Visiting Spain on a Budget
One of the biggest perks of being a teacher is having long summers off to be able to travel. However, being a teacher certainly does NOT ensure a lofty budget to travel WITH (talk about a Catch 22!) When Andrew and I started talking about taking a belated honeymoon to Spain, we were so excited but knew that we would have to stick to a set price point in order for our 3 week stay to be possible. We both did lots of research and ended up being able to create a complete itinerary for under $3,000 per person! INCLUDING AIRFARE! Today I’m sharing my top tips for visiting Spain on a budget so you can visit this amazing country without breaking the bank!
How I Got Hooked on Spain
Spain is a place that is very near and dear to my heart. Leah and I studied abroad in Valencia, Spain for several months while attending college and immediately fell in love with the food, culture, and sun soaked beaches. After our time abroad, I knew that Spain would be a forever home away from home and immediately began planning my return trip!
Leah and I were fortunate enough to go back 2 years later to visit Valencia and several other of our favorite Spanish cities. After that trip, I knew I had to get Andrew to come with me and experience the beauty that is Spain. Fast forward 2 more years to 2019 and I could not be more excited to embark on my 3rd visit to Spain, this time with the love of my life.
As this will be my 4th trip to Europe, I’ve learned from some past mistakes how and how NOT to cut corners when it comes to budget. (Ex. Don’t pretend you can live off of oranges and $2 bottles of wine when there are restaurants serving up some of the world’s BEST food at every corner.) Below I’m sharing Andrew and my budget breakdown for our 3 week trip.
Our Trip-3 Weeks in Spain
Total Cost Per Person: $3,072
Airfare-$477 round trip
Food-$30/day
Transportation-$300
Excursions-$300
Housing-$40/night per person
Spending Money-$25/day
**As a special treat, Andrew and I added an extra week and a half to our Spain trip to take my mom to London and Ireland for a short “pre-trip”. (Not figured into the budget above) She’s never been abroad and had a big birthday this year so we wanted to do something special for her! We also decided to fly into Amsterdam to end our Spain trip as I have wanted to visit the Anne Frank house the past 3 times I’ve been to Europe but couldn’t manage to fit it in.
Airfare $477
Saving on airfare cost is one of the easiest ways of visiting Spain on a budget. Some of you may be wondering how in the world we were able to fly round trip to Europe for under $500 (bought through Expedia with Iceland Air). Honestly, I can’t even fly to Texas for that cost! One of the biggest ways to save money when traveling internationally is to fly out of Canada! Tickets from the Detroit airport to Spain typically range from $1,300-$2,000 whereas tickets from Toronto (a 3.5 hr trip from my hometown) is about $500-$800. That’s some serious change you can save! You can also save money by flying into Dublin or London, two of the cheapest European airports. From there you can easily catch a budget Ryanair flight to Spain for under $50. (Yes, flying withing Europe is extremely affordable!)
We’ve also found it super helpful to book flights at least 4 months in advance. Cheap international flights tend to sell out fast so I had been eyeballing these tickets since November and knew that nothing cheaper was going to come along.
Food $30/day
I’m a serious foodie and I can say with all honesty that $30 a day is more than enough money to eat 3 meals a day plus a treat or two in Spain. Especially along the eastern coast, Spain is abundant in farmland and the fruit and vegetables are abundant! My host mom would go to the grocery store, fill her entire cart with fresh fruit, fish, veggies for about $50.
Grab a pastry and a cafe con leche (latte) for breakfast for under $10. For lunch, the best option is to order from the menu del dia (daily option). This often includes an appetizer, main dish, dessert and drink! You can’t do better than that! For dinner embrace the Spanish culture with tapas-small plates that are great for sharing. Oftentimes you will even get a tapas plate complimentary when you purchase a drink. Spaniards usually eat their largest meal in the middle of the day and enjoy tapas or a small piece of fish, potato and egg omelette, or fresh bread and cheese for dinner. (Doesn’t sound too bad right?)
Another great way to taste the best food is at open air markets. Pretty much every town has a market where you can order tapas, sandwiches, baked goods, and fresh produce for very reasonable prices. For me, there’s nothing better than heading to the local market for lunch and filling up on the freshest, most affordable options! Visiting Spain on a budget doesn’t mean sacrificing flavor!
Transportation $300
As I mentioned above, travel within Europe is extremely affordable. You can catch a flight from one country to another for $50-$100. Public transportation is readily available as well and you can chose between taking a train, bus, or tram. For local transportation we estimate $5/day as we will be walking as much as possible. Bus/train tickets to and from each of the 7 Spanish cities we will be visiting will cost us roughly $200/person.
Excursions/Site Seeing-$300
Excursions and site seeing can be a costly part of traveling abroad. You want to see it all and often that comes with spending it all! Museums, cathedrals, clock towers, flamenco dancing, ancient palaces…the list goes on! The good news: there are lots of cheap and even free sites to see in Spain. Andrew and I agreed that we would pick one major attraction to splurge on in each city and the rest would be free/under $10 entrance. One of the best ways to see the sites in Europe is simply by walking the streets or to sit at a local coffee shop and admire the architecture around you. You’ll be surprised by how much you can learn just by studying your surroundings.
Housing-$40/night
Airbnb, Airbnb, Airbnb! I cannot recommend it enough! Visiting Spain on a budget is made easy with this amazing home and apartment rental service! You can choose from a variety of options: separate bedroom and shared living spaces, entire apartments etc. As it is our honeymoon, Andrew and I chose to reserve entire homes/apartments in each of our destinations. However, if you book ahead (I booked all of our reservations 7 months out- back in November) you can find some amazing, centrally located living spaces. Each of our apartments is within a 15 minute walk from the center of town and very affordable! Most are under $70 for the entire apartment! Use this link to receive $40 off your first Airbnb stay! I will be sure to share all of our living spaces on our Instagram Stories!
Spending Money-$25/day
I’m more of a “have done” instead of a “have” type of girl meaning I don’t tend to take a lot of souvenirs with me from my travels (minus a full belly). My spending money is often used on buying a second ice cream or an occasional outfit that I can’t part with!
Speaking of clothes, in Spain stores don’t have constant sales like we do in the US. Stores have blow out sales (rebajas) twice a year in December and July (pretty much like a month long Black Friday) IT IS AMAZING and I am excited to be in Spain for the start of Rebajas! All of my outfits why in Spain can be found in our Instashop
Visiting Spain on a Budget-More Travel Posts to Come!
Thanks for reading my tips on visiting Spain on a budget. This week I will be sharing a blog post every day with tips and tricks for traveling abroad, my favorite travel essentials and much more! Check out our Instagram Stories to stay updated!
