Traveling around Spain has
been way cheaper comparing to France in almost everything: food, drinks and
housing. I liked the people a lot and
the local lifestyle and life attitude actually made me think of living there
for a few months (years?).
Spanish
people – you rock! You are fun, loud and can make a party out of nothing just
in the middle of the street!
Trip Details
We’ve focused on
exploring gorgeous Andalucia and wanted to spend a week on the beach, so opted
to head South.18
days 13 cites visited.
Itinerary:
5 days in Madrid
1 day Cordoba
2 days Sevilla
6 days Malaga +hopping
around Costa del Sol: Tourmalines, Fuengirola, Marbella, Nerja, Maro, La Cala
Del Moral in search of the best beaches!
2 days Granada
1 day Torre del
Mar + Caleta de Velez
1 day Madrid
How much does our Spain trip cost?
I didn’t include flight costs to the budget, but there are a lot of dirty cheap offers from RyanAir and Easyjet – all flying to the main airport Madrid Barajas. You can get to the city by Metro Line 8. A one-way ticket will cost around 5€ if you need to get anywhere to the city center. Lufthansa has awesome flight deals to Madrid too; just try booking 1-2 months ahead!
Accommodation:
As a couple, we’ve opted
for private rooms in hostels + rented a room in a flat in Malaga with a small
kitchen to cook and common living area.
Couchsurfing would have
cut our costs at least twice, but we couldn’t find nice hosts. July is a high
season I guess.
Average price per night
per person: 14€
Cheapest: 20€/room - Hostal CasaBueno in Madrid via Booking Promo Deals.
Priciest: 44/€/room - Hotelel Paraiso in Caleta de Velez via Booking.com
Best value for money: 30€/room
- Hospederia Luis de Gongora in Cordoba viaHostelbookers.com
Transportation: Buses in Spain are twice cheaper than trains, so we’ve traveler all the way round the country that way. Alsa and Sociobus are two biggest carriers and you can get basically anywhere by bus. It’s better to buy tickets at least 1-2 days advance or earlier for popular destinations like Malaga/Madrid. However, both Alsa and Sociobus have extra fees for online ticket purchase. Bonus: free wi-fi on board, though it doesn’t work well all the time.J
Food/Drinks: Our average daily spending for food was around 20€ per person. Most of the bars offer free tapas to the drinks you order or meal (sometimes the plate is just huge!). Look for Menu del Dia – a 3 course meal (mostly with drink included) that costs around 9-10€ in non-touristy places. Fruits are extremely cheap in any supermarket chain or small fruterias. There are a lot of drinking fountains all around Spain, so grab a bottle for re-filling.
Museums and attractions: We are both still under 25 and get free or discounted rates for all the museums and attractions. Though, I’m not a student already an ID card I’ve got from Erasmus Community in Besancon worked fine in all the cases J Free admissions: Prado Museum and Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, Fundacion Picasso in Malaga. Reduced rates: Picasso Museum in Malaga, Alcazaba of Malaga, Sevilla and Cordoba, Almudena Cathedral and Royal Palace in Madrid. No discounts: La Alhambra in Granada, The Great Mosque of Cordoba. Though, the best attractions in Spain are absolutely free – walk around the city by foot, marvel the architecture and have a mid-afternoon siesta under a palm tree in one of the gorgeous parks.
Have you been to Spain? Did you find it affordable?
