Planning a trip to Spain after my Highschool Graduation

Research. From Amazon or the RS Store or your local library obtain and read his guidebooks. The practical and informative intel will help you to decide where to go. Will help your budgeting process as well.

Congratulations! What a terrific celebratory experience you've planned for yourself. Are you traveling alone or with family or a group?

You indicate you'll be in Spain for over three weeks. That's plenty of time to see the cities you've listed. Where to fly in and out of? Use Google Flights to find the best airfares from your home airport. It's pretty easy to use, but you can probably get help at your local library. Málaga, Madrid and Barcelona all can be fairly cost-effective as arrival and departure cities. You're then allowing about $125/day for lodging, food and transportation. This is probably doable if you choose hostels as your lodging, buses or trains for your transportation, and eat carefully. Also this budget provides little room for expensive sites such as the Alhambra. But you can enter the Prado, one of the great art museums of the world, for free, and many other attractions may similarly offer free admission to young students.

Best wishes, and have fun! You're entering the wonderful world of international travel, which can give you a lifetime of great experiences.

Alhambra tickets purchased from the official website (https://tickets.alhambra-patronato.es/en/) cost just over 19 euros. That is quite a bargain for a UNESCO-listed site where one could spend more than half a day. It's in Barcelona (which I love, lest there be any doubt) that sightseeing can be painfully expensive.

Always check for student/youth discounts.

If possible, I'd try to start the trip in Seville (add Cordoba) and Granada, because it will be getting hotter and hotter down there as your trip progresses.

In case you are not aware, you don't necessarily have to fly in and out of the same city. Look for a multi-city ticket that allows you to fly into Madrid or Malaga and out of Barcelona.

I would not go in June. I would go in October. Better weather, fewer crowds.
Pick either Madrid and north or Madrid and south.
Spend more time in cities and less time traveling.

The new issue of Rick's Spain book comes out July 2024. Definitely pick up a copy - the info, walks, itineraries, food suggestions, etc. were really helpful in planning my Spain trip last year (here's my trip report: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-spain-november-2023)

This channel is really helpful, from sightseeing tips to practical info like trains and airports. https://www.youtube.com/@ROADTRIPSpainandPortugal/playlists

Read through these pages:

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/spain/barcelona

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/spain/madrid

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/spain/granada

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/spain/sevilla

Well, congratulations on your upcoming graduation, and it is great of you to have such a focused goal of travel and learning. Are you studying Spanish in school? I am sure you will enjoy practicing your language skills as you travel around.

I understand why you want to go in June--that will be right after you finish school, and then you may work in the Summer, and go on to the university in the Fall. Are your parents comfortable with you being gone that long on your own? Spain is pretty safe, but as a young girl on your own you still want to stay aware and take precautions.

Your airfare is going to be one of your most expensive purchases, so you need to check both nonstop flights as well as connecting flights based on your budget. Some prices may be as much as $1500.00 RT. You will probably want to buy a Eurail pass, and it is not too early to start researching train schedules to see how the routes go across the country, and the time it takes to travel from one city to another. You can get a youth pass for about $300.00, which would be for eight days of train travel within one month.

Yes, youth hostels are the cheapest places to stay, and some are dorm styles, while others are more private. They might run about $50.00 per night. They do have rules, such as quiet time early evenings. Remember, Spain has late evening dinners and a lot of very late night life.

You can do a nice half loop for your trip, arrive in Madrid and see that city, recover from jet lag, take a day trip to Segovia and Toledo, head South to Sevilla and then Granada, and then East to Valencia, and finally north towards Barcelona. You can then fly home from there. Three weeks is a nice timeline to complete your itinerary. Your other major budget costs will be food, entrance fees, souvenirs, etc.. You can eat cheaply from grocery stores--bread and cheese sandwiches, etc.

Okay, so that is the option as an independent tourist. You might also consider taking a student group tour--they will have everything arranged, including hotels and sightseeing, and most meals, and you will be with other young people. Student group tours are usually very busy and active, and you see and do a lot. My brother took one when he was around your age all over Europe (eight countries?), because he did not want to travel alone. You should compare the daily costs of different companies and review the itineraries.

Finally, if trying to plan all this for next year is a little daunting for both your time and your budget, your other option is to consider a Summer or a semester, or a year in Spain studying in a university, perhaps when you are a Junior. That way you can save up for a few years, complete most of your required courses in college, and look forward to an exciting adventure of learning and traveling.

Many people have travel dreams, but the best thing for dreams to come true is to research a lot, and plan your travel carefully and thoroughly, so while you are on your visit all goes well, and you accomplish everything on your list. Enjoy your planning time.

Have a great Senior year!

I wouldn't assume a rail pass will save money. With a Eurail pass there will be a requirement for a seat reservation for each leg on an express train, and those are not free. I think the cost ranges from 7 to 10 euros. The trip from Granada to Valencia requires a change of trains in Madrid, which means two separate reservations.

Sometimes, especially for trips involving Granada, a bus works out better than a train, and the Eurail pass doesn't cover buses.

If the itinerary shifts enough that there's a long-enough travel leg for a budget-airline flight to be desirable (such as between Granada and Barcelona), that won't be covered by a rail pass.

Finally, I don't know whether the Eurail pass covers trains operated by Iryo.

Renfe markets its own Spain Pass. I recall some earlier complaints about the usability of that pass, but I don't recall the details, and it's possible procedures have changed so they're not as frustrating as they used to be.

When contemplating travel to the major cities in Spain, it's important to keep in mind that Spanish express trains--at least those running on the Barcelona-Zaragoza-Madrid-Cordoba-Seville line and those between Madrid and Toledo--sometimes do sell out. It is prudent to buy tickets a bit early if one can commit to a specific travel time. Buying tickets early can mean significant savings on fares, which would make a Eurail pass less likely to pay off.

I think you've received some good advice and bad advice here. I wouldn't even think about a rail pass right now; they don't pay off for most situations. Use the official Spanish rail company, Renfe. I (and others) have found the official website to be kind of finicky with American credit cards. If it just won't work for you after several tries, thetrainline.com sells tickets at a slight upcharge but without the credit card failures. There's another company, starts with the letter I and is in this thread, that recently started serving Spain too. You can estimate your rail expenses pretty well by choosing the same day of the week you intend to travel, but within a couple of months from now.

I do recommend hostels unless you are a very finicky sleeper. They are a source of information, other young people from around the world to socialize with, and good advice about economical places to eat and sightsee. Plus they are just plain fun and will save you a lot of money and in fact make this entire trip possible for you, and let you enjoy (non-American) restaurants once in a while instead of eating from grocery stores or American franchises all the time. European restaurants are good about posting their menus and prices outside, so you shouldn't be surprised by the cost.

One thing to be aware of is that some hostels have a minimum age for travelers who are solo, so if you won't be 18 yet, be sure to check their website for that information. Use hostelworld.com to check out the various hostels and read the reviews, which will give you a clue about which atmosphere you would enjoy most. But sometimes hostelworld doesn't tell you all of the terms and conditions, so that's why I suggest trying to find an actual website. Then if you will be under 18, you could email them to make sure. In today's environment where almost everyone has internet, it's too scary to go into a city without a reservation.

You probably will enjoy the trip more if you do more than one night in a city, and if you move around less rather than more. But five cities in 23 nights isn't too bad. Just expect that the first day you are going to be a zombie because you probably won't have slept much on the flight over, and you may not have slept well the night before at home either, due to an early flight somewhere in the U.S. and/or excitement or exhaustion from packing and otherwise taking care of business at home. So give that first city a night more than you think you will need because you really won't get any sightseeing done that first day.

Good luck to you--this trip will give you a great feeling of accomplishment.

$3000 should be enough for 3 weeks assuming you choose your accommodations wisely. I would book at least 6 months in advance and at refundable rates in case you change your plans while in Spain. Public transportation is good and inexpensive.

You could fly into Madrid and out of Barcelona, but if you want to fly out of the same city, you could take the AVE between Madrid and Barcelona. It takes maybe 4 hrs or less. Leave yourself at least 5 hours from arrival by train in Madrid or Barcelona to get to the airport.
Don't just go to the big cities is my advice. There are lots of amazing smaller places to visit. Costa Brava, which is north of Barcelona, is a gorgeous area and easy to get to. Llloret de Mar has a great beach and lots happening (nightlife). Plenty of hotels to stay at. You can get there by train and bus easily from Barcelona. Cadiz is supposed to be lovely and a lot of people like the coastal area around Málaga.