Top Spain hotels
Places To Avoid Barcelona
35 Reviews Poble Espanyol (touted as a "one hour" way to get to know Spain) is just a couple of fake buildings, some with painted on windows, and fake artisan workshops. There is one interesting contemporary art...
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Eating & drinking Madrid
15 Reviews When you are at the Plaza Mayor you may find it nice to have a bite at one of the many terraces they have, they all look so nice and you can be in the sun... beware however that these restaurants are...
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Flamenco Sevilla
5 Reviews Even though the flamenco show is meant for tourists, it features excellent bailaores, guitarists, and cantaores. The food is acceptable. What is not acceptable is that our camera with more than 300...
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Reality check Palma de Mallorca
5 Reviews There's some really irritating thing about Mallorca: "People see tourists as walking wallets". There are lots of really hard to reach beaches, that after some almost suicinding driving experiences...
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The West End, San Antonio. Ibiza
1 Review Great if you like hoards of drunken Brits marauding around the streets looking for members of the opposite sex in a drunk enough state not to reject them, puddles of vomit and urine (I'm not...
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Beaches Majorca Island
2 Reviews Beware of the very tall man 6ft 4" who slowly walks round the three beaches of Palma Nova pretending to look at the ladies when in fact he is looking for the ladies bags. He carries a towel over his...
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Las Ramblas Barcelona
39 Reviews My fiance wanted to eat on las ramblas.....as it was his birthday I gave in....I so wish I hadn't and so does he! We ate at an over-priced mediocre restaurant where they obviously just piled your...
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Monuments & highlights Madrid
11 Reviews It's just a big square plaza with very expensive restaurants, nothing to see, nothing to do. Only 'nice' thing is the Casa de la Panederia, wich is 400 years old, with nice fresco's. walk though the...
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Cathedral and Giralda Sevilla
6 Reviews Giralda is an attraction for itself, in the marvel of the cathedral. It's easy to climb, because it has inclines instead of stairs, and they seem not too steep. That's right. But they are......
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Dodgy deals / scams Palma de Mallorca
7 Reviews The Inca Market is something the tourist board advertizes as something to see. We went. It was nothing more than a large flea market at best. Nothing of real interest was sold here - leather purses,...
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Caves Majorca Island
2 Reviews Wonderful flyer pictures and descriptions which are overrated. Nice enough for those that like caves but very large groups are ushered through the cave system on hard on the feet paths. Very crowded...
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Overrated Sites Barcelona
34 Reviews Poble Espanyol was built for the 1929 International Exhibition as an open air museum that was meant to showcase different Spanish architectural styles and crafts. Today, you pay an admission fee to...
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Flamenco Madrid
4 Reviews This is supposed to be one of the best places to watch flamenco. Unfortunately, the service, food and view were so bad (as well as the stage) that it took the enjoyment right out of the evening. Not...
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Gypsies and Pickpockets Sevilla
5 Reviews Around the touristic places there use to be people (usually gypsis) looking for tourist to read the hand or tell them any other story with the aim only of asking you for money. As everywhere, just...
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Overpricing Palma de Mallorca
5 Reviews Don't go to the Nu-parc bar / cafe beside the lake opposite the Cathedral unless you want to order the most expensive beer or coffee in Palma. The waitresses need a lesson in customer service and the...
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Soller & Puerto de Soller Majorca Island
1 Review In my opinion Soller is almost a tourist trap. It is not an ugly town, but it's not a nice place. Do some shopping, have a rest or a stroll. You coud go to Biniaraix; a small village 1,5 km far from...
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High Prices Barcelona
20 Reviews Although we liked walking along the promenade at Barceloneta beach the target group of all the cafes there is the tourists. This means high prices, bad service (we were waiting 25 minutes to order in...
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Security Madrid
5 Reviews Madrid is very safe and not a place to get violently robbed, but pick pockets problem remains. The fast city has certain locations where you should watch out. These are Sol, Plaza Mayor and El Rastro...
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More tourists than inhabitants Palma de Mallorca
2 Reviews Overall we really enjoyed our holiday to Majorca but we did find it very british and lacking in culture in the resorts.There were british pubs,amusements and everything was in english so it sometimes...
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People to Avoid Barcelona
20 Reviews Be aware of anybody walking close to you and/or behind you. Always keep a strong hold of your valuables. We witnessed people trying to open purses on pedestrian crossings, in railway stations or...
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Transports Madrid
4 Reviews In order to avoid the hassle with taxi drivers at the Madrid Airport, I had pre-booked the non exclusive shuttle service with Aerocity on GoMadrid.com. The web site stated 6 euro per person. We...
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Bullfights Barcelona
9 Reviews The great majority of people from Barcelona and rest of Catalonia not only are against bullfight but also hate it. In fact the Catalan law of Animal Protection will quite probably be modified next...
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Shopping Madrid
5 Reviews Wealth Warning: Avoid using Chequepoint to change money in Madrid or anywhere else for that matter. Some of my British and American friends have told me horror stories of the rip-off rates charged by...
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Purchases to Avoid Barcelona
9 Reviews Barcelona is without doubt the city of Gaudi and his many works. You will also find many people trying to sell you Gaudi items, souveniers, photos, whatever. And you will see copies of his works, most...
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Nightlife Madrid
3 Reviews Like all con merchants and charlatans, these Chinese street masseurs can be found at popular tourist spots in Madrid such as Plaza de Santa Ana and Plaza Mayor. My wife and I got conned by them....
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If you are travelling from Algeciras to Morocco then buy your ticket directly at the harbour and not from the travel agents.They are all very freindly, but many do not know what they are talking about.Several agents were selling tickets to a ferry that had mecanical problems and therefor didn't run, when i was there.
FRS ferry company offers a tour that is the same price as the ferry ride to Tangiers. What they don't tell you is that your tour guide will take you to varioius places within Cazbah where they do very, very high pressure sales. We were the only people on the tour and I didn't think we were going to be about to leave a carpet "factory" that they took us to. Once again proves that there is no free lunch!
The real typical Spain as you can see in many postcards you only can see it in the Andalucia province. If you are looking for that atmosphere that you can see in tourist publicity, you must go to south, just to Andalucia (Sevilla region). If you are going to other regions you will never find that typical Spain. You can find lots of lovely places all over the country, as Barcelona, Galicia, the Islands, and many other places! anyway don't be trapped for some international travel agencies, the TYPICAL SPAIN is only in the southern part, just in Andalucia province.
Being on a peninsula with thousands of kilometres of sun-blessed coasts, Spain was an easy prey to speculators and the kind of tourism promoted for decades has, in the long run, brought more havoc than profits. Millions of Europeans could not care less for other places' cultures, but do need their annual fix of UV rays. Therefore, such places as Lloret or S'Arenal do have to exist, even if they represent a brutal exposure of the ugliest face of our society. For decades, mass tourism has boomed in Spain and many coast resorts have mushroomed with little regard to planning. To make things worst, many of these tourists have decided to settle more or less permanently in the place where they have spent their enjoyable holidays. This has brought along not so desired collateral effects such as overpopulation, lack of water, waste disposal problems... in a few words: a brutal attack on the...
It's full of Brits abroad, English shops, food and culture. It's a replication of Britain in the sun. It is not Spanish any more. It is built for English holiday makers and that's it.Great for a beach holiday and very beautiful, but it's not really a good taste of Spain. If you want to go to sunny Spain and the Costa del Sol, then my advice is to travel around Andalucia and see what Spain and the Spanish really have to offer. Go to Cordoba, Granada, Vejer, Ronda, Cádiz or Sevilla for example. Though some of these places are being over run by tourists too. The least touristy has to be Cadiz capital. For a beach holiday try the Costa de la Luz (Cadiz, Andalucia). The beaches there are stunning and they aren't built up like in the Costa del Sol. They are also Spanish holiday destinations so you'll get a better taste of Spanish culture.If you aren't just interested in a beach holiday but...
On arrival in Madrid,first thing,some money,first stop,Cambio money exchangeThat is fine but you should check for counterfiet notes. I was given some and nearly arrested for dealing in false currency.The only thing that saved me is i had just flown in from Heathrow and maybe being Australian helped.Almost every shop will check your hand/over currency until you get to smaller towns,where you can quit it.t Learn SOME Spanish and be friendly,it helps
they pretend not to know the note size youve given them and try to short change you be very careful they all do it, i too am a taxi driver so would not have a go if it was not deserved. the police try to rob you aswell if you dont give them they attack you full force in broad daylight, its an absolute disgrace. ask the taxi drivers if they can change the size of note you are about to give him/her so they know that you know leave spain and go to portugal instead iam told it is far better.
Please note that this tip is written from a male perspective, you will understand that I lack the knowledge of what goes on in the other side...Toilets in Spain are a trap for the unwary. In particular, lighting is an issue. Usually, you haev to grope around on the OUTSIDE of the toilet to find the hidden lightswitch, although it can also be located inside cunningly disguised as a loose bit of derelict wiring.Having sucessfully located the lightswitch, your troubles are not yet over, as many lights are on a timer that can vary between 10 seconds and infinity. And you can guarantee that those on short timers are located out of arms reach from the "shooting position".It gets worse: some toilets are on motion sensor lights. So, having groped around for half an hour to find there is no lightswitch, you enter the toilet and start performing, only for the lights to go off because you are...
Wait service in Spain is crap, every where I went the service was horrible and terribly slow.Basically don't expect a lot and bring your patience you will need it.Many do not speak english (in case you assumed) so be prepared. Just be patient and firm. There is none, other wise get take out :)
Bring Traveller's Cheques and cash them all in for cash. ATM's are hard to come by and with foreign bank cards you may find that you have trouble. Many friends had trouble getting $. Plus, there aren't many places to cash Traveller's cheques.
Jazz Barcelona
6 Reviews and 1597 Opinions So it costs a fair bit...but the location is perfect, right in between Eixample and Las Ramblas,...
Hotel Atlantico Madrid
7 Reviews and 1990 Opinions With most four-star hotels in Madrid (and throughout Western Europe) charging US$400 or more, the...
San Augustin Beach Club Canary Islands
40 Opinions
Reviews and photos of Spain attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Spain sightseeing.
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Q: Hi everyone, I really need some help to decide where to bring my young family this year for holiday. I am keen on going to the...
A: all there is child friendly catering to families like yours. Great area indeed. y ou can check on destination above tips by posters like us or the tourist office...
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