Nomsa is 34, works in marketing at a financial services firm in Sandton, and had never been to Europe before her March 2026 tour. She booked a 12-day Iberian Pearl (Spain + Portugal) with us in September 2025, and watched the Rand wobble for six months before her flight. This is her account.
Why Spain + Portugal
"I'd been to Mauritius and Zanzibar but never Europe. My friends had all done Italy already and I wanted to be the one who did something a bit different. Spain and Portugal kept coming up, sunshine, food, lower prices than Paris. I booked the 12-day tour in September 2025 for departure in March 2026. Cost: R42,000 land only, locked in Rands at booking."
The Rand watch
"I'd paid the deposit in September when the Rand was at R20.40 to the Euro. By the time I had to pay the final balance in late January, the Rand had moved to R21.20. Six months of background anxiety, watching my Twitter feed, wondering if I'd locked in at the right time. The answer was yes, the Europamundo invoice didn't move. They'd quoted me in Rands and that was the Rand I paid."
"If I'd been booking through a Euro-denominated operator, I'd have been about R4,200 worse off by final payment time. That's a chunk of my on-ground spending budget."
Solo on a coach
"My biggest nervousness was being the only solo traveller. I'm 34, single, going to a place I've never been. The coach turned out to be 38 people: 12 couples, 4 families with kids, and 8 solo travellers including me. We were the smallest group but the most social. By day three I was eating dinner with three women (two Australians and a Singaporean) who became my entire group for the whole tour."
The Madrid arrival
"I landed at Madrid Barajas on a Saturday morning after the Emirates flight via Dubai. The hotel pickup was waiting (I'd added the private transfer for €40, best money I spent on the whole trip). The hotel was on the Gran Via, ten minutes walk from Puerta del Sol. I dropped my bags and went straight out for a coffee at Plaza Mayor. The light, the architecture, the people-watching, I'd never felt so far from Joburg in my life."
The food, specifically
"This is what I'd come back for alone. Tapas in Madrid, churros con chocolate at San Ginés, pastel de nata in Lisbon, jamón Ibérico in Seville. I'd budgeted €30 per day for lunches and dinners on free nights, I ended up averaging €45 because I couldn't help myself. Worth every Euro."
The tour director
"His name was Daniel, Spanish, mid-50s, spoke perfect English, and ran the tour like a low-key family reunion. He remembered everyone's name by day two. He'd recommend dinner spots near the hotel each evening, never the touristy ones, always somewhere a real person would actually eat. On day five he'd noticed I was travelling alone and gently made sure I was always seated with the Australian women at included meals. Tiny thing, huge difference."
The Lisbon surprise
"Lisbon was the part I knew the least about and ended up loving the most. The trams, the tile-covered houses, the fado music in a tiny bar that fit 25 people. I almost cried during one of the songs and I don't even understand Portuguese. It's just that good."
What it cost in the end
- Land tour: R42,000
- Flights JHB-Madrid via Dubai: R14,500 (Emirates economy)
- Schengen visa + VFS: R2,400
- Travel insurance: R650
- Private transfers: R900
- On-ground spend: R23,000 (including a leather jacket from Madrid I had to fly home)
- Total trip: R83,450
The single most important learning
"Book early. I paid the deposit in September and that locked the Rand. I had six months to save up the final balance from my normal salary. I didn't have to take a loan or dip into savings. If you're a young professional with a monthly income, the Europamundo deposit system makes a real Europe trip genuinely possible, you don't need to have R80,000 saved up before you can book."
For more on the Iberian Peninsula, see our Spain & Portugal in one tour piece. For solo travel logistics, our solo on a group tour guide covers the practicals. Browse Spain & Portugal tours.
