This page collects various travel resources and tips that we found useful when travelling through Spain in 2013 and 2015. Your mileage may vary but we hope they prove useful for you as well.
SIM Cards
The first order of business will probably be getting cellular service and data. Luckily, this is very easy to accomplish in Spain in roughly 15 minutes.
We usually went with Vodafone which offers 3 GB of data for 15 Euros. That’s often cheaper than the plan you may be leaving behind in North America!
Two random Vodafone locations that we used (but probably any will do).
Transportation
For transportation to Spain, the closest airport would be EAS although BIO may be cheaper. Our wedding location is also near the Irun-Hendaye train stations which may be useful for visitors arriving from elsewhere in Spain or from France.
For transportation within Spain, we can highly recommend Renfe, the national operator of high speed trains and inter-city trains. While their site could be confusing to navigate (we actually bought a small ebook to assist with buying tickets), it looks like they’ve recently redesigned their site to be more accessible. That said , this step-by-step guide may still be useful.
Seat 61 also has a load of information on individual trains and seating.
Two routes that we recommend in particular would be the San Sebastian-Lisbon over-night train and the Barcelona-Granada night train (tren hotel), both include compartments for two people with private showers/washrooms.
Video Resources
We found a lot of helpful resources on Youtube for travelling in Spain.
For San Sebastian specifically, a brief introduction would be Rick Steves introduction.
For more detailed information on San Sebastian we can recommend two episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s shows on San Sebastian on A Cook’s Tour (a bit dated) and No Reservations.
For Spain in general, Wolter’s World has multiple videos on Spain which have helpful tips for anything from good places for cheap eats, tipping (or lack thereof), safety (watch for pickpockets!), suggested itineraries, and customs. These videos are particularly useful as a broad overview of particular subject areas.
We also enjoy the videos of Yellow Productions although they have less Spain focused content.
History
Spain is rich in cultural and historical sites due its history as one of Rome’s first colonies, the Moorish settlements in Andalucia, and the Spanish Reconquista. Watch for more information to be posted in this area, but for starters enjoy the Barcelona City Museum, the Medina Azahara outside Cordoba, the works of Gaudi in Barcelona including the Sagrada Familia, the Black Paintings of Francisco Goya in the Prado, and the aqueduct of Segovia.
Pop Culture
Lastly and randomly, some of you (you know who you are) may be interested in the various Game of Thrones filming locations within Spain. You may also recognise the location up in the spread above. Sadly, no proper Assassin’s Creed games have been set in Spanish cities yet!
