This introduction covers Actividades y tiempo — Holiday Activities and Weather within Travel, transport and holidays for GCSE Spanish. Revise Travel, transport and holidays in Theme 3 — Communication & World for GCSE Spanish with 13 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. Use this page as part of a wider topic revision path rather than treating it as an isolated fact. It is section 4 of 4 in this topic. Use this introduction to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
🌤️ Actividades y tiempo — Holiday Activities and Weather
Describing what you did and what the weather was like is expected in AQA holiday tasks. Weather phrases are built with hace for most conditions, but llueve and nieva are full verbs in their own right, and cloudiness uses estar.
Actividades de vacaciones — Holiday Activities
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| tomar el sol | to sunbathe |
| bañarse en el mar | to swim in the sea |
| hacer senderismo | to go hiking |
| visitar monumentos | to visit monuments |
| probar la comida local | to try the local food |
| ir de excursión | to go on a day trip |
El tiempo — Weather
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Hace calor. / Hace frío. | It's hot. / It's cold. |
| Hace sol. | It's sunny. |
| Llueve. / Está lloviendo. | It rains. / It's raining. |
| Está nublado. | It's cloudy. |
| Nieva. | It snows. |
Weather verbs: use hace for most conditions (calor, frío, sol, viento, fresco). Llueve and nieva are standalone verbs (not hace lluvia). Cloudiness and clear skies use estar: está nublado / está despejado.
Practice questions for Travel, transport and holidays
Quick recall flashcards
¿Cómo se dice 'by car' en español? Da un ejemplo.
en coche — e.g. Mis padres prefieren viajar en coche porque es más cómodo. (My parents prefer to travel by car because it is more comfortable.) El coche = the car (masculine). Also: el automóvil (formal). Pattern: ir en coche.
¿Cómo se dice 'by bus' en español? Da un ejemplo.
en autobús — e.g. Suelo ir al colegio en autobús. (I usually go to school by bus.) El autobús (masculine) — note the accent on -ú. Also: el bus (informal). Plural: los autobuses. Remember the rule: ir en autobús (never 'ir a autobús').