Travel & Holidays
Los viajes y las vacaciones
⏱ 60-75 minWhat you'll learn
- ✓ Book accommodation and ask about facilities
- ✓ Describe past and future holidays
- ✓ Use transport vocabulary and buy tickets
- ✓ Talk about weather in different tenses
- ✓ Handle common travel situations (directions, complaints)
Grammar Focus
Essential grammar for this topic with exam tips and links to full explanations.
Preterite for past holidays
Use the preterite to describe completed holiday actions.
Examples:
Fui a España
I went to Spain
Viajamos en avión
We travelled by plane
Me alojé en un hotel
I stayed in a hotel
Visité muchos monumentos
I visited many monuments
⚠️Exam tip: Fui, fue, fuimos (from ir/ser) are essential for holiday descriptions!
Learn more about Preterite Tense →Imperfect for descriptions and weather
Use imperfect for ongoing descriptions, weather, and what things were like.
Examples:
Hacía mucho calor
It was very hot
El hotel era muy bonito
The hotel was very pretty
La playa estaba llena de gente
The beach was full of people
Todos los días nadábamos
Every day we swam
⚠️Exam tip: Mix preterite (actions) with imperfect (descriptions/weather) for top marks!
Learn more about Imperfect Tense →Future for holiday plans
Use future tense to talk about upcoming holiday plans.
Examples:
El verano que viene iré a Francia
Next summer I will go to France
Nos alojaremos en un camping
We will stay at a campsite
Viajaremos en coche
We will travel by car
Visitaré a mis abuelos
I will visit my grandparents
⚠️Exam tip: Using ir + a + infinitive AND simple future shows good range!
Learn more about Simple Future Tense →Conditional for ideal holidays
HigherUse conditional to describe your dream holiday.
Examples:
Me gustaría ir a Japón
I would like to go to Japan
Sería fantástico visitar Australia
It would be fantastic to visit Australia
Viajaría en primera clase
I would travel first class
Me alojaría en un hotel de lujo
I would stay in a luxury hotel
⚠️Exam tip: The conditional is perfect for "ideal holiday" questions!
Learn more about Conditional Tense →Por vs Para for travel
Use por for duration and movement through; use para for destinations and purpose.
Examples:
Viajé por toda España
I travelled through/around Spain
Fuimos a la playa por dos semanas
We went to the beach for two weeks
Salimos para Madrid
We left for Madrid (destination)
Ahorro dinero para viajar
I save money (in order) to travel
⚠️Exam tip: Por = through/duration, Para = destination/purpose. Easy marks if you get it right!
Learn more about Por Para →🔗 Key Verbs for this Topic
Quick Reference
Preterite for Past Holidays
Use the preterite tense for completed holiday actions. Ir (to go) becomes fui/fuiste/fue in the preterite.
Fui a España con mi familiaI went to Spain with my family
Visitamos la catedralWe visited the cathedral
Near Future (ir a + infinitive)
Use voy/vas/va + a + infinitive for future holiday plans.
Voy a ir a la playaI am going to go to the beach
Vamos a alojarnos en un hotelWe are going to stay in a hotel
Verb Conjugation Tables
ir
| yo | voy |
| tú | vas |
| él/ella | va |
| nosotros | vamos |
| vosotros | vais |
| ellos/ellas | van |
ir
| yo | fui |
| tú | fuiste |
| él/ella | fue |
| nosotros | fuimos |
| vosotros | fuisteis |
| ellos/ellas | fueron |
viajar
| yo | viajo |
| tú | viajas |
| él/ella | viaja |
| nosotros | viajamos |
| vosotros | viajáis |
| ellos/ellas | viajan |