We are going to Spain for 15 days at the start of January! It is going to be a grande adventure full of food and wine, oh and maybe some tourist attractions, but mainly food and wine. I have started my research and so far am not sure how we are going to make this a Frugal Adventure.
Let’s break it down.
FLIGHTS: Free
Free you say? Yes free. We have been paying everything with our credit cards over the past year and a half, both of us now have enough points for 2 round trip tickets. This is obviously saving a huge amount right off the start, a total of $1200 per person.
ACCOMMODATIONS: Questionable
Why did I imagine Spain to be this affordable oasis in the off-season, does Spain even have an off-season? I am beginning to wonder. Barcelona will be the most expensive, but everywhere else isn’t exactly cheap. I mean, yes, we could stay in an 18 bed dorm room for $30 per night, rent a private dorm for $80 to $100 per night or simply get an AirBnB location which would be similar to the private dorm. Already we are spending an average of $50 per person per day on accommodations. I am determined to get this price down!
TRANSPORTATION: Affordable
I looked up the routes of where we want to travel and found it more frugal booking individual train or bus tickets rather than a rail pass. If we buy individual tickets over 15 days and possibly 6 locations we will only spend $200 each.
FOOD: Affordable
I have read online the best idea to save on food is to eat a small breakfast and then a big lunch which in Spain is called menu del dia which is affordable at around $10. I bet we can spend an average of $20 per day per person.
TOURIST ATTRACTIONS: Affordable
A lot of attractions have free days, there are many walking tours, old buildings to see, parks to explore and I am sure I will find more!
TOTAL ESTIMATED COST: $83 per person per day (a total cost so far of $1250 for 15 days)
I guess this is a start! I am determined to get the price down, and will continue doing research. I’ll keep you posted on our Frugal Spain Adventure! If anyone has any tips or tricks please post in the comments!
All of the above amounts are in Canadian dollars.
Air B&B Air BnB budget Budget Travel Frugal Frugal Travel Money Saving Tips Spain Spain on a Budget Travel
It’s been a few years since I last went to Spain nut it can definitely be done on a budget. Last time I went was to Barcelona for a weekend, we ended up renting a small apartment which ended up working out well as we saved money by having breakfast in the apartment and just had our main meal out. Generally in Spain the main meal is had lunchtime/early afternoon before siesta time. So there are normally quite a few meal deals around this time as opposed to a heavy meal at nighttime.
Holiday resort wise January is the off season in spain but this affects more coastal resorts relying on tourists wanting to sunbathe etc , if your going to cities and tourist attractions they are generally not going to be as affected by the seasons. That said, this is normally still when offers are on. Sadly the Canadian Dollar will always be doing battle with the euro , and holidaying on a budget can be undone simply by the conversion rate at the time. Have you tried Expedia.ca ?
Absolutely love it! Thank you for this!
avelovinit more to come!! Once the trips over I’m sure I’ll have more tips!