Flights to Madrid are unusually cheap right now
By now you know that I spend half my days scanning for the best airfare deals, which is odd considering I’m not planning my own trip at the moment. That’s what happens when you are a travel writer who specializes in budget travel, and today there is some interesting news to report. Normally the best deals on flights into Europe are into the Big Four airports (plus Ireland) but at the moment the cheapest flights are actually into Spain.
The Big Four are London Heathrow, Paris CDG, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam, and at almost any time those will have at least 3 of the 4 cheapest flights from the United States into Europe. Madrid, as we are discussing today, is usually more expensive by $100 or more, so this is cause for celebration for those considering an autumn trip to Spain.
Destination: Madrid
Currently I’m seeing that flights from Los Angeles to Madrid are starting at $810, which is $30 lower than into London, and about $100 cheaper than anywhere else, including Ireland. From New York the cheapest flights are $610, which are tied with Manchester for cheapest to Europe unless you count Ireland’s (remote) Shannon Airport, which has incredible deals going now as well.
Flexible travelers can make their budgets stretch by simply waiting for special deals before they go anywhere. For example, if flights to Paris are $750 round-trip and flights to Madrid are $920 round-trip (which is more normal) you’d go to Paris. When the situation reverses you go to Madrid, of course.
Spain is cheap
One of the other great things about this particular fare sale is that Madrid is one of the cheaper cities in Western Europe. Compared to London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt, you can probably get by on 30% less in Madrid and have a great time doing so. The summers in Madrid are so hot that it’s best to avoid it during that season anyway, so this fall fare sale is perfect.
Madrid easily has enough attractions to spend 5 or 6 days there without getting bored at all, but those on longer trips can of course take a cheap shuttle flight to Barcelona, or the high-speed train. That city is completely different from Madrid, partly because it’s on the coast instead of being in the center of the country, and partly because it’s in the Catalan region, where citizens identify themselves as Catalonian before Spanish, and they even have their own language.
Morocco is nearby as well
Speaking of cheap destinations, you may not realize that you can take a fast and affordable ferry ride from Spain to Tangier, Morocco, which is even cheaper than Spain. If you only have a day it’s worth just staying in Tangier, but if you have a couple days or longer it’s better to skip Tangier (a notorious border town) and head to Marrakech, Fez, or even the capital city of Rabat. You’ll get a much better experience there and will avoid most of the cliches you’d face in Tangier.