European Youth Hostels

You will save money (most of the time, you may want to research each city). I have heard that hostels are generally safer than cheap hotels. I only stayed in a hotel in Zurich, but had a good experience with that one. (I was a 19 year old female at the time, staying in an all-female room). We only spent one night in the hostel before staying with my friend's family outside of Zurich, but we enjoyed it. It was only 30 or 35 francs if I'm remembering correctly (cheap!), we paid 3 francs to rent sheets/towels. Sure, it wasn't the cleanest place ever, but we enjoyed the girls we stayed with and some other people we met there. If you were traveling with someone else, you may consider a hotel instead of a hostel, but especially being a solo traveler you will probably find a hostel the better deal. Plus you will be with people around your age, traveling like you are, and therefore people to go eat meals with or go out at night. There are some websites that review different hostels (hostelworld.com), they're helpful! That's how I decided between the two different ones in Zurich. One is downtown and didn't have the best reviews on cleanliness, etc, but the location was nice. The other was farther away (you need to take the bus) and more expensive, but supposedly much nicer. We chose downtown because we wanted to be close to the train station, close to everything in Zurich and were happy with our choice.

J.D., Although I'm an "older" traveller, I tend to stay in both budget Hotels and Hostels during my travels, and have had no problems at all. I often use H.I. Hostels as they're a chain so the facilities are somewhat consistent from one location to the next. With H.I. Hostels, it's a good idea to have an inexpensive membership, as that not only provides cheaper rates but also preferred booking over non-members. If you're travelling solo, Hostels provide a good opportunity to meet people, and they're usually lots of fun. Of course when staying in Dorm rooms, you'll have to be prepared for "communal living" and a shared bathroom. Some of the things you'll probably need: > A Sleep Sack. Most Hostels provide these in the cost of the room (especially H.I.), but you may want to pack a light weight silk model along. > A Travel Towel. Most Hostels don't provide Towels, so one of the quick drying Towels will be necessary. > A small, good quality Padlock, which you'll need for the Lockers. Don't use the normal travel locks, as they're not secure enough. Given the time of year you'll be travelling, you might want to pre-book at least some of your rooms. Happy travels!

Hostels charge by person, hotels usually by the room. So if you are a single traveler hostels are most often the cheapest option. For couples or families they may or may not be the best way to save money. Sometimes hostels also offer an advantage in terms of their location. In Germany, a number of them are in historical buildings and castles. Castle hotels tend to be very expensive, castle hostels are unique and cheap.

My daughter and I stayed in many hostels and found that the hostels in Germany, Switzerland and Austria were the cleanest. Here are some useful links for reviews and hostels: http://www.bug.co.uk/reviews/hostels/index.htm http://www.hostelz.com/ Enjoy!

Hotels in Europe do charge by the room, but remember it is still slightly different than in the US. In the US there may not be additional charges for extra people in the room, or the charge is not huge. In Europe though, if you say you are booking a single, that means one person in the room. Even if you think that the two of you can squeeze onto one of the single beds, they will charge extra. When you're a single person looking for a room and all that is left are doubles (which means a double bed) you may be able to get one at a slightly lower price, but don't expect a big discount. They budget the room for two people and charge that even if there is only one person. All yo need to do is be up front as to how many people are in the room and you will be fine. Pam

Hostels are great for many reasons. When I first arrived in Europe way back in 1998 as a young single soldier, my goal was to travel as much as I could and every weekend I took the train somewhere. I didn't have a lot of money back then so I stayed in hostels in just about every city I visited. Not only are they cheap but in most cases I ended up meeting people to go out drinking with at night, usually people from other countries. My thinking was that a room was just a place to sleep and keep my bag and the place where I would be spending the least amount of time so staying at a hostel freed up more money for stuff like alcohol, food, souvenirs and alcohol. Best one I stayed at was probably Frankfurt as it's right in the Sachsenhausen. Worst was probably Amsterdam. It was cheap (about 10 bucks) but it was a huge room with about 50 beds right in the middle of the RLD and the smell was just unbearable, a combination of BO, marijuana, booze and sex. My brother had given me a copy of Lonely Planet's "Western Europe on a Shoestring" which listed all the hostels and showed me how to travel around Europe cheaply.

As a solo, hostels are a great deal. I would expect to pay between 17 and 25 euros per night per person to stay in a dorm type room. If you are traveling with a group (or even as a couple who wants a double room), you can often get more for the money elsewhere (but that may mean relying on other people to pay up). Hostels range from party central to clean, quiet places to get a night's sleep. I like the latter. All hostels have problems with petty theft. You will have access to a locker. Take a good gym lock. Anything that's not in your sight should be locked in the locker, even for a short run down the hall to the bathroom.

The price depends on where you are staying more than anything else. North/west = more expensive, east/south = cheaper. For example, in Brussels and Amsterdam, we paid around $35/night (1EUR = $1.40), while in Prague and Budapest, it was more like $15/night (17CzK/220Ft = $1). These were not necessarily the cheapest hostels, but I think they were the best value for a relatively low price. I recommend poking around on hostelz.com for reviews, as it is one of the only hostel booking sites that does not filter out bad reviews. We had good experiences booking through them. Overall, if you are traveling solo and on a budget, hostels are definitely the best option for cheap lodging. It's also a great way to meet people on the road. It's not for everyone, but I would also recommend couchsurfing.com to find locals to stay with for free. I haven't done it myself, but I have friends who used it on their European trips and had a great experience.

For those considering hostels, I strongly recommend the hostelworld.com website, which has thousands of hostels in Europe and - more important - only allow reviews to be written by those who actually stayed and paid for their lodging at each hostel. Hostels are not all the same pretty much as "budget hotels" are not. Some are the local party animal's center. Some have a laid-back atmosphere. Some are managed by "graduated" backpackers. Some are are part of expanding chains with all they have good and evil (consistency, standardization etc).
Some I would NOT to is to restrict my self to YHA hostels: for at least 10 years, after Internet became a mainstay, any advantage of membership on YHA as a truly differential character or quality disappeared, as independent hostels came to the market.

I hope that you had as good a time as i did in the early 1970s. A few Deutsche Marks for a bed and a couple for dinner. A few, maybe 20?, pfennigs for a shower and I had the time of my life. Times have changed, I'm sure, but I really enjoyed hosteling, especially in West (as it was then) Germany. My favourite two hostels were the castle stables in Nuremburg and near the Rhine Falls in Schaffhausen near the German - Swiss border.

Hostels definitely offer a good value for the money. I would select ones with good ratings, and that offer both private and shared rooms. Some good hostel chains include Equity Point Hostels and Generator Hostels. GoMio.com is a good place to make find hostels. Have fun in Europe.

By the way, if you are still looking for a hostel in London, I have had several friends rave about Palmer's Lodge. It's one of the pricier options as hostels go, but it's housed in a really cool space, and like I said, I have gotten personal recommendations (too bad my trip to London fell through!).

Not only are hostels the least expensive option, they are also a prime way to meet fellow travelers from around the globe. Last summer, I traveled for 9 weeks in Europe, mostly solo, and mostly in hostels. The only times I stayed elsewhere were when they were either booked or I stayed with friends. My best memories come from exploring town with people from other nationalities, sometimes several in one group. Even the grimy hostels have good social scenes (and many laughs. I remember one nasty hostel I stayed at, where I laughed with a roommates from Australia and Portugal about our sad conditions). Sometimes I got lazy and just threw my backpack on my bed, and not once did I run into any problems, theft-wise. Even though I was a solo 25 year old girl, I stayed in mixed dorms as much as possible because I found that the social life was better. Once I got over the shock that near naked Europeans were sleeping in the bed next to me, I was fine. Friends I made in hostels have even come out to LA, so I proudly showed them around and let them crash at my place. Imagine going to a beer garden in Munich to watch a public viewing of the world cup with two Italians and two Brazilians, barely understanding each other but hilariously accepting our language differences. Only possible because we all met at the hostel. Live it up. You are at your prime. This will be the best experience of your life so far.

My daughter is leaving for London the same day as you. She booked all her hostels using Hostelworld.com. She has reserved 19 nights for a total of $464. This includes nites in London, Paris, Brussels, Munich, Budapest, Bucharest, Prague and Warsaw She caught a break and is couchsurfing In Vienna at a former coworkers flat. Also is spending about 5 nites on overnight bus trips. Hostels soundlike a great budget option - I might have to try them myself next time.

I've stayed in both hotels and hostels. Hostels offer some private rooms with private bathrooms. I like to use hostelbookers.com, and go by "Cleanliness" and "Location", then read some of the comments. You can also go to that hostel's website for more pics, and possibly a better price. The hostel's site usually won't charge you a deposit and have flexible cancellation rules. The stigma that hostels have is probably from the shared rooms of that silly horror movie. Some of my favorites: Hostal Cruz Sol - Madrid Hosteria Grau - Barcelona
Rooms Deluxe Hostel - Valencia Wow, my first post giving advice instead of asking for info!