As many of you may or may not know, I’m taking a semester abroad to study in Spain. I’ll be there between September and January, which means I’ll probably end up having some time to explore every corner of Iberia. That being said, let me walk you through the things I want to visit in Spain next year.

As I’m leaving for Spain in less than a month, I think it’s the perfect time to share this post with you guys. This semester abroad is going to be a huge thing and I’m looking forward to it so much. I just can’t wait to start living in Spain by myself!

Of course, not everything I want to see is in Spain itself. However, the majority of my Semester Abroad Bucket List is made up of Spanish locations. With that in mind, I’ll divide this list into two parts: Spain and Not Spain.

Let’s take a look!

Spain

Gaztelugatxe

Picture by Pedro Jarque

You weren’t expecting the first entry of my bucket list to be anything other than Madrid, Barcelona or Valencia, right? Well, here it is anyway. Admittedly, the chances of you having heard of Gaztelugatxe before are very slim. So, allow me to explain.

Gaztelugatxe is a tiny island along the northern coast of Spain (Basque Country). The only thing connecting it to mainland Spain is a man-made bridge (that looks amazing, by the way).

I saw a picture of this on a Windows login screen background, and the scenery around the island impressed me so much that I made it one of my top priorities to see Gaztelugatxe in real life one day.

I’m probably going to end up combining a visit to the island with a day or two in Bilbao.

Fun fact: HBO used Gaztelugatxe as a filming location for some scenes in season 7 of Game of Thrones.

Pozo de los Humos

Here comes another name you’ve never heard in your life, and you’ll probably never hear it again after reading about it here. What is Pozo de los Humos and why the hell do I want to see it?

Well, the primary reason why I want to go to Pozo de los Humos is because it’s relatively close to where I’m going to be studying. Moreover, I’m a sucker for nature reserves and waterfalls, so it seems illogical to live about half an hour away of this waterfall for a semester and not visit it.

 Fun fact: Pozo de los Humos translates to the smoking waterfall in English.

South coast

Photo by Adrianna Calvo (Pexels)

As the semester abroad is obligatory for my classmates and myself, all of us are going on an adventure next year. Aside from a couple of friends, most of us are going to various locations in Spain. Within that group, the majority of students is going to study at/around the southern coast of Spain (Málaga, Granada, Huelva, Sevilla, …).

It would surprise me if I managed to go half a year without visiting my friends down in the south. And that’s why this entry is on my bucket list.

Granada

Photo by Geoffrey Morrison

Last year, we had a course about Spanish cultural history. The professor taught us about the history of Spain – which was interesting, but very irritating to study – and he got me hooked on the beauty of old Spanish buildings.

The one building I was most impressed with was the Alhambra. I would honestly travel halfway across the country to get a glimpse of this magnificent piece of ancient architecture (well, not really ancient, but you catch my drift).

Not Spain

Gibraltar

I’ve been waiting to visit Gibraltar for years now, but I’ve never found it to be the right time. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to have to do it now. There’s never going to be a more perfect time to check out the tiny British territory at the end of Spain.

I imagine that Gibraltar would be a perfect place to spend a day and hang out some time.

Morocco

Photo by Digitalwunder (Pixabay)

Morocco is another country I’ve wanted to visit since I was a little kid. For a typical kid from Belgium, it’s something of a childhood dream. I might get to make that dream come true next year.

I can’t wait to try Moroccan cuisine, ride a camel and stroll through beautiful cities. Another thing I can’t wait to do is try out my very first passport, as I’ve never been outside of Europe.

Portugal

Picture by Peter Heeling (Skitterphoto)

Seeing as I’m going to be spending half a year living right next to the Spanish-Portuguese border, I might as well hop over into the other side. It would be a pity to let all of that Portuguese beauty go unseen, wouldn’t it?

I’ve been to Portugal before and absolutely loved it, so why wouldn’t I love it again next year?

Have you ever been to any of these destinations? What did you think of them? Let me know in the comments!

As always, thank you very much for reading!

-S