As we’ve said a few times before, when we travel, we like to do so a little differently than most folks we know. Yes, that means a bit more work on our end, but the payoffs are well worth the effort, as we get to see parts of countries that others don’t. To be sure, there are tons of really cool things to see in the bigger cities, but there’s loads of culture outside of those cities, too, and it’s hard to experience that if you stick to the more popular tourism sites.
When we travel, particularly in Europe, we like to use lots of different transportation methods because each has its unique benefits. As an example, let’s take a trip we made to Spain a few years ago. Our route was to go from Madrid (in the middle of the country) to Granada (in the South), to the island of Mallorca (pronounced Mai-or-kuh) off Spain’s West coast, to Oviedos in the North, and then back to Madrid before coming home.
Of course, getting to Spain requires planes, a few of them. However, after arriving in Madrid (or whatever major city) you have tons of options. We hung around Madrid for a few days, seeing the sights and taking it all in. From there, we opted for a high-speed train to get from Madrid to Granada. More specifically, the train only took us part of the way. Where it ended, we hopped on a bus for the last hour or so to get over to Granada. High-speed trains are a relatively unknown thing for most Americans, but they’re all over the place in Europe. Our train traveled at around 200 kilometers/hour (roughly 125 miles/hour) and was an amazingly easy process. Security was a breeze and much easier than flying. The ride was really smooth, and it was completely fine to get up and walk around. Such a leg and back saver. The seats had tons more space than the steerage seats on most airlines we’ve grown accustomed to. They even had a food car if we got hungry! Could we have flown? Sure. However, the view at 25,000 feet isn’t quite the same as ground level (no offense to our friends the clouds; they’re pretty awesome). Also, train tickets are very reasonably priced, so you might consider it on your next hop across the pond.
Once in Granada, we took a cab to our hotel and then walked around otherwise to see cathedrals and the Alhambra. When our time down south came to its end, we were off to the island of Mallorca. Funny thing about islands: they’re challenging to drive to. So, we instead opted for a quick, low-priced flight from Granada to Mallorca. Once on the island, we rented a car and drove to the northern tip of the island, our beach home for the next few days. The driving was easy enough, and the steering wheel was on the left, so no transition was needed before heading out, which was a relief when we saw the tiny parking lot amongst hundreds of olive trees. It took some wiggling to park.
Getting up to Oviedos required a short drive back to the airport on Mallorca to return our car and then a short flight to the North. From there, we rented another car (upgrade to BMW, yes!) and drove around, taking in the striking views from the cliffs along the way. It’s a completely different world from the desert south, more like Ireland with its lush green and humidity. From Oviedos, we hopped back on another quick flight back to Madrid where we spent the next few days before coming home.
As a recap, in one trip we made use of planes, trains, busses, cabs, rental cars, and our own two feet. Being open to these options gave us an experience we’ll never forget, and one much different than what we’d have experienced if we only relied on one mode of transportation. For example, had we stuck to the trains only, that would have limited us to Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia, with maybe a few other smaller cities, too. If that’s what you’re interested in seeing, this isn’t a limitation but rather an ideal way to get from place-to-place. If we’d only rented a car it would have taken us much, much longer to get between places, as Spain is a fairly large country. However, when we’re in Ireland or Scotland we only use a rental car because the countries are smaller and so driving isn’t a big deal – to us anyway, our Scottish friends think we’re nuts driving more than two hours day after day.
As we said, we do things a little differently than most folks we know. What we do works for us and our goals when traveling. Prefer a different approach? Cool, let us know what works for you. In the end, the important thing is to get out there and see the world, however much of it you’re comfortable with.
Happy travels!
