My niece secured an internship with a football club in Madrid, so my family was keen to visit while she was there.  I offered to plan their family vacation to Spain to include Barcelona and Madrid.  While I would normally recommend a first visit to Europe be at least ten days to two weeks or longer, the reality of vacation time, high school sports schedules and work commitments limited my family to just seven days to visit Spain.  Knowing I’ve been to Barcelona and other parts of Spain before, my sister trusted me to add the highlights but not overwhelm their schedule as they did want to relax and enjoy the vacation time.  My family enjoys wine, cooking and shopping so I added a wine themed hotel, a bike tour of the Penedes wineries as well as a family cooking experience in Barcelona.  What better way to experience the culture than through food & wine.  Given their timeline, this would be a one-week family vacation to Spain in June.

Summer In Europe

Summer in Europe is enough to cause me to sweat just thinking about the crowds, lack of air-conditioning and high prices.  For the most part, I’ve avoided traveling in summer to Europe opting for off-season instead (May, September, Thanksgiving) when award tickets and lower prices are more easily found. I had already planned to visit London in early June so extended my stay to meet up with my family in Spain.  So here are some insights into my process of planning the Spain itinerary.

 

Airfare from East Coast to Spain

Summer airfare costs are no joke.  I saw coach fares that were outrageous in my opinion and had to look twice as I thought I read $1,500 for coach! Living in Philadelphia, we have a good network of direct and connecting flights on One World carriers (American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus) to Spain to choose from however many of the flights are codeshares (e.g. AA and BA share a flight and funnel their passengers onto one plane even though advertised as two flights) and with Philly as the hub (connecting) city, there are less seats to choose from.  While I priced out what I thought was a good open jaw (arrive one city, depart another) fare, arriving in Barcelona and departing from Madrid.  I asked my travel agent to do a comparison search from Newark. She found a United fare sale that would save my family $500 per person. That savings definitely justified the additional expense of car service to/from Newark as well as her travel agent ticket fees.  We booked the June travel in February, four months ahead.  Given the high demand of Europe and higher prices becoming the norm, its best to look at least four to six months ahead. With respect to redeeming points for summer travel to Europe, when you see a good option, book it immediately.

Airfare to Spain Tip – Look at Barcelona as the entry point as summer cruises leave from Barcelona so there are many flights to choose from. Also consider Newark (New Jersey) as your international flight city.  I’ve found many great deals to Europe leaving from Newark including my British Airways flight to London.

 

Family Lounge Access

Unless you are flying business or first class, you’ll need elite status and or credit card privileges to grant access to the airport lounges. There are a few lounges that offer day passes so consider that expense for each family member as it will add up quickly.  While we are used to the Philadelphia International Terminal A options, which has a plethora of seating and dining options to pass the time, other airports are not as nice for the long wait so consider if lounge access should be part of your travel budget.  The lounge gives you private space (often quiet) with access to food and drinks, Wi-Fi, working areas and restrooms. Plus, the added benefit of knowing you have a central meeting point for everyone.  Imagine waiting two hours or more in a crowded gate area with your family prior to boarding the overnight flight – the lounge price may be worth it.

Spain Hotels for Family Rooms

My sister said, “just book a Marriott” and I started laughing.  In the U.S., a “Marriott” has thirty hotel brands which range from budget to luxury, in Europe there are less brands, and they are often higher end and often limit to two people (maybe a rollaway for a third) in a room.  She would need two rooms for her family of four, so a Marriott was out of the budget, in my opinion.  While I do stay at many Marriott brands in Europe on points, it was hard to justify the high cost of two rooms in a Marriott.

In Barcelona, I loved my stay at Praktik Bakery Hotel but as my family is gluten free, I didn’t want to torture them with the lobby full of bread so looked at a sister hotel of this Spanish hotel brand and found Praktik Vinoteca, a wine themed hotel.  The hotel rooms are limited to two guests and the family rooms are located on the ground floor as two separate rooms with a hallway master door.  The cost of the two rooms was on par and slightly cheaper than one Marriott room. The pricing included the breakfast buffet and the hotel supplied gluten free bread and cookies for the gluten free folks. With an outdoor patio and less than 100 rooms, my sister became a fan of my “non-Marriott hotel options” in Europe.

In Madrid, the Aloft Madrid where I stayed was full, so the travel agent found a family room in an older hotel that was fine but nothing memorable.

One Week in Spain Itinerary – Barcelona & Madrid

I prepared the following itinerary with four days in Barcelona and two days in Madrid for the one week visit to Spain.  I tried to limit to two small activities/attractions or one big experience per day to give time for jetlag, exploration, shopping and meals. This was a first trip to Spain so while it’s easy to pack the schedule given 10pm dinner times, I wanted my family to enjoy their vacation.  I managed to join my family for one 10pm dinner and spent the other days dining solo at lovely restaurants in the neighborhood.

Day 1 Arrival in Barcelona

• • Car service at airport recommended by the hotel and booked online.
    • Reduce your stress after the overnight flight by having a driver with a sign waiting for you at the airport.  In my experience, it’s really worth the extra expense. Also, if you have a family and everyone has a suitcase you may need a larger vehicle to pick you up at the airport.  Remember cars in Europe are smaller than in the U.S.
  • Hotel Check-in at Praktik Vinoteca
  • Lunch in walking distance of hotel (hotel provided a great list of gluten free restaurants to choose from)
  • Park Guell – guided afternoon tour

Day Two Barcelona

• • 10 a.m. – Barcelona Food Tour with Devour Barcelona
  • 2 p.m. – Sagrada Familia Tour (booked direct)
  • 8 p.m. – Paella Club where the family would learn to make Paella for dinner and then dine with other cooking class participants (class limited to 12 students with 2 at each workstation)

Day Three Barcelona

• • 9 a.m. – Bike Tour of Penedes Region with Three Wine Tasting Stops
  • 7 p.m. – Park Guell – do over as jetlag hit hard on arrival day.
  • 10 p.m. – Dinner

Day Four Barcelona

• • 9 a.m. – Morning Espadrilles Class in Barcelona (just for me as everyone else wanted to sleep in)
  • 12:30 p.m. Brunch
  • 3:00 p.m. – Tour to Montserrat

Day Five Train Day – Barcelona to Madrid and Barcelona to Paris

• • Aunt Sue opted to take the train from Barcelona to Paris rather than fly.
  • Family would take the train from Barcelona to Madrid to take my niece back to school and visit the city for two days. My niece played tour guide in Madrid when they arrived to walk around and go to dinner.

Day Six Spain (One Day in Madrid)

• • Prado Museum and Madrid Food Tour with Devour Madrid.
    • Included lunch at Biotin, the oldest restaurant in Madrid

Day Seven Home to the U.S.

• • Flight home to the U.S.
  • Car Service home

Spain Summer Family Vacation – Lessons Learned

While I’ve visited Barcelona a few times in the past, it was my first visit to Madrid.  A few lessons learned during this Spain vacation with my family.

• Dinner is late night in Spain so book reservations in advance. Not everyone takes reservations so if you are really keen to eat somewhere visit at lunchtime or be prepared to wait at dinner (don’t go hungry or you’ll be hangry by the time you are seated).
  • If you are like me and looking to count sheep at 1o p.m. after a busy day, don’t worry you can find restaurants that are open all day or have early dinner at 7 p.m.
• Spanish Taxis can be ordered via FREENOW app (download the app and set up account before leaving the US).
  • We found it was difficult to get a taxi large enough for the five of us so be prepared to wait if you are in a larger group.  The taxis were quick to arrive when I was solo.
• Madrid Airport Arrival – It took me more than an hour from plane, thru immigration and to baggage claim. Be ready to walk, use escalators, get on the train and have a longer walk to baggage claim.  My bag was also at a different location than it should have been, thankfully my Apple Airtags pointed me to a different claim location to find my luggage. The Madrid airport was definitely a stressful experience for me so make sure to pack snacks, water bottle and patience if you get stuck on a shift change like I did behind a few planes of arrivals with issues.
• Madrid Airport Taxi – the taxi line was long, nearly an hour’s wait so I’d suggest pre-ordering a car service.
• Double Dip Earning Points + Miles: Booking tours on Viator via the American Airlines shopping mall earned me bonus AA miles plus my normal credit card points.  I booked the Montserrat afternoon tour the day before using Viator.

My family loved their first visit to Spain – loved the food, the wine, the cava.  They loved the ease of being able to walk everywhere within twenty minutes of the hotel.  The enjoyed the architecture as well as the history of Gaudi all around.  Not having to navigate cash was also a plus as most places preferred credit card taps (make sure your credit card can tap).  Since I was able to keep the costs down to a reasonable rate and find deals, they could then splurge here and there without too much worry as it was all still in budget. So, if you are keen to take your family to Spain this summer, book it now!  I think you’ll find Spain as easy to navigate and enjoy as my family did.