We are back from a lovely vacation, May 6-24, 2022.

Our main focus was Northern Spain.... Barcelona [5 days], 10 day driving trip covering the Costa Daurada, Costa Brava and the stunningly beautiful Pyrenees. We started with a day in Paris and also ended with 2 full days in Paris before flying back home.

WHEN TO GO?

We wanted to avoid heat and crowds. Late spring in the mountains and coast was great as also in Barcelona. Son wanted to give me a hug on Mother's day, May 6-24 worked out, May 8 being Mothers Day.

WHAT TO SEE?

The scenic beauty of Northern Spain was our focus. There are plenty of hikes in Pyrenees with amazing scenery. We targeted water falls with easy trails. 3 km one way at Odessa canyon for the 3 waterfalls was the longest hike. Rest were easy short trails and very rewarding.

Spain is a paradise for tourists with its plethora of cultural sites, as well as abundant natural beauty.

We had savored Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, Granada and Seville, Cordoba on a previous visit in 2015.

https://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/07/spain-consists-of-17-independent.html

This time we focused on Barcelona, Costa Brava and the pristine slopes of the Pyrenees with amazing landscapes, fascinating villages, and at a fraction of the price of the Alps.

Our 2015 trip in Red circles and current trip in green circles on the map below

COSTA BRAVA

We started off with Tarragona and the Costa Brava drive. The turquoise Mediterranean water on the Costa Brava and the cliff roads that snaked though the coastline were a delight, the small medieval towns peppering the coast were enchanting and it was easy to see why poets and painters raved about this region. Girona was hosting its annual FLOWER FESTIVAL and it was a huge bonus to see the stunning displays in the backdrop of the ancient structures. Figueres, Cadaques, Sant Marti de Empuries, Besalu were all amazing.

PYRENEES

we drove on into the mountains... Ribes de Freser, Queralbs, Vall de Nuria. Then it was onward to Val d'Aran. Charming little villages nestled in the mountains with old medieval stone houses... the new ones look like ginger bread houses with chocolate roofs adding to the picturesque setting.. The well preserved medieval center looks frozen in time with modern touches of statues and flowers blending in and enhancing the ambience. Truly a fairy tale atmosphere.. Gurgling rivers meander through the villages and come down as cascades in the nearby lush forests. We were delighted with the beauty all round. Jaca, Tena valley, Aragon valley were a continuum of the scenic beauty. Before driving back to Barcelona and returning the car we stayed at Montserrat for a serene day near the Basilica surrounded by the serrated mountains.

BARCELONA

We spent 5 days in beautiful Barcelona with its breath taking architecture and cultural delights

LOGISTICS

We were flying in from different places, so for logistics reasons we flew in and out of Paris. We both had direct flights in and out of Paris to our destinations and basing ourselves at Ibis hotel at the CDG terminal 3 proved very convenient both for arrival and departure day.

We could sneak in 2 full days at Paris also and it all worked out fine.

Here's a map of our destinations and bases. You can zoom and see the pinned bubbles. All the free parking slots and trail heads for easy hikes on this map came in very useful... I had spent so much time researching viable options for our specific needs and pinned all these on an offline map downloaded on the iphone [ There are quite a lot of places in Northern Spain and of course Portugal not included in this trip, I'll be shifting them out for m future use when I have time]

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/edit?mid=1x-M2Ls_YyrorSgEeBfIcUZU5O01xwmGF&usp=sharing

Here are a few pics in the sequence of our visit