Theme 2.4: Travel and tourism - Writing
Travel and tourism writing tasks cover describing a past holiday, including destination, transport, accommodation, activities and weather, naming a future travel wish and why, and giving an opinion on the value of travelling.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Read the bullets and identify the past holiday details that need the preterite (fui, viajé, me quedé, visité) separately from any background description that needs the imperfect (hacía sol, había mucha gente).
- Plan a short sequence of events for the past holiday in order (destination, transport, one activity, one opinion) so the preterite verbs form a clear timeline rather than a random list.
- Build the future-holiday bullet with the conditional (me gustaría ir a...) or, for the top marks, a purpose clause with para que plus the subjunctive explaining why.
- Add range: a connective (después, mientras que), an opinion justified with porque, and a subordinate clause with donde or que describing the place (un pueblo que tiene playas preciosas).
- Check preterite spelling changes for -car, -gar and -zar verbs in the yo form (saqué, llegué, empecé all need a spelling change before the e ending).
- Check gender agreement on place adjectives (precioso, preciosa; tranquilo, tranquila) and accents on travel vocabulary (país, después, allí).
- Reread to check the account moves through a clear sequence, since disorganised time markers cost marks for coherence even when the grammar itself is accurate.
Worked example
Write a short paragraph in Spanish for a travel blog. Mention: where you went on holiday last year and how you travelled; one activity you did there; where you would like to go on holiday in the future.
- PLAN the sequence: destination plus transport (fui a... en avión), one activity (visité/nadé/probé), future wish (me gustaría ir a...).
- PLAN one piece of background detail in the imperfect to add range, e.g. hacía mucho calor.
- BUILD the opening with a subordinate clause: El verano pasado, fui a Portugal, donde me quedé en un hotel cerca de la playa. Fui and me quedé are both preterite; donde introduces the subordinate clause.
- BUILD the activity sentence adding imperfect background: Un día, visité un castillo antiguo mientras hacía mucho calor, lo cual fue agotador pero interesante. Visité (preterite, completed) contrasts with hacía (imperfect, ongoing weather).
- BUILD the future wish with justification: En el futuro, me gustaría viajar a Japón porque quiero conocer una cultura completamente distinta.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1Give the preterite yo form of llegar, noting the spelling change.Show answer
Answer: llegué - g changes to gu before e: llegué, llegaste, llegó, llegamos, llegasteis, llegaron.
Q2Fill the gap with the correct imperfect: Cuando estábamos de vacaciones, ___ (hacer) mucho sol todos los días.Show answer
Answer: hacía - imperfect of hacer, used for ongoing weather description, unlike the preterite hizo which would report a single change.
Q3Correct the error: 'El hotel era muy tranquilo y las playas era precioso.'Show answer
Answer: El hotel era muy tranquilo y las playas eran preciosas - playas is plural and feminine, so the verb must be eran and the adjective preciosas.
Q4Translate into Spanish: 'We stayed in a small hotel near the beach for a week.'Show answer
Answer: Nos quedamos en un hotel pequeño cerca de la playa durante una semana.
Q5Translate into English: 'Me gustaría visitar un país donde nunca haya estado.'Show answer
Answer: I would like to visit a country where I have never been.
Q6Give the Spanish for 'means of transport' and 'a return ticket'.Show answer
Answer: el medio de transporte and un billete de ida y vuelta.
Q7Choose the correct connective: 'Primero, visitamos el museo; ___, comimos en un restaurante típico.' (después / porque)Show answer
Answer: después (afterwards) shows the next step in a sequence; porque (because) would need a reason, not a next event, so it does not fit.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Spanish exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Write about a holiday in Spanish. Answer all four bullet points in Spanish. Write approximately 40 words in Spanish. - where you went on holiday last year - how you travelled there - an activity you did during the holiday - your opinion of the holiday
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Write a blog post in Spanish about travel and tourism. You must mention: - a holiday you went on recently, including where, how and with whom - what you did during the holiday and what the weather was like - where you would like to go on holiday in the future, and why - your opinion on whether travelling abroad is important for young people
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See real GCSE Spanish past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
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