How to Afford Europe: My Low Cost Trip to Spain

I know what you’re thinking- “A trip to Europe? Must be nice but I could never afford that.”  Well, I’m here to show you that it’s not nearly as expensive as you think.  

I took a solo trip to Spain for 12 days this fall and I will show you how with a little flexibility (one of the benefits of getting older) and a sense of adventure, you too can spend a minimal amount of money for a maximum amount of Spain.  

I ate incredible multi-course meals, stayed in lovely places right in the middle of everything, and had a marvelous time getting lost on ancient cobblestone streets.  Seriously.  Even if I had millions of dollars, I wouldn’t have done this trip any differently.  

Want to know how I did it?  Keep reading…

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My 12 Day Itinerary to Spain

I flew in and out of Madrid because I found an incredible price on a flight and just couldn’t pass it up.  It was my first time flying on TAP Air Portugal (the national air company for Portugal) and it wasn’t especially fancy but I didn’t care.  It got me to Spain, so I was happy.    

After landing in Madrid, I immediately traveled to the La Mancha region to stay in Cuenca which is famous for its ancient hanging houses.  After Cuenca, I took a train to the walled, medieval city of Cáceres in Extremadura.  Then I headed to the Castilla y León area for the remainder of my trip.  

I started there in the lively university town of Salamanca.  I moved on to visit Segovia with its Roman aqueduct and fairy tale castle.  And, finally, I spent time eating my way through Madrid before heading home.

My only regret is that I couldn’t stay longer and see more!    

>> Costs fluctuate so any amount I have included here will likely change over time. These are my costs when I traveled in fall of 2024. Be sure to check current prices!

Cost per City

I have broken down the amounts by both city and then also by category so you can see how I spent my money and where it went the furthest.

Cuenca

Cuenca was a delightful town and a great place to stay to start my trip. It was also by far the least expensive place I stayed during this trip to Spain. People there called it a smaller, less touristy version of Toledo.

• Hotel- $173 ($58/night)
• Food- $74
• Activities- $8
• Taxi from Bajaras Airport to Chamartín Train Station (in Madrid)- $36
• Train from Chamartín to Zobel station (in Cuenca)- $15
• Taxi from train to hotel- $16
• Cuenca total = $322
• Per day = $107

Cáceres

The town of Cáceres is a great out of the way place to visit with extremely nice people and I had an amazing time there. I’d love to go back to the Extremadura area and explore some more towns in the area.

• Hotel- $156 ($78/night)
• Food- $52
• Activities- $13
• Taxi to Zobel train station (Cuenca)- $13
• Taxi transfer Chamartín to Atocha Train Stations (in Madrid)- $48
• Train to Madrid then to Cáceres- $44
• Taxi to Cáceres hotel- $7
• Cáceres total- $333
• Per day = $167

Salamanca

I found Salamanca to be a lively and fun town to visit with a big focus on food. For one of the larger towns I found it really affordable.

• Hotel- $136 ($68/night)
• Food- $59
• Activities- $15
• Taxi to Cáceres bus station- $7
• Bus to Salmanca- $22
• Taxi to hotel- $0 (I walked)
• Salamanca total- $236
• Per day = $118

Segovia

Segovia stole my heart and it’s a great town near Madrid to visit. Doesn’t every little girl dream about being in a Disney castle? Well, now I have been.

• Hotel- $153 ($77/night)
• Food- $82
• Activities- $10
• Taxi to Salamanca train station- $8
• Train to Segovia- $8
• Taxi to hotel- $15
• Segovia total- $276
• Per day = $138

Madrid

Madrid is a big city and has big city prices (but honestly they’re not all that bad). Everything in Madrid from the food, to the activities, and of course the hotels costs more compared to the smaller towns. But I really enjoyed my trip and would absolutely recommend a trip to Madrid to anyone.

• Hotel- $315 ($158/night)
• Food- $76
• Activities- $91
• Taxi to Segovia Station- $7
• Train to Atocha Station in Madrid-$14
• Taxi to hotel- $27
• Taxi to Bajaras airport- $36
• Madrid total- $566
• Per day = $283

Cost per Category

Flights

I found an amazing deal on flights after watching Google Explore for a couple months and snagged a great deal about 4 months out.

• Total for flights = $370

✈️ Looking for flights? Check Booking.com for all your options!

Hotels

My goal was to stay below $75/night and I definitely did with the exception of Madrid.  But the total still averaged to well below it. The places I stayed were cute and in the center of town- I couldn’t ask for more! 

• Cuenca $173
• Cáceres $156
• Salamanca $136
• Segovia $153
• Madrid $315
• Total for hotels = $933
• Per Night = $78

🏨 For more hotel options at all different price points, check out Booking.com

Food

I found food in Spain to be relatively inexpensive.  A great way I found to save was to have the Menú del Dia for lunch every day. And you can’t beat the free tapas that come with every drink in Spain.

• Cuenca $74
• Cáceres $52
• Salamanca $59
• Segovia $82
• Madrid $76
• Total = $343
• Per Day = $29

Activities

I will happily wander aimlessly around a town and just soak it in but even the admissions to sights wasn’t bad.  The most expensive thing I did was see flamenco in Madrid and it was a million times worth it.

• Cuenca $8
• Cáceres $13
• Salamanca $15
• Segovia $10
• Madrid $91
• Total = $137
• Per Day = $11

🏰 For tours and activities, Get Your Guide is a great resource!

Transportation

I spent a lot on taxis- but I swear I had a good reason!  It doesn’t mean you need to use taxis. There are lots of alternatives to get where you need to go.

• Cuenca $67
• Cáceres $112
• Salmanca $29
• Segovia $31
• Madrid $84
• Total = $323 ($103 train&bus, $220 taxis)
• Per Day = $27

🚃 Use Omio to figure out your best way to get from here to there!

Total for a 12 Day Trip to Spain

My all-in cost for 12 days in Spain was (I hope I did the math right)…  

>>> $2,106 <<<

Per day was only $175 and included literally every single thing.  Not bad, right?

I had a truly great time and zero guilt about spending this amount of money.  

How to Save Money when Traveling

Some people fly first class, stay in luxury hotels, and visit all the “must-sees” (and post about it on social media with a million hashtags) but that’s absolutely not necessary. You can travel to amazing places without spending a ton of money.

I think I did pretty well saving money on this trip but there are a few ways to make it even more affordable. I’ll show you how I saved and how you could save even more.

How to Save on Flights

A big expense is always flights, but I kept dates flexible, kept watching prices, and found a flight for $357 (yes, really!) from DC to Madrid in October- the absolute best month to travel to Europe in my opinion.  

I started looking at flights about 6 months ahead and ended up purchasing 4 months ahead.  If you’ve never used Google Explore to figure out vacation, you’re missing out.  

You can put in your departure city then leave the “where” empty.  Then keep it flexible and just say “1 week in the next 6 months” or change it to “weekend in January”.  Then this great big, beautiful map will appear with all your options.  It’s my absolute favorite trip planning tool and can save you tons as long as you’re flexible on when and where.  

Flexibility is key here and now that I’m a little older I’m using it to my advantage. You can too.  Can you leave on a Tuesday?  Stay one day longer?  Go a different month?  Play around with the options and sometimes it can mean big savings.  

How to save even more on flights
I absolutely could have saved up and used points for my ticket and then it would have been completely free.  I know lots of people like to use points and miles and we do sometimes too.  A great one for travel is the Chase Saphire card which gives you free sign-up miles.  

Or maybe hit up your spouse or mother-in-law to help with a ticket.  I have found that they love not having to figure out what to get me for Christmas or my birthday because money towards a flight is always my favorite gift 

How to Save on Hotels

Another big expense (you would think) is hotels.  But it’s a whole different ball game in Spain.  You can find an absolute lovely little hotel for less than $100- sometimes half that depending on where you are.

As you can see, staying in smaller towns is much less expensive than big cities.  My hotel in Madrid was 2-3 times more expensive and not nearly as nice as the other places I stayed.  

The most amazing hotel was also my cheapest because it was a small town.  I had these French doors that opened up to a spectacular view over the surrounding hills.  I threw them open each morning to watch the sunrise from my balcony.  Heaven.   

Staying in the off-season also works to your advantage.  One of the benefits of getting older is that you’re not bound by summer vacation.  I love a Fall trip to Europe.  I have also take a Spring trip to Europe and that was pretty great too.

How to save even more on hotels
I wanted to stay in a place where I wouldn’t spend too much time walking to and from the hotel at night so for me, the high price of staying in the Sol area of Madrid was worthwhile.  But staying outside of the old town is a great way to save if you are looking to do so.  There are always local buses to get you around since it’s not a car-driven society.    

Hostels are sometimes cheaper than hotels (and a great way to meet people) so it might be worth looking at some if you want to save more.  If you have issues with climbing into a top bunk or rooming with others, there are hostels that have private rooms and even private bathrooms.  Some do have an age limit though so be sure you check before you book!

>> Take a look at Hostel World to find hostels for your stay.

I travelled solo but if you if you share a room with a friend, it also means that you share the cost.  I did get single rooms when possible but there wasn’t always one available so most of them were doubles.  Even so, I had no trouble finding lovely little hotels in my price range.

How to Save on Food

I really am not sure I could save much more except if I shopped for all my food at the market.  Sometimes I felt guilty for how little I was paying.  But I’m not complaining, that’s for sure.  

My eating routine in Spain was breakfast either at the hotel (about $12/day) or, a better value, a croissant and coffee at a café ($4-6).  

For lunch, I always ordered the Menú del Día (daily menu).  This 3-course (or more) meal offered at lots of places has an appetizer, main, and dessert.  It includes a glass of wine or beer and was always more than enough food for me.

The Menú generally ran about $16-20 depending on the place.  Ok, ok, one in Segovia was $42 but it was hundred percent worth every penny!  

After siesta, I’d have a snack (merienda) like some churros, ice cream, a bocadilla (sandwich), or an empanada which will only cost a couple dollars.

I was never quite hungry enough to eat an actual dinner or wait until 10pm when the Spanish eat so you can do what I did.  

Around 8pm, go grab a drink.  They generally come with a free tapa- sometimes they bring out whatever they have that night and other times you take a look at the food case and pick which one you want.  

I had things like chicken wings, toast with tomato and ham on top, fish sticks, or a warm tortilla (potato frittata) to go with my cocktail.  

Doing that, it only cost about $4-6 a night for my dinner.  Yes, I’m being totally serious.  Sometimes I actually felt bad about it since in DC, a drink and app is about 4 times that amount.   

If that’s not quite enough food for you, order another drink and you get another free tapa.  Or you can always just order something more substantial off the menu.  

Or just go get another gelato- no judgement!

How to save even more on food
If you’d like to save even more on food, you could buy your food from markets and make a picnic lunch from some cheese, meat, bread, and fruit.  For dinner, you could grab a couple empanadas or a sandwich which is only a few dollars.  

Also, I did notice on a few restaurant bills (in Madrid- possibly other places) that I was charged 10% extra for dining outside.  It was worth it to me but I thought I’d mention it so you can choose whether you’d like to save on it.

How to Save on Activities

Here’s where I did make a big effort to save.  I really just love to just wander around and marvel at things and I’m not a big history buff or so I didn’t feel like I wanted to listen to every nitty gritty detail on a tour- so I didn’t book any.  

But if that’s your thing don’t let cost stop you.  Lots of towns have free tours that you can join- the only cost is a tip at the end so it’s up to you.

I did pay to see castles, museums, and churches but it was always less than $10 (the Arab house in Cáceres was only 2€!) and I only really did one a day.  I was busy taking photos and eating a lot of the time.

What I did splurge on was a couple flamenco shows in Madrid.  I saw a lot of flamenco when I was in southern Spain a couple years ago and loved it so I thought I’d check some out in Madrid while I was there.  I’m so glad I did.  The first one was meh, but the second was a-ma-zing.  Totally worth it.

How to save even more on Activities
Museums generally have hours and/or days when admission is free.  You could look into when they are and plan accordingly.  For instance, the Prado in Madrid is free for a couple hours in the evenings and two full days during the year as well.  

As for church entries, if you are coming for a service you won’t be charged so if you are religious or just enjoy some hymnal music that might be an option for you.  

You can also check with the tourist office about any free activities that are going on while you’re there.  There might be parades, festivals, concerts, or any number of things going on around town.

And can I just tell you how much I love a park?  When I backpacked around Europe, I loved to grab something to eat and just laze around at a park and watch the world go by.  Being in nature is so calming and I feel like it’s sometimes necessary for an hour or two when you’re hustling from one sight or town to another.  

And of course, you should look into any senior discounts.  I’m not quite old enough yet but museums, churches, and other attractions generally offer discounts over 65 if you show your passport.

How to Save on Transportation

I love the trains and buses in Europe.  Not only do they make it easy to get wherever you need to go, but they’re fairly inexpensive too, especially if you’re not going too far or using the fast trains.  You just get to sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenery.

I did, however, spend quite a bit on taxis- especially in Madrid.  Transferring through Madrid is why the Cuenca and Cáceres transportation numbers are so high.  I was traveling solo and getting over being really sick so I decided the cost was worth it to me. 

How to save even more on transportation
I absolutely could have saved more here.  I took taxis to and from the stations and airport and it was pretty expensive, but I was getting over Covid and my head was still pretty foggy.  I was afraid I’d mess up getting around on public transportation and get lost.  

It would be much much cheaper to use the amazing public transportation system in Spain.  There are buses to and from the train/bus station in every town, even the small ones.  I’ll definitely make use of them next time.

>>They have a great Metro system in Madrid.  You can purchase a “tourist ticket” for as many days as you’ll be there that covers the whole city including the airport.  They even have a helpful tourist map that shows all the big sights and their Metro stops!  

Senior discounts on Renfe trains start at age 60 (40% off!) with the Tarjeta Dorada pass so be sure to take advantage of that if you can.  

If you Want to Splurge

I could have spent lots more but I wanted to see just how little I could get by on while still having a great vacation this time.  Below are some things I think would be worth it if you have a little bit more in your budget.

• Upgrade your flight for more comfy travel
• Stay in a parador or other luxury hotel
• Hire a private tour guide, get VIP tickets to museums, go on a hot air balloon ride or another fun activity with Get Your Guide 
• Go out to fancy dinners at Michelin starred restaurants
• Hire someone for airport pickup and drop-off or to drive you from town to town.

All in all, I’m pretty proud of myself for traveling to Spain without spending much at all.  I got to eat amazing food, experience Spanish culture, and see some beautiful places all without breaking the bank.  I hope that seeing exactly how I could afford to do it might inspire you to take a trip of your own!   

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