After spending nine days in Southern Portugal we drove east into Spain, where we spent the next five weeks staying in six different locations moving counterclockwise along the coast: Rota, Solobrena, Estepona, Sant Joan de Alacant, Valencia and Castelldefels. Along the way, we took day trips to Seville, Chipiona, Cadiz, Santa Maria, Gibraltar, Puerto de La Duquesa, Granada, Motril, Nerja, Alicante, Denia, Cartegena, Benidorm, Barcelona, and Montserrat. We loved having a car and put almost 4,700 km (2,900 miles) on our leased Renault Capture Hybrid. The roads are in really good condition and it was usually easy to find a paid parking garage.
This is the second part of our road trip across the southern portion of the Iberian Pennisula. We finished the Portugal section and now onto Spain. Having the car has opened up towns and areas that we typically would miss.Our first stop after crossing in to Spain was the city of Seville. We only spent a few hours in the city as temperatures were near 40 Celsius (104F). We rode a Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus and a then went to lunch in old town. The Cathedral behind us is the “Catedral de Sevilla” and is the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world.Our first stay in Spain was the town of the Rota. Rota is home to a joint US/Spain naval facility that Susan and I have access. While the town of Rota is relatively small (~30,000 residents), the old town was charming. We began our visit the first evening in a small restaurant/bar (called “Chiringuitos”) on the beach near sunset.While staying in Rota, we made the short drive up the coast to the seaside town of Chipiona. Known for its long strand of beaches, the community had a small walking area and the promenade is home to the Faro de Chipiona, one of the tallest lighthouses in Spain at 203 feet (62 meters). This picture does not do justice to how tall it is.One of the highlights of our stay in Rota was taking the ferry across the Bay of Cádiz, a scenic and relaxing journey that delivered us directly into the heart of the historic city. Cádiz is widely regarded as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, with more than 3,000 years of recorded history.The next town east of Rota is Santa Maria, one of three historic towns that make up Spain’s famous “Sherry Triangle”. The Sherry colors can vary tremendously, as seen in the glasses above (pale translucent yellow to opaque dark red/purple). Because we had recently tried (and really liked) Madeira wine on the island of Madeira, we had expected to like the Sherry (also a fortified wine) more than we did. That being said, we enjoyed the discovery process and going to the heart of the region.
Our original plan was to skip the Costa del Sol since we visited the area in 2024, but we decided to stop in the town of Estepona for a couple hours at lunchtime since it was the halfway point to our next overnight destination. Located roughly half way between Gibraltar and Marbella, it has a very charming old town.The Main Street in Estepona has numerous restaurants, bicycle rental shops, and a picturesque beach and promenade that runs for over 12 Km along the coast. We really fell in love with this place and came back over for a couple days later that week.About ten minutes west of Estepona is Puerto de la Duquesa. The small harbor and fishing village with a walkable promenade were the quintessential Spanish coastal town. The photo above shows the main fountain in town, looking out through the harbor toward the Med.We were quite surprised by the area east of Malaga – the flat coast gave way to more mountainous and dry terrain with communities built on hillsides with tiny beaches. One example was Nerja – nestled on the cliff above the water. Nerja has a small walking area that was capped off by the “Balcony of Europe”, a scenic overlook with grand views of the coastline and the Mediterranean.We continued our tour, moving next to Alicante. The southeastern tip of Spain was notable due to the large number of greenhouses in the area. As we continued to the Western shores, the area around Murcia reminded us of the deserts in the Western US. We arrived to find Alicante was an oasis in the desert, a large presence near the water, with beautiful buildings, great parks and a wonderful waterfront.We explored the Costa Blanca, starting at the north with Dénia. While most of the Costa Blanca is dry and arid, Dénia has a well known microclimate that keeps everything lush and green. As is our thing to explore high places, we made it up to the castle for views of the city and surrounding areas.While staying in Alicante, we ventured to a hidden gem in Cartagena. The city is being revitalized thanks to a relatively intact Roman amphitheater that you can enter and experience first hand. It was hard to imagine that just 30 years ago, the entire amphitheater was unknown and had other buildings and a church built directly on the site.
Our brief research sometimes does not match reality – such was the case in Benidorm. We were expecting a town but it turned out to be a city filled with high rise apartments, eclectic buildings and a high energy buzz of activity. The city boasts several famous buildings, a dry climate similar to Alicante, and several internationally recognized high buildings.Our travels led us next to Valencia, one of the major cities on the western Mediterranean coast. The temperatures were hot during the day, so we ventured out early in the morning to take in the sights without many people. The Valencia Cathedral, pictured above, is normally mobbed during the height of of the day.It was hard to remember where you are when walking around Valencia. The architecture throughout the city was amazing – shown here is the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. Every street corner or small plaza held new treasures. More time was definitely needed in Valencia.Our final destination in Spain (for this year) was Barcelona. The highlight was visiting the famed La Sagrada Família, which will be a separate post. We took an afternoon drive up to Montserrat, which is a spectacular mountain range that stands out very prominently in the landscape. High in those jagged peaks is located the famous Santa Maria de Monserrat Abby, which is a historic Benedictine sanctuary.What would an adventure with Adam and Susan be without a visit to a winery every now and then. We made it to the Torres winery near Barcelona. The region around Penedès is known for “Cava” or sparkling wine similar to Champagne.What would an A&S post be without an old world door picture? Here is an example from Valencia – simple in design, yet filled with intricate designs, aged and weathered, but well preserved, a mix of metal and wood.
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4 Comments
Hi Adam and Susan,
Looks like a wonderful trip! We are hoping to do something similar next year. Do you have any recommendations for some of the smaller less touristy towns that you visited along the way. We will be hiring a car as well.
Great to see you are still travelling, if you are ever down in New Zealand let us know, happy to show you around Auckland and give you tips for the rest of NZ.
Cheers,
Martin
Great to hear from you Martin and thanks for continuing to follow us. Due to the hotter weather, we kind of had to stick close to the water as all of the inland towns were hitting 30+C in May/June. Thus I do not have any information on the cute inland villages that I hear about on You Tube. Almost every town we visited was along the coast – with cooler temps than the inland villages – and almost always with a breeze. The coastal towns and villages all have a population that swells in the summertime due to tourists coming to the beach. Our favorite coastal towns were Rota, Spain and Puerto de la Duquesa, Spain. Both have very few high rises above four stories high and really good walkable areas. For the car we recommend https://www.renaulteurodrive.com/. The one-way option was great and the car was brand new. Also a fair price we thought. We will reach out to you directly via email with some more information as we collect our thoughts.
As always I thoroughly enjoyed your post
Are you going to turn into a published travel log???
Nice to hear from you Joyce and we are glad you like our posts. Currently anybody with this website address can get to it. We have not commercialized it (no ads) because ads are annoying and we want this to be available to friends and family. We did briefly consider doing a You Tube Channel, but that would be really a lot of work – to the point that it might kill the fun. For now we are simply enjoying journaling our travels here on this website.
Hi Adam and Susan,
Looks like a wonderful trip! We are hoping to do something similar next year. Do you have any recommendations for some of the smaller less touristy towns that you visited along the way. We will be hiring a car as well.
Great to see you are still travelling, if you are ever down in New Zealand let us know, happy to show you around Auckland and give you tips for the rest of NZ.
Cheers,
Martin
Great to hear from you Martin and thanks for continuing to follow us. Due to the hotter weather, we kind of had to stick close to the water as all of the inland towns were hitting 30+C in May/June. Thus I do not have any information on the cute inland villages that I hear about on You Tube. Almost every town we visited was along the coast – with cooler temps than the inland villages – and almost always with a breeze. The coastal towns and villages all have a population that swells in the summertime due to tourists coming to the beach. Our favorite coastal towns were Rota, Spain and Puerto de la Duquesa, Spain. Both have very few high rises above four stories high and really good walkable areas. For the car we recommend https://www.renaulteurodrive.com/. The one-way option was great and the car was brand new. Also a fair price we thought. We will reach out to you directly via email with some more information as we collect our thoughts.
As always I thoroughly enjoyed your post
Are you going to turn into a published travel log???
Nice to hear from you Joyce and we are glad you like our posts. Currently anybody with this website address can get to it. We have not commercialized it (no ads) because ads are annoying and we want this to be available to friends and family. We did briefly consider doing a You Tube Channel, but that would be really a lot of work – to the point that it might kill the fun. For now we are simply enjoying journaling our travels here on this website.