Barcelona & Madrid in 8 Days: Highlights from Our 2025 Rick Steves Tour
Dave, Liz and Gen Run, Ruck and TOUR Spain
From Tarragona’s Roman coast to Toledo’s medieval heights, this journey was measured in both monuments and miles.
Buen dia! We are Dave, Liz and Gen. We love to run and exercise in general. We thought it would be fun to incorporate our runs with our trip to Spain and share them with you all. We had a blast on the Rick Steves tour "Barcelona and Madrid in 8 days" in early June 2025. It was our first (but hopefully not our last) Rick Steves tour!
Gen runs track and cross-country in high school. Dave and Liz run for fun and fitness. Liz is also into rucking and brings Dave along. Liz did more rucking in Spain than Dave did. ;) She bought a bag of potting soil for ruck sack weight. More on that later...
For the uninitiated, What is rucking? "Rucking is a form of exercise with roots in military training. Very simply, it's walking a set distance while carrying a weight in a backpack."
If our story inspires you to run the cobblestone streets of Spain, click the link below for more details on how to join a Rick Steves tour!
Getting to Spain
We had to change planes in Chicago and had a 6 hour layover. Then we had an uneventful 8 hour flight to Barcelona. Dave is tall and could not sleep much in the tight space. Liz masked up and conked out. Gen was in between.
This was Gen's first trip to Europe. Dave and Liz have been to France and Germany. It was our first Rick Steves tour or guided tour in general. The Rick Steves planning, agenda and guides made it easy and fun. There was the perfect mix of free time and tour time. That way we could take advantage during free time of running through parks and through scenic city streets and by ways. All breakfasts were included along with some lunch and dinners.
In the Chicago airport during our layover we all relaxed and ate a lunch or two. Gen had her first run of the trip RIGHT IN ORD!
Here is a 0.5 angle of our first group dinner together. We had a great Rick Steves group. We spent a lot of time together and even did free time together but I don't have too many photos of that.
We were surprised to learn that in Barcelona and Tarragona they speak mostly Catalan and not Spanish. We learned from our guides that they are located in the province of Catalonia where many still seek independence from Spain.
Here is our tour group after our last dinner together. I miss these folk. We got so close we started a group chat where we shared photos and tips. We are still friends with many on social media.
This journey unfolded on foot, with breakfast runs and long guided walks, under pack weight and under cathedral ceilings. From Roman coastlines to medieval hill towns, Spain was experienced not just by seeing it, but by moving through it, step by deliberate step.