How to budget in Spain

Tours - Don't take them. Put together your own by public transport (quite good) and researching in advance.
Buses - Pay as you go but for cities where you'll be staying more than a day, explore discout deals like T-10 in Barcelona.
Food - Avoid touristy places (on Barcelona's Ramblas, for example) and go where locals are. Eat your main meal at lunchtime when 'Menu del Dia' is available - 3 courses with drink starting from 6-10 euro. Tapas are a pleasant way to eat but watch what you are ordering. Cost can mount up. Put together a picnic from local market or shops. Instead of often poor-value hotel breakfast, get coffee and toast in a local bar for a few euro.
Attractions - Explore special deals or free days/times. If you qualify for a discount (seniors, EU citizens, under 25 etc), take suitable IDs. Book in advance Alhambra ticket - won't save money but hours of waiting in line and avoid being turned away (daily capped visitor number).
Drinks - Usually cheaper to drink standing up in a bar than sitting outside and being served.

Thank you for your response Alec,(I'm travelling from Canada) is it cheaper to travel by eurail pass or buy separate tickets online. I'm afraid we might not keep to a schedule and might miss our trains if we have prebooked tickets. We are going to Barcelona 4 days, Madrid, toledo, segovia, granada. Also looking for a beach teach on our way back to Barcelona.Do you think it's feasible to fit Majorca islands in this trip? Thanks for your response. Anne

I have been to Majorca on a similar trip and I do not suggest it because 1. you only have two weeks 2 it is more expensive there in general IMO.

I second the idea of the menu del dia as the main meal as a long late lunch say around 2 pm.
We also always book hotels that include breakfast in the price it really saves alot. But we are breakfast eaters and also my DH is diabetic & we need a substantial braksfast not just bread (which is the standard Spanish way)

Tell us more about your interests and your scedule please.

Alec gave very good advice.

We do a slight variation. We carry backpacks and put food into it as we walk around and eat back in the hotel room. So pack some utensils in your luggage.

Also buy your toiletries here.

I'm going to be traveling in Spain in a few weeks, so this thread caught my attention. I have already figured out many of the great suggestions offered, and I have a question.

I have a small inexpensive soft-sided cooler - the kind you can basically fit a six-pack of sodas into. As it flattens to pack easily, I am bringing it along, hoping to use it to stash cheese, fruit, etc.

My question is whether there is an easy way to get ice for the cooler? I would just want a small amount to put in a zip-lock bag inside the cooler, but having traveled in Spain (and much of Europe), I am familiar with the concept of ice rarely being available. Anyone have an idea?

Maybe you can stop in a bar ask for ice. The word is el hielo and is pronounced e-ay'-lo.

In larger supermarkets you can ask in the fish & seafood department. They have lots of ice there, and can probably spare a few cubes. I think I also saw it at some gas stations (but in much larger bags), but my memories may play tricks on me. One of the advantages when you rent an apartment - besides costs: the convenience to make your own ice cubes in those special plastic bags in your own fridge/freezer.
But just for snacking in the city, I'd simply get the fruit, cheese, and cold beverages from the supermarket or convenience store at the next corner.

Hi aiacono

Our daughters (age 19 and 20) recently spent about 10 days in Spain. They thought train travel would be good, and it is nice, but bus travel is much cheaper. It does take a little longer to get places. For instance, it was around 41 euro from Valencia to Madrid by train. I believe they paid about 23 euro by bus. The bus took about 4-1/2 hours whereas the train would have been about 3 to 3-1/2 i believe. They also ate a lot of food at street vendors to save money.

They stayed in hostels, mostly dorm style, and liked it a lot. I don't know your age, but they made lots of friends to do things with and it was cheap too.

PS: They thought the metro system was great and cheap, too. They also rented bikes one day for a short run into the countryside. I think the hostel wanted about 50 euro for their own all day tour and our daughters rented bikes for about 8 euro for the day.

The single place you can save the most money is by choosing a less expensive place to stay. Your nightly hotel/hostel bill will likely be more than "tours, buses, food" put together.

I think finding ice is going to be a hassle. I'd skip the cooler, and as already suggested just buy your lunch or snacks as you are going to eat them, from a corner store.

I am the one that admiited my addiction here on Fodors to soft sided collers & insulated tote bags.

I use the soft cooler for jamon & cheese & fruit, even without the ice it helps heep it from getting too hot. I just bought a large cooler tote bag that is also insulated but looks like a regular tote (Grey one at Kmart $12.00 or Trader Joes with their Logo is $6.00) They do not have the wheels & such just a regular tote size good for many things.
So the little one will go in that bigger tote along with my sweater & stuff. I also have one of those inexpensive flat gel ice packs that looks like small squares @ $3.00 for the next trip thinking I could freeze that in the mini fridge or at least cool it for the small tote bag.

But the others are right, lots of ice is hit & miss in Spain YOu have to ask for a whole glass of ice when up want lots of ice in a soda. But you can ask why not?
I would not count enought to cool cans of drinks though.

Oops I meant coolers.

I agree with the idea of an insulated tote to keep stuff that is already cold, cool. My friend in Switzerland uses one for champagne and wine glasses that looks like a normal pocketbook/tote bag! It's just chasing around looking for ice, I wouldn't be willing to spend even 2 seconds of my time in Spain doing that.

Well, I am traveling through Galicia for two weeks with a rented car, so it's nice to have a way to keep a little food along for the ride ... usually cheese is what I like to have in the little cooler. Mostly I drink water, so drinks are not a problem ... nice to have cheese and bread along for spontaneous picnics on back roads. (As I traveled through Spain last summer, I learned that leaving uncooled cheese in a parked car gets a little smelly ... )

There are many superior cheeses made in Galicia. Among them is tetilla, which is easy to recognize after seeing it once, can also be left out all day.

Thanks for the info, Aduchamp1 ... I looked the tetilla cheese up online and it sounds good. Last summer I was mostly in the Castilla y La Mancha area, and we had a big hunk of manchego cheese in the car for a few days ... I noticed a rather pained expression on the face of the car rental guy when we returned the car after a week or so.

I think I will try to find a bit of ice for the insulated cooler whenever I can.

Enjoy. The fish is usually fresh in Galicia, since there are a number of fishing towns along the coast. If you want to try something very different order percebes.

How the are caught.
http://www.galiciaguide.com/Percebes.html

And here is what they look like.
http://images.google.com/images?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=percebes&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=r7FOSsCIPMGWtgedw7ikBA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4

Gallegos also love their pulpo. So try some.

Not that I've ever tried it, but what about an ice pack (or 2) for the cooler? If your room has a fridge, place the cold pack in the freezer part overnight ... it would work, wouldn't it?

Sure that would work IF all you your hotel rooms have a fridge. Depends the kinds of lodging you're staying in.

Fridge in a hotel room isn't common in Spain, but is a standard fitment in apartments.

Of course there are mini bars in 4-5 star hotels, but whether they have a compartment for freezing packs overnight is open to question.