(This is a continued series from Travel Freely Member Adam’s 70 Days on Points and Miles around the world. Read his introduction here and see links to more posts at the bottom.)
After a wonderful first 10 days in France, we flew to the second country on our 70 day itinerary around the world: Spain!
We flew from Lyon to Mallorca to start our visit in the Balearic Isles. After 4 days there we took another quick flight to Barcelona to round out our Spanish experience! Let’s breakdown what we did and how we did it:
4 Days in Mallorca
Once you make it to Europe, it is sometimes possible to get around with really cheap tickets on budget airlines. For example: our flight on Volotea from Lyon to Mallorca only cost us $21! Just as with the train from Paris to Lyon, we covered this expense with 2K Capital One Venture Miles. (See how to do this with Venture miles here)
In Mallorca, we rented a car to get around the island with ease. It only ran us $141 for 4 days, plus a $50 charge because I’m a young driver – how unfair! I was also able to waive the insurance fees because of the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card’s helpful rental car insurance benefits, saving us another $40 or so. We stayed with one of my old roommates from undergraduate (noticing a trend?) in the small town of Bunyola.
Our first night there made me think we were in the movie Encanto. Not only did we have the best steak dinner at Antic Grill, but our timing could not have been better. The town was having a small concert that night – and we were given a table not more than 20 feet from the stage. Two locals played guitar and sang for the town – and we had front row seats.
Since we had a car, we were able to traverse the entire island during our 4 days. Check out our itinerary on Google Maps here.
Day 1: Split between sightseeing in Palma and getting to know the town of Bunyola.
Day 2: Port de Soller and the nestled away town of Deia.
Day 3: Market day at Satanyí and a few beaches (Playa es Trenc, Caló des Moro, Portopetro)
Day 4: Cap de Formentor and Cala Figuera
I could write for hours about the beauty of Mallorca – but for the sake of time, I’ll give you some insight into our last day. Cap de Formentor is situated at the very northeast tip of the island. Here high-rising stony mountain sides crash down to meet the Balearic Sea, creating a scenic juxtaposition.
We spent much of our day here at Cala Figuera – a beach nestled in a cove between the mountainous edges of the island. The water was a unique, clear shade of blue and the rocks gave us great ledges from which we jumped down to water.
4 Days in Barcelona
With a few days of sun on our faces, we packed back up and flew to Barcelona. This time with RyanAir for $22 (covered with 2K Venture Miles). Unfortunately, none of our friends live in Barcelona and we had to cough up $180 for 4 nights in an Airbnb in the Gothic quarter.
Since we were pretty tired from all the sun in Mallorca – our first day was pretty much just spent relaxing. The other days were spent exploring Gaudi architecture, such as Sagrada Familia, enjoying the local cuisine, and paying homage to the greats at Camp Nou.
My personal highlight was being able to tour FC Barcelona’s stadium, the Camp Nou. I am a huge soccer player and fan. I remember dreaming about playing there as a kid. Walking through the stands and being on the sideline, I didn’t have to try too hard to recall all the incredible moments and games that I’ve watched play out on that field.
8 days in Spain well spent. Next stop: Switzerland! A 9 day road trip around the country awaits us. Stay tuned to hear all our highlights to come from the country of neutrality!
More from Adam’s 70 Days on Points and Miles
- Introducing a 70 Day Trip Around the World on Points and Miles
- Part 1: 10 Days in France
- Part 2: 8 Days in Spain
- Part 3: 10 Days in Switzerland
- Part 4: 2 Days in Venice
- Part 5: 6 Days in Florence
- Part 6: 7 Days in Amalfi Coast
- Part 7: 5 Days in Cancun
