Family travel in Spain from a Barcelona family: over ten years of trips with our two boys, and 14 years on the hotel side of the industry. Start with our Spain with kids guide to pick a region, or jump straight to Barcelona, the Costa Brava, the Balearic Islands, the Costa del Sol, Valencia, Madrid or the Basque Country. Every guide has real prices and the hotels we’d book with kids.
The short version Top 3 Family Hotels on the Costa del Sol Where we’d stay with two kids, ranked by what kind of family you are. Most to do Holiday World Resort, Benalmádena Pools, organised…
Rupit has 280 residents, sits on a rock in the mountains of inland Catalonia, and you can walk the whole village in an hour. We took three hours, because we had three children and there…
One weekend every October, more than 250 buildings across Barcelona open their doors for free — including a great many you cannot get into on any other day of the year. The 48h Open House…
Quick answer MNAC is the enormous domed palace at the top of the steps above Plaça d’Espanya that everyone photographs and almost nobody goes into. But during pandemics, with everything closed, once we were allowed…
Quick answer I went with our kids twice, once on the first Sunday of the month during pandemics, and the second time with kids and my parents who came to Barcelona. Both times we went…
Quick answer We visited this place during pandemics, when it was possible to move around Barcelona city. Here to mention, that the price was different then for us. On the other hand, this was our…
Quick answer The two tickets, and which one you want Ticket Over 120 cm 90–120 cm Over 60 Entrance (whole park) €39.00 €15.50 €11.70 Panoramic (emblematic rides + views) €21.50 €11.80 €9.10 Single ride, one…
Quick answer Where to stay in Barcelona — our three picks Budget · GràciaGenerator Barcelona – private family rooms at hostel prices, five minutes from Passeig de Gràcia and metro Diagonal (L3/L5). Rooms are small…
Quick answer Where to stay in Barcelona — our three picks Budget · GràciaGenerator Barcelona – private family rooms at hostel prices, five minutes from Passeig de Gràcia and metro Diagonal (L3/L5). Rooms are small…
Every winter we watch tourists walk down Passeig de Gràcia in t-shirts, and every winter I want to stop them. Barcelona in winter is mild compared to London, Oslo or Paris — it rarely drops…
La Molina is where Barcelona families go when the children want snow. It’s about 145 km and two hours from the city, it has a sledding area as well as 71 km of pistes, and…
Barcelona is one of the only major European cities where you can be on a beach in the morning and in real snow the same afternoon. La Molina, the closest proper ski resort, is about…
The Barcelona Christmas market 2026 season runs from late November to 6 January, but not every market lasts that long, and they’re very different from the German markets you might be picturing. We live in…
If you’re in Barcelona on 5 January with children, cancel whatever else you had planned. The Cavalcada de Reis is the biggest children’s event of the year here — bigger than Christmas Day, which in…
We moved to Barcelona in 2010 and have raised two boys here. This is the guide I send people when they ask what to do, written from living here rather than visiting. It covers the…
We’ve done Christmas in Barcelona every year since 2010. Some of it is genuinely magical. Some of it is a crowded street with a €6 hot chocolate and a child who wants to go home.…
Quick verdict Tamariu is where you go when Calella de Palafrugell has too many people in it. It is the third village of Palafrugell, tucked into a bay north of Llafranc, and it is the…
Quick verdict Llafranc, on the Costa Brava, is the village most people find by accident — they come for Calella de Palafrugell, walk round the headland because somebody told them to, and end up staying…
Key takeaways Where we stayedMontanyà Hotel & Lodge – Montseny, a nature base with kids, about an hour from Barcelona. Check prices & availability We didn’t book this hotel for a holiday. We booked it…
One of the things that surprised us most about Ibiza was how incredibly photogenic the island is. Every day seemed to reveal another picture-perfect beach, dramatic viewpoint, or charming village. Some of our favourite photos…