Throw in a falling euro and a host of budget-friendly destinations across the country, and you have one of Europe’s greatest treasures. However, just in case you’re still unconvinced, here are 15 reasons to pack your luggage and head to Iberia in 2015.

1. Carnaval in Gran Canaria

Carnaval is like Mardi Gras in Spain, and will be celebrated in style February 13-21, 2015. Gran Canaria Island is an unmatched destination to dress up in costume and join the wild soirée because its celebration is one of the most spirited in Spain and the weather is warm—the Canary Islands are closer to Africa than Spain, and enjoy springtime weather year-round!

2. Tapas and art in Bilbao

Set on a river in the Basque Country, Bilbao is often passed up for San Sebastian, but both cities are worth visiting. Bilbao offers up a delicious tapas and pintxos scene in the old town neighborhoods. You can nibble as you bar hop for a tasty and affordable dinner. Plus, the Guggenheim Museum is found in Bilbao, the silvery and swooping building by Frank Gehry. Admission is €10 for this world famous attraction.

Related: Five tips for Bilbao on a budget

Typical sculpture at Las Fallas in Valencia, Spain. Photo by Regina W Bryan

3. Las Fallas Festival in Valencia

From March 15-19, Valencia, a vibrant city on Spain’s southern Mediterranean coastline, comes alive with the annual Las Fallas celebration. The festival revolves around creating enormous sculptures from papier-mâché, and then burning them (about 700 sculptures in all) to ash on the last day of the celebration. The sculptures are called “fallas,” and some of them cost up to €300K to create.

Cheapos will love that Las Fallas is a free event open to all. Expect lots of fireworks, firecrackers, noise, late night merrymaking, food, drink, and of course, smoke and flames on the last night.

4. Semana Santa in Seville

Easter Holy Week is observed throughout Spain, but Seville is one of the best cities to partake in this religious celebration. Solemn, dramatic, traditional, and a major tourist draw, Easter Holy Week (Semana Santa) will be held this year from the March 29 – April 5, 2015. If you plan to be in Seville for the week-long event, make sure to book a hotel room way in advance.

Related: Affordable hotels in Seville

Standing at Teide’s crater on Tenerife, Spain. Photo by Regina W Bryan

5. Volcano climbing in Tenerife

Head to Tenerife Island, one of the Canary Islands near Africa, not just because the weather is always around 70ºF, but because in its center is Teide, a beautiful volcano. At 3,718 meters above sea level, Teide is the highest point in Spain. You can visit the crater and hike around its base along several well-marked trails. Only a few visitors can tour the crater each day, and access depends on the weather, so make sure book your pass ahead of time online.

6. Feria de Abril in Seville

The biggest bash in Seville is the Feria de Abril, or April Fair, held this year from April 21-26, 2015. For many, the classic image of Spain is portrayed during this week-long fair. Women are dressed to impress in tight “traje de gitana” dresses and men look handsome in suits and ties. This is a formal party, so if you go, do dress up. Dancing, eating, drinking sherry, and taking carriage rides are all part of the fun.

While the Feria de Abril is open to all, be aware that some of the “casetas,” or small houses, are private and invitation only.  Locals in Seville love this celebration and spend months preparing for it and a week recovering from it.

7. Local eats in Madrid

Madrid is often overshadowed by Barcelona when it comes to food, but the two cities should be placed in separate categories. Madrid and Barcelona have very different geographies (Madrid is landlocked, Barcelona is on the seaside), different climates, and different cultures. Madrid’s location in the center of the country and cold winters mean meat-heavy dishes and lots of succulent strews.

Discover the tasty side of Madrid by taking a tour of its restaurants and bars. Learn about the history of Spain’s capital while stuffing your face with authentic eats and washing them down with locally-sourced beer and wine.

Related: Cheap hotels in Madrid

Temps de Flors in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Photo by Regina W Bryan.

8. Temps de Flors in Girona

Located about an hour from Barcelona by train, Girona is a stunning cobblestone city with Roman roots at the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains. Each year in May, locals decorate the streets with elaborate carpets and sculptures made of flowers. The festival is free to attend, and it’s best to get there early in the week when the flowers are at their freshest. Temps de Flors will be held from May 9-17, 2015.

9. Walking El Camino

Walking El Camino, or The Way of Saint James, has become increasingly popular in the last few years. Does it have something to do with the Emilio Estevez movie, The Way? Trekking all of the trail, or just a portion of it (many pilgrims just do the last 110 km), promises an amazing experience in a lush region of Spain which is often overlooked. The end of the trail is Santiago de Compostela, which is a university city and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

10. Patios Festival in Córdoba

Homes in Córdoba are built around verdant patios which are concealed behind walls most of the year. In May, locals open up their homes and display beautiful flower-clad patios to the public. This year this fragrant fest will be held May 4-17.

11. Spain’s top nightlife in Madrid

There’s a constant rivalry between Madrid and Barcelona: Which city is better? When it comes to soccer, food, art, architecture, and fashion, everyone has an opinion. But there is one thing that locals in Madrid do better, and that’s having a night out on the town. Madrileños are famous for their “marcha” or ability to party ’til the cows come home. If you want lively bars, clubs, and a population of people who love to get down, there is no better city in Spain than Madrid.

12. Sant Joan festival in Barcelona

Sant Joan kicks off beach season on the Mediterranean falling roughly around the summer solstice. On the night of June 23rd, residents head down to the city’s shoreline to have bonfires, light firecrackers, and eat dinnertime picnics. Dancing, booze, and skinny-dipping are rampant.

Related: 10 ways to enjoy summer in Barcelona

13. Hiking in Picos de Europa

This emerald area of Northern Spain gets almost no love. Not many outside of Spain know about Asturias or its national park, Los Picos de Europa. If you want to get way off the sand and sangria tourist trail and experience tiny hamlets, pungent cheeses, tangy cider, and some exceptional hiking, head to the Asturias region. Trails into Los Picos will take you past alpine lakes and quiet mountainsides where a handful of dwindling shepherds tend to their flocks.

Laid-back bliss on Ibiza. Photo by Regina W Bryan.

14. Ibiza for Island Bliss

An island with a reputation (deserved) for being a clubber’s paradise and 24/7 party place, Ibiza is more than discos, drugs, and cheap booze. In fact, the island has long been home to part of Spain’s hippy scene and still has a lot to offer those searching for an alternative lifestyle. Ibiza teems with yoga retreats, arts and crafts markets, hidden beaches, and campgrounds that look like the overspill area from a Grateful Dead concert. To find the peaceful side of Ibiza stay clear of Playa en Bossa, home to the big clubs and the airport.

15. Primavera Sound in Barcelona

Many music festivals are held in Barcelona each year, but Primavera Sound is one of the most popular, bringing in fans from all over Europe for the three-day show. If you buy tickets in advance you get a discount, otherwise, tickets go for about €200. Expect The Black Keys, Anthony and the Johnsons, and many other bands to perform from May 28-30, 2015.

Whatever reason you choose to visit Spain, keep the season and what festivals will be on in mind. Prices and crowds increase in July and August, and anytime there is a festival you should book accommodations in advance. October to May is low-season in Spain, and there are deals to be had on hotels, rental cars, and flights.

The post 15 reasons to visit Spain in 2015 appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Exploring Allgäu from “Munich West”

Canny Cheapos know that Germany’s Frankfurt Hahn airport is nowhere near Frankfurt. Likewise, one discount airline has now decided that the name “Memmingen Allgäu” airport just does not have the necessary appeal, so styles the airport “Munich West”—slightly to the surprise of folk locally who are all too well aware that their regional airport is not near Munich at all.

The cachet of a big city name has become important. So much so that it obscures the fact that the communities which lie on the very doorstep of those airports are interesting destinations in themselves. The name “Munich West” is misleading, and hides the fact that the Allgäu region, so close to the airport, is a stunning area of Germany well worth visiting.

Discovering lesser known gems in Germany, Italy, and beyond

Girona Airport. Photo: Lorentey

But as airlines and airports create their own mysterious cartographic realities, sensible travellers exploit these secondary airports to visit spots that really are well served by them.

If you fly to what Wizz Air or Ryanair euphemistically call “Hamburg-Lübeck” airport, you will land a long way from Hamburg but happily very close to Lübeck. The medieval center of one of northern Germany’s most historic and engaging towns is just an eight minute train ride away from the airport (which has its own rail station).

And the same argument holds for other secondary airports across Europe. If you are bound for Barcelona, don’t be seduced by the publicity that suggests that Barcelona Girona Airport is close to Barcelona. It is not! But Girona, just twenty minutes away on the bus, is really worth a visit in its own right. It boasts a particularly well preserved medieval Jewish quarter.

Few of those who jet into Orio al Serio airport near Bergamo, Italy have any intention of visiting Bergamo, just a ten minute bus ride from the airport. No, the airlines market the airport for its rather remote proximity to Milan. Yet Bergamo is an absolute gem, and for first-time visitors to Italy an infinitely better introduction to the country than Milan.

Exploit the system

So does anyone really fly to Frankfurt-Hahn on purpose? Well, they should. The out-of-the-way airport, utterly inconvenient for Frankfurt, is just ten miles east of the most beautiful stretch of Germany’s Moselle Valley.

For those in the know, the wayward cartographic fictions of Europe’s discount airlines throw up a few unusual travel opportunities.

The post Europe’s minor airports offer interesting travel opportunities appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

In the spring of 2006, I was able to score some super-cheap tickets on Ryanair for a last-minute getaway to Barcelona from London, where I was living. It had been a great weekend, made possible I only had to pay the airport tax. The catch? I had to fly into and out of two less-than-central airports, London’s Stansted and Barcelona’s Girona airport. It was worth it, right?

What follows is a diary of my flight experience en route from Barcelona to London.

4:30 PM: I arrive early at the airport for a 6 PM flight. We all know you have to get to the gate before the other passengers in order to snag the best seat.

5:00 PM: Shortly after check-in, an announcement is made. The flight has been delayed an hour.

Ok, some extra time to score a panini at Girona’s atmospheric café. (In the above photo, do I look like I’m ready for take-off?)

Tip: Stock up on food, just in case. Girona’s airport café closed at 9 p.m. I’m glad I grabbed a sandwich when I did. Others would not be so lucky.

7 PM: A second announcement. The flight has been delayed for another hour. All assembled groan and pull out iPods, books and approved electronic devices. One nearby traveler starts clipping his nails over a waste basket, violating all manner of social codes (are clippers even allowed on airplanes?).

8:15 PM: A third announcement. Drum roll, please: The flight has been delayed for another two hours. The announcer says, with a tinge of exhaustion in her voice, “We hope to leave by 11. Thank you for your patience.” The thought of work the next morning was beginning to make me vaguely nauseous.

Around 10 PM: Boredom sets in. All other flights have taken off. The airport feels empty, save the other poor souls flying to Stansted. With hardly anyone around, I attempt to fit myself, horizontally, into a row of seats in any way that could lead to sleep. I am not successful.

Above: Nothing happening under flourescent lights.

Tip: Bring back-up diversions. That could mean catching up on your trip journal, watching all the TV shows you earlier loaded up on your iPod, making progress on that novel, or even flipping through some celeb mags. In short, have something to do. I had packed “Madame Bovary,” which only helped put me to sleep.

11:30 PM: All other flights have left the Girona airport, and there’s still no sign of our airplane. The 20 Stansted-bound passengers are told we will not take off until after midnight. No excuse is given.

Tip: Make friends…if there are any out there. At some point after midnight, I found myself chatting with a couple from Los Angeles. A bottle of vodka became open. (Glad they took advantage of Duty Free when it was open…hours ago.) I pass up a shot (work seems ludicrously close), but others around happily partake. The mood lifts… and distorts.

1:30 AM: We take off, nine hours after my arrival at the airport.

Tip: Know when to go! Turns out there’s more than one good reason not to check any luggage on a budget flight. If you’re delayed, you could risk missing the last bus out of the arrival airport.

2:30 AM: We arrive at Stansted and immediately there’s a mad dash for the bus to London. And for good reason: The last one leaves the airport at 3 am (and sometimes earlier, depending on reasons I couldn’t quite understand). If you miss the last bus, you have to get a taxi, which can cost upwards of £60, or wait until 7 am when the buses start up again. I make the bus.

3:30 AM: I’m dropped off at Marble Arch on Oxford Street. What’s my name? Who am I? And how do I get a taxi? Work the next morning was, well, another story…

In the end, this experience didn’t deter me from flying on budget airlines. Over the next year, I’d often take cheap flights, including easyJet and Aer Lingus, for quick getaways. But I learned something about flexibility that long night in Girona.

Read another Cheapo’s tale of a long night in Stansted. Got a good airport story? Leave a comment or send us a note.

The post Ryanair diary: One Night in Barcelona’s Girona Airport appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.