A friend had recommended Galicia as a beautiful part of Spain to explore so we decided to base ourselves there for a week. We were immediately struck by how different the landscape was to what we tend to think of as Spain. It’s very hilly, green and highly forested; some liken it to Ireland and you can definitely see the resemblance!

We were lucky to have friends based in Majorca come and visit us for a few days and we spent the week exploring some of the 750 beaches! Kids had their first trip on a kayak and the body boards which we’d carried 2,000 miles finally got some use!

Aside from the beaches and islands (which are privately managed and you have to book months in advance to access!) there’s not too much to do which reduced the pressure of driving around for a few days!

Sadly with the wildfires still burning vigorously all over Galicia and we extended our journey to Madrid to go around the worst of them. Cue our first 6am start of the trip but it was definitely worth it! Our drive took us up through the hills around Santiago de Compostela and along the route of the Camino de Santiago which was incredibly beautiful.