I met some of the group at the airport and we sat close to each other on the plane which helped us to get to know one another a little. It was a little scary when we arrived at Madrid airport and after I went to the loo I came out to find that they had all disappeared. I followed the signs for baggage collection which was a bit confusing so I asked at an information desk. I was directed to an elevator and told to catch a train to terminal 4. This was very disconcerting as I was on my own but I found my way and met up with the others and the tour manager at the baggage carousel.

The drive to Burgos was about 3 hours plus time for a stop for lunch at a truck stop. When we arrived at the hotel we had to take our suitcases in ourselves, up quite a steep slope, as there were no porters available for the next two hours. The hotel was lovely and the rooms we had were very spacious. We did not eat in the restaurant however but in what looked like a conference room set out as a dining room. The hotel is not far from the centre so we walked with Tessa the tour manager (who was excellent throughout the trip). I would say it took us about 5 mins. Burgos is really lovely and has that typically Spanish feel about it. The cathedral is well worth the visit.

Left Burgos at 8.45am and arrived in Leon about midday. Had a tour around the town and cathedral. It was pleasant but the dull, damp and slightly chilly weather put a bit of a dampener on it.

We then went and checked in at the hotel and again the rooms were large and comfortable. The hotel felt empty and had no atmosphere but this may have been because you had to go out of the hotel to get to its bar. I was happy that we only spent one night in Leon but if the weather had been better I may have felt different about the place.

On to Lugo. I loved this place. The church is beautiful. There is a Roman wall which you can walk around in about 30 mins. We spent 2½ hours there.

Santiago de Compostela. The hotel was a lovely old charm style and extremely busy. The buffet dinner was ok. I didn’t go on the wine tasting trip but chose to see more of Santiago instead. I shared a taxi with some of the group to the centre of the city. It took about 5mins and cost 5 euros which, as we had shared, was nothing much at all. The market is worth a visit just for the range of food it has. It is a bit difficult to find your way around the city as it is huge and very busy with loads of tourists, but you can always get directed back to the cathedral. We met up with the rest of the group when they arrived back in Santiago and had a local guide to show us around the city and where we went was completely different to what we had already seen on our own. After the guided tour we went into the cathedral on our own. I must say that after seeing the other cathedrals and the church in Lugo I was not as impressed as I thought I would have been with Santiago cathedral. Perhaps you need to do the pilgrimage to appreciate it better.

Ourense We had very little time here. Just enough to have a quick coffee and a look at the hot springs.

Zamora. We had a bit more time here in order to get something to eat and stretch our legs. What we saw was very pretty but we had to get to Salamanca which was still a long drive away.

Salamanca After travelling almost all day we arrived and once again the rooms are large and comfortable. It was dinner and bed for me. The next morning we went on a tour around Salamanca and left after lunch at about 2pm.

Madrid. We arrived in Madrid about 5pm. The next day we had a guided tour of the city by coach and on foot. Then we split up into smaller groups to do as we wished. The coach picked us up about 5.30 if we wanted to go back to the hotel. You could stay in the centre if you wished but would have to make your own way back to the hotel.

Toledo This is a lovely city but the guide we had was terrible. It is very busy with tourists.

Madrid. Tapas and flamenco night was a successful way to round off the tour.