Leg 10 in Spain and Portugal was another terrific trip. It was a bit shorter than our pre-COVID legs at 12 weeks (technically 13 on my budget with the time at home at the beginning and end). However, we fit in a lot in that short amount of time. And it was our first new country to visit since Costa Rica in 2020. So Leg 10 was definitely a success. Here’s how the numbers looked:
Where We Were
Countries visited: 2 – Spain and Portugal. It was our first time in Portugal
Cities visited (overnight): 8
Additional cities visited (day trips): 4 (though three were suburbs in Madrid and Porto)
Number of hotels: 2
Number of hotel nights: 3
Number of apartments: 7
Number of apartment nights: 81 (including three nights in an aparthotel in Madrid at the end)
Total beds slept in: 9
Total lodging budget: $4,800
Total lodging actual: $4,816 (a little over budget due to lodging taxes)
How We Got Around and What We Did
Total transit budget: $3,300
Total transit actual: $3,404, with the main expense being $2,115 for our roundtrip Madrid flight
Total food/entertainment budget: $4,400 ($338/week for 13 weeks, the same as our average for leg 8 in Italy)
Total food/entertainment actual: $4,280 ($329/week, pretty much spot on budget)
Totals
Total budget: $12,500 for 13 weeks ($961/week average) (very high for us)
Total actual: $12,337 for 13 weeks ($949/week average, $150/week over our Italy actual)
Number of weeks over budget: 5
Number of weeks under budget: 8
Least expensive week: Week 6, July 11-17, $581, our last week in Ronda.
Most expensive week: Week 1, June 6-12, $2,058 at home and Madrid. This includes half the roundtrip flight cost.
The Best Parts
Best experiences (chronologically):
- Seeing Picasso’s Guernica at the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid
- See Roman ruins and the birthplace of Cervantes in Alcala de Henares
- The Alhambra in Granada with Sara
- Seeing flamenco in Granada and Ronda
- Watching an opera concert at the Bullring in Ronda
- Our audio tour and Real Alcazar in Seville (honorable mention – Sevilla Setas and Catedral)
- Beach time in Faro
- Day trip to the Douro Valley from Porto
- Watching footvolley in Matosinhos
- Sunsets at the Jardim do Morro in Porto
Best meals:
Plenti healthy lunch (Madrid), Vega Alamo vegetarian tapas (Madrid), Los Cazadores Pescados Y Mariscos (Ronda), Albacara meal with a view (Ronda), tapas at Casa Tomate, Taberna Álvaro Peregil and La Bartola (Seville), anniversary dinner at Gruta (Porto), Portuguese pastries (especially at Alfama Doce and Pastéis de Belém in Lisbon), numerous picnics (especially with Iberico ham in Ronda, canned fish in Faro, and smoked salmon in Lisbon)