Spain and I go way back. How far? To 1992, the magical year that Spain hosted both the Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the World Expo in Sevilla. Before I even knew about the Camino de Santiago, I was in love with Spain.
That first trip in ’92 was with three girlfriends after college. We did the “Grand Tour” of Europe on a shoestring budget, complete with backpacks, Eurail passes and a Let’s Go Europe guidebook. We were unstoppable! Subsequent trips were in 2007 and 2013 with my husband; and in 2011 and 2014, my mom and I toured Spain for our annual mother-daughter trip. Do you see a trend here? Walking the Camino gives me an excuse to visit my favorite country in Europe! Without further ado, below is a list of my favorite places from these five different trips.
- Barcelona
- Sevilla
- Ronda
- Málaga
- Cádiz
- Granada
- Nerja
- Santiago de Compostela
- Rías Baixas
- Santo Domingo de la Calzada
- Burgos
- Santander
- San Sebastián
- Montserrat
- Salamanca
- Madrid
- Valencia
- Cordoba
- Toledo
- Ibiza & Formentera
The list of places in Spain I would love to visit grows each day as I learn more about the different Camino routes. I look forward to exploring more of Spain over the next few years.
What are your favorite places in Spain? Dígame in the comments below.
Bilbao! You can’t mis it in your next trip!
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Thanks! I did see it briefly but not enough time to get the feel for it. Bilbao will be at the top of my list in a future post about Must-see places in Spain. 🙂
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I don’t see Bilbao on the list!!! (It was my former number 2 and is now about number 8 or 9 after living here due to the people).
I would have to make several lists for different cities, provinces, pueblos, mountains, etc and I would be here the rest of the day trying to make a list of favourites. But Donostia (San Sebastián), Barcelona and Granada are my top three destinations. València is the best to live in my opinion. Euskadi (Basque Country) and Asturias are the most beautiful. Andalucía has the most history. Toledo is the tourist trap that’s worth visiting. Segovia and Ávila are incredible medieval cities too. Madrid, Sevilla and Salamanca are the most overrated in my opinion.
But hey, I can find Seven Wonders (Setmeravelles!) in every province I’ve been to 😉 And usually a lot more.
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I was in Bilbao, but only for two hours on a lunch stop during a bus tour. The criteria for my favorites list is for more than just a quick stop. I have to stay at least one night in a place, or have some other meaningful connection to it. Clearly I will have to create a new list for “Top must-see places in Spain” and Bilbao will be at the top! Thanks for your other suggestions too.
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Haha, I was just kidding, but if someone from Bilbao saw your list, they’d be offended. Then if you had included them, they would’ve been offended because Bilbao isn’t Spain…so you just can’t win with them. Bilbao is just a nice place for all the even more beautiful villages and mountains nearby.
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Segovia – tienes que ver el acueducto y el Alcázar. 🙂 The Roman aqueduct is absolutely stunning and it really is a nice town.
Mérida in the Extremadura too is full of impressive Roman ruins…
Cáceres (also in the Extremadura) – the old town is really nice. Lots of church towers to climb if you like a view too. 🙂
Ávila – although I haven’t been there yet. 🙂 It’s on my to go list. Which camino are you going to walk? I understand there are several routes. I’d like to do it some day too. Spain is a lovely country.
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And I forgot about… Cartagena. 🙂
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