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Exploring Spain through Erasmus Trips

Grace Whitaker

Tuesday, 14 June 2022

Grace, a Modern Languages with Translation third year, tells us about the various Erasmus trips she went on whilst completing a semester abroad in Valencia, Spain. Read on to find out why Grace can fully recommend Erasmus trips for other students, studying or working abroad.

Before arriving in Valencia for my study abroad, I had little knowledge of the city, except that it is on the eastern coast of Spain. However, upon arriving, I soon learnt that it is one of the most popular destinations for Erasmus students with thousands attending just my university. Thanks to this huge Erasmus population, several different companies offer weekly club nights and trips at the weekend. One of the benefits of these trips is that there is transport included meaning you can visit places that otherwise would have been too difficult to visit independently. In this article, I will list some of the places I visited during my time in Spain.


05.02.2022 – Alicante


The first trip I went on was during my second week of living in Spain. About an hour and a half further down the coast from Valencia, Alicante is a coastal city, very popular with British holidaymakers. We visited the castle, had lunch and walked around some of the Old Town. I feel that doing trips like these really encourage you to make and find new friends; the girls I went to Alicante with nearly 4 months ago are some of my closest friends now!




20.02.2022 – Montanejos


Montanejos is one of those places that would have been near-impossible to visit without an organised trip. It is a hot spring located deep in the Spanish countryside, around an hour from Valencia. We first completed a fairly challenging hike which included several moments of me thinking that this was the end. Luckily, I survived and then my friends and I were able to swim in the hot spring - very refreshing!




13.03.2022 – Xativa


During the Fallas (a famous Valencian festival), we visited Xativa, a town further into the Comunidad de Valencia. We spent the majority of the day exploring the castle where we were able to watch the daily ‘mascleta’ – a type of firework display that occurs during Fallas. We then wandered around the town centre and ate some patatas bravas before returning home.




09.04.2022 – Zaragoza


Zaragoza was the furthest place I had travelled just for a day trip, taking over 4 hours to travel there from Valencia. However, it was a beautiful city to visit, especially the basilica where we had a guided tour. The basilica looks over the river that winds through the city and offers amazing views. The famous Romantic painter Goya called the city home and so there is a museum dedicated to his work. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to visit. Despite the long journey from the east coast, this is certainly a city worth visiting!



30.04.2022 – Isla de Tabarca


Last but certainly not least was our trip to the Isla de Tabarca, the smallest inhabited island in Europe, just off the coast of Alicante. We arrived by catamaran to the island, I felt like I was living my Mamma Mia dream! After some lunch, we found a little cove where we were able to sunbathe and go swimming - I had never seen such clear water before. The weather was perfect, it is definitely my favourite trip.


Whether you are studying or completing an internship, I would certainly recommend researching Erasmus companies in your area, almost all major European cities have them. They are an excellent way to make friends and visit places to make the most of your year abroad.

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Images provided by Grace Whitaker.


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Barbara Dawson

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Lovely tasty dish. Try it you won’t be disappointed.

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Aunty Liz

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Very tasty and cheap. I often have this for tea!

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BETTS

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Being a bilingual family (French mother and British father,) living in France I thought your article was extremely interesting . Have you research on bilingualism ? It seems that when the mother is British and the father French and they both live in France their children seem to be more bilingual than when the mother is French and the father is British . This is what we called mother tongue , isn't it ?

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Niamh

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Such an interesting article!

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