My fellow Americans, the wife and I are thinking about traveling to Spain for a vacation in the future. I have several questions if anyone here has traveled there.

11 comments

  1. Probably lots of Americans living there now too. I’ve been to Spain a couple of times. Go ahead and post your questions.

  2. I’ve been to Spain twice. Once as a port visit while in the Navy. Once to visit my sister who was living outside Sevilla.

  3. Originally I was thinking about going on a group tour but the tours I found really don’t hit the places I want to visit. So….

    1. How difficult is it to rent a car?
    2. What are the roads like? As an American would I find them confusing or super narrow the way they are in some European countries?
    3. My Spanish is bad. 4 years in HS and 2 in college – 25 years ago. How difficult will it be speaking mostly only English?
    4. Is it possible to hire local guides for the cities i visit?
    a. How would I find a guide?

    TIA

  4. I went on a high school trip in the late 90s. Everything was insanely cheap because the peseta was so weak at the time. I shipped back a bunch of swords from Toledo. Spent most of the time bored at Cathedrals and plotting ways to get away from the chaperones so we could drink the alcohol that we could just buy.

  7. Beware of a few things. Unless you request otherwise, you are getting a manual transmission. Learning to drive manual in an unfamiliar place is not ideal. Streets are more narrow than you are use to and parking will often be very tight. Toll booths use credit cards, but it’s not incredibly obvious at first. Stay in the right lane. Cars will flash high beams when they pass you on highways. I had at least a few folks probably pass me at 130mph. Motorcycle filtering is legal so anticipate motorcycles to pass you between lanes. If you can drive in any major US city downtown, you can drive in Spain.

  8. Yes, I have been to Spain multiple times, to various cities and regions. Plenty of other Americans have also visited, and before the pandemic, it sometimes seemed like every other millennial was visiting Barcelona in particular.

    By the way, it would also be a great idea to post your questions on /r/travel.

  9. I only went once when I was a kid (family vacation). The hardest adjustment for me was dinner time…like 10PM was normal dinner time.

  11. Am on my way for my 10th trip right now and am staying for 7 weeks. Am semi-retired, and love to live there as long as visa allows. Granada is cheap!!

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