Family Travel Can Include Hostels

Anyone who’s into backpacking and budget travel knows that staying in hostels is one of the best ways to save money on the road. And if you’re a young traveler you probably aren’t thinking about anything beyond your next trip - or even tomorrow - so it may not have even occurred to you yet [...]

Prague: Not So Cheap Anymore, but Hostels Help

In the latter half of my sophomore year of college, I was in the midst of preparing for my first trip to Europe. I was heading to England to study abroad for a semester, and was already filling my upcoming breaks with planned trips to visit relatives in Paris and Zurich as well as a [...]

When is a mansion not a mansion? When it’s a Hong Kong hostel.

Y’know how so many hostels in historic areas like to brag about they’re in such-and-such old building that’s been “lovingly refurbished” to bring out all its historic qualities while at the same time providing you with all the modern conveniences? I’m sure that those descriptions are often true, and I’d be charmed by those buildings [...]

Hostels, Hostals, B&Bs, & Guesthouses in Europe: What’s in a Name?

Back in my youth, before I was thinking and writing about travel all the time, I’d heard of hotels (who hasn’t?) and I knew of something called a “youth hostel.” It wasn’t until much more recently, when I really started paying attention, that I learned most of the hostels had dropped the word “youth” from [...]

Hostels in Sydney Aren’t Just for Party People

You don’t have to spend time in Australia to know that Australians like to party. All you need to do is stay in hostels just about anywhere in the world - if there’s a group of lively, loud, and happy people staying in the hostel with you, chances are good they’re from Australia. So it [...]

Spend Less in Europe: Off-Season Travel & Hostel Stays

The economic news hasn’t been at all rosy for awhile now. For some people, this has meant cutting back on already painfully short vacations. Some have even eliminated trips entirely in the last couple of years. (Remember the dreaded “staycation?”) Anyone who considers travel a luxury, or who books package tours through travel agents because [...]

How to Secure a Hostel Bed in Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival (Without Reserving a Year in Advance)

The cleaners may still be sweeping up what remains of this year’s Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, which wrapped up yet another year of crazy fun on August 31, but with the ever-increasing popularity of this festival that can mean only one thing: it’s time to start planning for next year.
The 2010 Edinburgh Festival Fringe (as [...]

Finding Smoke-Free Hostels in Amsterdam

Most of the time, when you say you’re planning to travel to Amsterdam you’ll get nods and knowing looks from friends and fellow travelers who think you’re going to spend your whole trip in an Amsterdam coffeeshop stoned out of your mind. Now, you might visit a coffeeshop or two during your stay, and you [...]

Things to Know Before You Book a Hostel in Los Angeles

It’s understandable that the first thing most people think of when they’re planning a trip to Los Angeles isn’t what hostel they’re going to stay in. This is the city where the streets are paved with gold, right? And where you’ll bump into movie stars everywhere you go, right? And where there are Hollywood agents [...]

Italy Budget Travel Tips (Hint: They Include Hostels)

Anyone who’s even started looking into booking a vacation in Italy knows that it’s not a cheap endeavor. Italy knows it’s fabulous, and it’s not giving anything away for free. But a cursory glance at backpacker travel blogs is all you need to find evidence that even people who don’t have a six-figure income are [...]

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