Spain/Andorra Girls Trip - March 2026

A friend and her family moved to Madrid for a bit so we decided to book a girls trip. I got to work planning and we decided to meet in Barcelona, pop into Andorra and then round out the week in Madrid.

Thankfully I was traveling on a Thursday night and missed the ridiculously long TSA lines the next day. That is a hard part about traveling from Austin during SXSW and spring break. It did not help that a TSA government shutdown was also happening. I really appreciate all the hard workers and feel bad for them.

This trip's flights were booked with points and I tried out the KLM direct flight to Amsterdam for the first time. All flights were super packed and I had the delightful experience of being in the middle seat for both long haul flights.

Since I had a long (~7hr) layover at AMS, I decided to pay about $70 to have access to the KLM lounge. This was a wise decision. My other idea was to rush a visit to see a museum I missed last time I was here. After helping the sweet UT theater student I sat by get through customs, I enjoyed food, drinks, and relaxed at the lounge.

For the Barcelona flight, the gate agents asked many people to check their carryon bags, which included me.  While it was frustrating to have to wait extra time at baggage claim, I was glad because the plane ended up being a smaller one with the tiny overhead bins that don't really fit my Away bag.

Upon landing at BCN, I had an adventure attempting to find the Uber area. Never found it, so grabbed a taxi and had a difficult time in my sleepy fogginess communicating with the driver.  I think he spoke Catalan only. Finally made it to the hotel to drop my bags and then T and I headed to Bilbao Berria near the Barcelona Cathedral for dinner - a delicious Rick Steves recommendation.

On Saturday, we got ready and grabbed breakfast + caffeine and then caught a ride to the Sagrada Familia for our tour that started at opening time. Sadly it was a very wet day so we did not get to partake in the tower tour we booked with our entrance ticket. Even though this was my 3rd visit, I am still in awe and loved seeing what has changed since the last time(s) I visited.

Next we walked to Park Güell with a lunch stop along the way. The rain thankfully let up as we roamed around the park and took in the expansive view from the hill/mountain of Barcelona. I will note it was kind of expensive (~$20pp) to visit the park. We loved the gingerbread looking houses. 

From there we walked some more to check out more of Antoni Gaudí buildings.  We examined the exterior of La Pedrera - Casa Milà and then purchased tickets to Casa Batlló as we stood in line in the rain. Note they have several different levels of tours.

La Pedrera - Casa Milà

Inside Casa Batlló

Casa Batlló was excellent. After we finished the tour, we discovered we were close to the start of the Rick Steves Eixample walking tour. It was raining most of the time and then started pouring. We had umbrellas and ponchos, but still the rain ran down my pants into my socks thereby negating my waterproof shoes and made them squishy. We paused for a much needed tapas and wine break at Queviures Múrria. 

We were soaking wet and cold so did not finish the rest of the walking tour. Instead, we walked as fast as we could back towards the hotel to find dinner. We stayed at The Moods Catedral and it was wonderful and in a great location. Sadly in our hunger/wet/cold stage we picked a super touristy place, but it suited our need for food.

The next morning we had to be at the bus station at 810a for our tour. We got to the Starbucks by the hotel before it opened, but found another along the way so I could get "mama tea". The Barcelona marathon was that morning so folks were streaming in to the start near the bus station.

I had booked an excursion through Viator that took us to Monserrat and then to a lunch + wine tasting. It took a bit longer to arrive due to marathon traffic, but the bus made it and a tour guide gave a quick intro to the area and then lead us to the cathedral at the monastery and then set us loose. It was nice to be able to choose what we wanted to do during the free time (roughly 2.5 hours). I would definitely come back and next time listen to the boy's choir and tour the art museum. My photos of the black Madonna are not blog worthy this trip.

After checking out the Black Madonna in the cathedral from afar, we hiked to Creu de Sant Miquel for a view of the monastery and then up to Sant Joan Funicular Station viewing area for an incredible view down. Then we took the funicular down. 

Next we made a decision to hike down to Santa Cova de Montserrat and then essentially sprinted back up the mountain because I was getting nervous we were going to miss the meeting time. It all worked out and we had plenty of time.  Even had a few minutes to grab a coke and some delicious dark chocolate with olive oil and sea salt. 

The bus drove us to Oller del Mas winery. I think the guide said the family that owns the castle/winery has been around for 26 generations or about 1000 years, starting out as potters. Our lunch was incredible.  Everyone devoured it. Our guide had so much passion for the region and the wine.

The views from the castle were fabulous - we could see the mountain range we had just visited. Will be honest, the wine was just ok.

We then rode back to Barcelona and arrived around 7p. We ended up walking almost 29k steps this day even with several hour long bus rides! After departing the bus, we headed towards La Rambla to check it out. They were doing construction work on it so was not as enjoyable as last time, but we had an adventure coming upon a poor guy bleeding and passed out. We think he had been stabbed and tried helping as best we could before the police and EMS arrived. A guy from Kansas called 112 (or whatever their 911 is). Talk about an eye opening adventure at the end of the day. Hope the guy is ok.

From there, we walked all the way down to the harbor and back towards the Gothic Quarter and found a tapas seafood bar. Had the best chorizo ever, but the rest of the food was ok.

The next morning we slept in, packed up, and then found caffeine.  I decided not to pay 9 Euros to view the Barcelona Cathedral and just viewed the exterior again. Then we rambled down to the beach and over to the cable car tower for a run ride across the harbor. 

We grabbed lunch from a grocery store on our way to the hotel to snag our bags. Then we had to make a call after Uber would not come in a timely fashion to walk quickly to the bus station to make our bus to Andorra. Made it just in time to catch our 1p bus to Andorra - about a 3 hour ride.

New country, but no new physical passport stamp sadly. We got more steps in hauling our bags up to the hotel about 30 mins away from the bus station and then wondered around the little down a bit. In our rambling, we found a hot spring source that I guess they use for the spa we visited the next day. The almond trees were blooming along our walk and the mountains surrounding us made it so lovely.

For dinner, we ended up at the wine bar across the street from our hotel. Turns out it is a local place and was so good and reasonably priced.  Called 13,5° Wine Bar Andorra and make sure to get the toasty.

Tuesday morning we slept in and grabbed tea/coffee at a local shop and ate some pear bread for breakfast. We had a 10a appointment at Caldea Spa and enjoyed 3 hours of relaxing in pools throughout the complex. After a quick bite to eat, it was time to grab our bags and roll them back down to the bus stations. 

From there we rented a locker for an hour to go check out the old town and then scampered up to the trail where the Rec del Solà Trail starts along the mountain for a taste and a view from above the town.  Then we had to rush down the mountain to catch our bus. I would loved to come back and hike more here.

The bus dropped us off at the train station in Lleida where we caught our train to Madrid and made it to T's apartment around 1045p.

The following morning we got the kids ready for school and all walked there before hopping on the Metro to downtown. From there we walked through Retiro Park on our way to make our Prado museum ticket time. We spent a good 2+ hours wondering the floors and rooms. While it wasn't my favorite art, I enjoyed learning about Spanish artists and art.

I would like to point out that I got the combo ticket - Prado and the Royal Palace. We discovered it was a 3rd party so the app was very annoying. If I were to do again, I would have booked separately on each website. After many tapas the past few days, we wanted something green so ended up at Honest Greens for lunch. Then T headed back home to grocery shop and be ready to pick the kids up from school. I ventured out to do the Rick Steves Madrid walking tour, which I really enjoyed. My poor feet were exhausted after doing over 30k steps throughout the day. After my solo tour, I headed back towards the apartment and met T and a kid at the park. Then we picked up the other kiddo and all the school kids and their families played in the park until dinner time. 

Each morning in Madrid I had fun French braiding hair for school. Brought back gymnastics memories. On Thursday, the kids were off to school and we headed back downtown to catch our Royal Palace tour. Apparently the palace is the largest in Europe! One highlight for me was seeing several Stradivarius instruments!

view of the cathedral

We had lunch with a view at Azotea del Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid. 

T headed home and I hung back a bit. I had heard about great food at Casa Dani, but decided I was still too full from my burger to sample. I sat at the lake in the park for a bit then headed back to the apartment. 

The evening repeated with get the kids, family dinner then bedtime.  I packed up most of my stuff so the morning would flow more smoothly. 

Friday morning arrived and I showered and packed up the rest of my things. The night before I scheduled an Uber to take me to the airport. It was smooth getting there and through security/customs to my gate. From there I chilled a couple hours and then boarded into another delightful middle seat. The lady next to me was nice, but annoyed me halfway through because she kept trying to talk to me the whole time and it was clear that I had headphones in and was watching movies. I also had severe painful pressure in my ear upon landing - reminder to squirt some Afrin before flying and wear EarPlanes if you have them!!

Landed at 4p in Dallas and was able to get on an earlier flight. My initial one was scheduled for 1030p, but I received a notification after landing that it was delayed to 1130p.... So thankful I was able to make it back home at 8p where I unpacked, showered and made myself stay up until 10p.

We had such an awesome trip!