My Top 6 Places to Visit in Spain

Hi chums!

After doing a fair amount of travelling while I've been in Spain, I have decided to rank my top 6 places (it was going to be 5 but Spain is just a bit to fab so I had to do 6). 

I have ordered them based on which I love the most but I would really recommend going to visit all of them if you ever get the chance because they are all amazing!




I've been to Barcelona twice now and each time has been so different and yet had the same chilled vibe which Barcelona gives. 

In terms of things to do, you'll never get bored here. There is literally so much to do, you'll probs need at least 3 days here but you could easily spend a week or more if you wanted to do day trips out to places nearby or have some beach days.


My top picks of things to do here would be:

- Park Güell - a park designed by Gaudí (you need to get a train to go here but it is well worth it!)

- Sagrada Familia - a trip to Barcelona is not a trip to Barcelona if you don't visit Sagrada Familia 

- Montserrat - this is a day trip and is absolutely amaaaazing. I cannot recommend this enough. You will need a full day here but you will asbolutely love it!

The only thing I didn't love about Barcelona was the beach. I went to the beach only for a few hours with my friends and we were constantly hassled by people selling things like jewellery, clothing, drinks, and even massages. It wasn't very relaxing but maybe if you head further away from the centre it might be better.


Seville is one of those places where your camera will never leave your hand (those tiles are the things of dreams).

I went to Seville with my fam for my birthday weekend and we were surprised just how much there is to do.


- Casa de Pilatos - this is an Andalusian palace but it is a lot smaller than the Alcázar and isn't so well known so there aren't big crowds of people here. I personally preferred it to the Alcázar because of this and could have spent way longer there but we went just before closing so we didn't have long!

- Real Alcázar de Sevilla - oh my goodness. Let's talk about this. Before we went we read that most people spend around 1-3 hours here. Ummmm... 5 hours later we were still there. We actually had to be told to leave by the security guards who go and gather everyone up around closing, otherwise we could have stayed a lot longer.

- Cathedral - did someone say bell tower??? Well, you're in luck. As well as seeing inside the cathedral you can climb the slopes (there are no stairs) up to the top where the bells are. Just be sure you're not standing near a bell when it rings (I learnt this the hard way!).


Wow. I could talk about Valencia forever. I think I'm a little bit in love.

Valencia, in my opinion, is way underrated. There are lots of tourists but I don't hear about it as much as Barcelona or Seville and I think I should because it is such a fun place to go and there is a lot to do.


My top picks of things to do here would be:

- Jardín del Turia - the best part about Valencia has got to be this garden. It was originally a river but was transformed into gardens when there was a devastating flood in 1957 (yes, I wikapedia-ed it).

- Oceanographic Museum - I'm not normally your aquarium kind of gal but I loved this so much I spent around 5 hours here. It would definitely be a mistake if you didn't check this out.

- Valencia Central Market - if you love market stalls and buildings that look like gingerbread houses, then this will be right up your street! Even though I didn't buy anything, I loved looking at all the different stall, which sells all kinds of things, from books to clothes to food.


Salamanca is such a familiar Spanish city for me because I went there to do a couple of language courses. It's not too big, but there is still a lot to see and the golden stoned buildings and historical feel to the place makes it a definite favourite.

Salamanca is west of Madrid and it takes just 1 hour 30 mins to get there from Chamartin station, so an overnight trip there would be a great idea if you're visiting Madrid for a while.


My top picks of things to do here would be:

- Plaza Mayor - nowhere has a better Plaza Mayor than Salamanca. It is truly the Queen of Plaza Mayors.

- Cathedral - there are actually two cathedral in Salamanca which is a weird/fun/slightly irrelevant fact you never thought you needed. You can pay to go up to the top of the cathedral which is 100% worth it for the amazing views!

- El Huerto de Calixto y Melibea - this is a garden which isn't an obvious place to visit when going to Salamanca (in my opinion), but it is really pretty and full of flowers. It also gives you a great view looking out of town, towards the river.

5. Toledo

Do I love Toledo more than Madrid, you ask? Why, yes. Yes I do. 

This might seem crazy that I've put places like Salamanca and Toledo above Madrid, but I genuinely prefer them. They may be smaller but they are so beautiful.

Toledo is like a fairytale town on a hill. You have to cross a bridge to walk up to it and it is so photogenic I think I took approximately 103893493280 pics in one day.


In Toledo there are some specific things you can do, but I would recommend just wandering around this cute medieval town. One thing I would recommend visiting is the cathedral, but other than that I think the best way to see this place is to get lost in it!

6. Madrid

I've been to Madrid several times now and I do really like it as a city, but compared to places like Seville and Barcelona, there isn't so much to do here. That's not so say that it isn't really pretty though and I think it's still worth a visit, but you probs only need a couple of full day here unless you're planning on doing day trips out of the city.


My top picks of things to do here would be:

- Palacio Real - the palace is really impressive and if you go inside you can see Juan Carlos' abdication letter (I nerded out just a tad when I saw this).

- Plaza Mayor - so super obvious, but you've got to check out the Plaza Mayor and also the Puesto del Sol which is like a couple of minutes walk and is where they do the New Year's fireworks.

- Cathedral - this is right next to the palace and you can get tickets to go up to the dome and walk round. You can also get some great pics of the palace from the balcony without loads of other people in!

*     *     *

There are so many places to visit in Spain and I still have to many more on my list (especially in the south), but these are my top 6 for now and I would happily go back to any of them again any day!

Thanks for reading!

Love as always,

Emma
xxx

My Spanish Term Abroad in Numbers

Hi chums!

My term abroad went so fast and it's only now that I've got some time to think about it all that I'm realising how much I actually did - who knew?! So I've decided to do a summary blog post and write down all the numbers because the OCD in me loves all that.


So, without further ado...

Life

- 15 weeks

My term abroad has been 15 weeks of living in Spain, 11 of which were compulsory as part of my university course, and 4 which were self-inflicted- sorry, I mean I chose to do them.

- 2 suitcases

Last year I spent 3 months working in Florida and I took the same amount of luggage and all I needed was shorts and t-shirts. This time, however, I had to be pretty minimalistic (well, minimalistic by my standards) because in León it was super cold. It actually snowed there a few days before I went so I had to take a mix of cold and warm clothes and if I'm honest my greatest achievement of the whole trip was fitting all of that variety into my cases.

Language

- Level B2.2

I feel like I have learnt so much from my classes in León and also from living and speaking with Spanish people. Learning a language in your own country can only get you so far but when you go to a country where it is the native language you can improve so much faster.


Everyone who I have ever asked 'when do you know you're fluent?' has always said 'oh, it just suddenly clicks'. Well, I still don't know what this means because even though I can speak (kinda) and my listening comprehension has gotten so much better, I still feel far from saying I am fluent.


When I first got back from my term abroad I felt a bit disappointed in myself because I felt like maybe I hadn't tried hard enough to speak, but in reality I feel like it takes a lot longer to get fluent and I'm happy with the progress I have made.


- 264 hours of classes

The classes at the Centro de Idiomas in León are so good. After 2 years of not really enjoying uni lectures, I was really surprised how much I loved going to class in León. The teachers were so lovely and helpful and they really made a difference with my language learning.


Travel

- 15 trips
- 13 different cities/towns
- 8 autonomous regions
- 2 different countries
- 8 flights
- 25 trains
- 11 buses

Everywhere I've Been:


  • Madrid - 31st March - 1st April
  • Oviedo - 14th April
  • Ponferrada - 23rd April
  • Valencia - 27th April - 1st May
  • Madrid (with sister) - 5 - 7th  May
  • Toledo - 6th May
  • Madrid (with au pair fam) - 11th - 13th May
  • Morocco - 19th May - 23rd May
  • Las Cuevas de Valporquero - 26th May
  • Galicia (Santiago de Compostela & A Coruña) - 2nd - 3rd June
  • Seville - 7th - 10th June
  • Barcelona - 16th - 21st June
  • Madrid (with au pair fam) - 6th - 8th July
  • Salamanca - 15th July
  • Segovia - 21st - 22nd July
Autonomous Regions I've Been:
- Madrid
- Castilla y León
- Asturias
- Galicia
- Castilla-La Mancha
- Cataluña
- Galicia
- Andalucía

There are 17 autonomous communities in Spain, so I've almost been to half of them. Visiting the other 9 are 100% on my bucket list.

*     *     *

I have loved touring all around Spain in my spare time and can't believe I've gotten to go to so many places.


I feel like I have really make the most of my term abroad and although at times it has been hard, it has definitely been worth it. I have a new-found love of Spain and Spanish and I can't wait to go back again!

Love as always,

Emma
xxx

© Sights and Stripes

This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services - Click here for information.

Professional Blog Designs by pipdig