Spain

I took a 2-week trip with my cousin to visit three cities in Spain. For all the flights, trains, and hostels, each of us paid about $500 USD. Barcelona was by far my favorite city! Here are some recommendations for site visits and hostels:

Madrid:

• Hostel: Mola! Hostel

• https://www.molahostel.com/

  • 8-bed Female dorm

  • Locked drawer

  • Large, clean bathroom

  • Great location

  • 7.50 euro optional breakfast (didn’t get)

  • Felt safe and secure with key card

  • Easy check-in/check-out

  • 94.29 euro for 3 nights

  
  

Itinerary: 

• Museo del Prado

• Cibeles Palace

• Plaza Mayor

• Royal Palace

• Sabatini Garden

• Parque de El Retiro

• Palacio de Cristal

• Cafe de la Luz

• Gran Via shopping street

• Chocolateria San Gines

• El Rastro flea market (very big!)

• Mercado de San Miguel

• Iglesia de Santa Barbara

Barcelona:

•  Hostel: Sant Jordi Hostel Sagrada Familia

• https://www.santjordihostels.com/hostel-sant-jordi-sagrada-familia/

  • 10-bed all female

  • Medium-sized lockers

  • Multiple bathrooms, but not connected to dorm room

  • Cool lobby, activities, skating ramp, bar crawl

  • Dog park across the street (watched cute dogs from my window)

  • Decent breakfast 

  • Felt safe and secure with key cards

  • Easy check-in/check-out

  • Good location

  • 163 euro for 4 nights

Itinerary:

• Sagrada Familia

• Catalunya Art Museum (12 euro)

• Casa Batlló (33 euro, make reservations way ahead of time!)

• Park Guell (24 euro, make reservations way ahead of time!)

• Playa de la Barceloneta 

• Arenas de Barcelona

• Parque de la Ciutadella

• Placa Nova

• Montjuic Castle and Fountain

• Opium club (randomly saw Jaden Smith perform at this beach club)

Valencia:

• Hostel: Star Home

• https://www.starhomevalencia.com/

  • Was more like a room in an apartment building

  • Small bathroom not connected to room

  • Remote check-in, they sent a pin number to get into the building

  • No breakfast offered

  • No lobby staff or activities

  • Great location

  • 97 euro for 3 nights

Itinerary:

• L’Oceanografic (Largest aquarium in Europe!)

• Ayuntamiento de Valencia

• Plaza de Sant Francesc

• Palacio Real

• Turia Garden

• Torres de Serranos

• Plaza de la Virgen

• Catedral de Valencia

• DDL Boutique Cafe

All the food in Valencia was particularly amazing, but paella from anywhere in Spain will be good! There are also great places to shop in Spain. I visited street markets but also loved to shop at Bershka, Mango, Mira Mira Jewelry, Primark, Zara, Stradivarius, and various vintage stores. I had friendly interactions with locals and highly recommend Spain as a vacation destination! I wish I could’ve gone to Portugal, too.

My favorite memories from this trip include meeting a Canadian girl named Ava in our hostel and spontaneously taking a bus to a Barceloneta Beach club and seeing Jaden Smith perform for literally a minute before having to leave so she could catch her morning flight! A special shoutout to my cousin Gina for joining me on this trip!