Spain Travel Guide: 5 Cities, Costs and Itineraries

Overview

Spain is easier to travel than its reputation for chaos suggests, but only once you stop applying a northern European clock to it. Lunch runs from about 2pm to 4pm, dinner rarely starts before 9pm, and shops in smaller towns still close for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Fighting that schedule is the single most common way visitors end up hungry and annoyed. The AVE high-speed rail network makes the country smaller than the map suggests: Madrid to Seville or Barcelona is under three hours, so you can build a trip around three or four cities without wasting days on transfers. What varies enormously is the mood of each place. Barcelona is dense, Mediterranean, and increasingly tired of mass tourism, with real rule changes to prove it. Madrid runs later and louder and has no beach to distract it from its museums and its nightlife. Seville and Granada carry Andalusia's Moorish history in their buildings and turn dangerously hot from June through August. Valencia is the most underrated of the five, cheaper, flatter, and easier to like on a short trip. Ten to fourteen days lets you cover three of these properly; a week is enough for two.

Best time to visit

April, May, June, and September to October give the best weather-to-crowd ratio across the country. July and August are peak season for beach towns but genuinely dangerous heat in Seville and Granada; Christmas and Semana Santa (Easter week) bring their own crowds and price spikes.

Jan-Feb

Cool and quiet everywhere except ski resorts. Cheapest flights and hotels of the year, some coastal towns half-shuttered.

Mar

Mild and building toward Semana Santa, which moves each year with Easter and drives prices up hard in Seville and Granada.

Apr-May

The best stretch for cities: warm, not yet hot, long daylight, before the summer crowds arrive.

Jun

Reliably warm, still manageable in the south, beach season starting on the coast.

Jul-Aug

Peak heat, 38-44C in Seville and Granada most afternoons. Coastal Spain is packed and August is when Spaniards themselves travel, so cities empty out a little and some family businesses close.

Sep-Oct

Warm days, cooler nights, harvest season, and the crowds thin out from August. Arguably the best window overall.

Nov

Cooling fast, rain more likely in the north, still comfortable in Andalusia.

Dec

Cold in Madrid, mild in the south, Christmas markets and lights, prices climb again around the holidays.

Visa

Canadian passport holders do not need a visa to visit Spain for tourism. Entry is visa-free for stays of up to 90 days within any 180-day period across the whole Schengen area, cumulative across every Schengen country visited, not reset by crossing a border. Your passport needs to be valid for at least 3 months beyond your planned departure date from the Schengen area. Border officers can ask for proof of onward travel and sufficient funds. ETIAS, the EU's new pre-travel electronic authorization for visa-exempt travellers, had not launched; apply only through the official EU site once it's live, and be wary of third-party sites selling early applications.

Money

Currency: EUR. Very widely accepted, including most bars, small shops, and taxis in the cities in this guide. Contactless is standard. Carry some cash for small tapas bars, markets, tips, and rural areas, but you can go days without needing it in Madrid or Barcelona. Not obligatory and not expected the way it is in North America. Rounding up or leaving 5-10% for good sit-down service is appreciated, more common in cities than small towns. Nobody will chase you down for skipping it.

Getting around

Renfe's AVE high-speed rail connects the major cities fast: Madrid to Seville or Barcelona is under 3 hours, Madrid to Valencia under 2. Book AVE tickets online in advance for the cheapest fares; walk-up prices roughly double. There's no single tourist rail pass that beats point-to-point AVE fares for a 5-city trip, unlike Japan's JR Pass, so book each leg as you plan it, ideally 1-2 months out for the best pricing. Budget carriers (Vueling, Ryanair) undercut trains on some longer routes, especially to the Canary or Balearic Islands, but add airport transfer time. Within cities, metro and bus networks are cheap and cover almost everything; walking covers the rest since historic centres are compact and largely pedestrianised.

Connectivity

An eSIM from Airalo, Holafly, or Orange is the simplest option, activated before landing and typically running EUR 15-30 for a week or two of data. Spain has strong 4G/5G coverage in all five cities and along the AVE routes. Free wifi is common in cafes, hotels, and some public squares, but not reliable enough to skip a data plan.

Where to go

Frequently asked questions