Things to know before traveling to Spain

1. Change your eating times

In Spain people don’t eat at the same time that the rest of the world. Lunch use to be around 2-3.00 pm, and dinner comes after 10.00 pm, remember that before traveling to Spain. On the weekends there are restaurants where you can have dinner at midnight!

2. Don’t tip like your are at home

Tips are not common in Spain. And in case that you want to give a tip 5% is most than a good one. The most usual is 1-2€ whatever it was the price of the order.

3. Is not always summer in Spain

Bring a jacket. This is real, spring and autumn can be warm during the day but with cool nights. And winter is winter everywhere, in some places even snows! Check the weather before traveling to Spain.

4. Valencia is for eating paella

If you are in Valencia you have to eat paella. Try to avoid tourist places and ask for restaurantes with home made style. If you are traveling to Spain but you are going to Madrid or the North of Spain first, wait to visit Valencia to compare the real paella!

5. Patatas bravas

After hola “patatas bravas” and “cerveza” may be the most important words to know traveling in Spain. You will learn to pronounce them in a few minutes.

6. There are lots of ham

Be careful if you ask for some ham at the market. Depending on the variety ham can cost from 1€ to 200€. “Jamón serrano” is the cheaper and “jamón ibérico de bellota” de most expensive, but there are hundreds of alternatives between both varieties of ham. Is useful to ask if you are traveling to Spain and you want to buy some ham.

7. How to get around

Bus and train are the best options to get around the country if you are traveling to Spain. Look on the Internet: Alsa for bus and Renfe for trains. If you are thinking in a bigger distance Ryanair and Vueling have cheap flights between Spanish communities.

8. Languages

Spanish is the official language in all Spain. But there are secondary languages in some communities that are bilingual like catalan. If you are traveling around Spain you can hear some of them and not only Spanish.