I’ve been to a lot of European countries, but Spain and Portugal have eluded me for the longest time. I finally made it. I can’t believe it took me so long to discover how fascinating and beautiful the Iberia is.
When people ask me where I was for three months, I like to say I went to Spain, Morocco, Spain, France, Spain, Portugal, and Spain. I started in Córdoba and Seville. Then I flew to Morocco for a three-week tour with Overseas Adventure Travel. Next I went back to Spain, visiting Valencia, Barcelona, and Girona. Then I went to Carcassonne, where I joined a second OAT tour that took me to Bayonne, then into Spanish Basque country, and across northern Spain to Galicia. From there we headed into Portugal, with stops in the Douro Valley and a final destination in Porto. After that tour ended, I stayed a few days with my sister, Troy, who lives in Porto. Next I headed south, with an overnight in Tomar before arriving in Lisbon for my third OAT tour, heading back into Spain, ending in Toledo. Finally, I went on my own to Granada and then to Madrid.
Even though this trip was focused on Spain and Portugal, I am including the parts of France I visited on the Northern Spain pre-tour.
My first takeaway from this trip is how much I saw, especially in Spain. My second takeaway is how little I saw. There is so much more to see in Spain and Portugal. So many places I passed through too quickly, and so many things I would have love to see that weren’t on the itinerary.
I have to go back.
Photos and Videos
Best of Spain (200 items)
Best of Portugal (60 items)
France
Narbonne (47 items)
Carcassonne (98 items)
Auch (18 items)
French Basque Country (111 items)
Portugal
Northern Portugal (111 items)
Porto (218 items)
Arouca (48 items)
Coimbra (101 items)
Tomar (122 items)
Lisbon (58 items)
National Tile Museum (46 items)
Sintra (45 items)
Évora, Arraiolos, and vicinity (124 items)
Spain
Córdoba (142 items)
Seville (277 items)
Valencia (207 items)
Barcelona (249 items)
Sagrada Familia (66 items)
Barcelona Museums (285 items)
Girona (132 items)
Bilbao and vicinity (170 items)
San Sebastian (46 items)
Navarre (66 items)
Léon (83 items)
Galicia (126 items)
Mérida (22 items)
Carmona (76 items)
Bull Farm (33 items)
Ronda (101 items)
Úbeda (32 items)
Toledo (199 items)
Granada (125 items)
The Alhambra (159 items)
Madrid (78 items)
The Prado (24 items)
Reina Sofia (15 items)
The Thyssen (95 items)
El Escorial (81 items)
Blog Posts
Coming soon: Morocco and Iberia (1/23/2025) - I’m always happiest when I’m either traveling or planning for my next trip. So even though I just got back from my last adventure, not to mention the one before that, I’m getting ready for another one, which starts in… more…
Córdoba: City of three religions (2/14/2025) - In two days I had the great delight of experiencing Córdoba and learning about how people of different religions lived peacefully together–except when they didn’t. Jewish, Islamic, and Christian cultures thrived here, sometimes simultaneously. Each of these three monotheistic religions… more…
Seville So Far… and all done (2/16/2025) - It’s the end of my third day in Seville; two to go. There’s really not much to write about. I’m not going to share all my activities, hour by hour. I’ve done that before, and I will just get bogged… more…
Morocco follow-up: Ramadan, plus OMG, it’s Las Fallas! (3/10/2025) - I realized I gave short shrift to my final days in Morocco, and there are a few things I want to write about before I move on to more posts from Spain. In particular, I didn’t say anything about Ramadan,… more…
Valencia: Excellent oranges and other things (3/13/2025) - I ate some oranges in Valencia, and they were delicious: sweet and juicy. What else can I say about Valencia? I’ll start by sharing my photo album, which captures all the highlights. Beyond that, here are a few things that… more…
Barcelona: Architecture, food, art, music, history (3/16/2025) - Barcelona is the fifth most visited city in Europe (after London, Paris, Rome, and Istanbul). I’ve spent the past six days learning why. Here are my stories about the things I’ve seen and done. I started to write this post… more…
Two days in Girona (3/22/2025) - I arrived in Girona late Wednesday afternoon, and I had two full days, Thursday and Friday, to explore the town. To be honest, it was more time than was needed to see what there is to see here. Some people… more…
Carcassonne: the city that insists on being photographed (3/24/2025) - What happens when you visit a city that is so picturesque that you can’t stop taking photos? In Carcassonne, you just take a lot of photos. I’m so in love with this city. It’s just too pretty to believe it’s… more…
An excursion to Narbonne (3/25/2025) - This is just going to be a short post to share a little about our group’s day trip from Carcassonne to Narbonne. There is normally an optional excursion to Albi, which is the birthplace of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, but since the… more…
A Few Days in the French Basque Region (3/27/2025) - In better weather I would have spent at least a good part of the last few days gazing at the Pyrenees as we made our way from Carcassonne to Bayonne, in the heart of the French Basque region. But there… more…
Bilbao and Gernika (3/31/2025) - After a few days in France, I’m back in Spain (for the third time on this trip). In Bilbao, where I spent three nights, I met the full group I’ll be traveling with until we get to Porto. I’m now… more…
San Sebastian to Pamplona to León: Starting on the Camino (4/3/2025) - I have too much to catch up on since leaving Bilbao and arriving in León, so I’m just going to give an overview and share some favorite photos from the last few days. Here’s a rundown of the last few… more…
Galicia, Spain: Santiago de Compostela and more (4/7/2025) - It wasn’t a genuine pilgrimage, since the vast majority of it was by bus. But starting in France, I made my way (with my tour group) across northern Spain, and we arrived in Santiago de Compostela feeling more or less… more…
Northern Portugal and the Douro Valley (4/10/2025) - There was wine. There’s a lot more to write about the two days we spent in northern Portugal and the Douro Valley, but for some reason, it’s mostly a blur. I remember there was some beautiful scenery and two delightful… more…
A week in Porto, plus Arouca, plus Coimbra (4/15/2025) - Yesterday I met my sister’s friend, Luke, and he asked me what was the highlight of my visit to Porto. I struggled to come up with one, but I finally said it was just such a delight to experience the… more…
Portugal after Porto (4/21/2025) - I’m so far behind in blogging that I’m not even going to try to catch up. I’m just going to summarize the last five days in Portugal and share my photo albums. It seems a suitable approach, because so much… more…
Mérida and Carmona (4/24/2025) - In Mérida I learned about how Mérida got its name (and also how Mérida, Yucatan, got its name). And in Carmona I enjoyed a hike. Here’s a little more Mérida Mérida was our first stop after crossing into Spain from… more…
Ronda: Bridges and other things (4/26/2025) - Today is day 76 of my 89-day travel marathon. I’ve been struggling to keep up with the blog, and moreso now because I’m having a hard time thinking of interesting ways to write about each place I visit. So although… more…
Úbeda: Olives and a Synagogue (4/29/2025) - Úbeda is not a place that was ever on my radar when I was planning my trip to Spain. If I weren’t on this tour with OAT, I never would have gone to Úbeda. It turns out that it was… more…
Wholly Toledo (5/2/2025) - I spent three nights in Toledo at the tail end of the third and final OAT tour of this three-month excursion in Iberia and Morocco. All that’s left are Granada (where I am now as I write this) and Madrid.… more…
Granada: The culmination of a three-month journey (5/5/2025) - I’m currently on .a train from Granada to Madrid. I wasn’t supposed to be on a train. I was supposed to be on a plane, and if I were, I’d have arrived by now. But I’m on a train. (I’ll… more…
Madrid: art and more art (5/14/2025) - I’m home now. I guess I will do a retrospective post on my entire three-month journey, but first I should share a little about my five nights in Madrid. Arrival in Madrid I already wrote about how my flight from… more…
The Three-Month Journey: A Retrospective (5/19/2025) - I’m recently back from a three-month journey. (Actually 89 days.) This was by far the longest trip I’ve ever taken. Friends and family have asked me how it was to be gone for so long. Was I tired of being… more…