Bloghouse in the fairytale village of Besalu
Besalu Village
In September this year I was invited to join a handful of the most influential bloggers in the travel blogging industry. For two intense days we knuckled down in the fairytale village of Besalu in Costa Brava.
From one of the most photographed bridges in Spain, to its narrow alleyways, Besalu is one of those cute towns that you could spend hours exploring.
It is a place where you can wander between the little cafes and everyone will greet you with a smile.
The reason I had been invited to Besalu and the Bloghouse, was to provide us with a chance to focus on identifying our blogs strengths, weaknesses and overall path for our adventure travel blog. It was an opportunity that new bloggers dream of.
And we had it all laid on for us. We were hosted by the wonderful team at Charming Villas who provided us with one of the nicest houses mansions I have ever stayed in. Scratch that, Casa Marcial was the nicest place I have ever stayed in!
A pool, about a gazillion rooms and foundations from the 17th Century. This photo was taken from the backyard…
We had as much booze as we could drink. Which to be fair was a ridiculous amount. A personal chef showing us how to cook Paella, and enough food the rest of the time to feed an army.
We spent our days learning the intricate details of fine tuning our content, creating better videos and the overall art of travel blogging.
While this may sound very mundane to most of you, it is all helping to transform Four Jandals. If you take a look back at our journey from when we first started posting articles a year ago (please don’t look they are horrendously written), to where we are now, there is a HUGE difference.
It is these sorts of opportunities that experienced travel bloggers provide to us, that make me love the decision to throw away a very successful career and pursue our dreams and passions full time.
And ultimately provide better stories and adventures for you to read.
But it wasn’t just the Bloghouse that was so amazing.
It was the wonderful village and people of Besalu who opened their doors for us that cemented it as a place I will return to.
From the scrumptious cakes across the stunning Besalu bridge at Ribera Bistro, to the extravagant dinner at Pont Vell restaurant, the locals welcomed us in with open arms.
It is these sorts of small towns and villages that make me fall in love with travelling over and over.
So if you ever have the chance to visit Spain, then make sure you schedule in a few days around Costa Brava. And ensure you head towards the French border to explore the incredible village of Besalu.
You won’t regret it.
Category: Europe, Travel Blogging Tips
We have been wearing out our jandals (Kiwi slang for flip-flops) on our travel adventures around the world since 2009. We love all types of adventures that make us step outside our comfort zone, in comfort, including surfing, skiing, snowboarding, diving and cruising on our bikes. You can find out more 
Wow it looks truly stunning like something lifted straight off the pages of history. I would love to explore this place. More research needed I think!
Thanks Remy. It is a beautiful part of the world.
Someone has discovered lightroom
Laurence recently posted..Ballooning in Costa Brava
I can’t decide if I like the effects or not though. Especially when you have two different types of photos such as the village shots, then the deep blues from the sky in the church shot.
Jealous of your time in Besalu and the inspiration (and paella) it provided!
Drooling over the thought of paella now!
I loved Besalu. I was just there in February for a blog trip with Charming Villas, and this was one of my favorite things to do in Catalonia.
Wonder if we stayed at the same place? They definitely know how to run a blog trip. Will need to be involved next time
It was really awesome having you at the blog house. And I agree, Besalu was a beautiful town. The location was perfect.
Cheers Michael! It was a great experience. Can’t wait to hear where the next one will be… haha
Love the pictures Cole! I honestly wish we had more time in that house or we could of stayed for ever! So much meat and cheese! Mmmm! and the wine!
Glad you could be a part of it and felt like you learned from us!
See you soon!
Can’t wait to catch up with you guys all again soon! Thanks for inviting me along
Besalu looks like such a wonderful place to do the blog house, I am definitely impressed.
Would have been great to meet you there Ayngelina! Hopefully another time soon.
Hey Cole, fairytale is the perfect word for Besalu. It was a delight to be there with you. Your photos are gorgeous. Hope to see you, and meet Adela soon.
Victoria recently posted..Introducing the blog house…
Thanks Victoria! Definitely looking forward to catching up again, wherever that may be
What a great experience with a stunning backdrop! Nice work on the pictures!
Hopefully you guys will be able to make the next one. Just pity we won’t be allowed to come along
This place looks lovely, Cole! I’d love to visit Costa Brava, and glad you guys are coming along so well with your site. Though you do tempt me to go back to some of your older posts …
The Time-Crunched Traveler (Ellen) recently posted..3 days in paradise: Malaysia’s Perhentian Islands
Don’t do it Ellen! You may be so repulsed you will never come back haha.
Besalu really is a fairytale village. You were fortunate to be in this beautiful place ans had a chance to attend to that event. How did you become part of this?
We heard about it on a blogging forum and through word of mouth. If you want any tips for your own site then feel free to ask and we can help out
I am SO bummed I missed out on this — the location in itself is amazing, but couple it with all you learned and I am doubly jealous.
Raymond @ Man On The Lam recently posted..Offbeat Images: Toilet Signs in Oman
Make sure you apply for the next one. Should be one before TBEX Toronto, and hopefully before then too.
Great post Cole – I love your edits to the photos too! Maybe if we bug them hard enough, team Bloghouse will let us come to the next installment..!
Either way, let’s have a reunion somewhere! We can do our own awesome thing
I have a thing for small towns/villages! And Besalu is magical! Glad you had a great time!
Sherry Ott recently posted..Berlin’s Graffiti Art
Thanks Sherry for helping organise it all
Hopefully we get to see you in person next time!
Congrats on your amazing experience in the Bloghouse! Besalu looks lovely. Sorry we missed it.
Mary @ Green Global Travel recently posted..JORDAN Nature Reserves: Ajloun, Dibeen & Azraq
Besalu is a fantastic little village. So many places we need to explore in Spain still.
Sounds like it would be a great experience. Is this something they do every year?
They are planning a couple. There will be one before the Toronto TBEX event I believe!
Cole! It was great meeting you at TBU and TBEX, the blog house in Besalu and all our chats were amazing! i hope we run into each other again soon!
We definitely will cross paths again! Was super fun hanging out, and can’t wait for a reunion haha.
What a place to have a travel blogging event. It looks so beautiful. Spain sure is one of those places that has amazing places like this.
Shamis @ Gawaya Travel Blog recently posted..Tenerife, Canaries: The Island of Eternal Spring
That might be the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.
Stephen Schreck recently posted..Top 15 Things I can’t Wait to Cross Off my Bucket List
Cole, Been dreaming to visit Besalu. Your picture looks like as if it could only be found in disney movie. You are lucky to have visited Besalu.
Katie@holidayblog recently posted..Where to stay in Barcelona?
To be honest I had never heard of Besalu before we visited. So glad we had the chance to go though as it is definitely like a Disney movie with its Castle walls etc.
I wish I could have been part of those lucky bloggers who got to visit Besalu. Next time, I’ll try to be part of such event and put a great review like the one you did.
Steve @ Explor Eearth recently posted..Take a Break to See Nature Instead of the City
There will be lots more of these types of events Steve so keep an eye out for the #Bloghouse hashtag