If you’re looking for the best things to do in Spain then keep reading! We spent two amazing weeks in Spain in November 2019. For the first half of the trip we were soaking up beautiful Madrid, and for the second half we were living it up Cheetah Girl style in Barcelona. I wanted to make the most of our time there so I sat down and thought about what I wanted to see and what type of activities I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to go to museums, take a cooking class, and do something active, but I also wanted to do something a little artsy/creative. And of course, I wanted to shop. While this was my birthday trip, I chose to be diplomatic and gave everyone a chance to weigh in on what we’d do. I used Google Docs to provide everyone a short list of researched options for the different categories of activities.
I’m sure many of us may not so fondly recall overnight school field trips where they would pack the itineraries so full that even the bathroom breaks were scheduled. It felt like we were constantly running from one place to the next without a chance to savor the moment. I did not want this trip to feel like that so pacing was important. I avoided back-to-back activities and capped it at 2-3 ticketed activities for the day (e.g., museum or cooking classes). Sometimes it was just one, depending on the activity.
Tapas Tour
To kick off our trip, for our first full day in Spain we went on a “tapas tour.” I found the experience through Airbnb experiences. A tapas tour is like a beer crawl but with tapas. This was so much fun.
We lucked out and got a great tapas tour guide with a really fun, diverse group. The food we sampled, everything from tortillas to pork belly (other wordly and I don’t even eat pork) was great. I think we went to four or five different places.
Since myself and another girl had a birthday coming up soon they brought out some dessert with candles in it for both of us and sang happy birthday. This was a great way to kick off the trip and I’d highly recommend it.
Leathercraft Workshop
I found another Airbnb experience that fit the arts and crafts bill I was looking for. We learned to make our own leather handbags. For this experience, it was just our group and the instructor, Michael, which was nice. We did the entire process from cutting to sewing to stamping our leather clutches. Michael’s work studio was pretty cool too. The price was very reasonable and it included all materials. This was such a cool, unique experience and the city views weren’t half bad. Michael even dropped off one of our bags at our Airbnb after finishing it himself because he didn’t have the final piece for it at the time.
Museums
We had plenty of options to choose from. Since we were only go to be in each place for about 5-6 days, there was no way we could hit them all up – a girl can dream though, right? We ended up going to three museums in Madrid and three in Barcelona. I’m happy with our selections.
In Madrid we went to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Museo Nacional del Prado, and Thyssen-Bornemisza Museo Nacional. I loved the artwork in the Thyssen. It was my favorite of the three we visited but it is a vast museum. There’s much to see and if you want to attempt to see most or all of it, you’ll need to give yourself plenty of time to do so (read: at least a few hours).
Reina Sofia had this beautiful indoor/outdoor hallway lined with statuesque concrete columns. In contrast, they had these glass structures by their entrance which towered above the museum itself and were more modern. If you’re interested in seeing contemporary and modern art, definitely add this museum to your list.
The Prado Museum sits down hill from this really pretty cathedral. Just a note, unlike the other two museums, pictures are not allowed inside. Here we got to see an original Picasso which was the first but not the last one we saw on the trip. We ended up going to the Picasso Museum in Barcelona and saw many more.
In Barcelona, we went to La Sagrada Familia, the Picasso Museum, Casa Batllo, and Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. It’s hard to pick a favorite here but my top two are La Sagrada Familia and Casa Batllo. La Sagrada Familia isn’t a museum but I’m including it in the list anyway because it’s a must see if you come to Barcelona.
It was gorgeous even in its unfinished state (not projected to be finished until 2026). We had early morning tickets but the place was packed. Expect this regardless of when you go. Casa Batllo was like a fun house. They gave us a VR type headset which transformed the spaces as we were touring them and it was really cool. I really enjoyed the other museums too and got some great artwork from the gift shops at both.
Hiking at The Sierra de Guadarrama
The day after my birthday and before we left for Barcelona, we went for a hike in the Sierra de Guadarrama, a mountain range about an hour outside of Madrid. Transportation to and from was taken care of by the company we went with, DreamPeaks. They picked us up at our AirBnb and dropped us off back there. It was a beautiful hike and a wonderful peaceful contrast from the bustling city center. If you’re looking to get out into nature and do something a little active, I’d highly recommend going. The views make it all worth it.
Retiro Park
Technically, this wasn’t an activity for the group but one of my sisters joined me. I wanted to do a photoshoot while in Spain to commemorate the trip and my 30th birthday (bloggers gonna blog!), and I did it at Retiro Park. This park looked like it was plucked from a storybook. It was gorgeous. The colors of the fall leaves were so vibrant and the sun reflecting on the water made it sparkle.
Cooking Class
We couldn’t leave Spain without learning to make paella and there were so many options. After much research, I scheduled us for a paella cooking class with the Paella Club on our final night in Barcelona. It was so much fun. The instructor was really personable, the space was cute (they have a swing!), it was a smaller class so it felt more personal, and the food we made was delicious. I’d highly recommend them.
So we kicked off the trip sampling Spanish food in Madrid and ended up learning to make our own in Barcelona.
Has anyone else been to Madrid or Barcelona? What do you think are some of the best things to do in Spain? Share in the comments below.
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