffs will be a sure drawcard. This place is such a unique piece of paradise worth exploring with a hidden cave to swim in, small coves and waterfalls, and rocky platforms to jump off.
Our final destination, Albarracín, was approx. 1 hour 45 minutes drive from Montanejos, but was a very scenic drive passing by brilliant blue and emerald green bodies of water and stunning old villages – pure Spain at its best! A definite highlight on the way was the little hilltop town of Puebla de Arenoso and Arenós Reservoir – truly breathtaking! We were drawn to visit Albarracín after reading that it is said to be Spain’s most beautiful village, and it did not disappoint. After parking our car at the foot of the mountain that this old village is built on, we couldn’t quite see what all the fuss is about. But it’s not till you walk up the stairs, through the narrow cobblestone streets, that you see it’s beauty. With the known history of this village dating back to the 11th century, wandering through the streets is like a walk through the medieval era. Although the village is fairly quiet and not overrun by tourists, there’s a good selection of quaint pubs and restaurants to visit. We chose a pub in one of the main squares of the village for a cold beer, served with complimentary pork crackling.
