Welcome to my story style travel blog, featuring my adventure through Spain and Portugal in the summer of 2025.
You can read the blog in order, or about whichever destination intrigues you! Within my stories, I’ll offer some recommendations and some tips and tricks for a smooth journey. When I travel, I mostly do group tours and the reasons are:
* As a solo woman traveler, it is much safer especially if traveling long distances or to countries that can be dangerous in some areas
*The itineraries are amazing and usually include all of the things you’d want to see and do…and if not, there is free time to do as you wish
*You don’t have to worry about booking transport, finding hotels, etc. Sometimes that can contribute to the adventure, but it’s also nice to sit back and relax and let your Tour CEO be in charge
* And finally…the new people you meet on your tour become your family, and I’ve made lifelong friends in these journeys. For myself, this has equal importance with exploring new countries.
This time I used Expat Explore; the tour is called Spain and Portugal Explorer. It’s actually split into 2 parts….you could do either part, or do the whole thing so of course I did the whole thing! I’ll explain more about that along the way! This is my second time traveling with Expat, and their Eurpoean itineeriees are really awesome and not super expenisve. Also, transport is by coach bus which is nice because the buses offer air conditonong, comfy seats, WiFi and charging ports.
After departing from Seville, we leave Spain and enter Portugal for the next 3 days. But I’m going to jump ahead to the last couple of days of the tour when we arrive back in Spain.
This morning’s drive has us headed to Ciudad Rodrigo for a couple of hours. It’s a quietly epic walled medieval town with that old soul vibe.
The massive city walls wrap around the historic center, and we walk the cobbled streets exploring the hidden gems along the way. There are tourists here, but you get a feel that there are also a lot of locals out and about on this Saturday afternoon. There’s not much for Gustavo to show us, so better to just escort us into the main square and give us time to explore. I make my way over to the walls and climb up the stairs to have a look.
I can’t see much from here and I don’t have time to do the whole perimeter. I stop to admire the Cathedral of Santa Maria, but it doesn’t look open.
I pop into this other church instead for a break from the heat.
Then I head past city hall…
I wander down some of the side streets leading away from the square and I find some notable buildings such as the post office, located in a 16th century house.
And the beautiful stately home Casa de la Marquesa de Cartago.
And some random doors
I find Kerry and Gavin having lunch at one of the restaurants in the Plaza Mayor so I join them. I try the shaked potato with Iberian dewlap (it’s pork neck, but it just tastes like regular bacon to me).
This is the perfect place to enjoy tapas and wine and people watch!
In the mid afternoon, we arrive into Salamanca.
An ancient city with architecture that is serious eye candy! The sandstone buildings glow gold in the hot summer sun, with the Plaza Mayor and the Old and New Cathedrals reminding us how deep the history runs. The heartbeat of the city is the University of Salamanca which was founded in 1218, making it one of the oldest universities in Europe. We arrive and check into the Hotel Zenit Hall 88. It’s nice and the rooms are spacious with a small kitchen area – not like we’re going to use it though.
We meet up with our guide and she takes us on a walking tour for the next hour. First stop are the Cathedrals…there is an Old and New version. The old one is from the 12th century, in Romanesque style.
The new one was built in the 16th century, making this combo dual cathedral complex one of the most unique in Europe.
It was built because the old cathedral was getting too small for Salamanca’s growing population.
The stone carvings on one of the entrances have a couple of modern additions…an astronaut, and a dragon eating ice cream….added in the 1992 restorations.
We don’t have time to go inside, but what’s cool is there is a wedding going on today so we get to see the bride and all of her guests dressed up for this special day.
A fun thing about Salamanca is their unofficial mascots – the storks! They perch high up on church towers – or on top of any building that’s tall enough to keep them safe and give them the perfect lookout.
They stay all year round and build their giant nests high on the structures – if you listen closely you’ll hear their beaks clattering.
We continue on to the University; a major center for humanities, law and language studies.
The university’s symbol, the frog, is carved and “hidden’ on the façade -sitting atop one of the many skulls. The original meaning of this was a symbolic warning for students to stay focused or their studies would suffer. It eventually changed into a challenge – find the frog on your first try, and you’ll pass your exams. Today, it’s about fun and tradition and a popular attraction for tourists; I already know about it but it’s still challenging to find!
We keep walking past La Clerecia , a monumental complex with massive twin towers and a church inside and some parts housing another university.
Across from it is the House of Shells, an iconic building that was once a palace and now functions as a public library and cultural space.
And it wouldn’t be Salamanca without some kind of fun legend about the building – under its many stone shells on the façade, a treasure is hidden behind one of them.
We end up in the Plaza Mayor, a stunning square for social gatherings, festivals and concerts.
Tonight there is a symphony style show, but I will probably miss it because I have something else in mind for later(although I think it would have been a super cool experience).
I do some souvenir shopping and one cool thing to buy from this region is the charro button. They were historically used to fasten garments, but evolved into a symbol that showed status and wealth.
Tonight we have our last included dinner, and last dinner ever as a group! We’re at El Bardo – it doesn’t seem like a real restaurant – it’s a giant room with a few tables and zero charm or ambiance. But the food is good and the service is excellent. I have a veggie potato soup and veggie lasagna, and unlimited wine.
After dinner, a few of us head over to a bar called El Trovador, and this will be my first time singing karaoke in Spain!! Finally!! It hasn’t been convenient due to day of the week timing and the venues being too far from the hotels. But tonight we are walking distance to out hotel! The bar is not very big, and there are a few other people singing and they probably figured they’d have the place to themselves.
I sing a couple of songs and a few of my tour friends get up and give it a go and I love it! After singing, we make our way back to the Plaza but the music is done so we find a place to get ice cream(I have the turrones flavor) , and we and walk back to the hotel.
The next morning we make our way to our final destination in Spain…the walled city of Avila.
Sitting up on a high plain, Avila has the best preserved medieval walls in all of Spain and you can walk them and encircle the whole town.
We start the exploration at the famous Cathedral, Europe’s first Gothic cathedral – it is part fortress, as it’s built into the wall!
I’d like to go inside but Gustavo warns us that if we get caught inside when the service starts, there’s no leaving.…haha let’s not take that chance.
I spend my free time having a wander around the city…first to have a look at the basilica of San Vicente.
Then over to one of the squares, and I have a look inside this church, the Parish of St Peter the Apostle.
I’m happy because – it’s free, it’s a break from the sun, and its Romanesque style is beautiful.
Across from the church is the entrance to the medieval walls; I choose not to do this activity because I won’t have enough time to fully enjoy the walk – plus it’s too expensive to justify the cost for that short time.
I end up in the Plaza Adolfo Suarez – a central square for public gatherings and events.
A great spot to stop and people watch, and there are a few souvenir stores to visit. Avila is the birthplace of Saint Theresa, one of Spain’s most important religious figures and you’ll see her influence everywhere. It’s a requirement for me to pick up a souvenir of Saint Teresa, and I am so tempted to grab one of these.
I settle for a small figurine instead. Too creepy. Haha
My last stop is La Flor de Castilla, to try the famous Yemas de St Theresa.
It’s just an egg yolk ball covered in sugar, and it’s fabulous. I manage to score a sample; they need to be kept cool so it’s not convenient to buy a whole box of them.
I keep walking…..
And end up at our final meeting point in Avila.
All that’s left of the tour now is to drive back to Madrid and say our goodbyes. It’s been a pleasure traveling with these people from all around the world!
Everywhere On Earth With Erin 