Spanish for visiting landmarks

Opening times are asked with abrir and estar abierto: ¿a qué hora abre? and ¿está abierto los lunes? Many museums and monuments close one day a week, so the second question saves a wasted trip.

Casco antiguo, the old town, and plaza mayor, the main square, are the two places every visitor is sent. ¿Está lejos a pie? asks whether to walk, which in an old town is nearly always the answer.

Hay mucha cola is the sentence you will hear and say most at a landmark. ¿Hasta qué hora se puede entrar? asks for last entry, which is earlier than closing and is the time that actually matters.

¿Me hace una foto? uses usted with a stranger, and ¿le importa?, do you mind, softens any request. Aquí mismo, right here, and otra más, one more, get you the photo you wanted.

Plenty of smaller sites, churches and shops close from about two until five, and a cathedral that is open all day will still stop admitting tourists during mass. horario de visitas on a sign means visiting hours, and it is often shorter than the hours the doors are open.

Almost every hill town has one, it is almost never the thing on the map, and asking for it by name is the single best question a visitor can ask. ¿Cuál es el mejor mirador? gets you a recommendation and usually a conversation.

Hay cola is there is a queue. It is the same word as an animal's tail, which is a reasonable picture of what a queue is. You will also see it on drinks lists meaning cola the drink, and context does all the work.