If you talk about exploring a splendid architectural beauty along with soulful peace, Spain is the right country for you. Me and my best friend got recently married and as for any newlyweds, we are in our full enthusiastic prime to explore the world together. So, immediately after our honeymoon, we both decided to find a new place to explore and a new experience to gain.
After some extensive research about places that can be widely explored in a week’s span (excluding islands and beach locations); we narrowed our “territory” to south and east Europe. Since we both wanted to skip the headaches for daily itinerary, we met a travel agent. After discussing with her, she really impressed her with a detailed itinerary about Spain and we then decided to go for it. We also requested her to have all evenings free for ourselves so that we both can explore nightlife in Spain. Long story short, as any travel agent goes in the end, our agent too screwed up the entire itinerary and then finally both of us decided to take matters in our hands.
Few things you should keep in mind are, it will be warm in July in Spain. Weather in July in Spain is close to weather in November in India. Also, keep in mind that not many people or restaurants know English, so learning basic Spanish words with help you to get a conversation started. As it will be summer time, days are very long and that really works in your favor as you can explore many places during daytime.
What follows below is our detailed day-to-day itinerary:
Day-1: Madrid
We left via Mumbai – Madrid flight which had a 3-hour layover at Paris airport. Paris airport is huge. Going from one terminal to other is a big task in Paris and you will have to take bus to get to your terminal. Every terminal at Paris airport is big with lots of cafes and shops. There are few instruments kept too, which anyone can play and enjoy the time. After about 16 hours of flight we finally landed in Madrid. Places have their own history and they can make feel welcome or unwelcome before you even enter there. Madrid is a place that gives you amazing positive vibes and peacefulness to your mind the moment you land. We checked in our hotel, took some rest and then had a peaceful walk around the Manzanares river and enjoyed the solitude Madrid was offering.
Day-2: Barcelona
We had an early morning flight to Barcelona where we were planned to spend next couple of days of tour. Our hotel was very close to Airport, which is far from the city and as it was Sunday, nothing was open around that day. So, if anyone is planning to go to Barcelona, make sure that you have reservations near city center. But public transport in Barcelona is very efficient. You can book daily passes for public transport online and can utilize them to maximum extent. We visited Pablo Espanyol, Olympic Stadium, beautiful museum and castell de montjuic (for which you have to take an amazing ropeway ride overlooking entire Barcelona). The perfect was ended with a beautiful fountain show at the museum.
Day-3: Barcelona
For the next day we had a fun activity planned. We had booked a 5-hour cycle tour ride of Barcelona city. It was absolutely amazing. You get to ride on the streets of Barcelona, you get to explore the city as a local rather than tourist. You will be impressed by the discipline people follow even riding a cycle and you will be also amazed by the architectural history of the city. It will surely take you in a different time zone. Post that, we decided to explore La Rambla, a roadside shopping complex in Barcelona and we took our next stop at Camp Nou Stadium (FC Barcelona Stadium). Let me tell you that, I am not much of a football fan but still, I was mesmerized by the audacity I witnessed in that tour.
Day-4: Costa Brava
We started day-4 with a prebooked tour to Costa Brava. Costa Brava is a beautiful costal city about 1.30 hour from Barcelona which had been an integral part of Spain’s ancient Roman and Greek history. Initially you start off the tour from Girona Cost, then you move towards Llafranc and then you to Pals, enjoy panoramic view of the entire city. Take a break for lunch. Then take a deep dive in the sea at Medes islands and enjoy the deep-sea beauty. After witnessing the beauty, take a last stop at Greek and Roman Ruins to understand the country’s history and head back to Barcelona. In Barcelona, we had stayed in a small hostel called “Mucha Masia” very close to Airport town. It was a place that made us feel so welcoming and so homely that we were almost close to extending a couple of days there.
Day-5: Madrid
In the morning, we again returned back to Madrid (our return flights to India were from Madrid). We then took a metro and headed towards the Royal Palace. It is situated near Opera house, a very good place to buy souvenirs. Royal Palace is exactly what it sounds, it is huge, it is royal, there are guards on horses as a part of security, there are few entertainment shows going in the campus. Then we moved towards Campo del Moro, a beautiful garden adjacent to the Palace. After that we moved to Temple of Debod, an ancient Egyptian temple rebuilt in Spain.
Day-6: Madrid
Our hotel was very close to city center and so we decided to explore places by foot rather than taking any metro or bus. On the last day of our trip, we went to see Picasso Museum. It is a combination of beauty, art and cultural varieties. There are painting showing old Spain, some documentaries about freedom fights and some revolutionary paintings from great legends like Salvador Dali, Picasso etc showing a great display of Spanish masterstroke. The last evening in Spain was bit of a sad for both of us. It was very difficult to leave a country like Spain which is full of cultural and architectural beauty and head back to routine activities. We spent remaining evening strolling around the park and capturing every possible moment of that beautiful place.
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