Couchsurfing

Yes Couchsurfing is a website, where people can offer up their couch to strangers and people can request to stay on other peoples couch. A bit similar to Airbnb, except there is no money involved. You stay as a guest in peoples homes.
If you are interested in joining, be aware that you should fill out your profile and take your time to write personal requests to people you are interested in staying with and remember that nobody likes a freeloader. To boost your profile a bit, start by hosting a few people yourself.
Personally I have hosted a few times in the past, but I eventually stopped because I got too many inpersonal request from people who where only looking for a free place to crash.

Think back to college days when you crashed on a neighbors couch after partying.

That’s how I see couch surfing.

Might be cheap but I’m of the frame of mind not the safest accommodation offer. But that’s just me.

Claudia, drunk College students are exactly the types you would want to avoid as a host.

@Morten and that is why I compared couchsurfing to such college moments!

In some of his early books (maybe still there somewhere) Rick suggested this as a way to travel cheaply. I think his example was sleeping on the couch of his ski instructor's uncle in Norway. About as safe as hitchhiking I would think. That there is a website that organizes this practice, is a new wrinkle on an old practice.

Is it legitimate through a website

Yep and it has been around for some years now.
https://www.couchsurfing.com
https://twitter.com/Couchsurfing
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/couchsurfing-travel-app/id525642917?mt=8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CouchSurfing

https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/how-to-crush-it-on-couchsurfing/.
(Nomadic Matt is a popular travel site/blog amongst budget backpacker types)

As above, Couchsurfing is the legitimate name of a travel site/community but is also used as verb ("I'll be couchsurfing my way through Asia.").

Cindy,

As the others have said, this is a legitimate organization. I'd probably never use it as I'm a bit uncomfortable with the concept. I'd be somewhat nervous about single female relatives crashing on someone's couch (or whatever).

I agree with Morten's point in that you might want to contact the Webmaster and get this moved into the "General Europe" section, as it will get more exposure there.

I tried couchsurfing only a couple of times, but I had very positive experiences and I'd like to travel more in that way. Unfortunately my recent journeys tend to be shorter and having less time than money I find it easier to book accommodation instead of writing dozens of e-mails to find a host.

I have 2 good friends who could be called "professional couchsurfers". One of them is hosting travellers very frequently, he always seem to have a couchsurfer or surfers in his home whenever I visit him.

The other guy doesn't have much opportunity to host, but he travelled all over Europe and Asia couchsurfing for 90% of the time. He had like 1 bad experience in contrast with 100 positive ones.

Couchsurfing is as safe as you make it. Someone compared it to hitchhiking, but it is actually much safer than hitchhiking(Not that I think hitchhiking is dangerous), because when you hitchhike you'll be picked up by the drivers and you have a few seconds to decide whether you accept the ride or not and all you know of the driver is the first impression. If you're couchsurfing you have plenty of time to get to know your host through her/his profile, get in touch, exchange e-mails and it's up to you to decide who do you stay with.

Honestly, just think about how many young people have one night stands through Tinder without barely knowing something of their partner. This is much more risky than couchsurfing.

Cindy,

I personally would not do it as I like my privacy and security (as much as one can get in a hotel room.)

Of course, money dictates where you can stay.

Some people stay at hostels. I only read what some wrote of their experiences. There may be some who offer private rooms, but I think mostly, you'd be sharing a dorm-like area with same gender or not...I don't know. If you end up choosing a hostel or similar, make sure you have your bag and valuables tightly secured.

As an example: If your travels take you to Rome, Italy, the owners are Americans and have now made their home and business in Rome. https://www.the-beehive.com/ They offer dorm rooms and private rooms. They seem to get very, very good reviews.

But, if you travel to Italy, there are many inexpensive places to stay (including hotels) - time of the year and location dictates pricing for most.

There are hotels that are considered 2-star, 3-star, 4-star, and 5-star - meaning they are 'accredited' by how many services and amenities they provide.

In Italy, keep in mind the mandatory "city tax" paid per person, per night up to ten (10) nights of stay. The tax may differ a Euro or two depending on their location.

Cindy, one big difference between Couchsurfing and AirBnB is that one is a rental and the other is free: no money is expected to change hands for a surfer's crash spot. From the FAQ's:

https://www.couchsurfing.com/about/faq/

..hospitality on Couchsurfing is free. A host should never ask a guest
to pay for their lodging, and a guest should not offer. We do
recommend that a guest show their appreciation by cooking a meal,
taking the host out, bringing a small gift or offering some other
gesture. Hosts should only offer what they are able to offer freely,
and say what those things are clearly in the Couch Information in
their profile.

Surfers are, however, encouraged to pay it forward by offering other surfers hospitality in their own dwellings when at all possible. It's part of the "community" spirit. Accommodations aren't limited to sofas, either. They might range anywhere from a foam pad on the floor to a private guest bedroom.

Hello - couchsurfing host here - as a matter of fact, we've had two so far this year and another coming this weekend.

Yes - couchsurfing is legit. You may crash on someone's couch (as we have). It might be a mattress or air mattress on the floor (as we have). You may get an actual room with an actual bed (as we offer in our house - gotta use that guest room for something).

We've been hosting and surfing since 2008. (Well, not surfing so much anymore, but still hosting). We've hosted ages from 18 - somewhere in her 70's. And I think with our one coming this weekend we've hosted somewhere between 75-85 people over the years. (Which is nothing compared to people in big cities).

If you decide to do it, you have to figure what situations may make you uncomfortable/unsafe. As a female, if I was travelling alone (I always have hubby with me) I'd look more at staying with another female or a family, as opposed to just a single male (but that's just me). It's always best to make sure your profile is filled out with lots of info about you and your likes, etc...and make sure hosts you asked to stay with do the same. If someone new to cs asks to stay, I like to see the profile filled out, instead of a few lines. I always check out photos - if they seem to have a lot of bar/drinking/party photos, if hosting I usually decline, or if we were surfing, would just keep looking (unless you like to go to bars/party/drink). When you are a newbie, it's important to write a good request when asking to host - a few lines aren't going to get you anywhere. And be prepared to spend some time with your host - we aren't just a bed to sleep in - we want to talk to you, hear about where you're from, maybe show you around if time permits.

And make sure to read thru the references, but even negative ones should be taken with a grain of salt. We hosted a lovely bro/sis from Amsterdam - we were their first cs host. Then they went to Cape Breton and were going to car share with a guy who ended up being drunk so they dropped him off in the next town and he left them a scathing reference and probably turned them off cs for good. The guy had a few negative ref (mostly all were positive) but the few negative ones were about him being drunk/disinterested - so...as I do with airbnb...if I saw the same complaints a few times I'd keep looking.

But we've met some great people - we have been hosted by the same people in London 4-5 times, and a fellow in Maine the same (funny story - he...let's call him RM...actually met his current life partner via cs'ing! She actually stayed there with her then husband the same time we stayed. A few years later, she and hubby separated and a few years after that she brought her mom to Maine and stayed with RM again. Well, something clicked because she moved halfway across the country to be with him and they are perfectly suited). We've had some great experiences - from the couple in Bern who laid out an amazing spread of food and took us to a ski hill for a hike...to the girl in Augsburg who we enjoyed our time with so much, we stayed way later than we planned, to the detriment of our visit to Munich. And lots of other great memories that we wouldn't have had without some great hosts.

Thanks to all the replies. I will check into this more with the websites you've given me. Glad to know it's not a scam or too dangerous. Reassures my faith in humanity!

I have used couchsurfing several times when I traveled solo in Europe and always had positive experiences. I would seek out other females or families that had all positive reviews.

You also don't need to stay over night with them. I like my privacy too and every so often I would reach out to others to meet up for an afternoon/evening. Sometimes they would play tour guide and walk around the historical area of the city, take me to local bars/restaurants and sometimes cook dinner for me.

I have also hosted several times and loved meeting people from all over.