Do you like to build and organize your leisure time with filling a variety of colors of impressions? And cooperation with tour operators for you? We understand and support - the choice of a holiday destination without them is gaining more popularity. The apartment is by the sea or overlooking the park; apartments with their own indoor pool are not forbidden luxury, but a reality. In this article you will find useful information and rational advice about independent travel in Spain and how to think through all the details.
It is not difficult to build a waybill, apply for and get a visa, buy air tickets, especially if you have few hours and access to the Internet. Non-standard overseas trips become competitive everyday trips. We picked up a few advantages that will help you understand why.
- Any departure time.
- Optimization and budgeting for their capabilities.
- Choosing the best form of housing for you.
- Departure from hackneyed routes.
- Lack of attachment to vehicles in the region.
Let's understand in order.
BUYING AIR TICKETS ON YOUR OWN: MYTH OR REALITY
Any journey begins with determining the date and place. Very often they write “prepare a sleigh in the summer”, you can buy tickets in advance and save on it. This point of view also has a right to exist, especially if there is a lot of free time, for example, you are a student and you have a whole summer ahead. But, if you have a family, and at the family meeting laid down work schedules, then you can know the dates of rest for about a month, or even two weeks.
It is very important to know the control points in the calendar, which it is desirable to keep in reserve - the day before departure and before proceeding to official duties. All because there is always not enough time for a calm departure to the airport or for the disassembly of suitcases.
Modern ticket booking programs have constantly pop-up windows with prompts, so within 15 minutes you will have them on hand. There is even the possibility of installing a warning system a few days before departure, which will allow not to forget about the main thing.
The place of arrival in the Kingdom should be directly related to the region of your holiday, as spending half a day to move to the other end of the mainland is not worth a minute: the 16 largest airports cover the country evenly and allow you to reach the desired point within a few hours. The only thing that can be a snag is the frequency and direction of departure from your native area.
VISA - BASIC FEATURES
After confirming the reservation of air tickets should proceed to the process of obtaining a visa. Spain is a member of the Schengen zone and documents can be started three months, but no later than five working days before departure. Such a permit can act from a few days to years. Depends on the purpose of stay: you are driving as property owners, because for a short period and plan to rent a house.
Please note that when applying for entry, it is necessary to enter those with whom you plan to fly (even if these are children who are recorded in the passports of the parents). For all participants of the trip one record will be created and considered as a whole. In the visa application center you pay the tax for processing documentation and for checking documents.
HOW TO FIND A COMFORTABLE ACCOMMODATION
We start to beautify their own life. For most, it is no secret that it is no longer possible to spend a holiday in a hotel and call it comfortable - even the most fashionable in the holiday season turns into a racetrack: crowds of tourists are trying to fulfill the plan for someone’s intended path. But a healthy rest should begin with a quiet awakening in comfortable apartments.
Rental property abroad has become a popular destination for living in normal conditions. Plus, you can highlight the presence of a unique living environment in the room, which will solve a lot of problems: washing machine, ironing board, microwave or refrigerator. The absence of direct 'wardens', CCTV cameras allows you to quietly stay in their own walls.
Planned a trip with friends, the problem is solved much easier - multi-bedroom villas will become a paradise for the whole vacation. They are characterized by the closeness of excess eyes by the presence of a zone for evening gatherings - after the sultry heat and an oversupply impression you always want to be in the circle of relatives with a glass of sangria and delicacies of Mediterranean cuisine.
After such a holiday, you will reconsider your outlook on the future forms of saving your money. The openness of the Kingdom to foreign investment allows in a short time to carry out the transaction of sale of real estate in any region. The only problem that will need to be addressed is how to allocate more trips to the study of Spanish beauties. Our colleagues are happy to pick the most profitable housing and guarantee the transparency of the transaction at the stages of the transfer of documents.
TICKETS, SUITCASES ... START!
The trip is nearing the beginning and let's think about leisure. Every time crossing the border and putting bags in the apartments I want everything at once - so that the museum was in the sea, and the wine cellars are buried in the sands. But so far it does not work out and will have to allocate time for differences.
It is not necessary to be afraid of excursions without tourist guides. Firstly, today there are Russian-speaking guides in almost every museum. Secondly, there are a lot of audio guides that you download to your smartphone, connect geolocation, and go ahead - they tell you better, and sometimes it’s clearer ... you don’t need to run after the speaker. Thirdly, choosing “not hot” time for knowledge (in every sense of the word) the doors will always be open for you - in the morning and towards evening.
As an alternative to tourist tours we offer a planning model for your trip. First write what you would definitely like to get - museums, wineries, golf courses, restaurants, boutiques, aqua or arboretums. After –– set the order of visiting locations and distance from the place of residence. You will have some groups of cities or territorial provinces that you will go to.
Then we use the Internet to score the name of the city and the word “leisure” - you will see how many more fabulous places you can see. This is your alternative if for some reason your desired object of study is closed.
In this way, you can search not only for the museum, but also for the new beach - you will find them here for every taste and color: from the Cote d'Azur to the rocky cliffs.
Combining these positions with the calendar - we get a detailed itinerary and a well-planned schedule of actions.
WHAT TO TRAVEL?
And here lies the waybill - unique and inimitable. Eyes are not delighted. The question immediately arises: how to implement it?
There are two ways and let's discuss them.
Car rent. This method of mastering the planned is very attractive - it does not depend on the regular transport.
Car rental in accordance with the legal framework has some limitations:
- driver's license issued for a period of over one year;
- driver's age - more than 21;
- the presence of an active credit card, basic insurance.
You can choose the rest to your taste and color - unlimited mileage will allow you to overcome your fear of traveling to remote corners of the unexplored region, visit both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, learn the depths of wine cellars and the heights of rides in parks. Another advantage can be considered and cost item: if a group of tourists consists of four or more people, then it will be cheaper to use the function 'rented car'.
There are 22 toll roads throughout the country, fees for which vary from 1.45 to 36.85 euros one way. The price differs due to different mileage sections:
Barcelona-Valencia - 347 km, Madrid-Toledo - 60, Leon-Astorga –43. Traveling between major cities will be very informative, since on the way there will be viewing platforms with excellent photo-location for memory.
But do not discard the opportunity to rest without a car:
- there is not always an experienced driver who agrees to drive a car in a foreign country;
- the whole company wants to “have a rest”;
- plans to attend a football match, etc.
That's when it does not hurt to find out in more detail about public transport. In Spain, a very common form of transportation is the metro, trams, buses, trains, airplanes. The funicular remains very interesting - a kind of not even a way to get to a particular place, but a view of the tour site.
The metro is common in major tourist centers - a cardboard card should be with you until the end of your stay. This type of movement is considered fast and safe. Such a ticket is paid for one / several trips or no limit for the whole day.
The bus remains comfortable enough (comfortable, air-conditioned), and also cheap. They go on schedule clearly at intervals of 15 minutes. and only until midnight. The next are forced to wait until 6 o'clock in the morning. This problem can be easily solved - a taxi will arrive within 10 minutes. And deliver with the wind to the right part of the city or to the airport.
Intercity railway will provide good services for speed and comfort: you can buy a ticket both 60 days in advance and a few minutes before sending. Today, the lines are equipped with high-speed trains, which will help you to get to your destination without losing time.
BUT HOW TO BRING SOMETHING TO MEMORY?
You cannot roll a liter of sea into a bank, but you can still surprise relatives:
- Lead food (wine, olive oil, jamon) is very correct, as the notes of the trip will please for a long time.
- Espadrilles will obviously surprise and delight the older generation: comfortable, leather, high-quality footwear will not gather dust on the shelves, but will faithfully serve many seasons.
- Unique handmade ceramics - perfectly decorate any kitchen interior and please the hostess.
- Traditional wine pitcher (Parron) - will be a highlight on the shelves of the collector.
- Candied violets - true delicacy and extraordinary perception of flowers for children.
- Football uniform - Barca and Real Madrid fans will understand.
- Kaganer - a small statuette in the form of a funny little man who rides. Their popularity is quite large due to the small size and diversity of portraits.
Summing up, I would like to emphasize once again that traveling on my own is not scary, but even more attractive and useful: research unexplored average tourist trails, see the country from the other side, or spend time for yourself and family. In this article, we showed that myths can be dispelled quickly and without any effort.