Honeymoon In Spain
Weddings can be so expensive, leaving you little to spend on the honeymoon. That was what Kathrine and her husband discovered, yet by following Rick Steves’ guidelines, they were able to put together an affordable and romantic honeymoon to southern Spain!
Given the cost of weddings these days, my husband and I were on an extremely limited budget for our honeymoon. We had read a number of Rick Steves’ articles and watched his videos on Hulu.com, and decided that southern Spain would satisfy our desire to travel to somewhere exotic, warm, and reasonably cheap. We flew from Los Angeles to Madrid, with a layover in Atlanta. Landing in Madrid, the city was fortunately easy to navigate. We caught a bus to our hotel, an extremely inexpensive efficiency near the heart of Old Town (recommended in the Rick Steves guidebook). We spent three days in Madrid itself, eating street vendor and cafe fare for breakfast and lunch, and alternating eating out for dinners and eating picnic-style in our hotel room (a baguette, cheese, and sliced ham – the specialty of Spain – ran us around $15). After we’d had our fill of Madrid, which is pretty much like any other cosmopolitan city, we caught a bus to Toledo. Toledo is a fortress-like walled city in the south of Spain with palpable African influences. We originally planned to stay just four days, but ended up in Toledo for over a week, wandering the crooked streets, visiting the cathedrals, walking the city walls in the evenings. We kept our food budget to around $40 per day, and our hotel (another Rick Steves recommendation) was very cheap; it included a balcony and a large, clean shared bathroom. Next up, we took the train to Barcelona, for a final taste of southern Spain before we departed. Given our frugality earlier in the trip, we had the funds remaining to extend our trip another five days, which we spent sightseeing in the old town, near the waterfront, and along Las Ramblas. Gift-type wares are extremely cheap in Barcelona, so we loaded up on gifts for the family before catching our flight home. Not to miss is the Barra Guitarra near Las Ramblas. Don’t neglect their sangria; it’s phenomenal! Overall, Spain is an excellent trip for a couple on a budget. I really recommend the Rick Steves guidebooks; they are chock full of excellent recommendations on where to stay and what to do. There’s plenty of old-world charm and lots of bustling city life to keep anyone entertained. Also, it’s possible to eat cheaply and find inexpensive accommodations to leave enough money leftover to pick up those all-important thank-you gifts for after the wedding!
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