Places to visit in Spain

Places to visit in Spain is endless! The land of sunshine and siesta, Spain has a different vibe from rest of Western Europe- it is more colorful, happening, jovial, has a character of its own. The movie Zindagi na milegi dobara played a significant role in introducing destinations in Spain, the Mediterranean Sea and making them popular

Best time to visit

Spring and Autumn between Mar- May, Sep- Nov are best months to visit. The temperature will be pleasant with minimal rains and snow

Visa

Schengen visa is valid here

Getting In and around

Madrid and Barcelona are the major airports and train stations. In fact, there are 50+ domestic airports in Spain, so every place is pretty well connected. Uber is helpful for short distance travel

Currency- Euro

Spain is a part of Eurozone. You can get Euros from India or use a zero charges card for withdrawal from ATMs in Spain

Places to see

Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Granada are some of the popular places to visit in Spain. We did not cover Madrid since it felt like any other European city

Barcelona

Sagrada Familia

The magnificent, work in progress church, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Construction started in 1882 and is expected to be complete in 2026. The church has quite some unique architecture, colors, a vision of the architect Gaudi. He has made an effort to reflect nature, trees, fruits, leaves inside the building. Post competition, it will be almost equal but slightly lesser in height vs. the natural mountains of the Catalan region, an intentional thought by Gaudi to have man made structures smaller than nature

Las Rambla

Popular pedestrian street with a lively atmosphere, colorful markets selling fresh fruits, and impromptu street performances

Place de Catalunya

The city centre and starting point of most tours

Sants Monjuic

You can reach the mountain top by cable car to get awesome views of the city

Beaches

One of the topmost rated beaches with nice vibe, good waters and resting area. Hotel W forms an iconic background

Montserrat

A day trip from Barcelona. We took a rental car since we were 3-4 of us from office who could share costs. The place is also accessible by public transport, but might have to start a bit early in the day around 8 AM to comfortably cover the place before dark. Rental car was similar on costs per head and we had an advantage of stopping on the way to enjoy views of beautiful snow capped peaks

Montserrat has a nice monastery amidst uniquely shaped mountains. The black idol of Madonna, the Virgin of Montserrat was something I had not seen elsewhere. She is the patroness saint of Catalonia

You can read more about reaching by public transport and buying tickets here

Camp Nou

A heaven for football fans. The ground keeps hosting matches, so you can try your luck when in Barcelona. Even when there are no matches in play, you can visit the museum- it is pretty good giving you goosebumps while watching some of the greatest moments in history

Sevilla

Seville is a city with Moorish influence. It is culturally very rich and a gateway if you want to travel further into Portugal. Seville was one of the most favorite cities of mine in Europe, just for the sunshine and lively atmosphere

Real Alcazar

A palace built in Moorish architecture style. It has quite flamboyant ceilings, many rooms and gardens

Cathedral of Seville

One of the largest churches in the world by size

Plaza de Espana

The central square of the city and starting point of many tours

Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza- The bull fighting arena is quite a nice building which we visited from outside

Flamenco shows- La Carboneria near the cathdral has ree shows starting from 9:30 PM everyday

Things to know

Sangria is a popular drink in Spain. Do give it a try if you are in places like Barcelona. You can get a watered down version without alcohol too, but only in a few places
Flamenco traces a good history in Spain from Andalucia. You can watch performances in theatres, some hotels/ clubs in the evening time
Spain is also popular to witness bull fighting in cities like Seville, called Corrida De Toros. We avoided such shows- it is not safe for bulls or humans. The bull is killed at the end, so we were quite against the show
La Tomatina festival held in Bunol is similar to Holi. There is tomato fighting all over and many specially visit during this time around August last week
Tapas, Paella are popular foods from Spain. Paella is a flavored rice dish with olives, herbs, spices, saffron, beans, meat- you can get vegetarian versions in few places. Tapas is like finger food
Wine and olives are omnipresent – you will see acres of wine yards and coasts lined with olive trees
Spanish people rest in the afternoons, taking a nice Siesta
Football culture is very prominent, with many visitors coming to only see Camp Nou, the home of FC Barcelona and La Liga
Antoni Gaudi was a famous architect who designed many funky buildings in Barcelona including Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Casa Batllo, Casa Mila
The Catalan region considers itself separate to rest of Spain and is fighting independence battle since 2009. You might see protests and road shows in Barcelona time to time

How much does it cost

Flights: $500-600 Middle East carriers like Etihad are typically the cheapest with best connections
Accommodation: Hostels cost $10-20 per night and mid-range can be around $50
Travelling around: Budget $10-30 per day for mix of public transport and 1-2 Uber rides
Food: $10-20 for simple takeaways. Try out Paella, Tapas, Sangria