Last month I took a trip to Spain with our local expert, Alba, and it left me speechless (and if you know me, that doesn’t happen often). As the founder of Lonely Planet Journeys, I travel constantly. I lived in Paris for eight years and Spain was always our quick escape - easy, sunny, familiar. I thought I knew it. But this trip cracked me open.
I’ve spent years perfecting trip design - I know what makes a journey run beautifully, and what makes it forgettable. And while every trip has a story, this one had a heartbeat.
For me, the best trips balance contrast - high to low, refined to raw. I want the Michelin star experience and to stand at a street counter slurping a bowl of noodles. And I want experiences that go beyond facts you can find on Wikipedia, ones rooted in perspective, emotion, and lived experience. That’s where you actually feel a place.
On this trip, that duality came to life: canyoning in the Pyrenees, tasting menus with the owners of an award-winning olive oil farm, sleeping under the stars in desert bubbles, and slurping oysters off the dock with an oyster farmer.
But the moment that will stay with me forever was walking the Smugglers' Route with a 79-year-old man who once moved goods - medicine, copper, watches, across the French border into Spain during the Franco years. Over a shared meal, he spoke about the network of locals who made the crossing possible and the quiet signals that marked when the path was safe. It was one of those rare moments where place, history, and lived stories overlap and I remember thinking: this is why we travel.
To Alba, our extraordinary local expert — no notes. Truly.
If you want to experience Spain in a way you could never access on your own, book this trip.
https://lnkd.in/g9KeRZkG
