Spain

Spain, in a few days

From Barcelona down to Granada by high-speed train, through Valencia, Madrid and Seville: the map, what is worth booking, everything that costs nothing, and where to sleep at three budgets.

Day by day

1

Barcelona

Days 1-3

Gaudí marked the Catalan capital more than any king did: the Sagrada Família, begun in 1882 and still unfinished, and Park Güell on the hill above. Below it, the Gothic quarter, the Ramblas and a city beach.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Sagrada Família, skip the line1h30 · from €35
  Gaudí's basilica, under construction since 1882 and still short of its central tower. The queue at the door is long; the light through the coloured glass is why you go in.
• Park Güell and Gaudí, guided3h · from €45
  The mosaic bench, the crooked colonnades, and a park that was meant to be a housing estate. A guide explains why nobody bought a plot.

✦ Free to visit

• Las Ramblas and the Boqueria market
• The Gothic quarter
• Barceloneta beach
• Bunkers del Carmel, above the rooftops

📲 Book things to do in Barcelona on GetYourGuide

2

Madrid

Days 4-5 · 🚄 AVE 2h30

A capital that stays up late, with three great collections within ten minutes of each other: the Prado, the Reina Sofía and the Thyssen. Tapas and night life fill in the rest.

🎟️ Worth booking

• The Prado, guided2h · from €30
  Velázquez, Goya and Bosch in two hours, with someone to say which rooms to skip and which to stand still in.
• Tapas tour in La Latina3h · from €55
  Four or five bars in an evening, one plate at each, in the oldest drinking quarter of Madrid.

✦ Free to visit

• Retiro park
• Plaza Mayor
• The Royal Palace, from outside
• The Temple of Debod

📲 Book things to do in Madrid on GetYourGuide

3

Seville

Days 6-8 · 🚄 AVE 2h30

The Andalusian capital, Moorish in its bones and the home ground of flamenco. The Giralda was a minaret before it became a bell tower, and the Alcázar is still a working royal palace.

🎟️ Worth booking

• The Alcázar, skip the line2h · from €25
  A Mudéjar palace built for Christian kings by Moorish craftsmen, and still used by the royal family. Its gardens take a morning on their own.
• A flamenco performance1h30 · from €30
  A small room, a guitar, a singer and a dancer, in the city where the form took shape.

✦ Free to visit

• The cathedral and the Giralda
• Plaza de España
• The Triana quarter
• Maria Luisa park

📲 Book things to do in Seville on GetYourGuide

4

Granada

Days 9-10 · 🚄 Train 3h

The last Moorish kingdom in Spain, held until 1492. The Nasrid Alhambra looks down on the city, and the Sierra Nevada looks down on both.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Alhambra and Generalife, skip the line3h · from €40
  The Nasrid palaces, their carved stucco and their water gardens. Tickets sell out weeks ahead, which is what you are really buying.
• Flamenco in the Sacromonte caves1h30 · from €30
  Danced in the whitewashed cave houses of the old Roma quarter, close enough to feel the floor move.

✦ Free to visit

• The Albaicín quarter
• Mirador San Nicolás
• Free tapas with your drink
• The cathedral

📲 Book things to do in Granada on GetYourGuide

Worth sorting before you go

The AVE train · Renfe runs high-speed services between the big cities in two to three hours. Book weeks ahead and the fare drops by half.

📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly

🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta

🚗 Car hire
Compare the agencies before you land.
Compare · Booking

💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut

🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer

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Flavours & local habits

🍽️ Worth tasting

• Tapas: small plates to share, and in Granada still brought free with a drink.
• Paella: Valencian saffron rice, eaten at midday and never at night.
• Jamón ibérico: acorn-fed ham, cured for years and carved by hand.
• Churros con chocolate: fried dough and thick chocolate, at breakfast or late afternoon.
• Gazpacho: cold tomato soup, drunk from a glass through the summer.

⚠️ Best avoided

• Dinner starts at nine or ten, and kitchens shut in the afternoon. Plan the day around it.
• A photograph of paella outside a restaurant on the Ramblas is a warning. Eat it at midday, elsewhere.
• Pickpockets work the Ramblas and the metro. Keep your bag in front of you.
• Order the menú del día at lunch: three courses and a drink for what one dish costs at night.

Words that help

English ↔ Spanish

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The practical page

Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/spain

Packing checklist

Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.