Where are you coming from? If you are in europe you can hitchhike :)

Are you going to school right now? :) If you are, you might try either:

a) seeing if your school has any study-abroad options (that’s how I went to Spain and it was great!);

b) if not, see if you can do another program elsewhere;

c) if you don’t want to do schooling, per se, you could still get all kinds of student discounts.

Other things to consider are time of year and where you are planning to go. Madrid is a great “base” — you can very easily stay there and take day or weekend trips pretty much anywhere.

Have you looked into doing a Rick Steves tour or picking up one of his guidebooks? They are definitely worth it. :)

Salamanca is a great place to visit (at least for a day) because it’s a college town, so prices are lower. The university is the oldest of its kind in Spain, and at one point in time was renowned as much as Oxford or the University of Paris—Sorbonne. It’s got two very old and beautiful cathedrals, and the best Plaza Mayor in Spain (if not Europe). :-)

As you could tell — I could wax eloquent about it … but I’ll stop here for now. I hope this was helpful — and feel free to let me know if ou have more questions!

Well I did it by joining the NAVY and that could solve both your problems at the same time…

As Meagan tells above, you should consider coming to Spain as a student, and better if you study in any University here. There are major discounts and facilities if you come that way.

In Madrid, cheapest manner to stay a long time is sharing a flat with other students. In Madrid City, this could be 300€/Month; if you go to any of the suburbs, like Leganes or Getafe, the amount can be signifficantly reduced to 200€/Month aprox.

Staying in Madrid has its advantages, as the City is in the centre of Spain, and there is a very good transportation options to every region in Spain. It also have “Party all night long”, sure you are going to enjoy. But Madrid has its “disadvantages” (not really disadvantages, but for some people could be): it is a very big city.

Another option for you (if you are coming to study), is that you come to a smaller city, whenever that city is a “College City”; and life costs less than in Madrid suburbs (aprox 180-200€/Month). There are two smaller cities that satisfy this: Salamanca, and, of course Granada. Granada is the “University City” by excelence of Spain, it has everything a student would desire: party, kind people, monuments (La Alambra) and it is nearer to the sea and countryside than Madrid :)

The best of Spain is that you have A LOT of options as a student: Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Granada, Salamanca, Zaragoza, Valencia…everyone has its own atractions; but I recommend you to choose one and visiting all :)

It is not going to be an easy decision ;)

Feel free to ask any question, and excuse my english

—

Juanra

Research traveling on a freight ship, that’s the kind that carry cargo between countries. I’ve heard it’s much cheaper. There are lots of websites out there. Look up “freighter ship travel”.

Once you get there, stay in youth hostels, which are called “pensiones” and buy your food at the local markets. The bread, cheese, fruits, everything is fresh and cheap if you buy what’s in season.

You can’t travel that far a distance for too little money, but this is the cheapest way I think you could do it.

http://www.cstn.org/reports/europe/spain/spain_englishtown_05.html

You can go to Spain and get free room and board in Englishtown.I’ve heard of other travelers doing this, though I haven’t personally.

Also, the south of Spain is less expensive than Madrid or Barcelona.

Cheers!

It depends on how long you want to stay. You can go and be an Au Pair (nanny) if you want to do it cheaply and stay a while, like for a year. If not, consider teaching private English lessons for the summer in return for a stipend/lodging/food. I did this by teaching English to a 5 year old 3 afternoons a week, the rest of the time I lived in the family’s apartment and traveled during free time and on weekends.

You can buy a sale airplane ticket to anywhere in Europe, whatever is cheapest and then just take a train to Spain. You might save money that way. If you are young, they have great student deals for the train. Good Luck! Your adventure will be worth it I am sure!

Hi!

I went to spain in 1992 and it cost $1200 for one week including hotel, airfare and rental car. We were young and didn’t worry about eating much, just drinking! Being young and flirtatious most drinks were bought for us as well. We were very lucky girls!

Best of luck to you!

Hey,

I went to Spain in January of 2004 as part of a month-long backpacking trip across Europe. It was pretty cheap for me since I stayed in hostels, which are really fun since you meet lots of interesting people, and I didn’t eat out at restaurants much (I bought easy, quick food in stores and in street markets). This keeps the overall cost down so that you can try one or two really cool but more expensive things while on your trip. Also, I timed it so that I was there for the day museums are free in Madrid, so I got to see a few things without paying the entrance cost. I would estimate that including my airfare (I flew Ryan Air), and all the expenses while there, I spent around 600$. It would be more expensive for a ticket if you’re flying from outside of europe, though… you would probably want to fly into London if you’re coming from the US and jump to Spain from there.

sO THE question really is how much in not much money? Some folks think 1200 is not much and to others that is a fortune. But coming from my VERYFAVORITE country the PI this is my suggestion. Get a ticket to Bangkok as cheaply as you possibly can. Then once you are there go to the bucket shops on Khao San road. They have deals that are unbelievable so you should be able to get a ticket very cheap to some european city. It doesnt make much difference where you go because then u can take a train or BUSABOUT and get to spain that way. Look into Eurrail Passes if you are a student. Hostels and Pensiones are the way to go. We have stayed in many, some run my little old couples that have extra rooms. VERY inexpensive. Eat in local spots – get bocadillos (Sandwiches) on the street, you may even find you have enough to take a ferry to Morocco. You can do it. Think outside that proverbial box. I agree with the others the south of Spain has much better deals than the north.

I went as a student studying abroad. When you do that, even if you still don’t have enough to pay for the program (mine was $3000 USD per month, and I stayed for 2 months) then you can do what I did and apply for student financial aid. If you don’t want to study abroad, then I’d suggest finding a cheap plane ticket online and then staying in youth hostels. I didn’t stay in one in Spain because I was living with a family as a student; however, I did stay in one while I was in London, and they can be very cheap. The one I stayed in was $18 a night (about 9 pounds a night) and it was very nice and clean and all the people were so nice! If you’re looking for a city to base yourself in while sight seeing, I know it’s out of the way from a lot of places, but I lived in Granada in Andalucia, and it’s beautiful! The Alhambra is there, and you can get buses pretty cheap from there to Seville, Cordoba, Madrid, Barcelona, etc. And Andalucia is the typical folkloric Spain that everyone thinks of stereotypically. Aaaaand, Granada is also really great because it’s up near the mountains, so while Seville and Cordoba are suffering immense heat in the summer, Granada often has a nice breeze blowing from the mountains. (45 minutes from the mountains, one hour from the beach, what more could you want??)

Hi,

I found it is better to get a cheep plane ticket to anywhere in Europe (to London, Gatwick airport is usually the cheapest)and then take an inter Europe plain to Spain, their own flights are cheap (under 100 euros I think) and you can find info on these on the net.

Also sleep at hostels instead of hotels, a good website is www.hostelworld.com, the trick is not to book through them (because they charge you for it) but to find the most appropriate hostel and then contact the hostel directly through email. If you go to Barcelona, there is a few cheep hostels at the red district, however I don’t suggest it if you go alone, it wasn’t the best/safest area :/

For food, best thing is to buy groceries at the major supermarkets…

Best of luck, you wont regret it!

Hey there…not too sure if I am too late or not but i have another suggestion. I am also a big traveller and i have been to countries all over the world. You should check out this web site.

www.couchsurfing.com

This is a free site to join and use and it is for travellers. Basically if you are going to any country, say Spain and you know where you would like to visit, then you can look up the city..maybe Barcelona, and then you will find many members there offering all kinds of things like a place to stay for free or to meet up for coffee. I have had a few people stay with me in japan and it is good way to meet new people and also it is much better to stay with local people rather than an impersonal hotel..check it out:)