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In the spring of 2006, my partner and I took a three week vacation to Europe after finishing our undergraduate degrees. One way we made the trip affordable was by staying in hostels.

Our trip started in Venice (well, it technically started in London, but that’s another story), then we headed to Florence, then Paris, and ended in London. Everything was well planned out, and much of the research went into accommodations. And if you do your research, you’ll be rewarded with a great place, in the right location, for the right price.

It’s hard to define or describe a hostel, because they’re all so different. They can range from bunk-beds in a dormitory room with shared bathrooms, to a private room with a private bathroom. But shared bathrooms are the norm, and you’re definitely not getting hotel style or ambiance. Some have poor reputations for cleanliness, but that can be avoided with research, and some draw party-goers while others are more quiet.

The other thing to note is that hostels are priced per person. Logical when you’re talking about a bed in a shared room, but perhaps not so obvious when you’re talking about a private room for 2 people or 3 people.

An invaluable tool in finding and booking hostels is Hostelworld. They list thousands of hostels in hundreds of countries. They’re all rated and reviewed by users, with ratings broken down by elements such as cleanliness, location and “fun”. (We generally avoided fun, since we just wanted a nice quiet stay.) Pay close attention to the cleanliness rating.

Through Hostelworld, we found our hostel in Venice and Paris, and they are both places we would recommend, and to which we would return.

Venice

In Venice, we stayed at the Locanda Poste Vecie. We loved virtually everything about this place, and would highly recommend it. Located above a fancy-looking seafood restaurant, they have a number of 3- or 4-bed shared rooms, as well as private rooms. The private rooms are only slightly more expensive (€35) than the shared rooms, so that’s what we chose.

Locanda Poste Vecie is located in the heart of Venice, right next to the Rialto Market, the Fish Market, and the Rialto Bridge. There was also a very quaint coffee bar (Bar da Luca) right outside the door of the hostel for your morning espresso. After coffee, we would grab a pastry at the market, as well as some lunch meat, bread and fruit for lunch, and get on our way. The central location meant we could easily return to our room between attractions.

Florence

In Florence, we found Soggiorno Gloria. They call themselves a guesthouse, offering single to quadruple rooms, with or without a private bath. The double room with shared bath was €50 total.

Again, location is key with Soggiorno Gloria. A very short walk from the train station, and right next door to the main market. All the other sights of Florence are also within walking distance. Just be sure to bring the address, because it’s not marked from the road, and you have to ring a doorbell to get in.

Paris

We found another Hostelworld gem in Paris. It was Perfect Hostel in the Montmartre area of Paris. We had a private room with ensuite for €29 per person. That also included a small breakfast of coffee and baguette.

Located a short walk (albeit uphill) from Sacré-Coeur, as well as two metro stations, it was the perfect place at the right price for our stay in Paris. For a private room with ensuite in Paris, we would definitely return to Perfect Hostel.

London

London is a hard city to do on a budget. We stayed at the St. Paul’s YHA, part of the Hostelling International network. At about £25 per night per person (notice I changed from € to £), it was almost twice as expensive as our other accommodations, and we only had bunks in a dormitory room. Nonetheless, a large breakfast was included, and it was in a great location, being just steps away from St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Next Steps

Check out part 2 of this post. We’re currently planning a trip to Rome, and once again, we’ve turned to Hostelworld for accommodations. See what we found.