Spain Travel Tips: 20 Things First-Time Visitors Should Know

Last updated on May 28, 2026

Lured in by the charming plazas, rich history, delicious tapas culture, and stunning beaches, millions of travelers flock to Spain each year. And while you are almost guaranteed to have a memorable vacation no matter where you’re going, knowing helpful Spain travel tips will definitely help you have an even better experience.

In this guide, I’m using my personal experience of living in the country and returning more than seven times now to share 20 of the best tips for traveling in Spain.

From safety precautions, including navigating pick-pocketing hotspots in certain cities, and accommodations, to understanding local dining customs such as meal times and how to steer clear of tourist traps, this guide covers everything you need to know before visiting.

Things to Know Before Visiting Spain (Quick Guide)

💳 Currency: Spain uses the Euro and is mostly a cashless country. Make sure you have a credit card that does not charge international fees and bring some cash. Exchange money at your local bank (normally free) before arriving. Do not exchange it at the airport or an exchange service in Europe. If you need more euros, pull money out from an ATM with a debit card. I use a Revolut card to pay no ATM or bank fees when traveling abroad.

🩻 Travel Insurance:
We always have travel health insurance when we go abroad. Healthcare is free in Spain, but as a tourist, you may need to pay a small fee for prescriptions or medical care. We secure SafetyWing travel insurance before our trip, which protects us in the event of a major medical emergency or other common travel issues, like trip interruption or theft.

🏨 Booking accommodations in Spain:
Barcelona and Madrid have major restrictions against vacation rentals and Airbnbs, so search for hotels on Booking.com first. They will have licensed and approved vacation rentals in areas that still allow them, so you can find the best place to stay.

🤳🏽 SIM cards:
Most US and Canadian phone carriers will not work when traveling in Spain. You will need to pay $10 a day for limited data, calls, and texting, or you can buy an eSIM from Airalo. They have really affordable rates and packages if you’re traveling to multiple countries.

🗣️ Do you need to know Spanish to travel to Spain?
Yes and no. Knowing Spanish will certainly make it a more enjoyable experience. If you’re visiting popular tourist destinations like Madrid or Barcelona, you won’t need to speak Spanish to enjoy your trip. If you do want to practice some Spanish before you go (highly recommended), here is a detailed guide with our favorite language resources.

✈️ How can I find cheap flights to Spain?
I use Google Flights to compare flight prices at the time I want to visit. However, Skyscanner is another great tool to find cheap flight deals and will alert you if the flight goes up or down.

🚗 Best way to get around in Spain:
I don’t recommend renting a car in Spain. Most historic towns and cities are challenging to drive through, and big cities have great public transport. You can also take trains or buses to get from city to city. However, if a road trip is a must, book your car on DiscoverCars.

🪙 Tipping Culture in Spain:
Spain does not have a tipping culture. You are not expected to leave a tip on food, coffee, or tours. If you’d like, you can round up the bill (e.g., a €4.50 bill and you leave €5), but it’s not required or expected.

🥘 Meal times in Spain:
Meals are eaten later in Spain. Plan to have lunch around 1:30 or 2:00 pm and dinner around 9:00 pm. Most restaurants will close between 4:30 pm and 8:30 pm, so plan your day accordingly.

🪇 How do I find fun activities and cultural tours in Spain?
We use GetYourGuide (top pick) or Viator to book our tours in Spain when possible.

Essential Spain Travel Tips for First-Time Visitors

Know Where to Go Based on When You’re Visiting

One of the top things to know before traveling to Spain is where to go and when. Generally avoid traveling to Spain in August if possible. There are a few places that are nice to visit in August, but for most of the country, it’s the worst time to visit. I wrote an entire post about why you shouldn’t travel to Spain in August and when to visit instead.

Spain’s weather is varied. The north is a rainier, colder climate with gorgeous pastures and epic mountains, making it a great spot to visit in the summer.

The south and eastern part of the country is home to hotter, arid, desert-like climates. It gets unbearably hot in peak summer in most places, and in some events snows in winter at high elevations or in the northern regions, making summer a terrible time to go.

🌤️ Typically, spring and fall are the ideal times to visit most places in Spain, but let the regional weather guide you in choosing your destination during your vacation window. Check out where to visit when here.

Don’t Expect Air Conditioning

Most Spanish homes and businesses don’t have air conditioning. Hotels and the occasional vacation rental in tourist hotspots like Madrid, Barcelona, or Sevilla will have A/C, but it’s not a common luxury.

Search for accommodations with air conditioning if you’ll be traveling there during the summer months. Also, don’t expect a reprieve from the heat by going into shops or restaurants. Many places will have open-air dining even when it’s 100° out.

Don’t Expect Elevators in many Airbnbs

When booking an Airbnb or vacation rental in Spain, check if the building has a lift or elevator. Most older buildings in Spain do not have elevators, and you’ll be stuck walking up several flights of stairs with luggage to get to your room.

We almost booked the cutest accommodation for our trip to Madrid before I discovered it was on the fifth floor with no lift. Not having an elevator isn’t the end of the world, but it is good to know before booking and make sure you’re comfortable walking up the stairs.

Use the Persianas When Sleeping

Persianas are window coverings that are built into almost every Spanish home. These blackout shutters can be manually or electronically rolled up or down to darken the room or help keep it cooler in the summer months.

Use the persianas at night when sleeping; it’s a dream how dark the room gets! If you’re trying to shelter the blaring sun from your space, keep them partially turned down during the day to create sombra (shade).

Plan Around Spain’s Meal Times

Spaniards’ eating schedule is very different from most other countries. They eat very late and more frequently. While it’s not a requirement to eat at the same hours, eating when Spaniards do helps you avoid tourist trap restaurants that cater to the early eating schedules of foreigners.

Meals are slow and intentional. Expect your dining experience, particularly for lunch, to last at least an hour or two. Breakfast is usually quick and done standing at the cafeteria counter. Tapas is also usually a standing experience as you move from spot to spot (more on that later). You can learn all about Spanish meal times here!

Note: some places in southern Spain call Comida (lunch) almuerzo. The names of the meals may vary based on where you are visiting.

Order the Menú del Día During the Week

Menú del día means daily menu in Spanish. The menú del día program was created in the 1960s by the Franco Regime to promote tourism in Spain. He wanted to make high-quality meals accessible for visitors through a special three-course menu.

His plan worked. It did increase tourism, but locals came to love the affordable fixed-price menus too, and it is now a staple across the country. The menu includes a drink, which can be water, soda, wine, or beer (but not a combination of them – water and wine would be extra).

Menú del día is only served during the week (no weekends ever), and not every restaurant will offer this (most will though). You can choose your appetizer, main dish, and dessert, which are normally very generous portions. I honestly think persianas and menú del día are two of my favorite things about Spain.

Tap Water is Safe (but Water is Rarely Free)

Many cities in Spain will have public water fountains that serve filtered tap water. This water is safe to drink and a nice, free way to refill your water bottle. Restaurants will almost exclusively serve water in bottles either con gas (sparkling) or sin gas (flat).

Bottled water will cost 2€-4€. At certain establishments, it is often more expensive than wine or beer. 🫢 You can ask for tap water at a restaurant by asking for jara de agua (jug of water from the tap), which is free.

Most people who use/carry refillable water bottles everywhere they go are tourists. Spaniards drink water, but normally at meals and in small amounts. It’s rare to see someone with a water bottle on the go. We got asked so many times why we carried our liter water bottle with us and drank so much water daily.

Follow Proper Tapas Etiquette

Tapas are one of the many claims to fame in Spain. Tapa, which typically defines food made for sharing, is a way of life for locals. There is even a verb, tapear, which describes the act of eating tapas.

Most foreigners simply think of getting tapas as eating a bunch of small plates for dinner, but the idea is to share the experience with others, moving from bar to bar and trying the destination’s specialty. And definitely isn’t only small plates.

You have loads of traditional tapas that are a staple on many menus. Think croquettes, tortilla de patatas, patatas bravas, huevos rotos, queso, pimientos de padrón, and many others. However, the best tapas are often the unique dishes that the restaurant specializes in and cannot be found elsewhere.

Most tapas bars will serve a drink with the tapa, like a glass of wine, caña (small beer), or a non-alcoholic beverage (remember they will charge for water bottles).

Try to avoid doing tapas like a tourist, and practice the art of moving from bar to bar, trying one or two items with a drink. It’s an affordable and fun way to try different dishes and see the town.

You Don’t Need to Leave a Tip

Tipping is not required or expected in Spain. Wages are (arguably) sufficient for the workers to live without tips. Recently, more Spaniards have begun rounding up the bill to include a small tip for workers (usually less than 1€ no matter the total).

If you really enjoyed your meal and service and want to show extra appreciation to your server, you can leave a 5% tip; however, this is not required or that common amongst Spaniards. If it does happen, it’s normally in a very nice restaurant where the service is above and beyond.

Some restaurants in tourist areas will have a jar for tipping or request it on the bill after paying. Know this is not typical nor required to be a respectful patron. We practice as the locals do, rounding up occasionally but do not generally leave a big tip for our server.

Slow service is not bad service in Spain—it’s just service culture. Waiters are slow to arrive at the table, are often short in communication, and won’t check on you throughout the meal. You will need to wave down the attendant to get their attention if you want refills, to order something else, or to get the bill.

Expect an Upcharge To Sit at a Table or on the Patio

Many restaurants have different pricing depending on whether you sit at a table or on the patio compared to the bar. You will get the best pricing if you sit or stand at the bar. Service is very informal, but you have direct access to the bartender and servers. Expect a 10% to 20% upcharge if you sit at a table or on the patio.

Order Local Specialties (Not Paella or Sangria)

Paella is Spain’s national dish and what most foreigners seek out no matter where they are visiting in Spain. However, Paella is a regional dish that comes from Valencia. Unless you’re visiting that region, it’s really not the dish to order when dining out.

There’s a huge debate over paella. Any dish called paella needs to be made traditionally. If it has chorizo, seafood, or other ingredients commonly added to the dish in other parts, it’s called “arroz con cosas” or “rice with things.” Also, paella is a lunch dish and not something you would eat at dinner.

Rather than sticking with paella and sangria, learn the local regional specialties in the area you are visiting. Every region has its own specialties, which are fantastic.

Also, Sangria is not a drink most Spaniards will order. They will normally have vermut (vermouth is Spain’s national drink and popular aperitif drink before a meal), a caña (small beer), a glass of vino tinto (red wine), vino blanco (white wine), or tinto de verano (red wine mixed with Sprite and lemon).

Learn a Few Basic Spanish Phrases

It’s helpful to know a few basic phrases in Spanish. Many people in the major cities will speak English, but in smaller towns, not so much.

It’s especially helpful to know a few phrases for ordering food. In English, we typically say “I would like (me gustaría), or I want (yo quiero).” But this is not how you would order in Spanish.

Instead, say “me pones” or “nos pones,” which roughly means ‘bring me’ or ‘give us’. For example, “me pones el salmorejo para empezar, el lomo para segundo, y una copa de vino tinto cuando puedas.” This translates to “Give me the salmorejo soup to start, the lomo for my main plate, and a glass of red wine when you can.”

Me pones sounds rude in English, but direct translations don’t work. Understand the phrases and verbs used by native speakers and locals to order appropriately. They also don’t use pleases and thank you as much as we do in English. You can instead say, “cuando puedas” at the end, which means when you can. This is how they would show respect and politeness when ordering.

Ordering in Spain and common Spanish phrases:

• Instead of hola (hello) say:
  • Buenas dias (good morning)
  • Buenas tardes (good afternoon)
  • Buenas noches (good evening) or,
  • simply “buenas”
• Instead of adios (goodbye) say:
  • Hasta luego (pronounced asta logo)
• When ordering, instead of saying quiero (I want) or quiesiera (I would like), say:
  • Me pones
• La cuenta (the check) or me cobras por favor (can I pay, please).
• Con tarjeta (with card). Effectivo (cash).
• Jarra de agua (jug of water from the tap).
• La carta (menu).
• Vino tino (red wine) or vino blanco (white wine).
  • 🍷 A glass of wine is ordered by saying copa.
  • 🍾 A bottle of wine is ordered by saying botella.
• Caña (a small glass of beer).
• Where is the bathroom?¿Donde estan los baños?
• How much does it cost? ¿Cuánto cuesta?

Plan Around Siesta Time (4:00 – 8:00 pm)

Most businesses close between 4:00/4:30 pm and 7:00 or 8:00 pm for “siesta time”. This includes everything from clothing shops, fruterias, museums, and restaurants.

This time was traditional for the workers to be able to have a late lunch and rest or get things done before opening again.

Siesta isn’t a huge thing in large cities like Madrid or Barcelona, and large chain stores won’t close. However, in small towns, the siesta is still practiced as most people return home for lunch and take a small 15 to 45-minute nap after eating.

Plan your day around these closures. You don’t want to end up hungry and find restaurants won’t open again until 8:00 or 8:30 pm. Also, you might not be able to visit historical sites or museums during these hours.

Book Top Tourist Sites + Experiences In Advance

One of the most important Spain travel tips I can share with you is to book tours and experiences at popular tourist sites and restaurants in advance if visiting during popular tourist seasons. Even in the off-season, there is a chance the tour or entrance will fill up when you are visiting.

We always pre-book our experiences and tours and make reservations for dinner or lunch if it’s a highly sought-after restaurant. Popular places in Spain to book in advance:

Activity/Destination	Suggested Time to Book Ahead
La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona	2-4 weeks in advance
Parc Güell in Barcelona	1-2 weeks in advance
The Alhambra in Granada	2-3 months in advance
The Royal Palace in Madrid	1-2 weeks in advance
La Mezquita in Córdoba	1-3 weeks in advance
Caminito del Rey in Andalucía	3 weeks – 1 month in advance

Leave Your Athleisure Clothes at Home (Dress Nicely)

I’m going to be frank here. Europeans dress better than Americans and Canadians.

They are often more elegant and more timeless in their fashion choices. You don’t have to wear a suit or be in a fancy dress to fit in Spain, but it helps to put your best fashion foot forward when visiting.

I love renting clothes from Nuuly when I visit Spain. It helps me choose high-quality trendy clothes for the destination with unlimited uses within the 30-day window. If you’ve never tried Nuuly, this link gets you $30 off your order. It is hands down the best way to look “chic” and avoid standing out as an obvious tourist.

You will rarely see a Spaniard walking around in athleisure clothing even when doing basic things like running errands. If you are going for your evening walk, dress nicely.

Don’t forget to bring a jacket. The weather can be unpredictable here, and the nights usually are much cooler than the days. Also, bring comfortable walking shoes. I love my Vessi sneakers because they are waterproof and stylish.

Use High-Speed Trains Between Major Cities

Visiting multiple destinations in Spain is super easy thanks to their high-speed Renfe trains. You can get across the country in a matter of hours and never have to worry about checking bags and sitting on a plane or driving long hours.

Take the bus if you want to get to a smaller town that isn’t connected by train. Spain’s bus system is efficient, affordable, and comfortable. We’ve taken the bus many times to get from small villages back to a bigger city. Once we’re in the city, we use its metro, taxis, walking, and the local bus system to get around.

Have an International Driver’s License to Drive in Spain

If you plan to drive while visiting Spain, make sure you have your international driver’s license. It is required to drive there and is a hefty fine if you are caught driving without it. You can get an international driver’s license online with enough time before your trip or last-minute at your local AAA.

Don’t Overpack Your Itinerary

If you do want to visit multiple destinations on your Spain vacation, make sure you don’t overpack your itinerary. Spain is a small country compared to places like the United States, but it has so much to offer. Spending a day or two in a city before moving on means you’re missing the pulse of the place, and often major sites while you’re there.

Destination	Minimum Recommended Time to Spend
Barcelona	3 days
Madrid	3 days
Sevilla	3 days
Granada	2 days
Cordoba	2 days
San Sebastian	3 days
Bilbao	2 days
Valencia	3 days

Respect and Understand Spain’s Regional Differences

Spain has 17 autonomous regions (like the U.S. states) and 50 provinces (like U.S. counties). Much of Spain has overlapping practices, but each region has unique customs, sayings, and cuisine. A few even speak entirely different languages.

Castillano is the Spanish spoken in most parts of the country and Spain’s official language. However, three other primary languages are spoken in Spain – Euskera, Galician, and Catalan. Barcelona is in Catalonia, where Catalan is the official language. Signs and menus will be in Catalan first, with Spanish and English translations, too.

Most tourists don’t know much about the Franco Regime, which lasted in Spain from 1939–1975. Franco banned all languages other than Castilian. It was no longer taught in schools, and could not be used for business names or official documents. People in these regions, understandably, are very proud of their languages and fought hard to retain them during this period.

Respect regional cultural differences and learn their history, cultural practices, traditional festivals, language, or local cuisine before visiting. You will certainly have a better time being educated before going, and know what to look for while traveling.

Be Aware of Pick-Pocketing

Spain has gotten a bad rap for pickpocketing and theft in big cities like Barcelona and Madrid. Unfortunately, the stereotype exists for a reason.

Pickpocketing is a major issue here. While we have not been robbed during our visits, we did witness others being robbed on the street (which is so scary), and we know of friends who have been robbed.

It’s typically opportunistic thieves who grab a bag unknowingly that you set down next to your table or snatch your phone out of your pocket or hand while walking. Be mindful of this and always be on alert with your phone in a zipped bag and never set your bag down by your feet or on a hook away from you. Never leave your belongings or valuables in your vehicle.

Common Mistakes Tourists Make in Spain

I’m certainly guilty of making my fair share of mistakes when visiting a new country. But as a veteran traveler here, I’m glad to say I’ve learned to avoid many of the common mistakes tourists make in Spain. Here are a few Spain travel tips to avoid doing when you visit:

• Eating at the wrong times. Lunch is around 2:00 – 3:00, and dinner is 8:30 pm or later.
• Not booking activities far enough in advance. (It took 3 trips to Madrid to finally get into the Royal Palace. I never planned far enough in advance.)
• Visiting in August without realizing that’s when locals go on vacation.
• Overplanning your trip to give you only a day in each destination.
• Renting a car unnecessarily.
• Wearing athleisure clothing.
• Ordering paella and sangria in the main plaza or touristy areas.

These are dead giveaways that you’re a first-time visitor, and can make your trip go from awesome to meh. Hopefully, this guide has given you helpful tips for traveling in Spain to avoid common mistakes like this. If you still need more, below are some of the most commonly asked questions when planning a trip to Spain.

Spain Vacation Tips FAQ

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