🌍 Vacation - Vacaciones
Beginner Spanish · Vacations and travel plans
Vacation and Travel Plans in Spanish
Vacation vocabulary becomes more useful when you can say where you are going, what you plan to do, where you are staying, and which places you want to visit.
Your next small win: talk about being on vacation, make simple travel plans with ir a + infinitive, describe your current location and next destination, and plan a day of sightseeing.
Start with the trip
Core Vacation Vocabulary
These words cover the basics of preparing for and talking about a vacation.
Vacation
Trip / journey
Hotel
Luggage
Map
Photo
Useful travel actions
To travel
To pack a suitcase
To book / reserve
To visit
Prepare for a trip
Say “travel, pack a suitcase, and book a hotel” in Spanish.
Viajar, hacer la maleta y reservar un hotel.
Talk about what you are going to do
Estar de Vacaciones and Ir a + Infinitive
Use estar de vacaciones when someone is currently on vacation. Use ir a + infinitive for a plan.
Being on vacation
We are on vacation on the coast.
My parents are on vacation this week.
Making plans
I'm going to book the hotel tonight.
We're going to visit several towns during the trip.
I'm going to pack my suitcase tonight.
Simple pattern: change the verb after voy a or vamos a to create many travel plans: voy a viajar, voy a reservar, vamos a visitar.
Make two plans
Say that you are going to book the hotel and pack your suitcase tonight.
Voy a reservar el hotel esta noche.
Voy a hacer la maleta esta noche.
Current place versus next place
Estar en and Ir a
Use estar en for your current location. Use ir a when talking about the place you are going to.
We are in Madrid.
Tomorrow we're going to Toledo.
We're at the hotel.
Now we're going to the museum.
Key contrast: Estamos en Madrid answers “Where are you now?” Vamos a Toledo answers “Where are you going?”
Where are you going on vacation?
How long are you going to be there?
What places do you want to visit during the trip?
Say where you are and where you are going
Say that you are in Madrid and tomorrow you are going to Toledo.
Estamos en Madrid.
Mañana vamos a Toledo.
Plan what to do
Vacation Activities and Sightseeing
Once the trip is planned, use simple activity verbs to decide what you want to do each day.
Beach
Island
Museum
Restaurant
To take photos
To take photos
To explore
To explore / travel around
Planning a vacation
Where are you going on vacation this summer?
We're going to spend a week on an island, and we want to explore it by car.
Planning a day of sightseeing
What would you like to do tomorrow?
We can visit the museum in the morning and then look for a restaurant near downtown.
Plan one vacation day
Say that you are going to visit a museum in the morning and go to the beach in the afternoon.
Voy a visitar un museo por la mañana.
Por la tarde voy a ir a la playa.
More tourism vocabulary
Tourist
Ticket
Your turn · 8 quick questions
Practice: Vacations and Travel Plans
Choose the answer that best fits each situation. Focus on vacation vocabulary, future plans, current location, destination, and sightseeing activities.
Practice complete
You can talk about a simple vacation plan in Spanish.
A few vacation phrases to revisit
One last step: plan a vacation without choices.
Say where you are going, how long you plan to stay, one thing you need to prepare, and two activities you want to do.
Voy de vacaciones a una isla.
Voy a estar allí una semana.
Voy a hacer la maleta esta noche.
Quiero visitar un museo y pasar una tarde en la playa.
Which phrase means “to pack a suitcase”?
- hacer la maleta
- reservar el hotel
- tomar fotos
- visitar el museo
Hacer la maleta means “to pack a suitcase.”
hacer la maleta = to pack a suitcase
You are currently on vacation on the coast. Which sentence fits?
- Estamos de vacaciones en la costa.
- Vamos a viajar a la costa mañana.
- Queremos visitar la costa este verano.
- Vamos a reservar un hotel en la costa.
Estar de vacaciones describes currently being on vacation.
Estamos de vacaciones en la costa.
You plan to book the hotel tonight. Which sentence fits?
- Voy a reservar el hotel esta noche.
- Estoy en el hotel esta noche.
- Quiero visitar el hotel esta noche.
- Vamos a recorrer el hotel esta noche.
Voy a + infinitive expresses a plan: voy a reservar.
Voy a reservar el hotel esta noche.
You are in Madrid right now. Which sentence describes your current location?
- Estamos en Madrid.
- Mañana vamos a Madrid.
- Queremos visitar Madrid.
- Vamos a pasar una semana en Madrid.
Estar en describes a current location.
Estamos en Madrid.
You are going to Toledo tomorrow. Which sentence describes the destination?
- Mañana vamos a Toledo.
- Estamos en Toledo ahora.
- Toledo está cerca de Madrid.
- Queremos un hotel en Toledo.
Ir a + place describes movement toward a destination.
Mañana vamos a Toledo.
How do you ask where someone is going on vacation?
- ¿Adónde vas de vacaciones?
- ¿Dónde estás de vacaciones?
- ¿Cuánto tiempo vas a estar allí?
- ¿Qué lugares quieres visitar?
¿Adónde...? asks about movement toward a destination.
¿Adónde vas de vacaciones?
You want to suggest visiting the museum in the morning. Which sentence fits?
- Podemos visitar el museo por la mañana.
- Estamos en el museo por la mañana.
- Vamos al hotel por la mañana.
- Podemos reservar el restaurante por la mañana.
Podemos + infinitive is useful for suggesting an activity.
Podemos visitar el museo por la mañana.
You want to ask which places someone wants to visit during the trip. What do you ask?
- ¿Qué lugares quieres visitar durante el viaje?
- ¿Cuánto tiempo vas a estar allí?
- ¿Adónde vas de vacaciones?
- ¿Dónde está tu hotel?
¿Qué lugares quieres visitar...? asks which places the person wants to visit.
¿Qué lugares quieres visitar durante el viaje?