TravelCD

Welcome to my in-depth tour review!

(Edit, just realised the links I put in this post have not saved so I’ll sorry that out after work)

Cost:

The cost of this tour was 69.90 Euros, considering this was a day tour, it was about 8-10 hours and the sites we got to see and the knowledge of the tour guide, I think this is well worth the cost, honestly I was surprised it wasn’t more expensive!

The Tour:

Since I wasn’t even aware I was going to start up a travel website when I was in Spain this year, I didn’t pay too much attention to the place names, mainly the amazing sites that I was interested in. I think we stopped for two hours at a pretty town, called Pampaneira, but I could be misremembering the name, so take that with a pinch of salt. That was our main destination, and we spent about thirty to fifteen minutes in other places, that I unfortunately can’t remember the names, but I can tell you about my experience. 

If I remember correctly, I think our tour started at 9 o’clock, but we did end up waiting half an hour more due to the car we were meant to be riding in, having a problem with one of its wheels, so they changed it before they got to us. There was a couple from the US, a family from France and a Spanish couple. I mostly found myself chatting and getting to know the US couple more, mainly due to the fact the French family and Spanish couple didn’t seem to know too much English. I could have a small chat with the French family who could understand certain things, but there were some problems with communicating sometimes, but I was too nervous to try out my basic level of Spanish with the Spanish couple, who didn’t seem to know any English. I wish I had done, but I wasn’t brave enough!

Anyway, our first destination was visiting these two very old bridges which were amazingly old, 13th century I believe, with the amazing mountainous scenery all around. A small part of me was a little scared I had accidentally signed up to a hike, when we stopped next to this mountainous scenes but once we walked down a fairly steep but short decline, we could see the old bridges, I should have a picture below!

Our next destination was an amazing view! We were allowed to get out of the car at this very pretty view point. We were very high up and to look down at the beautiful view was amazing! I can’t quite describe it, so the picture next to my picture of the bridge, should be of that view! 

Another destination that I really enjoyed that we went to, was when we got to try pure water from the mountains surrounding us. It ran through the mountains in these tiny rivers, carrying a lot of iron in them, and we were also introduced to natural sparkling water! To be honest with you, I never realised that sparkling water could be natural, unfortunately we couldn’t taste that, but we could try the pure iron water and I have to say, I’m glad the water we have doesn’t have that much or any iron in it, because the water with iron in it tasted pretty disgusting! I made the mistake of filling my water bottle up with it! 

We tasted a different pure water source, later on in our journey, that had no iron in it and it tasted way better! So I tipped out the iron water and filled my bottle up with that instead. 

We were then taken to a less touristy town where the guide told us about how the houses were built into the cliffside and the materials used, kept the houses cool in the sun, they had this outside corridor that connected all the houses, that you could just walk through. The surrounding area was beautiful, and the white houses looked so pretty, but our guide did let us know that one of the downsides of living here, apart from being more isolated, was the fact because they were recognised as a natural historical site that had to be kept the way it was, the residents are not allowed to fix any damage done to their house, which didn’t seem fair at all to me. The residents had to get permission from the government to change their house construction wise or fix it but due to the importance of their houses, being left alone and not tampered with, they’d never be able to get permission and suddenly living in this small but beautiful area suddenly felt much less appealing. 

Apart from the views and the pretty houses, what I also loved was how well these houses could protect you from the sun. We don’t have anything like this in the UK, so it was fascinating to me that if you feel so much cooler by just stepping into an open space surrounded by the same material the houses were made off. It was the same feeling I had when I visited the Sacromote museum caves in Granada, as soon as you step into those caves, you feel so much cooler, no matter the heat outside. 

It was in this area that we tried the natural water without iron, and it was much better! The American couple didn’t try it due to their experience with the iron water earlier on that tasted gross, but it is my opinion they missed out. As the guide talked to us about the surrounding area, a local went and drank from the natural water source that came from a pipe, which just interested me as it reminded me of a tap in my kitchen or bathroom that sometimes if I didn’t have a bottle on me or glass, and I only needed a quick sip I’d drink directly from the water coming from the tap, but it was interesting to apply this to a pipe sticking out of some raised ground, with water being naturally pure and the wild life and pretty scenery surrounding you, it feels quite relaxing. 

We also had a quick stop looking out at this amazing view, where you could just look out over the mountainous scenery and villages nearby and as someone who lives in a flat area, England is mostly flat apart from places like the Lake District (which I haven’t even been, but I recommend going if you ever visit England due to the beautiful pictures and videos I’ve seen and everyone I know who’s visited have enjoyed the views) Anyway because England is mostly flat, I don’t see hilly, mountainous scenery much, so the views are always amazing to me and I feel like I could just stand there and stare at these type of views for hours! 

Our last stop was a village called Pampaneira, this was definitely a more touristy place, but I still really enjoyed it, once again, everything just looked so pretty, and it felt like I’d stepped into a film, where everything just looks too pretty to be really there, but it was. I’d never seen a water system flowing through the village like that, and it made everything look even more beautiful, like I was stepping into a painting. After I came back home, my dad informed me that in some parts of England, we do have an open water system as well, but I’d never seen one before, and I have to say, the one he showed me in a picture looked far less impressive than the one in the village I visited. The one in England he showed me, the colour was duller and the stream was much thinner. 

I do wish I had looked around more though, as we spent the two full hours we had to look around without our guide, waiting for our lunch at a café, which also looked very pretty. I say we, because during our free time, the American couple asked if I’d like to go around with them, not sure if they were being friendly or just took pity on me since I was the only single traveller there, but I really enjoyed my time with them, it was fun getting to know each other and time flew by. They were great to have a chat with too, but I did silently cry in my head while they talked about how cheap things were, which seemed to be a recurring theme with Americans I’d met in Spain. While I’m sitting there thinking… not for me there not! It used to be the other way around, 😦 Let me just cry in a corner and think about the fact I spent way too much money in Spain, since everything is really similar in price! The couple I was with, then spent about 70 euros on a rug, while talking about how cheap that was, and I’m like….you what?! Obviously, I didn’t say that, but I felt like it! 

In the café I had black pudding, mainly because I heard it was different from our own black pudding and I wanted to compare. I think I liked the taste of theirs better, there was this spiciness that just isn’t in the black pudding back home, but I do prefer the texture of the UK black pudding. If you don’t know what black pudding is, It’s made out of pig’s blood, yes sounds gross, but it’s actually quite nice! Don’t turn your nose up at it until you try it, hehe. 

But yes, we spent two hours at this café, waiting for our food and eating, so we unfortunately didn’t get to explore much. 

The car ride back home was surprisingly quiet, but I felt exhausted, so I didn’t mind and I fell asleep for the majority of the way back, I suppose everyone else was tired too. 

Overall fantastic tour, but I wish I’d spent longer in the last town we visited, so we could have explored properly.

Where I Found The Tour:

I found the tour on my favourite App, GetYourGuide. I only just started using GetYourGuide while I was in Spain and it was so convenient. If you want to check out GetYourGuide, you can use this link here. I think I had to change my tour date, but it was easy to do, just tell them the date you prefer by WhatsApp, and they sort out the rest. This picture down below, is where our group saw the natural sparkling water.

The Tour Guide: 

Once again I have forgotten the tour guide’s name, but I am not good at remembering names and I didn’t realise I would be doing these blog posts back then, so I’ll try harder to remember their names, next time I go on different tours, but anyway, he was fantastic. I think he had an especially hard job because he was doing the tour, in English, Spanish and a little bit of French. 

He was very knowledge and friendly, he also checked with me and, the French family and the American couple if we understood him, which I appreciated. I think he did get a little frustrated with the French family because I think they were under the impression he would talk in French as well, but he told them multiple times that he would be doing this tour in Spanish and in English, and this was not a French-speaking tour despite that he still did try now and again to engage with them in French. 

The family did seem to have a basic grasp of English, so we could communicate, but it was hard to tell sometimes if they really understood the guide or not. I think at one point they seemed to say it didn’t really matter if they didn’t understand much and were just enjoying the views, which the guide didn’t seem too happy about, but it was nice to know that he cared about the knowledge he was sharing with us about the area, and the fact he was checking with me and the American couple if he was understood, made him more likeable in my opinion. 

I think he was also amused with me when I kept on failing to pull the seats of the car back, and he’d have to help me, but they were heavier than I expected! Though I did manage to pull them back by myself at the last stop, which I was happy about, and he was surprised and happy and said something in Spanish to me which I looked up later and found out that he’d called me powerful, but I did get the gist beforehand, though he’d said it obviously in a playful way considering no one else had problems moving their car seats about! But I did find these small communications between us funny, and it made him feel more approachable and light-hearted

There was also a funny moment where he teased the French family about Napoleon in English but they either didn’t understand or didn’t hear, and they even wondered what me and the American couple were chuckling about in the front and middle seats. But it makes me think he could completely be teasing me and the American couple in Spanish, to the Spanish couple, and we wouldn’t know. I mean, I’d recognise the words American, English and England in Spanish, but I wouldn’t know anything else besides that. 

Overall, I enjoyed the guide a lot, he was fun, knowledge, and you could tell he cared about the knowledge he was sharing with us. 

Location: 

The tour was also easy to find, though there was a long wait due to the car needing a tyre change. The tour is able to pick you up at certain hotels and you can also pick where to meet the tour group as well in selected locations, you can choose from. My tour starting point was only about a ten minute walk away.

What To Bring:

There wasn’t much walking involved, so I’d say the shoes don’t matter much, but you should definitely bring a water bottle and a hat to protect you from the sun. Money too, since you are expected to pay for your own lunch, this isn’t a food tour after all. The picture down below is where the couple got the rug from.

My Final Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this tour, I would love to go back! I think it’s well worth the money! There is a lot of time spent in the car though, but that’s completely understandable, and the guide chatted to us about extra information about the surrounding area and was interested in where we were all from, so it never felt dull. Knowable friendly guide, beautiful scenery, I enjoyed trying the different water and learning about the area, all around, a great tour. If I had to be picky, I’d say I preferred the tapas tour, if you want to check out my review for that, check that out here, but I still really enjoyed this tour, and I’d repeat it if I have the chance!

Recommend

Definitely recommended!

(Edit, this review took me a very long time too do! Sorry for how late this was! I meant to finish this two weeks ago! Internet connection and then I didn’t feel very well, which made me slower at finishing this! So I decided to only focus on this until I am able to publish it, thats why I haven’t done any daily prompts in a week but I should be doing them regular again now. I shall catch up with what I’ve missed on WordPress after work)