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Searching for budget group accommodation in major European cities

Posted by on

Hi! I am searching for good budget accommodation for a group of roughly 30 people (students aged 19+ accompanied by leaders) on a travel study tour of Western Europe (with a possible jaunt into Eastern Europe). Previously, our groups have camped all the way round Europe for 8 weeks with our own equipment on a two-month chartered bus, but on our next trip we are looking to fly and use train/bus, and move out from under canvas, finding reasonably priced roofs to sleep under instead! :-)

I would be grateful if anyone has recommendations for specific places in or near the cities I will list below, and advice about any groups, sites, companies or forums that would help me in this search. Our requirements for accommodation are: reasonably priced, which could mean from 15 Euro per night per person (we are used to about 10E pp/pn camping) up to 30 or even 40 if needs be now and then; facilities for self-catering, whether in one bigger kitchen or multiple kitchenettes in apartments; proximity to public transport but preferably a little on the outskirts of cities, as we will need to be able to get to the accommodation from the airport or train station, and also travel to local city site visits (though we may sometimes charter local buses for day trips further afield); access to wi-fi; and lastly, as we are an educational group that needs to meet regularly and maintain good relationships as we travel, the culture of most city hostels (a lot of partying etc) doesn't work for us, and we ideally need somewhere a bit quieter and preferably with common space for us to meet as a group as needed. Some of the residences on UniversityRooms are ideal, for example, but they are only available from July, and we usually travel mid-May to mid-July (though this could change if necessary). So quite a lot of requests there! :-)

The places we are most interested in are:
UK: London and Oxford
France: Paris and Lille
Belgium: anywhere within day trip distance of Brussels and world war sites
Germany: Berlin and Munich
Austria: Vienna
Spain: Barcelona
Italy: Rome, Perugia, Florence (or elsewhere in Tuscany)
Greece: Athens, Thessalonica etc
Eastern Europe: e.g. Romania, Hungary, Poland, Balkans (not CR/Prague)
Denmark: ?

Thank you, everyone, for all and any help and advice you can give!

Posted by
12313 posts

I've stayed two places that seem along the line of what you are looking for, but not in the places you mention.

Burg Stahleck, on the middle Rhine above Bacharach is a castle turned into a hostel. It's clean, quiet and cheap - but often full of traveling groups like yours, so book well ahead.

Institute San Sebastian in Salzburg is a dorm for a women's college. They rent dorm rooms very similar to a hostel but much quieter, again clean and cheap.

Posted by
16895 posts

For sleeping, hostels will be your best bet, especially if university rooms are not yet vacant. See hostel links at http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/favorite-links.

Rather than by train, several of the above, far-flung destinations would be better connected by flying, such as to and from Spain and Greece; see www.skyscanner.com as one search engine for budget airlines, which usually don't work with travel agents. I don't know how they work for group booking.

In comparison, Rick’s Train Travel Time & cost Map gives you an overview of faster train travel times in hours, as well as regular (full-price) 2nd-class fares. For group train tickets, contact Rail Europe's Group department. If you use Eurail Global passes, you will need seat reservations for most trains in France, Spain, or Italy. The London-Paris Eurostar ticket is always a separate ticket, not covered by passes.

Posted by
3 posts

Thank you, Laura - that's useful. We do plan to take a few short flights as well as travel by rail. Thanks for the links to help with that! Would you say that there are hostels without the party culture we are trying to avoid, then?

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