Wondering if anyone could suggest a reasonable weekly budget for a college kid backpacking in Spain?

Figure they'll take trains, stay in hostels and low-cost hotels, and eat cheap to moderate. $600-$700 a week seem reasonable?

Thanks.

that sounds about right to me.
30 euros max sleep /person
30 euros/day for food/drink
plus local transport.

buses are cheaper than trains, unless they get organized and get some of their longer trips with webfares at www.renfe.es about 60 days before each travel date.

to see local flights they can also play around with www.lastminute.com, clicking the spanish flag at the bottom of page. www.rumbo.es is good, too.

remember ryanair flies around spain, too, if they are pressed for time.

i don't backpack, but you can get hotels most places for 50-60 euros, so i imagine they can do very well with that budgetby going to hostels especially for them.

ops. i see those are $$$$. but still i think it is o.k. let's see what others can add here.

i know people are advised to go to thorntree, lonely planet for backpacking type discussions.

Yes i think $100usd/per day/per person is a correct estimate for this type of travel. 100 euro would be even nicer and a bit less 'shoestring'.

Yes the Thorn Tree forums at Lonely Planet have lots of people who travel this style (more than here at Fodor's).

So I'm gathering maybe $1,000 a week might be better? (I'm just trying to help my son plan his trip. I'll send him over to Thorntree.)

Thanks for the advice.

At Thorntree, there will be people who have done it for much less.

But I often think that people who claim to have done travel extremely cheaply do not necessarily keep a close track on all the costs. No matter what, every trip, I end up spending more than I expected.

Train fares can be very cheap if purchased far enough in advance, but of course their schedules are then fixed.

$1000/wk is a very generous amount! That's $143/day.

Just for comparison, I went to London for 6 days just last month, and I spent $174/day. This includes 5 nights of hotel room (where I stayed by myself without anyone sharing the cost), and 2 opera tickets.

If I had someone sharing my hotel room, my per day cost would have been only $128/day - for LONDON!

I'm sure your college-aged son can rough it better than I can now, and can survive on much less than $1000/week in Spain.

Long-distance coaches offer a lot of savings over trains. Research and compare the following with the trains at www.renfe.es:

http://www.madrid-guide-spain.com/ma...ional-bus.html

http://www.movelia.es/default.asp?idioma=EN

One thing you have to consider is young men's apetites.

When my brother was in college he could empty a fridge by himself in a couple of hours. And portions in europe aren;t that big. This budget might work for girls - but for guys with big apetites you might want to reconsider the amount for food. Also -how much they'll want to spend on nightlife (can be quite inexpensive - but it's easy to blow a budget on one night of clubbing.)

It's a good point about the amount of food. I remember Rick Steves' son, in his late teens, had a blog about his travels in Europe where he and his friend were sleeping way too much until they drastically upped their food intake.

But this extra food need not be from restaurants. I'm not suggesting all food should be from grocery stores, but as a supplement, it should be fine.

fortunately now we have anice chain caled "fresco" in spain which is an unlimited BUFFET.. great salad fixings, then pasta, chicken, pizza, desserts, capuchinos, fresh fruit.. it costs about 9 euros for lunch and 11 for dinner. so they will find plenty to eat.

many of the asian places also do buffets now, which could interest starving young men.

Hi --

Some great advice here, thanks. Somehow I never think of buses in Europe, though we use them all the time in Mexico.

And the point about food is well taken. He can pack it in, but remains with no appreciable effect on his belt size. Very unfair.

No I don't think you need $1000/week instead. I think $700 is adequate for a backpackers budget.

Thorn Tree will give your son a more accurate picture about the realities of what kind of travel experience you get for that kind of budget.

$1000 a week should be pretty comfortable. If he doesn't spend it all, he can always bring it back. Have a look at the ryanair website at their hostel options to get an idea of accomodation prices. Supermarkets are good for filling up hungry boys, and the ones in Spain are quite reasonable. The expense is likely to come from nightlife, meals out and unforeseen expenses - like changes in transportation or medical costs.

lincasanova writes: <<fortunately now we have anice chain caled "fresco" in spain which is an unlimited BUFFET.. great salad fixings, then pasta, chicken, pizza, desserts, capuchinos, fresh fruit.. it costs about 9 euros for lunch and 11 for dinner. so they will find plenty to eat.>>

The Fresco's a cousin took me to in Barcelona was Vegetarian. Cousin is a 'veggie.'
For variety, I prefer Menu del día at Tabernas: full-course meal for about the same (9-Euro). I make it my main meal of the day: breakfast at the Hostal - cookies for supper

You ask about <<a reasonable weekly budget for a college kid backpacking in Spain?>> But then it becomes "they." There may be a big difference in lodging costs for each of 2-people vs. 1-person alone

I would add half again as much to your so-called "reasonable" budget: maybe 600 to 700 Euros.

2 more websites for you
http://www.backpackeurope.com/tips/i...ain/index.html
http://www.backpackspain.com/

Hope these help make up your mind