Spain in February // Barcelona, Malaga, El Churro, and Seville by Alyssa Parker Photography

Ahhh where do I even begin. I guess I’ll start with why we took a trip to Spain. Well, Spain, Cancun, and Peru are our top places we want to travel to, so I have been monitoring flight prices to those places for January - March because that’s when I have the most free time. In January, I found an insane deal on round trip flights to Barcelona for the end of February, so we went for it! We booked out flights and then Allan planned our trip. He is such an amazing travel planner. He finds all the best places to go to, finds the best routes and best hotels. I’m usually the “planner” and he’s the go-with-the-flow type of person, but when it comes to traveling, he’s the best at planning. The only thing I planned was the photo shoot! Here is a short day by day recap of our 6-day trip:

DAY ONE

We flew out at 10:30 pm, it was an 8-hour flight and with the 5-hour time difference, we landed at 11:30 am. After getting our stamps and exchanging our money, we headed to the hotel, freshened up, and then got right to exploring! After getting some of the best coffee we have ever had and something small to eat, we then went to arc de triomf and then toured La Sagrada Familia at Sunset, which is a massive cathedral designed by architect Antoni Gaudí. Construction started in 1866 and still continues to this day. It’s expected to be finished by 2026. The detail is remarkable and photos do not do it justice. If you go to Barcelona, La Sagrada Familia is a must see.

We did a self guided tour with audio

DAY TWO

The second day was our last day in Barcelona. We had a walking photo tour with a professional photographer from 10-12. You can see our full session here. We went to arc de triomf, Cathedral of Barcelona, Park de la Ciutadella, Streets of Gothic Quarter. Then, after the session we ate and then we went back to a few of these places to take photos with my camera (since we didn’t bring anything with us for our session) and then we ended the day by taking a very long walk up hill to Park Güell, which it a park that was designed by the same architect who designed La Sagrada Familia. 

DAY THREE

Day 3, we left the hotel at 4:30am to catch our flight to Málaga, Spain. When we arrived, we checked in to our hotel early, which was the coolest hotel we stayed at. It was very modern and even had a slide from the second floor to the lobby! We were exhausted from all the walking we did the day before as well as only getting a few hours of sleep, so we decided to take a little nap. Once we were well rested we explored Málaga, which happened to be one of my favorite cities. It was so cute, clean, and not super touristy. We toured the cathedral of Málaga, then walked through the Alcazaba, which is a fortress-palace and is the best-preserved Alcazaba in Spain. It was so cool to climb through the defense towers, stroll through the gardens, and imagine what it must have been like way back when. After that, we rushed to try to see Castillo Gigbralfaro before it closed for the day. It was a very, very, long walk up a giant hill, and when we got to the top…. they had just closed. 

DAY FOUR

Day four, we woke up early, and hopped on a train to El Chorro and then took a bus to Caminito Del Ray; a walkway, pinned along the steep walls of a narrow gorge in El Chorro. It was known as the “world’s most dangerous walkway” in the past, but then they rebuilt it a few years ago and it’s much safer now. It was about a one mile hike to get the the gorge and then it’s a 5-mile hike through it. Walking along the side of a limestone cliff was a little scary, and the bridge was especially terrifying to walk across, but it was gorgeous and definitely worth it! When we were done, we took the train back to Malaga, got our luggage, grabbed a quick bite, and then took a train to Seville.

DAY FIVE

Our first day in Seville was amazing. We went to The Royal Alcázar of Seville, which is a royal palace in Seville, Spain, built for the Christian king Peter of Castile. This place was huge! We got lost several times (including the time we got lost in the palace maze). Everything about the Alcázar was gorgeous. So many beautiful gardens, (there were even Peacocks roaming in one of the gardens), fountains, the architecture, the colors, the tiles, the landscaping. It was so incredible. We spent hours here, but I could have taken photos there for days. If anyone ever wants to fly me there for an engagement session I would be more than happy to ;). Fun fact: The Alcázar is the oldest royal palace still in use. After a self guided tour through the Alcázar, we then saw yet another cathedral; the Cathedral of Seville, which is the largest cathedral in the world. The view from the top was super cool, worth walking up the 34 floors? maybe. Back in the day they could just ride their horses up, we were not so lucky. This cathedral is where Christopher Columbus’ tomb is. After walking up and down all those flights, we decided we deserved some gelato, and then, lastly, we went to Plaza de España at night, which was gorgeous. 

DAY SIX

Our last day. We thought about going to Granada, Spain, but there was still so much for us to see in Seville. So, we went to Las Setas de Sevilla; the largest wooden structure in Europe. We took the elevator to the top, enjoyed the views and some coffee. Then we went to Plaza de España, again, to see it in the daytime. There were lots of performers there during the day, which was fun. We were going to do a boat ride there, but we didn’t have enough euros. After that, we took a Uber to what was supposed to be a super beautiful neighborhood with lots of tiles, but we didn’t think it was that great, to be honest. We did, however, try some delicious churros dipped in hot chocolate.