Having spent first 30 years of my life in Europe I travelled across the old continent extensively in my youth; for this reason Europe nowdays sits at bottom of my travel priorities list. Original plan for early '25 was Japan. Ideal timing for Land of the Rising Sun is second half of March, to coincide with famous Cherry Blossom season. Winters in Canada are harsh; I was looking for intermediary escape and almost settled for 2nd visit to New Zealand. Totally accidentaly one day while surfing Google Maps my gaze fell on Spain where, except for brief foray to Madrid one hot August day in now long gone '84, I had very limited experience. One thing led to another and soon entire Zealand/Japan plan was replaced by Iberian peninsula trek. Additional motivation was chance to further improve my Spanish; language I picked up basics during Spring '23 grand South America trip, as well as opportunity to see again live euro-Football games, for likely last time in my life.
6-week journey took place from Jan 14 to Feb 27 2025. Spain is Mediterranean country, but winter is still an issue central/north parts. For this reason I decided on 4-week exploration of Andalucia; only exception was week-long stay in Madrid, mostly because of good friend suggestion who thought it would be a shame to skip it. Last 2 weeks were spent on Canary Islands, and this was literally 'save best for last' kind of thing. Very economically priced return air ticket was Calgary - Barcelona, which was entry/exit point. Journey was very aggressive and tiring, but this is the price one must be willing to pay in order to maximize experience. I saw considerably more than expected, and whole trip went without single hitch. There were many higlights; main ones in no particular order:
* Alhambra Palace in Granada, including terrific ridgewalk to Andalucian Sierra Nevada Viewpoint
* Real Madrid Champions League game on Santiago Bernabeu
* Caminito Del Rey Hike in Malaga
* Teide Volcano climb on Tenerife, with stupid beautiful Canary Archipelago panorama from the Top
* Roque de los Muchachos Astrophysics Observatory on La Palma, easily one of Top 3 places I've seen in my life
Some general notes about trekking in Spain
- Very safe overall, with standard common sense precautions
- English is widely spoken, but basic knowledge of Spanish still helps
- Cash payments are much more prevalent than in North America, but Credit Cards are accepted literally everywhere
- Public transport in Cities (Metro, Bus etc) is super well developed. Between the cities it is the best to use high-speed trains, which I found very reliable
- Tourist swarms never end, even in low season. You have to frequently wait in line and elbow with hordes of smartphone selfie-takers. For more popular attractions with timed entries (ie Sagrada Familia, Alhambra) it is important to buy tickets well ahead
- In Europe and in Spain many people still poison both themselves and environment with tobacco; this was likely the largest negative of whole trip
- I used "Aparthotels" (studio-type condo with basic kitchen) for my stays. Food (groceries) are 25-30% cheaper than in North America
Galleries below are in sequential order of my travel and each one includes more details about that area.
6-week journey took place from Jan 14 to Feb 27 2025. Spain is Mediterranean country, but winter is still an issue central/north parts. For this reason I decided on 4-week exploration of Andalucia; only exception was week-long stay in Madrid, mostly because of good friend suggestion who thought it would be a shame to skip it. Last 2 weeks were spent on Canary Islands, and this was literally 'save best for last' kind of thing. Very economically priced return air ticket was Calgary - Barcelona, which was entry/exit point. Journey was very aggressive and tiring, but this is the price one must be willing to pay in order to maximize experience. I saw considerably more than expected, and whole trip went without single hitch. There were many higlights; main ones in no particular order:
* Alhambra Palace in Granada, including terrific ridgewalk to Andalucian Sierra Nevada Viewpoint
* Real Madrid Champions League game on Santiago Bernabeu
* Caminito Del Rey Hike in Malaga
* Teide Volcano climb on Tenerife, with stupid beautiful Canary Archipelago panorama from the Top
* Roque de los Muchachos Astrophysics Observatory on La Palma, easily one of Top 3 places I've seen in my life
Some general notes about trekking in Spain
- Very safe overall, with standard common sense precautions
- English is widely spoken, but basic knowledge of Spanish still helps
- Cash payments are much more prevalent than in North America, but Credit Cards are accepted literally everywhere
- Public transport in Cities (Metro, Bus etc) is super well developed. Between the cities it is the best to use high-speed trains, which I found very reliable
- Tourist swarms never end, even in low season. You have to frequently wait in line and elbow with hordes of smartphone selfie-takers. For more popular attractions with timed entries (ie Sagrada Familia, Alhambra) it is important to buy tickets well ahead
- In Europe and in Spain many people still poison both themselves and environment with tobacco; this was likely the largest negative of whole trip
- I used "Aparthotels" (studio-type condo with basic kitchen) for my stays. Food (groceries) are 25-30% cheaper than in North America
Galleries below are in sequential order of my travel and each one includes more details about that area.
© Autumn Sky Photography