Hi! I'm a first time solo/international traveller. I'm 22 years old and am wondering how best to go on multiple tours in Europe. In that time I'd like to travel all over Europe, but also have a hearth to return to such that I'm not on the road 24/7. To accomplish this I was thinking of getting an apartment in Spain to return to in between guided tours. I have 3 years of Spanish under my belt and figure it would make the most sense to call Spain my temporary home. Has anyone done something similar? What advice do you have?

Some more info about me:
-As I am open to going on multiple tours, I would like to try tours that focus on one country for multiple weeks as well as many countries over multiple weeks.
-I'd prefer travelling in a smaller group.
-I want to see both countryside and cities.
-I'd prefer staying in hotels in the middle of town but also would like to stay on the outskirts of town as well.
-I'd prefer a room of my own or no more than one other person
-I don't need to stay in the nicest of places but I am okay with spending a little more for acommodations.
-I can carry my own bags
-I would prefer a guide to tell everything about what I'm seeing
-I want to be on moderately active tours
-I want to experience the clubs/party nightlife scene
-I'd like travel with people of a similar age (18-30)
-My budget is ~20-30k
-I wouldn't say I have a particularly special interest, but going out of my way (hiking, biking, etc.) to see awesome places appeals to me.
-I like to take my time on interesting parts of museums, but wizz through things that don't interest me.
-I'd like to travel for 3-6 months
-I would also be open to tours that actually last 3-6 months themselves, but I have not found any such thing.

Is what I'm trying to do feasible? Are there any travel companies that might be better suited to accomodate this type of travel? What are your thoughts?

If you are not a resident of the EU, you can only stay in the EU for a total of 90 days every 6 months.

You've only got 90 days if you're American. And while it sounds like an interesting plan, if I were 22 years old, I wouldn't pick a base in Spain and then go off on guided tours to other countries for weeks at a time. I'd get a Eurail pass and just go all around Europe, as millions of American and other young adults do. I wouldn't even think much about the fact that you've studied Spanish and not other languages - 3 years is a good start, but it's still not that much, and why not be exposed to other languages anyway?

You can pick up inexpensive tours in every European capital without committing yourself to days on a bus or anything like that. No tours last 3-6 months; the operators would have to be suicidal.

So there are a few options around this that I'v found. I could plan my trip so that it is under 90 days, apply for a residence visa within Spain, or have my temporary EU home in a non-Schengen region such as England. How difficult is it to get a residence visa?

Wrote that last comment before I saw yours, StCirq.

Because I am travelling solo, I was thinking the longer-term guided tours would help facilitate meeting people and having somewhat built-in friends on my trip. Could you give me some examples of the tours you are referring to?

In terms of having a base in Spain, I am not necessarily tied to that idea. However, as I mentioned above, having a base apartment in a country would allow me to break-up my travelling and not require me to be constantly on the go. If I were to choose a base in a non-Schengen region then it could extend my overall trip to beyond 90 days without a visa. Thoughts?

<<How difficult is it to get a residence visa?>>

Close to impossible.

The tours I'm referring to are the ones that are based on popular European sites like the Colleseum in Rome or the Scavi tours or the walking tours of countless cities and towns all over the Continent. Every tourist office in every city/town in Europe will offer options.

You do need to understand the rules about visas. Yes, you can leave the Schengen zone and then come back in, but not until 90 days after you leave.

It seems to me it would be quite expensive to have a base in Spain and then do all these forays out and back, as opposed to just devising an itinerary that would keep you traveling around (flying into place A and out of place B). You wouldn't have to be "constantly on the go." You could plan a week or three or more in any number of places.

Our young friend is having a day dream, nothing more, as he/she has done little or no actual research on this matter.

I think you're right, Robert.

Thanks for the info.

Agree that you need to do a LOT more research on:

Visa rules for americans

Costs of long-term rentals plus doing a LOT of tours (which are NOT cheap - unless everything they do is - since the tour company has to make money) doing it yourself is cheaper

Have a look at the weather - when will you be where - Spain and Italy are hellishly hot in the summer - and north of the Alps gets a real winter with cold and often quite a bit of snow - when would you be where?

You budget sounds like a lot - but if you are double paying for lodging and traveling everywhere constantly you can easily run through that amount of money

Suggest you get some of the Let' Go student guides and look at the Thorn Tree section of the Lonely Planet website - to see what other reco. (And local tours of a site or even walking tours that you can often pick up in town halls or tourist offices - can be cheap and wonderful)

Frankly - I would just travel on your own - meeting other young people in better hostels or budget hotels and spend time or travel on with them as the mood, weather and budget move you.

Once you have spent several weeks doing in-depth research - come back with specific questions.

You might travel around and but also choose more than one longer term base that was more central to the various places you want to visit rather than return to Spain every time. For example, two weeks at Spain base, then two weeks travel, then two weeks at Italy base, then two weeks travel, and so forth. As a way of meeting people, you might take one-week language classes in the base cities you choose. Many of these language programs include touring local sights.