Hostels

Checking on hostel vacancies and prices every day while backpacking can be a tedious task sometimes.

I have been backpacking quite a bit and often the rating systems for hostels in some countries are hard to understand. Hostels seem rated to be rather arbitrary and sometimes dictated by the hostel owners rather than a controlling body but I guess that will always be part of the backpacking experience. Sometimes you get the feeling that the price you have to pay for hostels do not reflect the level of service or quality.

Some backpackers love to show up on the very day they seek a free hostel bed to keep it exciting and spontaneous. I do admit with some of the private hostels I have bee staying there is the opportunity to bargain a discount when the hostel manager fears some of his rooms to stay empty over night.

Budget Hotels

The definition of budget hotels is a hard one. In fact it could mean slightly different things depending on what continent, country or even city to plan to stay.

Well, at least it doesn't get boring with the variety of budget hotels to select from and compare the best deals in terms of quality, service and price.

Cheap Flights

Naturally cheap flights belong just as much to a backpacking trip as cheap hotels, hostels and trains. What would be the point negotiating every single dollar, euro etc. for the cheapest night to stay and spending hours online to find the best and cheapest hostels and hotels in the desired destination? If the flight would eat up the budget all at once. Good news for the backpackers what concerns cheap transport.

Luckily we have been blessed with the numerous budget airlines offering rock bottom deals on flights and the drop in price for flights in general. This immense rise in competition in the air travel industry forced even the biggest airlines to lower they airfare prices In Europe the competition between budget airlines and traditional airlines became very strong. British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France etc they are all down to 100 Euro mark for many different routes just to be able to compete with cheap airlines like Ryanair, EasyJet, XL and so forth.

Hostels Rome

Rome is an unforgettable experience and the hostels there are so much fun! The historic city itself is a museum. I stayed in the Ottaviano hostel and meet so many people and new people every day from around the world. The yellow hostel has also a really nice vibe. You get a nice bar for parties with the yellow hostel. The Alessandro hostel has its own pub / bar sort of thing. Lots of drinking and fun!

Hostels Madrid

Hostels in Madrid are really cheap! When you have a look around for accommodation in Madrid you will notice the term hostal or hostales in Spanish. And you might wonder what the difference is but dont worry they are mostly just as cheap as any of the more traditional youth hostels. Often what you get with the hostal is a private bathroom, toilet and shower and a single room. Basically more privacy with the hostal than with the youth hostel but low budget prices too. When backpacking in Madrid you can't go wrong. One tip: Don't forget to always try and negotiate a little with the hostals since they are all privately owned and have no officially fixed prices.

Paris Hostels

Paris is always a little rougher to find a free bed in one of the downtown hostels. I made the mistake several times to show up in a Paris hostel without reservation on Saturday afternoon. Well, guess what it took me the whole day to find one free bed left about 45 train ride from where I originally wanted to be. Comparing it to the actual size of the city and amount of backpackers and budget travellers flying in on each day of the year the city has a lot fewer really cheap budget accommodations than cities in Spain like Madrid or Barcelona. It's perhaps less exiting but a smart thing to do to have a look at one of the hostel booking websites and your reservations at least for the first couple of nights in advance. You will see that during high season times such as spring youth hostels in Paris get filled up pretty quickly and weeks in advance.