How to see two European cities for less than £10 an hour, on the ultimate day trip

Simon Calder combines a jaunt to Barcelona with a hop across to Lisbon in one action-packed day – and all for £157

Pity the summer traveller. Britain’s aviation industry is designed on the premise that airlines will trade at a loss for much of the time. But in July and August fares soar, allowing airlines to make hay and possibly even turn a profit while the sun shines.

Take the most popular route from Gatwick to Barcelona. On Saturdays in July, even the antisocial first flight of the day on British Airways will cost you £135 one-way or more. Most midweek days this winter, make that £35.

Even those unable to take much time off can seize the day and splice together an international journey.

Forget your toothbrush: from London, Birmingham, Manchester and many other major airports, you can feast on sunshine, culture and cuisine for less than the cost of a one-way Anytime train ticket from Watford to Warrington (currently £169). And if you’re careful with scheduling, you can explore two great cities, while having a meaningful amount of time in each and achieving some “firsts”. Here’s how I combined Barcelona and Lisbon – more alluring than Watford. And Warrington.

6am: Gatwick South Terminal

I travelled from London, not on the expensive Gatwick Express (£19.90), but the cheaper Thameslink train from St Pancras via Blackfriars (£10.70). Airport security is helpfully swift, which is just as well because the screens are warning the Barcelona flight, BA2706, will close at 6.37am. Gate 38 seems a long way.

6.55am: Gate 38

Departure time on British Airways from Gatwick to Barcelona, for which I paid £35.10 a week earlier. Annoyingly, a kerfuffle over cabin baggage and the need to move some of it to the hold causes a delay. On a day trip, you don’t need much luggage: guidebooks, maps, devices of your choice. And, optimistically, sunglasses.

Pit stop: Barcelona’s best-value restaurant (Simon Calder)

10.05am: Barcelona airport

The pilots made up much of the lost time. Considering it is the seventh-busiest airport in Europe, getting from the arrival gate to the Metro station in 16 minutes, including buying a €4.50 ticket, is good going. It’s my first time using the airport Metro, which unhelpfully runs tangentially to the city centre.

11.15am: Casa Vicens

The opening glory of Antoni Gaudi opened in November 2017 and this is my first chance to see it (admission €16). The architect made his name with this commission for a stockbroker, Manuel Vicens. The house has since become a Unesco World Heritage Site, and thanks to an Andorran bank has been wonderfully replenished as a tourist attraction. Moorish design meets Modernism in a homage to Catalonia. As I leave, tattoo parlour opposite, Katarsis, offers another possible first, but I decline the opportunity and hop on the Metro (€2.15) to Liceu.

House proud: Casa Vicens, the first major project by Antoni Gaudi (Simon Calder)

12.30pm: the Ramblas

Liceu is the Metro stop halfway along Barcelona’s prime artery, adjacent to the colours, cacophony and flavours of La Boqueria market. But even though it’s a long time since my in-flight picnic somehere above the Massif Central, I keep walking through the engrossing Raval district to experience my first meal at the city’s best-value restaurant. On Carrer L’Hospital, a decent three-course lunch (including bread, a drink and a 50 cent tip) at La Monyos will set you back €7.50 as it fills you up on Caribbean-influenced cuisine (the owners are from the Dominican Republic).

1.29pm: Aerobus stop

Conveniently the bus turns up at 1.30pm. In return for €5.90, I am at the airport in 25 minutes, with over an hour to spare before the second flight of the day. The next two stages of my journey are on TAP Portugal. It sold me a Barcelona-Lisbon and a Lisbon-Heathrow flight as a through ticket €78.85 (£72), with almost five hours between them to spend in the Portuguese capital. Assuming flight TP1039 is on time at 3.05pm.

3.05pm: Barcelona airport

Annoyingly, again it is late leaving, costing 13 minutes. But it was a happy flight. From my self-allocated (the plane was only half-full) window seat on the right, I experienced for the first time the thrill of flying south-west alongside the Mediterranean coast. Above Tarragona the pilot turned inland, over the rugged crumple of mountains that defines inland Spain, providing a fine backdrop for a most agreeable lunch.

In terms of frills for passengers who pay only a pittance, TAP Portugal is top of the European league, which is why I chose the airline for two-thirds of my flying. Quaintly, it still provides meals for economy passengers, and serves them with tumblers filled with wine poured generously from full bottles.


 Drift away: P&O’s ‘Ventura’ sails into the sunset from Lisbon 
 (Simon Calder)

3.50pm: Lisbon airport

Despite the late departure, we arrive 10 minutes early – and I claim back the hour I lost flying from the UK to Spain; Portugal is on GMT. With no passport control (the trip was intra-Schengen), I am out in good time for the 4pm bus into town (€4 return).

4.30pm: Praca do Comercio

I arrive at the waterfront just as P&O’s Ventura chooses to set sail along the broad Tagus estuary. I am happy for the cruise passengers that they will arrive next morning somewhere lovely – Cadiz in south-west Spain – but sad that they miss out on the joy of an evening in Lisbon. I won’t.

5pm: Cafe A Brasileira

It is 12 hours since I boarded a train to Gatwick, so I need a coffee; it’s been 18 months since I last visited this grand cafe at Rua Garrett 120. The price of an espresso (“um bica”) has now declined from €1 to just 70 cents – but it remains as convivial and atmospheric as ever, with tobacco-stained woodwork and faded mirrors, and a fine starting gate for a ramble across the high and once-mighty streets of Chiado.

Bitter sweet: an espresso at A Brasileira, Lisbon (Simon Calder)

6.15pm: “Anthony’s place”

A final first: the cheapest bar in a western European capital. The customer turnover at this raucous, no-sign tavern is rapid, as workers swig swiftly on their way home. The wine is surprisingly good considering the price: 55 cents. Yes, even with a pathetic pound, there is somewhere in western Europe where you can get two very generous drinks in an interesting bar for under a pound.

7.20pm: Lisbon airport

My exuberance at a heavenly day begins to erode as the airport bus got caught in unaccountably heavy traffic. The Heathrow flight leaves in 35 minutes. A bit tight, but surely no problem? I proceed at walking pace to the signs for the security check which seems to be staffed by work experiencers more interested in gossiping than processing.

After 15 minutes, I have to ask to queue jump. Having cleared security, my problems are only just beginning. Signs say that Gate 41 is a minimum of 15 minutes away. As I start to sprint, it becomes clear that Lisbon Terminal 1 is a marketing maze set up to extract cash from passengers with excessive “dwell time” – the opposite of my problem right now.

7.45pm: Gate 41

I am not quite last to board. My seat, 9D, is red, which means I get three inches of extra legroom plus mains electricity for my laptop and a USB charger for my phone. People in “green” seats get nothing.

11pm: Heathrow Terminal 2

A third delayed departure of the day and, after touchdown at a quiet Heathrow, an absurdly protracted wait for a gate at Terminal 2. But the Tube into central London is still running (£3.10 off-peak) and I feel I have packed a long weekend of great travel experiences into a day. Time to do the accounts. The flights totalled £107; everything else added another £50. That adds up to a lot less than the Watford-Warrington train, and represents less than £10 per hour for the time between leaving Gatwick and returning to Heathrow.