Twenty Five Top Spanish Holiday Tips

1. Do not plan to see too much of Spain at one time. Many want to see one new city every day. They may be unaware of the distances between cities and one does not want to be traveling every single day. It is best to stay in cities for at a minimum of two nights, preferably three. That way one can see a city in depth and remember it. Spain has to be savored slowly with time for one to sit at a sidewalk cafe, eating tapas and drinking a glass of wine while one sees the passing parade or contemplates a monument.

2. Ask your hotel desk for a map of the city or ask for it at the local tourist office. There is no need to buy this at a bookstore. You can get a good map which identifies monuments and important buildings at:.

3. Some restaurants that cater to tourists are not ethical and may bring you a plate of ham and cheese when you sit down. There are no free things in life, so refuse it because they will charge you a pretty penny for it. They may have signs in English to lure you in. The exception are restaurants in the Costa del Sol, which have menus in Spanish, English, French, and German.

4. Spain’s state-owned paradores are far more than a place to sleep. From former palaces to one-time castles and convents, paradores offer nights of grandeur and historical charm. Most are also magnificently sited, none more so than in Ronda and Granada. Ronda is perched on an inland plateau riven by the 100m fissure of El Tajo gorge and surrounded by the beautiful Serrania de Ronda, Ronda is the most dramatically sited of all the pueblos, blancos. Just an hour north of the Costa del Sol, it is nevertheless a world away from the coastal scene.

5. CAFES — Airports serve delicious Spanish coffee, tapas and the usual sandwiches. There are no three stars.

6. Spain was among the very first nations to allow same-sex couples to enjoy equal marriage rights, to openly adopt children and to be treated with equal respect and dignity under the law. This legal equality and level of acceptance has created a welcoming atmosphere that has made Spain a popular destination for safe, memorable gay vacations.

7. It is also a fallacy that most stores and restaurants close up during summer in big cities. Madrid is a city of 5 million and most stores and restaurants are open all year long.

8. Many restaurants have several menus of the day, each at a different price. When one enters a restaurant, it is worthwhile to ask for the menu (ask for la carta) and read all of the special offers.

9. Be aware that Spain is the second largest country in Western Europe (after France) and one of the most mountainous (after Switzerland). The central meseta is a highland plateau and Madrid is on this meseta. Be aware of distances between cities. Google Maps or the Via Michelin website can tell you what these distances are.

10. Lunch is usually served between 1 pm and 4 pm. Some big chains like VIPS open at 12:30 pm and serve the menu of the day all day.

11. The Sales Tax Refund – There is a sales tax, called IVA in Spain, which is a value added tax of 18% on retail sales. You can get a refund on this if your purchases are at least 90 euros at one store. Look for stores with the Tax Free signs. They will give you an invoice which includes the price and the tax on each item. You can accumulate these invoices if you shop at different stores. When you go to the airport to depart, look for the Spanish customs desk. You must have your invoices and the form asking for the refund filled out. You then show the inspectors the items you have bought and the inspectors will stamp your form. After going through the airport inspection, look for a mail box where you can drop the form. Your credit card will be debited in about 2 months with the IVA refund.

12. Talk to people from your country that own property in Spain.

13. If you look at travel sites for hotel rooms at a specific city and you decide on a hotel, see what the hotel rate is for a different date. At most hotels, the hotel rates change everyday and usually the weekend rate is lower than the midweek rate, but this may be the opposite for resorts, where the weekend rates are higher. You may want to change your schedule to take advantage of lower rates.

14. If you are driving a car, go to the Via Michelin website to plan your trips. You can get very detailed driving instructions and maps between cities. There is no need to buy a separate map because the website will provide it to you.

15. The Spanish eat their big meal of the day during lunch time. Most restaurants offer a menu of the day from Monday to Friday for lunch only. This is usually a bargain and may cost between 8 to 13 euros, as of this writing. Upper scale restaurants will charge a bit more. The menu of the day will be posted outside the restaurant, so one can see if it is interesting before entering the restaurant. For tourists who are on a budget, this is a very good deal and one can save money by having lunch at these restaurants that offer the menu of the day.

16. If you studied Spanish in high school, brush up on helpful phrases and terms before your trip. You will delight Spaniards if you attempt to communicate with them in their native tongue. Spanish is easy to pronounce. Make a list of helpful phrases. Have a Spanish speaking friend assist you with pronunciation and wording. Record your phrases on an index card for reference.

17. During fall, many resorts in the north of Spain and along the Mediterranean have many of their stores and restaurants closed for the season. This may happen in the middle of September. This never happens in the Costa del Sol, which is always open because there are many northern Europeans who migrate during this time and spend winter in the area.

18. Menus are usually displayed according to food types – salads (ensaladas), tapas (small platters), pastas, fish/seafood - usually categorized together (marisco), meat (carne) and desserts (postres). The standard eating practice in Spain is to order an appetizer, main dish and dessert, although of course, you are not obligated to order in that manner.

19. The Spaniards tend to drink wine or beer with their meal, and most tend to think it weird to have coca cola with food. Of course it’s fine to order it in restaurants, but if you’re interested in experiencing the true Spanish culinary practices, try out a glass of Ribero del Duero (red wine) with your meal and you might be surprised to find yourself loving it. If you’re looking at ordering wine (vino), the wine list in restaurants in Spain can be extremely long. So if you’d like to save some time and just sample the house wine, simply order ‘vino de la casa’.

20. The bus may be the most inexpensive way to travel, followed by the train. If you take the train, you may be able to get the discounts if you buy your tickets on the internet. Buy them 62 days in advance because the discounts may go fast.

21. Madrid has the best tap water in Spain, which comes from the neighboring mountains. Taste tests versus bottled water showed no differences in taste. Since each small bottle of bottled water costs 1 euro or more, you can save some money. Fill your bottle at your hotel bathroom. Incidentally, the tap water in every big city in Spain is perfectly safe to drink and meets all the sanitary rules. People drink bottled water only for its taste, because the tap water in some cities may have a funny taste for them. Try the tap water first before ordering bottled water. At restaurants, to order tap water, ask for “agua del grifo”.

22. You can see Spain with a group tour. However be aware that most tours of Spain will try to allow you to see the most monuments and cities, so they do not leave one with enough free time. One cannot dawdle with these tours. For many older travelers, they may be too fast paced and one may develop health problems because of this. Most of them go by bus, so it is not much fun to be traveling by bus all day. One can see Spain on one’s own without a group tour if one plans properly. One is perfectly safe in Spain by going alone. If one is mature one does not need a chaperone or guide to tell him what to do all day long.

23. Buy food at the supermarket. You can buy bread, cold cuts, cheese, desserts, and wine at the supermarket. You can get good wine in liter cartons for less than a euro and most of the time the wine will be very good. There is no need to eat at a restaurant everyday. For the big cities in Spain, there are supermarkets that are open on Sunday. Bring a small kitchen knife and a wine cork opener to help prepare your meals.

24. The best way to travel from Madrid to other cities is by the high speed train, the AVE. It beats air travel because it is more comfortable than the plane, because you can move around in the train and go to the cafeteria car to eat snacks. Airlines like to restrict movement of passengers within the plane. Spain is now the European country with the largest network of high speed trains. If you have never traveled on a high speed train, you will enjoy the travel on the AVE.

25. If you’re just out for tapas, keep in mind that they are usually very small platters. For example, a tapa of tortilla de patatas usually means a small slice of omelette (imagine a slice of cake). With that in mind, you can decide how much you’ll need to fill you up. Most people are happy to have 2 to 3 tapas per person. If you’re interested in learning more about tapas, you might be keen on joining tapas and wine tours in Madrid.