La Alpujara is an Andalusian region located in the southern slope of Sierra Nevada (literally meaning “snowy mountains”), in the Spanish provinces of Granada and Almería. The region is mainly formed by valleys and cliffs that go down from the top of Sierra Nevada. La Alpujarra is home to some of the most beautiful villages in Spain with their white houses and an unusual architecture. Moreover, the region is also interesting due to its gastronomy: honey, cheese, jam and specially the Trevélez cured ham.
Traditonal house in La Alpujarra, with its typical chimney
A road trip across La Alpujarra is a good idea if you have one or two free days when visiting Granada and its world-famous Alhambra. The villages of LaAlpujarra Alta (the highest area of the region) are all connected among them with a sole road. You just need to drive from Lanjarón to Trevélez to enjoy the most stunning landscapes of La Alpujarra.
Granada might be the most beautiful city in Spain. Reconquered by the Catholic Kings in 1492, I always imagined a charming city, unique for its Arabic past. But Granada was even better than I dreamed. After years in our wishlist, we finally managed to visit Granada this summer. In August, the city was really hot but we still enjoyed it a lot.
Mirador de San Nicolás
We travelled from Barcelona to Granada by high-speed train and one of our first stops after a long journey was the famous Mirador de San Nicolás – “mirador” means “viewpoint” in Spanish. Although this viewpoint is the most crowded in the city, it is not the only one. The Alhambra is always present wherever you look around. If you want to enjoy the best views of Granada, don’t miss the following sites.
It was the afternoon of a hot day in early September in Peníscola, we had two Orxates in front of the beach and had a rest while recovering from the heavy humid environment. The day was getting to an end but before we still had to drive eighty kilometres through mountain roads, from the mediterranean coast to one thousand metres high. We were getting closer to Morella when the sky got suddenly completely dark.
Spain seems to be a very touristic country. And, indeed, it is, but there are still some places that are mainly appreciated by locals and do not use to appear in the classical routes. When going back to Barcelona after our roadrip through the centre and the north of Portugal, we had to stop somewhere to spend the night. And we didn’t have to think much to choose a destination. We searched the route back home on Google Maps and inmediately decided that we would stop in Burgos. Its extraordinary Gothic cathedral was a good reason for it.
We are used to travel on the weekend or while our (never enough) holidays and thus we try to make the most of our trips with lots of planning and less room for improvisation. But last summer, in Portugal, we had the three things that any traveler needs to decide the destinations along the way: a car, a camping tent and a travel guide.
On the road
We had travelled through central Portugal from Lisboa to the medieval jewel of Guimarães and our next stop in our way back home was fixed at Burgos (Spain), a city dominated by its amazing Word Heritage cathedral. But we still had one night and some hours driving to reach Burgos, so we decided to open the guide and look for hotspots in the way back to Barcelona. We had heard about Miranda do Douro, a Portuguese town, belonging to the Braganza district, located in the border with Spain and next to which environmental cruises depart to sail through the international natural park of the Douro river. Moreover, the town has a municipal camping site, so we couldn’t ask for more!
