Things to know about Traveling in Spain

Travel Documents As a U.S. citizen traveling in Spain, you will need a passport valid for six months beyond the completion of your journey to enter Spain—visas are not necessary. We recommend that you make at least two photocopies of all the travel documents that you bring with you. Include copies of the photo page of your passport that contains the date of issuance, the date of expiration and your citizenship. Secure one set of copies in the safe in your room while traveling and leave one set behind with someone at home who will assist you in the event your documents are misplaced, lost or stolen.

Electronics (Ed and I purchased this combo adapter and converter on Amazon for $35.00): World Travel Plug Power Adapter and 2000 Watts Voltage Converter Combo Step Down 220V to 110V for Hair Dryer Kettle Laptop MacBook Cell Phone – US to UK AU Europe Over 150 Countries.

Travel adapter do not convert the voltage, OURS DO! BONAZZA travel adapter converter combo is the smallest and lightest to date for use with U.S. and Canada Electric Products abroad like hair dryers, steam irons, electric kettle, laptop, iPhone, MacBook etc. (and FYI on the hair dryer is that some of our hotels will have hair dryers for guests—but not all hotels will.) So converter adapter/ that can handle charging phones, laptops etc. hair dryers etc.

This travel converter and adapter combo is 2000 watts max. Adaptor mode for DUAL VOLTAGE (110-220V, 100-240V) devices, such as iPhone charger, iPad charger, Laptop, MAC. Converter mode to convert the foreign electricity from 220-240V to 110-120V for single US voltage Electric Products.

Tipping

Restaurants:                                      5% of the total bill (I remember that tipping waiters in France were insulted by any tip—and Spanish waiters really don’t work for tips as do ours but I think now if they recognize that you’re an American they expect some tip—so glad that we can generally say 5%-ish and note that the tips get pooled.
Luggage:                                              2 euro per piece

Private transfers:                             30 Euros to the driver total (so if four people are in a private transfer—the four tip the driver 30 Euros—the fare has already been included in your payments to Giving Journeys)
Private coach & driver:                 50 Euros to the driver half day / (the Private Coach/driver has also been included in your payment to GJs—GJ will pay the 50 Euros tip to the driver.
Full time driver:                              60 Euros per day to the driver total (coach and driver transporting our luggage from hotel to hotel will get the 60 Euros per day).

Cell phones…You can get international plans for ten days / two weeks…from your cell provider…ATT, Verizon or whatever…probably worth it for ten days…and you need to purchase this international plan before you leave for Spain.

Credit Card/Bank It is suggested that you contact your credit card/bank and let them know that you will be using the credit card in Spain—give dates of arrival and departure (some credit cards deny charges if they don’t know of trip to Spain. It is also good to investigate which of your credit cards gives you the best exchange rate.