My husband, William, and I spent just shy of two weeks in Spain in October, 2016. We want to give you a taste of this amazing country, its fabulous people, and beautiful sights.
We spent a few days in Barcelona on our own, but most of this trip was in connection with a Rick Steves Your Way® tour (more on that below).
Getting around: To navigate this site, use the menu at the top of each page or the links at the bottom of the page. If you are using a smaller screen or window, or visting this site via a smart phone, you may see a hamburger icon (three parallel horizontal lines) at the top left of the page. Simply, click on that icon to reveal links to all the pages on this website. The bottom of each page also has a link to the page for the next destination on our itinerary.
What's on this site?: Each city on our itinerary has its own page, plus a separate page for our balloon trip over the Catalonian countryside. I also created a page of tips I hope future visitors to Spain might find useful.
Photography: Some groups of photos are presented in short slide collections. These photos change every four seconds and cycle through, unless you pause or skip using a thumbnail. My photos were all taken on an iPhone 6. Some used a telephoto lens from Moment.
Buen viaje! (Good Travels!)
We spent a few days in Barcelona on our own, but most of this trip was in connection with a Rick Steves Your Way® tour (more on that below).
Getting around: To navigate this site, use the menu at the top of each page or the links at the bottom of the page. If you are using a smaller screen or window, or visting this site via a smart phone, you may see a hamburger icon (three parallel horizontal lines) at the top left of the page. Simply, click on that icon to reveal links to all the pages on this website. The bottom of each page also has a link to the page for the next destination on our itinerary.
What's on this site?: Each city on our itinerary has its own page, plus a separate page for our balloon trip over the Catalonian countryside. I also created a page of tips I hope future visitors to Spain might find useful.
Photography: Some groups of photos are presented in short slide collections. These photos change every four seconds and cycle through, unless you pause or skip using a thumbnail. My photos were all taken on an iPhone 6. Some used a telephoto lens from Moment.
Buen viaje! (Good Travels!)
Your host: My name is David Barnett. I'm pictured here (on the left) with my husband, William. A couple since 1980, we live in Chicago with our two cats. We have visited much of the U.S. and parts of Canada, with a long trip to Paris for our 25th anniversary. Last year, we spent almost two weeks traveling in Italy (mostly northern) with friends and loved it. This year, we wanted to go back to Europe. Spain is the favorite destination of our oldest friends. So, we opted for a tour in October 2016. While I had been to France (alright, Paris), Romania and Italy, this was our first time in Spain.
Our travel philosophy: We value experiences over "checklists" when traveling. For example, we enjoy taking cooking classes to learn more about regional foods. We like to try something new (but,skydiving is not going on that list!). We really enjoy going to small museums off the beaten path. And, we love to seek out restaurants mostly patronized by locals. Learning languages is a not gift for either of us, so sometimes communicating with people who did not speak English was an entertaining challenge. My high school Spanish apparently was taken much too long ago to facilitate any fluid conversations. Thank goodness for Google Translate.
Next trip: Our next adventure is already planned for fall 2017—a Danube River cruise from Budapest north to Nuremberg. Meanwhile, we hope you enjoy this virtual "scrapbook."
Our travel philosophy: We value experiences over "checklists" when traveling. For example, we enjoy taking cooking classes to learn more about regional foods. We like to try something new (but,skydiving is not going on that list!). We really enjoy going to small museums off the beaten path. And, we love to seek out restaurants mostly patronized by locals. Learning languages is a not gift for either of us, so sometimes communicating with people who did not speak English was an entertaining challenge. My high school Spanish apparently was taken much too long ago to facilitate any fluid conversations. Thank goodness for Google Translate.
Next trip: Our next adventure is already planned for fall 2017—a Danube River cruise from Budapest north to Nuremberg. Meanwhile, we hope you enjoy this virtual "scrapbook."
Day 1: Depart Chicago
Day 2: Arrive Barcelona
Day 4: Balloon trip
Day 5: Depart by train for Madrid
Day 7: Day trip to Segovia
Day 8: Bus through La Mancha to Granada
Day 9: Visit the Alhambra!
Day 10: Ronda
Day 11: Sevilla
Day 13: Return to Chicago
There are huge parts of this country we did not see. We need to go back!
HOW DID YOU END UP ON A TOUR? ARE You Guys REALLY the Guided Tour Type?
William and I went to the annual Travel and Adventure show in Chicago, primarily to hear Rick Steves speak. We were so captivated by his presentation that we bee-lined over to his booth and grabbed information on upcoming Rick Steves Tours. We were less enamored of the idea of a fully-guided tour as it seemed way too structured for us. But, when we saw the My Way tour option for Spain, we knew that was the right approach!
The prior fall, we had taken a trip for 12 days in Italy with friends and clearly caught the travel bug. We had several days on our own and enjoyed planning our own itinerary, restaurants, etc. but we were less excited about figuring out the trains and hotels (although we got much better at it by our trip's end). The My Way option met our needs perfectly.
The prior fall, we had taken a trip for 12 days in Italy with friends and clearly caught the travel bug. We had several days on our own and enjoyed planning our own itinerary, restaurants, etc. but we were less excited about figuring out the trains and hotels (although we got much better at it by our trip's end). The My Way option met our needs perfectly.
Ok, So Exactly What is a MY Way® Tour?
A Rick Steves My Way® Un-Guided Tour means the company does the hard work of booking lodging and arranging for transportation between destinations. Once you are at your destination, lunch and dinner are on your own, as well as all decisions as to what you want to do. We were taken by bus to the Barcelona train station for a high-speed train ride to Madrid. The rest of the trip, we rode in a very comfortable coach bus for a few hours to change cities.
How much work did you Have to do in Advance?
We actually did quite a lot of work in advance. We opted to fly to Barcelona two days before the official tour started. The My Way tour does not include air travel, so we made our own reservations. We used American Airlines miles to travel to Barcelona, selected the best fare to from Sevilla to Chicago, and paid for that with our CapitolOne points.
Our early arrival meant we needed to extend our hotel reservation (to remain in the same room our entire time in Barcelona). We also booked several activities in advance (some guided tours in Barcelona of various Gaudi sights, a cooking class, a balloon trip in the Catalan countryside, concert tickets, a gorge buggy trip in Ronda, etc.). We were advised by the tour to book our reservation at the Alhambra early to ensure we got to see it while in Granada. We relied on the Rick Steves Spain guidebook to help us decide which attractions we wanted to see, to determine what neighborhoods in which we wanted to wander around and explore, as well as to select some restaurants.
Before we left, we worked with our cell phone carrier to get an affordable plan that met our needs in Spain. But, all our hotels had adequate wi-fi and we did not exceed our limit for downloads during this trip, despite frequent use of Google Maps during the day.
Our early arrival meant we needed to extend our hotel reservation (to remain in the same room our entire time in Barcelona). We also booked several activities in advance (some guided tours in Barcelona of various Gaudi sights, a cooking class, a balloon trip in the Catalan countryside, concert tickets, a gorge buggy trip in Ronda, etc.). We were advised by the tour to book our reservation at the Alhambra early to ensure we got to see it while in Granada. We relied on the Rick Steves Spain guidebook to help us decide which attractions we wanted to see, to determine what neighborhoods in which we wanted to wander around and explore, as well as to select some restaurants.
Before we left, we worked with our cell phone carrier to get an affordable plan that met our needs in Spain. But, all our hotels had adequate wi-fi and we did not exceed our limit for downloads during this trip, despite frequent use of Google Maps during the day.
WHAT other resources DID you FIND useful in PRePPing or on the Trip?
Trip Advisor was a great supplement to Rick Steves Spain book. There, we found the balloon flight, our cooking class, and the gorge buggy trip in Ronda, as well as some guided tour options and some great restaurants. For example, the Spain book helped us know how to get reservations for tours of Parc Güell and La Sagrada Familia, as well as where to order concert tickets in Barcelona.
I also spent a lot of time reading questions and comments in the Travel Forum on ricksteves.com. The comments were helpful in answering various questions we had about some of the places on our itinerary.
Between the Spain book, the Travel Forum, and Trip Advisor, we were pretty set for our pretrip planning. Nonetheless, we also sought out recommendations from friends as to must sees, restaurants, and the like.
Once in Spain, I also made use of several apps I had downloaded on my iPhone. CityMaps2Go is a great tool for navigating as one explores cities in Spain (and elsewhere). Of course, I had the Rick Steves Audio Europe app, but I also downloaded apps for various cities (Barcelona, Ronda, Granada and Sevilla). In addition, I had the TripAdvisor app, the Mobile Passport app (from US Customs), and the apps for British Airways, Iberia Air, and American Airlines in case we needed to make changes to our airline reservations (thankfully, we did not). We probably used GoogleMaps to figure out our way around more than any other app.
Although ricksteves.com has a long list of books one could read before going to Spain, I regret I did not read a single one of them. In retrospect, that was an error. Getting a more thorough understanding of the history of this country would have made it easier to put some of the art and historical information we saw in context. So, go to your library, get some of these books, and read before you go!!!!
I also spent a lot of time reading questions and comments in the Travel Forum on ricksteves.com. The comments were helpful in answering various questions we had about some of the places on our itinerary.
Between the Spain book, the Travel Forum, and Trip Advisor, we were pretty set for our pretrip planning. Nonetheless, we also sought out recommendations from friends as to must sees, restaurants, and the like.
Once in Spain, I also made use of several apps I had downloaded on my iPhone. CityMaps2Go is a great tool for navigating as one explores cities in Spain (and elsewhere). Of course, I had the Rick Steves Audio Europe app, but I also downloaded apps for various cities (Barcelona, Ronda, Granada and Sevilla). In addition, I had the TripAdvisor app, the Mobile Passport app (from US Customs), and the apps for British Airways, Iberia Air, and American Airlines in case we needed to make changes to our airline reservations (thankfully, we did not). We probably used GoogleMaps to figure out our way around more than any other app.
Although ricksteves.com has a long list of books one could read before going to Spain, I regret I did not read a single one of them. In retrospect, that was an error. Getting a more thorough understanding of the history of this country would have made it easier to put some of the art and historical information we saw in context. So, go to your library, get some of these books, and read before you go!!!!
What weRe the other members of the Tour group like?
William and I arrived in Barcelona on Tuesday, but we did not meet our tour group at the hotel until Thursday (the first night of the official tour) for an orientation by our fearless tour manager, Amanda. Most were other couples but there were a couple of singles and a family group as well.
Without exception, everyone was incredibly nice and easy to be around. Because of the nature of who was interested in this kind of self-directed tour, I found if very helpful to chat with others as to what they had done or planned to do as we traveled. We got some great restaurant suggestions and hooked up with some members of the group to explore things like the Cathedral in Madrid and the Alcázar in Sevilla.
We enjoyed getting to know some of our fellow travelers over breakfast or in conversations on the train and the bus. It was such a congenial group and there was no drama the entire trip. Well, there was one running dispute between fans of rival baseball teams (after all, Chicago was headed to the win the World Series, but the rivalry that was in good fun and the Dodgers fans were gracious in accepting defeat when the Cubs emerged victorious in the playoffs).
Without exception, everyone was incredibly nice and easy to be around. Because of the nature of who was interested in this kind of self-directed tour, I found if very helpful to chat with others as to what they had done or planned to do as we traveled. We got some great restaurant suggestions and hooked up with some members of the group to explore things like the Cathedral in Madrid and the Alcázar in Sevilla.
We enjoyed getting to know some of our fellow travelers over breakfast or in conversations on the train and the bus. It was such a congenial group and there was no drama the entire trip. Well, there was one running dispute between fans of rival baseball teams (after all, Chicago was headed to the win the World Series, but the rivalry that was in good fun and the Dodgers fans were gracious in accepting defeat when the Cubs emerged victorious in the playoffs).
So, what were the Tour Hotels like?
The hotels selected by the Rick Steves team were great. We enjoyed every one of them. The tour manager worked out room assignments and tried to ensure each of us got at least one stay in a more "premium" room (to avoid the dreaded "room envy"). None of the hotels were huge. Except for Sevilla, all the hotels were in prime areas. Every hotel offered a lovely breakfast. Plus, we enjoyed talking to staff at the front desks. They were great for last minute directions or suggestions.
What were your favorite parts of the trip?
Every day we were in Spain had moments that were wonderful and amazing, so this is a hard question. But, I would say the top experiences were seeing La Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, our balloon flight over the Catalonian countryside, Ronda (favorite lodging and the gorge buggy tour), seeing the Alcázar and the Aquaduct in Segovia, and exploring the Alhambra. But, that list could easy be two dozen long and still not encompass everything.
I WANT TO GO TO SPAIN NOW, TOO! WHERE DO I SIGN UP FOR A MY WAY® Unguided TOUR?
If that is the case, immediately go to Rick's website: www.ricksteves.com/tours/spain-portugal/my-way-spain
The My Way® Spain in 11 Days tour is available, but you can also opt for My Way tours of Italy, France, Europe (Paris, Burgundy, Swiss Alps, Munich, Venice, the Cinque Terre, & Rome), and Alpine Europe (Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and France). If you are more interested in a fully guided tour, they offer a wide variety of those as well.
The My Way® Spain in 11 Days tour is available, but you can also opt for My Way tours of Italy, France, Europe (Paris, Burgundy, Swiss Alps, Munich, Venice, the Cinque Terre, & Rome), and Alpine Europe (Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and France). If you are more interested in a fully guided tour, they offer a wide variety of those as well.
Next up: Barcelona