What's the best way to travel to Spain? Trip to Spain - we will organize it ourselves
Updated regularly! The most up-to-date information in one place - organizing an independent trip to Spain is now very easy. To travel to Spain on your own, here you will find everything you need - life hacks, useful links and tips for Spain. Even those who have visited Spain more than once will be able to find a lot of new things. And for a beginner, this cheat sheet will become indispensable on your first trip. Take advantage, get to know Spain and enjoy your holiday in this beautiful country. Even if you come to Spain on a tour package, you can visit many interesting places on your own and inexpensively thanks to our tips.
Useful links about Spain that you may find useful
- For Russians:
Citizens of Ukraine do not need a visa, only a valid passport, which is stamped at the border upon arrival.
Everyone - with a visa or a stamp - can stay in Spain for no more than 90 days per six months! - (personal experience)
Resorts in Spain: where is it better to go to the sea on your own?
The best resorts in Spain are located on the Costa Brava, Costa Merisme, Costa Dorada and Costa Blanca:,. The most popular islands for holidays are and. Youth holiday - Ibiza (preferred by those under 20).
We recommend reading more about the resorts, and.
To make it easier to navigate, look on the map where the resorts on the mainland are located:
Coast map, sea resorts of Spain
Currency in Spain and how much money to take
The currency of Spain is the euro. All stores accept bank cards, so it’s better to travel to Spain on your own with a card in euros or rubles. You can take some euro cash with you. Please note that bills over 50 euros may not be accepted everywhere.
How much money to take to Spain? See.
Booking accommodation in Spain yourself
The peak of tourists in Spain is in August. This month, housing prices are at their highest and reservations for August must be made in advance (the best and cheapest options are sold out six months in advance).
The swimming season in Spain lasts from May to early October.
What to see in Spain + undiscovered places
In addition to popular attractions in Spain, such as those in Barcelona, there are many lesser-known places. However, first of all, you should still visit the largest cities - and. They are very different.
In the photo: exploring Barcelona almost always begins with the Sagrada Familia Then we recommend going to all the popular, as well as little-known places. Transport in Spain is well developed and inexpensive, so even if you are traveling to Spain on a package tour, be sure to try to go somewhere on your own - this will make your trip unforgettable.
Choose a small town on the map, a couple of hours away, take a bus or train and arrange an independent trip around Spain, even if it’s just a short one. Be sure to spend the night in the chosen city - this way you will get much more impressions from the trip - book some inexpensive hotel in advance so that upon arrival it does not turn out that everything is booked.
Where to go and what to see in Spain on your own
If you are in:
Barcelona
- – the most popular place in the city.
- – a beautiful view of Barcelona from the mountain – a place where tourists are not taken.
Costa Brava, Catalonia(from Blanes, Caleia, Malgrad de Mar, Lloret de Mar, etc.):
- – convenient to travel from the tourist resorts of the Costa Brava or from Barcelona (about 2 hours).
- - a white city on the Costa Brava, the birthplace of Salvador Dali.
- – one of the most beautiful places in Europe, located next to the resort of Blanes.
- – a wonderful picturesque town, not far from the bustling Lloret de Mar.
- View or trek through extinct volcanoes in the “city of volcanoes”.
- – a very beautiful Spanish town where “package” tourists are not taken. Russian speakers are rarely found here, but Europeans really love this place. Located 2 hours from the Costa Brava, 3 hours from Barcelona.
- - a city on the edge of Spain.
Costa Blanca, 1-2 hours drive from Alicante you can see:
- TOP 11: .
- – a sweet city of joy with colorful houses and a sandy beach, the famous chocolate factory.
- – for those who love a relaxing holiday away from the hustle and bustle.
- - a resort by the sea, on the Costa Blanca, a little over an hour from Alicante.
- If you get to , you can visit for free.
Andalusia(from Malaga and others):
Northern Spain (Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Basque Country)
- La Coruña
- Santiago de Compostela
- Oviedo
- Gijon
- Aviles
- Bilbao
- Portugalete
- San Sebastian
Islands of Spain
More interesting Spanish cities and places
- Valladolid
- Pamplona is the city where the famous San Fermin festival takes place with the running of the bulls through the streets of the old part of the city. Hemingway wrote about this holiday in his story “The Sun Also Rises.”
- Zaragoza
- Lleida
- (instructions:)
Transport in Spain
Buses are an excellent transport for those traveling to Spain on their own Public transport in Spain is inexpensive and easy to use. It is convenient to travel between cities by trains and buses. These links will help you get around Spain on your own:
- By bus in Spain - see (prices from 1 euro).
- Trains are the most expensive form of transport in Spain, see Renfe.
- If you travel far, the cheapest way is to fly with Ryanair. Even to neighboring countries. The most popular cheap routes: from Barcelona to Seville, from Madrid to Tenerife, from Valencia to Hamburg, from Barcelona to Ibiza and Mallorca or to Budapest, from Seville to the Canary Islands, etc.
Car rental in Spain
In mainland Spain, cars for rent are mostly with manual transmission. To rent a machine, you need to place an order a month or more in advance. In the Canary Islands, everything is simpler - there are many cars with automatic transmission and rental is inexpensive.
Do you dream of watching a bullfight, learning the basics of passionate flamenco, or seeing paintings by Goya and Velazquez? Then you should go to Spain!
True, once you open the offers of tour operators, it becomes clear that you can have a good rest at the dacha. After all, the cost of a week-long tour to Spain with accommodation in a regular three-star hotel and without meals starts from 40,000 rubles.
Believe me, you shouldn’t give up on your dreams. BiletyPlus.ru will help you organize your own tour to Spain for only 25,000 rubles, that is, almost half the price than usual. In addition, our holiday option already includes travel around the country, excursions, meals and much more.
Air tickets are always the main expense when planning the budget of any trip. Unlike happy Europeans who can fly to visit each other for a few euros, we have to part with large sums of money.
However, there is a way out of this situation, because on BiletyPlus.ru you can always find the cheapest ticket options for all interesting destinations. In addition, you can subscribe to updated offers and calmly wait for a letter from the site about a discount or promotion for the desired ticket.
For example, now you can go to Barcelona from Moscow for only 13,700 rubles, on a direct flight, spending only 4.5 hours on the flight.
When traveling, the hotel is the place you visit least often. That is why it becomes the very expense item on which you can and should save. So, in Barcelona you can rent a place in a hostel for 800 rubles per day, or a double room in a modest two-star hotel for 1,300 rubles per day.
Of course, you will have to sacrifice something, for example, you most likely should not expect a panoramic view of the square. But at the same time, most hostels are located in the city center, and a hotel of any category is clean, cozy and calm.
By the way, if you are traveling with a group, it is convenient and profitable to rent an apartment rather than stay in a hotel.
As a rule, even modest breakfasts included in the tour price already increase it by a considerable amount. If you eat on your own, you can not only save money, but also try different dishes every day and test the cuisine in dozens of establishments.
In Spain, as in most European cities, it is possible to order a “Menu del dia”, that is, a set lunch. It includes a salad, first and second courses, a soft drink, and sometimes dessert. As you can see, more than enough to fill you up. The cost of such an order ranges from 5 € to 10 €, and the price is indicated on the sign in front of the entrance to the cafe, so the bill will not come as a surprise to you. Eating this way twice a day, you will spend 3,000–4,500 rubles on food during the trip.
The best cafes in Barcelona offering "Menu del dia" are:
- “LaPoste”, JaumeI metro station, Gignàs street, 23 - lunch price 6–7 €;
- “Drassanes”, Drassanes metro station, in the courtyard of the Maritime Museum - lunch price 10 €;
- “ElConvent”, Liceu metro station, Jerusalem street, 3 - lunch price 8 €;
The beauty of Spain's large cities is that you can get into dozens of museums, palaces and parks absolutely free. Even walking tours of the city with experienced English-speaking guides are free of charge.
For example, in Barcelona you can go on tours of Gaudi’s work (Sagrada Familia, Palace Güell, Casa Mila, Casa Batlo) or the ancient quarters and streets of the city. The first tour starts daily at Reial Square at 11:00, the second there at 16:30.
But in Madrid you can visit the Prado Museum, the Reina Sofía Museum, the Bullfighting Museum, the Buen Retiro Park (there is a rose garden, dozens of statues, fairs and performances are organized here, and you can also rent a bicycle for free), the Madrid Planetarium and the Royal Palace ( only on Wednesdays).
Of course, if you do not intend to save money on cultural recreation, then you can always order interesting excursions on the Internet, not only the usual sightseeing tours, but also something more unusual: gastronomic master classes, helicopter and bicycle rides, thematic tours “in the footsteps of cinema” " and many many others.
Active travelers planning to visit several cities in Spain during their vacation should pay attention to buses. Here they are comfortable and quite fast, but the ticket price rarely exceeds 10 €. Of course, there are also hours-long journeys that will take up the whole day and will cost more, but on a week-long vacation it is better to do without them so as not to waste extra time and effort on the road.
By the way, for long-term vacations involving numerous trips around the country, it is better to choose a travel card, for example “kmtriko”. It costs a fixed amount and allows you to move as much as you need.
As you can see, you should not consider the price set by the tour operator to be the ultimate truth. The dream trip is always more accessible than we think. The main thing is not to be afraid to search and use the right services, such as the BiletyPlus.ru metasearch.
Where to go in Spain on your ownAll routes described in this section are aimed primarily at independent travelers and include recommendations on various organizational issues. However, before moving on to planning trips to Spain, it is worth paying attention to a number of other important issues.
Where to start your trip to Spain
To begin with, it makes sense to decide how to get to Spain, and only then develop travel routes around Spanish cities and towns. The most obvious option is to use the services of one of the many airlines operating flights to Spain (by the way, you can search for air tickets at competitive prices). However, there are other options that may well be preferable for some. Details are provided in the following materials:
If you do not have much experience in organizing independent travel, you should first read the article “
In the article about ours, I mentioned that at that time we also considered Spain as a destination. Then our choice finally fell on the homeland of the author of the Divine Comedy. Therefore, when we again thought about a vacation near the sea, the choice was made quite quickly.
There was little time: a little more than two months. This means less freedom in choosing tickets and more expensive hotels. Moreover, the euro, which at one point exceeded 80 rubles, was not the most pleasant surprise.
Actually, I’ll tell you in this article what route we ended up taking and why, what impressions we had from the trip, and how much our vacation ended up costing us.
Route
Final route
The route turned out to be quite simple (except for Pisa): Izhevsk - Moscow - Mallorca - Barcelona - Girona - Moscow - Izhevsk. I didn’t even start making a plan in Excel, but simply added all the flights to the Google calendar and calmed down. From Girona we went to Figueres (the hometown of Salvador Dali). On the mainland, we traveled between cities by train: not very expensive and very convenient.
When planning, we relied on these (and many other) articles:
What influenced the route
The diagram shows that the route turned out to be a little strange. There are some reasons for this that may not be interesting to everyone, so I hid this information under a spoiler.
Factors that influenced trip planning
The following factors influenced the planning of the trip:
- we wanted to spend a few days on the beach by the warm sea;
- after the summer, I wanted a calm and measured holiday with a minimum amount of travel;
- I was going on a business trip to Sweden in the first half of October;
- Nastya (my girlfriend) could take a vacation no earlier than the end of September.
In the end, we decided that we needed to fly away so that I could fly straight from Spain to Stockholm, and Nastya could fly home. At the same time, after reading several articles, we came to the conclusion that in Barcelona itself at the end of September it is no longer so hot and swimming in the sea is no longer very comfortable. This, by the way, is not entirely true: at the beginning of October in Barcelona it was even hotter than in Mallorca. Therefore, we chose between two main destinations: the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. Both options were attractive in terms of beach holidays and natural diversity. In the end, the Balearic Islands won, or to be more precise, Mallorca, for the reason that they found not too expensive tickets there.
It’s worth writing about tickets separately. We wanted direct tickets without unnecessary transfers. Immediately we found options for Ibiza and Mallorca. In general, our route could have been a little different if we had been a little more efficient. For a long time, S7 had direct tickets to Ibiza for less than 4 thousand, but we did not dare to buy them, since the exact dates of my business trip were not known. In the end, of course, we waited and the tickets ran out. I had to buy tickets to Mallorca for almost 7 thousand.
With return tickets everything was even worse. I was sure that Pobeda would have tickets for up to 5 thousand rubles from Girona. However, Victory did not think so. As a result, the price only grew and grew, Nastya had to buy a ticket for almost 8 thousand. We thought that since we only needed to buy tickets for one person, we could live with that price. But then it turns out that my business trip to Sweden has been postponed a month, and I urgently need to look for tickets home!
By this time, the price of Victory tickets had already risen to a fantastic 13 thousand. I categorically did not want to pay that kind of money for a four-hour flight on Pobeda, so I began to look for other possible options. It took a while before I found a suitable route: for several weeks I followed flights to several destinations (Milan - Moscow, Pisa - Moscow, Girona - Moscow, etc.). This helped me a lot: after some time, a ticket Pisa - Moscow appeared for 4 thousand and at the same time Ryanair had a sale - 800 rubles for the Girona - Pisa route. The route is ready! I had to spend one day in different cities, but the savings came out to about 8 thousand. Not so little 🙂 And we hardly saw Pisa last time, so this day was eventful and interesting.
From all this we can draw a small conclusion: plan your trip in advance and don’t think too much if you see good tickets.
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Impression
Spain is beautiful! Although I probably can’t talk about all of Spain, because we only saw one island and several cities in Catalonia. However, I liked what we saw.
This was our first time renting a car. I will tell you in detail about renting in, but now I just want to say that in Mallorca it is very easy to do this: you do not need to have an international license, pay extra for a young driver and for full insurance (well, or we were very lucky). We just came, chose a car, paid for two days and immediately went for a ride. As a result, we drove about 400 kilometers and saw the central and northern parts of the island. We were completely delighted with nature, especially in the northern, mountainous part. The views are simply magnificent! And how great it is to visit small towns along the way!
Also worth noting are the island's excellent beaches. And the capital of Mallorca, Palma de Mallorca, is a very colorful and interesting city where you can safely stay for several days.
After such a slightly lazy holiday on the island, Barcelona seemed noisy and terribly crowded. Although, to be objective, there were many fewer people than, say, in Rome. Nevertheless, Barcelona is a very beautiful city. Especially the works of Gaudi. I was delighted with the Sagrada. The main thing is to take an audio guide with you, and then you begin to understand much more than just looking around.
Again, Girona was a discovery for me, small and cozy. Honestly, I liked this city even more than the capital of Catalonia. If you start to get acquainted with Spain from Girona airport, then don’t rush to go straight to Barcelona!
What’s interesting is that this time we practically didn’t find ourselves in any unpleasant situations: we weren’t late for our planes. The biggest annoyance of the entire trip, in my opinion, was the delay of the flight to Palma by an hour and a half. Unpleasant, but not scary either. I think this is due to the fact that the route was quite simple and unpretentious :)
Expenses before travel
In short, the total travel costs for two people for 13 days were ~141000. I will describe all the expenses in more detail further.
Directions:
| Travel expenses | |||||
| Name | Type | Carrier | Tickets | Price in purchase currency | Total price in rubles |
| Izhevsk — Moscow | Airplane | Izhavia | 2 | 5990 rubles | 5990 |
| Moscow — Palma de Mallorca | Airplane | Ural Airlines | 2 | 13900 rubles | 13900 |
| Palma de Mallorca - Barcelona | Airplane | Ryanair | 2 | 33.4 euros | 2520 |
| Girona — Moscow | Airplane | Victory | 1 | 7956 rubles | 7956 |
| Girona - Pisa | Airplane | Ryanair | 1 | 880 rubles | 880 |
| Pisa — Moscow | Airplane | Victory | 1 | 4673 rubles | 4673 |
| Aeroexpress | Train | 2 | 630 rubles | 630 | |
| Moscow — Agryz | Train | Russian Railways | 2 | 2887 rubles | 2887 |
| Total | 39436 | ||||
For the first time we started our vacation at the Izhevsk airport: for once, Izhavia was generous with more or less cheap tickets. In addition, it was convenient for us to fly to Domodedovo and immediately fly from there to Palma.
Housing:
| Housing expenses | ||||
| City | Service | Nights | Type | Price |
| Palma de Mallorca (Mallorca) | Airbnb | 1 | Room | 3200 |
| El Arenal (Mallorca) | Island | 4 | Double room with bath | 10990 |
| Barcelona | Airbnb | 3 | Room | 7445 |
| Girona | Airbnb | 2 | Room | 6100 |
| Girona | Hostelworlds | 1 | Space in the room | 1666 |
| Pisa | Airbnb | 1 | Space in the room | 290 |
| Total | 29691 | |||
Oddly enough, Barcelona had the lowest housing prices of all the cities we stayed in (not counting Pisa). In Mallorca we stayed in the cheapest hotel with questionable reviews, but in the end everything went well. We also used a coupon for 1000 rubles from Ostrovok.
In other cities, we booked accommodation through Airbnb, because... prices were lower there. At the same time, we used discounts for registering using a referral link, which allowed us to save more than 7 thousand (if you do not yet have an account on Airbnb, register using this link and receive 2100 rubles for your first trip).
Other expenses:
In addition, we tried to buy as many sightseeing tickets as possible in advance. As a result, we bought tickets to the Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo, Park Güell and the Dali Museum. The prices are not low. For example, for the cheapest ticket to Casa Batllo we paid 24.5 euros per person. Some tickets online are cheaper than at the box office. But the main reason to buy tickets in advance is to avoid the line at the box office and save valuable time. True, the trip will have to be planned more carefully: tickets are purchased for a certain date and time.
You can buy tickets on the official websites:
- Sagrada Familia (Cathedral of the Holy Family) - I advise you to take an audio guide in Russian - there is a lot of interesting information. The cathedral itself is simply incredible, a must see;
- Casa Batllo (House of Batllo) - we took the cheapest ticket and it was enough for us, the audio guide is already included in the price. The house is interesting, although, of course, it is quite expensive;
- Casa Mila (House of Mila) - we didn’t go here because we’d already spent quite a lot of money on viewing Gaudi’s works;
- Park Guell (Park Guell) - the park is not very interesting, in fact, and even with crowds of people inside. At the same time, the most interesting buildings (the same ones that are on all postcards from Barcelona) can be seen without going inside. On the other hand, entry is not very expensive (7.5 euros), so if you have free time, you can stop by.
- DALÍ THEATER-MUSEUM (Salvador Dali Theater Museum) - standard ticket costs 14 euros. The place is very interesting; Dali himself worked on its creation. True, without a guide it is difficult to understand what the author wanted to show with this or that work.
You can also buy tickets online for attractions in Mallorca, for example, to the Dragon's Cave (official website), but we didn't because the tickets can be shown on your phone, which means there's nothing stopping you from buying them immediately before your visit. By the way, the caves themselves were not very impressive, but listening to the concert near the underground lake was very interesting. If only there were fewer people :)
Total: 136 euros = ~ 9921 rubles
This time we didn’t, because last time () we received a Hungarian Schengen visa for a year.
All expenses before the trip: ~79048 rubles
Expenses during the trip
Our standard budget for the day is 70 euros, but this time we bought tickets for attractions in advance, so we reduced the total budget by the amount of purchases. As a result, we received a budget of 60 euros per day. And they practically met it. As a result, daily expenses look like this:
| Expenses by day | |
| Day | Amount (in euros) |
| 1 | 30,5 |
| 2 | 111,05 |
| 3 | 32,6 |
| 4 | 129,75 |
| 5 | 55,3 |
| 6 | 50,6 |
| 7 | 50,55 |
| 8 | 44,8 |
| 9 | 70,7 |
| 10 | 80,25 |
| 11 | 103,95 |
| 12 | 42,95 |
| Total: | 803 |
Some analytics
As on previous trips, I wrote down all expenses in detail so that I could later understand where, how much and what was spent on.
Distribution of expenses during the trip by category (in euros):
This time the main expenses were on food. The travel category included mainly expenses for car rental, gasoline and transfers from/to airports. We only used public transport in Barcelona, and then we only made a few trips on the metro. We bought most of the tickets for attractions in advance, so this part of the expenses (entertainment) is also not very large.
Distribution of expenses by city: 
Final chart for all expenses (in rubles):
Another interesting point is the euro exchange rate. You can notice a quite obvious trend: if during our time (July 2017) the average rate was about 68 rubles, then this time (September-October 2018) the average rate was about 77.5 rubles. You can draw your own conclusions :)
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