family travel guide
What does Spain look like? As colourful as a mosaic in the Park Guell. Passionate, like a flamenco dance. Enigmatic, like paintings by Dali and Picasso. Impregnable, like the pine-covered slopes of the Pyrenees. Romantic, like Lorca's poems and orange blossoms. Noisy, like a continuous fiesta.
It is a country with several languages and different cultural traditions; it combines snow-capped peaks and a warm sea; in the civilized European acquaintance with African exoticism, you can assemble a puzzle of Spain, lovingly looking at every piece. And for families with children, this country is where everyone will find a comfortable (and surrounded by sightseeing objects) place under the sun.
Family holidays in Spain can have different duration and orientations. But leave here with a desire to return and continue to get acquainted with this warm country. Balm for the soul of spontaneous travellers: holidays with children in Spain will be successful, even if not prepared for it — tourism is well thought out in detail. Well, if everything is carefully planned so that the beaches, museums, flamenco, and gazpacho and paella, you get an actual, typically Spanish holiday of life.
The Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España) is a south-western European state on the Iberian Peninsula. Its territory includes the Balearic and Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla in Africa. The Pyrenees mountain system occupies the central part of the country. The Mediterranean Sea washes over the sea to the south and east, while the Atlantic Ocean lakes off the north, west and south coasts.
Spain has borders with France and Andorra to the north, Morocco and the British possession of Gibraltar to the south, and Portugal to the west. The area of the state is 504.8 thousand sq km. The population is 47.4 mln people. The capital is Madrid. Spain is part of the Schengen area.
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There are plenty of reasons to go to Spain with children: long summers, great beaches, warm sea, an incredible amount of entertainment, and easy transport. Whether you want to bask in the sun, wander around the old towns, visit famous museums, or have a blast at an amusement park, it's easy to fit it all into one, even short, trip.
The main reason for the popularity of family holidays in Spain is the complete care of travellers with children. Family tourism has been mainly developed in recent years. For example, Catalonia has resorts certified for holidays with children.
And it should be noted that there are almost no all-inclusive hotels with a varied entertainment programme: cities, not hotels, create the conditions for a good holiday with a child. Spain has everything to keep little travellers squealing with delight, whether it's the famous amusement parks or the usual playgrounds.
Ensuring facilities for a holiday with an infant is the concern of hotels and authorities alike. Cots in rooms, ramps, lifts in public transport, baby-changing and baby-feeding areas in museums and restaurants, a wide range of baby food in supermarkets — you get used to all this comfort very quickly.
If you have more than one day to spend in Spain, a word of advice: don't neglect the siesta. Shops, cafes and even some museums close during the hottest time of the day. It's best not to walk around and not to stay on the beach during this time.
Spain's tourist season has its ups and downs, but it's difficult to find even a week when hotels are empty and no multilingual buzzing can be heard at restaurants. Summer is time for beach holidays, winter for skiing, spring and autumn for football and bullfighting, and all year round for festivals and celebrations.
The beach season lasts from May to September, and it lasts until late October in the southern resorts.
Spain's bathing season is shorter, though: The water doesn't warm until mid-June and stays warm until mid-September, although in some places — Tenerife, for example — you can bathe until late autumn. That's why holidays in September in Spain are considered the most popular.
The highest wave of tourists floods the coast in July and August. About accommodation for this time is worth taking care of well before the trip, and for a holiday with a baby in Spain, it is better to choose small resorts rather than large cities.
And when is the best time to visit Spain to see something other than beaches? Oh, there's plenty to choose from.
If you're looking for a complete programme of excursions, it's best to plan your holiday with a child in the spring or autumn. The off-season weather differs slightly from region to region, so more on that.
Spain's climate is scientifically described as 'Mediterranean', but the other words that describe it much better are 'sunny', 'warm', and 'dry'. It has long summers and mild winters; the sun shines 300-320 days a year.
Still, this is an over-generalised description, as the weather varies from resort to resort. The summer heat, for example, is always less on the seaside than in the inland towns. The Canary Islands have a unique climate, with neither winter nor summer but a warm spring.
The winter weather is also different. While the coastal resorts keep the temperature above zero, in the mountains, the temperature drops below zero, and there is snow — so Spain is known not only for its seaside resorts but also for its ski resorts.
In general, Spain's holiday season runs from May to September. In late spring, the air warms up to +20-24°C, in June to +25-28°C, and in July-August, the temperature differences become very significant: from +28°C in Tenerife to +40°C in Seville. On the coast, summer temperatures generally do not exceed +30°C.
Autumn in Spain can also be different. The Costa Brava resorts can get as cold as +20°C in mid-September. In Costa Blanca, the temperature stays +25-28°C throughout September. The Canaries are just emerging with the best conditions for seaside holidays. And in the central city of Andalusia, thermometer columns and does not fall below the mark of +30-34 ° C. When planning a holiday in Spain at this time, be sure to check the weather forecast.
Almost all resorts reach their low season in early November, which lasts until March and April. The air temperature during this period does not exceed +10-15°C, and the rains are frequent. The only exception is the Canary Islands, where even in winter, the thermometers show +20°C.
In contrast, at ski resorts, the end of autumn is the opening time of the season. From November to April, temperatures range from -3°C to +2°C during the day and -5°C to -10°C at night. Snowfalls are frequent in winter, ensuring good snow cover until mid-spring.
March and April are the short off-season in Spain. It's still too cool for seaside holidays as the air barely has time to warm up to +15-20°C. Spring, however, is the perfect time for sightseeing in Madrid.
Nights in Spain are chilly, even in summer. Once the sun goes down, temperatures drop to +16-20°C; in May and September-October, the air cools to +14-17°C overnight.
What is the best time to take a holiday in Spain with children? It depends on the purpose of the holiday and the region:
Spain's beach season starts in May, and the heat is beckoning for a refreshing dip in the sea by June. But there's no hurry: most resorts have sea temperatures as low as +20-22°C in early summer.
By July, the sea is warm in all resorts. In the Costa Dorada, Costa Blanca and Costa de Almeria, the water warms up to +24-26°C, while in Mallorca, the water sometimes reaches +28°C.
The water is slightly colder in the Costa Brava, Costa del Sol and Tenerife. Here the summer maximum is only +22-23°C. With the onset of autumn, the water temperature in Spain is almost the same, and it even gets higher in Tenerife: the warmest sea in the Canaries is in September and October. In most resorts, it is possible to swim throughout September and even in early October; only in Costa Brava and Costa del Sol the bathing season ends in the second half of September.
Tourists who have already holidayed in Spain are surprised to hear about all-inclusive hotels in the country. To eat in a hotel restaurant all the time is to miss out on one of the best aspects of Spanish culture. Paella, gazpacho, tortilla, Pa amb tomàquet and other delicacies can be had at any of the many restaurants or in the street on holiday (almost always).
On the other hand, the pastries are a sight for sore eyes. So, rather than seeking a full-board hotel, we recommend you taste the Spanish culinary. If you come to Spain with a baby under a year, it will be enough to ask for a kettle in the room to prepare baby formula and porridge. Family hotels will give you a sterilizer for bottles and other necessary things to care for a toddler.
Many restaurants and cafes, especially in large cities, have a children's corner. While preparing the food, the kids are busy playing and don't get bored. Another reason to pop into the nearest cafe is if your child has to pee. There are not many public toilets in the country, and the owners don't mind if you pop in to use the toilets.
If you are planning an independent holiday in Spain with children, then you can buy all the necessary things, including cheese, ham, and fresh fruit, in the markets, supermarkets or specialized shops. Baby food in Spain is available in pharmacies and supermarkets.
Before the weekend, stock up on baby food: shops have shorter opening hours on Saturdays, and Sundays are off.
The shops sell all the usual products: milk, dairy drinks, cheese, cereals, meat, fish and vegetables. The freshest seafood and fruit are usually available at the markets. And markets are a great place to eat starting early in the morning — for example, the famous Boquería in Barcelona opens its doors at 6 am.
And keep an eye out for those small family-run shops where authentic delicacies are found. The fragrant pastries are sold in bakeries (panadería), and if you want sweets, look for a pastry shop (pasteleria).
Seasonal fruit, vegetables and herbs can be bought at the fruteria. Cheeses and jamón are sold in the charcuterie, and there's often a tiny café where a toasted bread sandwich with half a fresh tomato can be made for a child.
Because Spain is large and the places of interest are scattered throughout the country, transport links play an important role in travel. Tourists are met at major airports, and comfortable buses and trains take them to their destinations.
Buses are one of the most comfortable and cheapest ways of getting around Spain. Several carriers in each region and mainly ALSA buses travel between areas. Timetables are available at bus stations or on the carriers' websites.
City public transport in Spain is available only in large cities (small resorts can be bypassed on foot or by tourist train). Travelling by train is more expensive than by bus, but sometimes more convenient; for example, the AVE high-speed train from Madrid to Barcelona takes 2.5 to 3 hours, and buses take 6 hours. As for prices, a bus ticket costs less than 35 Euros, while a train ticket costs 85-115 Euros.
The cost of travel is 1.5-2.5 euros, and it's always cheaper to buy a pass for several trips. Passes for children cost half as much as those for adults.
To save on fares and excursions, buying travel cards (e.g. Madrid City Pass, Barcelona Card) is advantageous.
With these cards, you can use public transport unlimitedly, take a sightseeing bus around the city, visit museums for free or get a discount on admission tickets.
An alternative to public transport in Spain is renting a car. For the restless and curious tourist, you can't do without a car at all, and there's only one recommendation: obey the rules of the road to avoid high fines.
A family holiday in Spain can only be quiet if you're serious about staying away from all the fun. And that's not easy: there are water parks, amusement parks, zoos and simply playgrounds with original decorations. It's best to arm yourself with the knowledge of where to spend time with your child so the whole family is happy.
There are so many more things to do in Spain with a child; rope parks, go-kart tracks and playgrounds are just a few. There isn't a single resort where children can get bored.
You can talk about a place in the sun in Spain: many cities bathe in the sunshine for more than 300 days a year, and the coastline has a total length of around 5,000 km.
The white shores of the Costa Blanca, the golden Costa Dorada, and the black, volcanic sandy beaches of Tenerife — regardless of the colour of the sand, Spain's beaches are awarded the Blue Flag for coastal cleanliness year after year.
There are no private beaches on the Spanish coast. All Spanish beaches are municipal and are monitored for cleanliness by the local authorities. Often, nearby hotels are involved in keeping the coast clean. All beaches are accessible, but you can only use a sun lounger or umbrella for a fee.
Spain has predominantly sandy beaches with smooth, clear bottoms and gentle water entry. Only the Costa de Almeria has fine pebbles on the shore. Mallorca has some beaches with concrete platforms, and the Costa Brava has stony beaches.
A massive plus of beach holidays in Spain is the availability of playgrounds for children on the beach (which is why you don't have to worry about whether or not the hotel has a playground). Somewhere on the beaches there are mini-clubs for children: the Costa Dorada resorts are particularly famous for them.
No waterslides at the hotel pool? That's because there are ones on the beaches. Almost every resort region has its water park. Even if it's in a nearby town, it's easy to get there by public transport.
Sitting on the beach and basking in the sun is not for you? Then a few recommendations on how a holiday at sea in Spain can enrich you with new knowledge and skills. The best places for beginning divers are the seas of Mallorca, the Costa Brava and the Costa Dorada. Dive centres can be found at all resorts, and the sites for your first real dives are around the coral reefs, inhabited by fish.
For wind and kitesurfing, the most suitable resorts are Alcudia on Mallorca, El Medano Beach on Tenerife, Roses on the Costa Brava, Cambrils on the Costa Dorada, and Alicante on the Costa Blanca.
It's easy to imagine a sun-weary Spain, but more difficult to imagine a snowy one. However, the mountains are high enough, and the snowfall is heavy enough to keep you skiing for months. At the same time, Spain has neither extreme altitudes nor extreme cold, so acclimatisation is easy.
Spain's ski resorts are just as good as those in Austria regarding piste quality and infrastructure. All the major resorts have ski schools and ski camps to teach children.
The Sierra Nevada is the most famous and exotic ski resort: from its slopes, you can see the shores of Africa. There are many good resorts in northern and eastern Spain, in the Iberian mountains (Formigal, Valdescaray, Valdelinares), the Aragonese Pyrenees (Astún, Candanchú), the Catalan Pyrenees (Bakeret, La Molina), the Cantabrian Cordilleras (Alto Campo).
The slopes in the Iberian mountains are laid out in the middle of a pine forest, and Formigal is Spain's record-breaker for the number of slopes. The Pyrenees are renowned for their relatively high altitudes, varied pistes and plenty of snow and sunshine. Cantabria offers excellent conditions for beginners, but the skiing season is disappointingly short.
Another skiing region is the Central Mountain System (La Pinilla, Valdeschi). This is perhaps the best place for a ski holiday in Spain with children, primarily because there are many easy slopes. In addition, the resorts of the central mountain system are a stone's throw from Madrid, which is fun for children at any time of the year.
The opportunity to combine a winter holiday in Spain with excursions is a great success. The distance from the resorts of the Catalan Pyrenees to Barcelona is 150-250 km, which means you can go skiing and see the main attractions of the Catalan capital. Valdelinares is an easy drive to Valencia and the Sierra Nevada to Málaga.
Spanish museums can be roughly divided into adult and children's museums. This is because children can be fascinated by paintings in art galleries, ships in maritime museums and dinosaur skeletons in science museums. Entrance to these museums is often free for children, and the excursion becomes a quest.
What to see in Spain depends on what you like. To name just a few of the most famous museums in the major cities.
Well, children's museums are really interesting places for children:
Such a long list of museums might make you regret that you can't visit Spain with a child... all of Spain at once. You can't — but there is a way to see the country's main architectural landmarks in an hour or two.
In Mallorca's Spanish Village, replicas of buildings are almost life-size. The scale of Barcelona's Catalunya in Miniature Park is smaller, but some buildings — Abbey of Montserrat or the Sagrada Familia — still look very imposing.
In Spain, fortunately, there isn't one main resort that outshines all the others. Each region is attractive, each unique — and almost every region is suitable for a family trip. Since tourists most often want to sunbathe on the beach and visit the most famous museums, we suggest exploring the main regions in Spain for holidays with children.
Spain's capital may not seem like a child-friendly city: a complex architectural ensemble, three solid art galleries, several historical museums and no sea. But here are just a few reasons why Madrid is a great place for children: free admission to adult museums, plenty of attractions in the Casa de Campo park, plenty of entertainment and the opportunity to spend an atypical spring or autumn holiday.
It's hard to believe that Barcelona has only been known as a tourist destination for just a few decades. The city is blessed with the genius of Antonio Gaudi, Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró, and it would take more than a week to explore all of Barcelona's museums. There is much to do for the kids in the Catalonian capital, from the amusement park to the magic train museum. You can plan your holiday in Barcelona for the summer, to sunbathe on the beaches of the Costa Dorada, or for the off-season, when the city is less busy.
The city is large yet relaxed, suitable for a summer holiday. Its main attraction, the City of Arts and Sciences, is designed for children. There are plenty of other family-friendly attractions in Valencia, including water parks. You can spend time on the city's beaches on hot summer days.
Andalusia's main city doesn't have much for children's entertainment, but it's great for school kids who might like to visit the Alcázar Palace or see a flamenco show. Seville is best visited in spring and autumn when the summer temperatures are unbearably hot.
Which Spanish resort should you choose to enjoy a beach holiday without suffering from the heat? Perhaps only the Costa Brava and the Canaries have warm but not too hot summers. Aside from the beaches, the resort coast offers plenty of family entertainment, inexpensive hotels and easy access to Barcelona. Some of the region's resorts are certified as "Family-Friendly Tourism Destination".
It's hard to praise the Gold Coast too much: it has a mild climate, beautiful beaches and Spain's largest theme park, Port Aventura. The Costa Dorada is mentioned as one of the best places to visit with children, with the towns of Salou and Cambrils certified as family-friendly resorts.
This region of Spain is often referred to as a children's resort: the summer heat and dry air help improve children's health. You can sunbathe on the beaches of the Costa Blanca until mid-October, combining beach holidays with excursions and activities.
The "Sunny Coast" in southern Spain is one of the most respectable resort regions. For all the advantages of the country's resorts, it has one drawback: the chilly sea. For holidays with children, it's best to choose July and August, when the water is well warmed up.
If you are looking for a holiday in Spain with a child that offers quality service and no crowds, then the province of Almeria is the place to be. The beaches here are as good as anywhere in Spain, the sea is warmer than on the Costa del Sol, and the lack of entertainment is compensated for by the entertainment program in the hotels. This is the only region where the all-inclusive concept is widely practised.
The largest of the Balearic Islands is suitable for passive beach holidays and active excursions. One of Mallorca's drawbacks is the difficulty of transportation. Every resort has marvellous beaches, but for entertainment, one has to go to several nearby towns.
The Canary Islands are often mentioned in connection with which resorts in Spain are suitable for a winter holiday with children. Yes, winter in Tenerife is like a warm spring. Swimming during this time is cold, but the weather is perfect for walks and excursions. Two significant pluses of Tenerife are the hot sea in September-October and the excellent weather all year round.
Before reading about hotels in Spain, consider how you plan to spend your time. The answer will likely be lots of sunbathing and swimming, eating in colourful restaurants, visiting nearby attractions, spending time in water parks, and even travelling to one of the big cities.
Spanish hotels are designed for you to spend the night and wait out the siesta. Quality service you will get, but the vast area with lots of pools and playgrounds, as it happens in Turkey or hotels in Egypt, is not found here.
In short, a peculiarity of Spain's hotels is their small size and the unpopularity of the all-inclusive concept.
The most common hotel category in Spain is 3 to 4 stars (five-star hotels are mainly concentrated in Mallorca, Tenerife and the Costa del Sol). Many hotels underestimate their classification or even have no stars at all.
There are practically no hotels directly on the beach: there is usually a motorway or promenade between the hotels and the beach. However, service is at a high level everywhere. Rooms are generally small, though in Catalonia, for example, rooms certified for family vacations have to be two-roomed.
For a holiday with a child, it is convenient to rent an apartment or a room in an apart-hotel. The benefits of this option are more spacious accommodation and the ability to cook and live at a pace that suits your family. Almost all resorts in Spain for holidays with children can offer this type of accommodation.
The most convenient way to get to Spain is by air. The central air gateways in Spain are Madrid and Barcelona airports, but almost all resort regions have their international airports. For example, you can fly directly from other countries to Valencia, Seville, Costa Blanca (Alicante airport), Costa Brava (Girona), Costa Dorada (Barcelona), Costa del Sol and Costa de Almeria (Malaga), Mallorca and Tenerife.
RENFE provides domestic rail services. You can learn about train timetables and buy tickets on the company website: https://www.renfe.com. There are also international connections: you can get to Madrid and Barcelona by train from Paris (France) and Lisbon (Portugal).
Bus routes link Spain with Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Germany. The primary carrier is ALSA: https://www.alsa.com
There are several major European motorways passing through Spain. The main ones are the E90 (from Portugal via Madrid and Barcelona to Italy, Greece and Turkey) and the E15 (from the UK and France to Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante and Malaga). The central coastal route from Barcelona to the Costa Blanca resorts is the AP-7. Major roads in Spain are toll roads. One of the options to get to the resorts in Spain is to rent a car when you arrive in the country.
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