Cheap winter breaks in Spain
It's the best time of year to travel around Spain and the one fewest people use. The same places that cost double in August are empty and half price.
Why winter is so cheap
Between January and March, outside long weekends and Christmas, demand collapses. Accommodation drops 30 to 50 percent from summer, museums have no queues and restaurants don't need bookings. It's exactly the same country for far less money.
Historic cities without queues
Toledo, Segovia, Salamanca, Cáceres, Santiago. In winter you cover them without stress, and the short afternoons push you into places with good food, which is where they're really enjoyed. It's cold, but they're compact cities and everything is close.
Winter sun on the mainland
The Andalusian and Murcian coasts hit 17 or 18 degrees in January. Not swimming weather, but enough to walk around in a long sleeve while the interior is freezing. Almería and Granada's Costa Tropical are among the sunniest places in Europe in those months.
Hot springs and spas
Galicia has free riverside hot springs in Ourense, and there are spas across the country. It's a plan that only makes sense in winter and works out very well outside high season.
Villages with a fireplace
The Sierra de Madrid, the Sierra de Francia, the Maestrazgo, Pyrenean villages away from the ski resorts. Rural houses at low-season prices, short morning walks and an afternoon by the fire. The cheapest plan there is.
Carnivals and winter festivals
Cádiz, Tenerife, Las Palmas and several northern towns hold carnivals that fill the streets in February. Note that those specific dates do push prices up: if you're going, book ahead; if you want quiet, avoid them.
Real budget
A two-night weekend in any of these places, with simple accommodation and eating well, runs 120 to 200 euros per person. That's a figure that lets you do it several times over the winter instead of one big summer trip.
What to check
Opening hours. Many museums and monuments reduce their hours in winter, and in small villages restaurants close on Mondays and Tuesdays out of season. A phone call before going avoids the only real drawback of travelling in these months.
Keep reading
Browse every winter destination, or go back to the board and filter by month.