School trips to foreign countries are a brilliant idea. Not only do they give the students a chance to try out the language that they are learning in a real life environment, but they also help to encourage a love of travelling, preventing a fear of places that you don’t know, while also allowing bonding between the students.

One place that is absolutely great for this sort of trip is Barcelona.  Barcelona is not too far away on a plane, meaning that it won’t take you and the students absolutely ages to get there, hopefully preventing tired and grumpy teenagers.

Nightly light show at Montjuic. Photo: Georges Jansoone

Because of this, there are plenty of flights available to Barcelona online, meaning that finding a cheap and good deal shouldn’t be too hard and most students should be able to attend the trip. It is possibly one of the cheapest trips abroad that you could do; ensuring that even less well-off students are able to afford it.

Not only is Barcelona easy to get to, but there is also plenty for students to look at and explore. They can go to Las Ramblas, which is a pedestrianised stretch of shops and cafes where they may be able to go off in groups, ensuring that they get some freedom to explore for themselves. Along with the market stalls and street art along this strip, it is bound to be an experience that they won’t forget.

As well as being fabulous for practicing language skills, going to Barcelona also means that your students can take in some of the culture by looking at architecture designed by Gaudi. This is something that you don’t really find anywhere else and certainly helps inspire children to see that buildings don’t just have to follow a stereotypical view – it really helps to show that you can be successful by being creative too – something that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Barcelona Sagrada Familia. Photo: Winfred Peppinck

Taking students to Barcelona is a relatively cheap way of ensuring that they practice language skills while getting immersed in another culture. It is great fun for both staff and students and can be an extremely rewarding experience that stays with everyone involved.