Finally in Spain 🇪🇸
After Portugal, we were most excited about Spain on our trip, partly because we could finally use our learned Spanish skills. 😁 We weren't quite able to converse yet, but at least we could order food and drinks! 😂
However, we didn't get very far into Spain initially, as we made our first stop just beyond the border in Parc Natural del Cadí-Moixeró. Here, we went on a beautiful hike and spent the night at over 2000 meters altitude and just below 0 degrees overnight. 😋 This was actually our first time camping together, and we squeezed into a hammock and shared a sleeping bag – which worked out better than expected, and the night was pleasantly warm. The next morning, we set off early to the summit, where we had a wonderful view of the surrounding area. 😍😎
The city that never gets boring: Barcelona ☀️🎉
Next, we headed to Barcelona – a city that never gets boring. This is already my third time in Barcelona, but there's always something new to discover! We parked outside the city in nature, so we had to take the bus into the city every day – still much better than being in the middle of the city. In addition to the usual attractions that Barcelona has to offer, we also drove to the Muntanya de Montserrat, a mountain range 30 minutes away, where we had a beautiful campsite directly below the famous rock formations. From there, we went hiking and enjoyed a beautiful sunset with a view over the valley in the evening. 🌄
Valencia – definitely worth a visit! 🥰
Valencia really surprised us on our trip. Neither of us had been there before, but I had heard only good things about it, so we decided to stay for several days. We didn't regret it! In addition to the great fairgrounds with their futuristic buildings, we were especially impressed by the city center, which is really diverse and has beautiful restaurants and cafes. On our last day, we visited the city beach and met many new people at a beach meetup – it's just a shame that we had to move on so soon... 😬
Snorkeling on the Costa Blanca 🤿🐠
We were particularly excited for the next few days... the Costa Blanca supposedly has the best snorkeling spots in all of Spain. So, we bought a snorkel mask and went to the first spot: Denia. There, we had a dreamy campsite right at the snorkeling spot, so we went straight into the water when we arrived and saw an incredible number of fish despite the dusk! 🤗 We spent the next few days in the water, including at a hidden cave, where we saw huge schools of fish again.
We continued along the Costa Blanca to Calp – a real tourist town with a beautiful, long sandy beach. The setting is completed by the Parc Natural del Penyal d'Ifac – a rock on which many different bird species are at home and which is also the smallest national park in Spain. 😁👍
From Alicante to Almeria 🚐
In Alicante, we used the time to work, as there wasn't much to do, but we had another first-class campsite right on the cliff coast (we've been incredibly lucky with our campsites in general). Of course, we still checked out the city center of Alicante, which is very nice, but one day was sufficient.
Afterwards, we made a brief stop in Cartagena (which is not necessarily a must-see) and then continued our journey to Almeria. Here, our drive along the coast came to an end for the time being and we continued inland. However, since there are simply so many amazing places along the southern coast of Spain, the rest will be covered in SPAIN PART 2. 😜🤠
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