City - country - river: 3 favourite places on the Iberian Peninsula

1st Picos de Europa: Adventure is calling

Spain has a beautiful coastline along the Bay of Biscay to the North Atlantic. It stretches for almost 800 kilometres through the three autonomous regions of the Basque Country, Cantabria and Asturias to Galicia. Each has its own special features and individual beauty and the whole route is full of treasures of history, culture and nature.

One of our favourite places lies at the foot of the Picos de Europa National Park on the border between Cantabria and Asturias.

There are great ways to keep busy there: Hikes in the Picos, excursions to the beautiful Rio Cares, the fishing village of San Vicente de la Barquera with breathtaking views over the lagoon to the mountains or the Gaudi house in Comillas. You can go surfing or visit one of the many caves such as Altamira with paintings from the Stone Age.

Culinary highlights

Asturias combines mountains, meadows and the sea and therefore has many delicacies. One speciality is the dark honey, which is collected at an altitude of over 1000 metres, far away from herbicides and pesticides. If you like it, you can eat local sheep's and goat's cheese in various degrees of ripeness.

For seafood lovers, octopus - pulpo - is a speciality of the region. This is traditionally served Galician-style on a wooden platter and is seasoned only with olive oil, salt, garlic and a little paprika powder. However, our children don't eat it because of its four hearts.

If you prefer the Mediterranean and like it hot, you can consider taking a trip to one of our other favourite places.

2nd Lagunas de Ruidera: water oasis and bird paradise

Anyone who has ever travelled across Spain knows this landscape. Seemingly endless olive groves, red earth and long, straight roads. Nobody would expect to find a water oasis of incredible beauty hidden in the middle of it all.

The Lagunas de Ruidera are located less than three hours' drive west of Valencia. They form a natural park of 15 small lagoons located in the plain of La Mancha.

The clear, turquoise-coloured water of the Lagunas de Ruidera is accessible almost everywhere and invites you to swim.

The lagoons are connected by waterfalls, small streams and underground rivers and stretch over a length of 20 kilometres. They are part of the UNESCO-protected Mancha Húmeda nature reserve. The clear, turquoise-coloured water is accessible almost everywhere and you can swim in it. The region is ideal for hiking and observing nature and is a paradise for birds, insects and amphibians.

Culinary low point

The bread from Ossa de Montiel goes down in our family history as the low point of our experience with Spanish bread, which - for whatever reason - is not so digestible. Due to its shape and consistency, this bread could have come from the Roman Museum in Augusta Raurica.

In Spain, we take out our camping bread oven and bake it ourselves until we arrive back in one of the neighbouring countries - which takes us to the third place and to Portugal, the land of fine bread rolls.

3 Coimbra: Portuguese university city with a gruesome legend

Have you already planned your trip to Portugal and are you all in the mood for a city break? Porto and Lisbon are the obvious choices. But there is another city. It has retained much of its Portuguese authenticity, which is in danger of being lost in other cities due to over-tourism. It certainly touched us.

It is believed that J.K. Rowling was inspired by Coimbra for her Harry Potter books.

Coimbra is located in central Portugal on the Mondego River and is home to Portugal's oldest university, one of the oldest in the country.

It is thought that J.K. Rowling found inspiration for certain aspects of the Harry Potter books in Coimbra. Students can be seen strolling through the city in long capes. The old library, Biblioteca Joanina, was built in the Baroque period and could serve as a film set for the wizard school. It houses over 200,000 precious books from antiquity to early modern times. A swarm of bats ensures that they are not eaten by moths every night.

A small electric bus takes students up the hill through the botanical garden to the university. Tourists are given headphones that they can plug in, turning the journey into a sightseeing tour. It's a wonderful way to stroll through the old alleyways and enjoy the charm of a city that isn't over-sophisticated but still has an enchanting atmosphere.

Dom Pedro and his Inês: Portugal's most famous love story

Portugal's most famous love story is set in Coimbra in the 14th century. It is about the forbidden love between the Portuguese prince Dom Pedro and his wife's Spanish lady-in-waiting, Inês Perez de Castro. After the death of his wife, Pedro marries Inês in secret.

The Portuguese nobility fears for the inheritance of the royal throne. Concerned about Portugal's independence, King Afonso sentenced the Spaniard to death in January 1355.

After the death of his father, Pedro has Inês' body transferred to Coimbra Cathedral. Dressed in coronation robes, encrusted with jewels and wearing a royal crown, she sits in the throne next to her lover. The entire court must swear allegiance to Inês before the queen is buried in the monastery of Alcobaça, where the two still rest side by side today.