When researching for our trip I spent a lot of time trying to budget for different locations around the world. Cost of living varies dramatically between each country that we are visiting, however, we still try to set an average daily budget of $75.00 USD. We know if we stay around this amount that we can visit all of the locations we hope to. In this post I am going to break down all of our expenses and answer the question, how much does it cost to travel in Spain?
*Disclaimer: We are attempting to travel more on the budget side of things so obviously costs can vary dramatically. You can easily spend significantly more or less than what we did depending on your preferences.
We spent 7 nights and 8 days in Spain. We spent 2 nights in Madrid, Spain as well as 2 nights in Valencia, Spain. Then we spent 3 nights in Barcelona, Spain before leaving.
Our total daily costs of traveling in Spain for 8 days and 7 nights was $499.18 for an average of $62.40 USD per day!
Accommodations – $291.71 USD / $41.67 USD per night
Our accommodation cost varied dramatically between Madrid, Valencia, and Barcelona. In Madrid and Valencia we paid about $31 USD per night for a private room in someones apartment through Airbnb. In Madrid we were right in the center of the city in an amazing location, in Valencia we were a bit further out but closer to the beach. However, our accommodation cost went up to about $55 USD per night in Barcelona for a private room a 10 minute subway ride outside of the city.
7 Day Spain Itinerary- Visiting Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona
Transportation – $27.03 USD
For transportation we only spent $27.03 USD during our entire time in Spain. In Madrid we did not have any transportation costs because we were in the center of the city and could walk everywhere. In Valencia we spent about $1.5 USD per person each way for bus tickets to get to the main train station. Then in Barcelona we bought a 10 journey Metro pass for about $11 USD that ended up saving us half the cost of the normal tickets.
- If you’re going to use the Metro in Barcelona buying the 10 journey card was definitely worth it and ended up saving us money! You can buy them in the same machines where you can buy a single ticket.
Meals – $111.71 USD
We spent a lot more on meals than we typically do when we travel and this was primarily because of two expensive meals, one in Valencia and one in Barcelona. Valencia is known as the birthplace of Paella so we had a traditional lunch of Paella that ended up costing around $47 USD which we found to be typical compared to other restaurants in the area.
In Barcelona we had a tapas style dinner with Sangria that was about $32 USD. We would recommend doing both because Spanish food is incredible but its something to consider when budgeting for your trip. Also in Madrid they sell jamon sandwiches everywhere that are delicious and only cost between $2 and $3 euros. We definitely recommend them for lunch or even light dinner options!
Groceries – $61.46 USD
We cooked all of our dinners in Valencia because we knew we would be having Paella for lunch one of the days and that it was going to be pricey. We also cooked a bit in Barcelona because there were very few restaurants in the area that we stayed in. We found the cost of groceries to be comparable to other countries we have visited so far.
Excursions – $0 USD
We spent the entire time while we were in Spain exploring the cities, beaches, and free sights. This goes to show that even in three completely different cities there are always free things to do!
Photos to Inspire You to Visit Spain
Miscellaneous – $7.25 USD
We spent about $7 USD at a laundromat to dry our clothes in Madrid. We stayed across the street from it and our Airbnb had a washer but we had not seen a standard dryer anywhere since leaving the US so we took advantage. It was definitely expensive but laundry is a funny thing we have started to appreciate more as we travel for longer.
Overall
Overall we found Spain to be very affordable especially compared to what we spent in Portugal. We actually spent less per day in Spain than we did in some of the places we visited in South America which was surprising!
Madrid in particular was great because there was a TON of affordable food options, the accommodation cost was the cheapest we found in Spain, and getting around the city was very easy. If you’re looking for a city to travel on a budget Madrid is definitely a good spot!
