Immediate Help!! Hostels

[arpanmajmundar]

Me and a group of friends (5 guys) are going to europe from middle of june to middle of july and I wanted to know if we need to book any hostels in advance before we go. We will be going to all the big cities like amsterdam, rome, venice, barcelona, madrid, paris, berlin, prague. I want to know if I need to book any hostels in any of these cities in advance. We want to stay in party hostels that are nice, nothing too fancy, but just clean and simple and with other backpackers. Is there any particular cities I should definitely book a hostel in before we go? Any particular hostels anyone can recommend? We will be going to berlin, prague, rome, barcelona, madrid, and amsterdam on the weekends, so that may take top priority. I have alread looked at a few hostels like the flying pig downtown in amsterdam and the kabul in barcelona. Anybody heard anything good/bad about these places? Are they worth the rates? Also, does anybody know of any decently priced hostels in pamplona during the running of the bulls? I am having a hard time finding anything....I would GREATLY apprecaite any help or advice from anyone..

[WillTravel]

I'd definitely suggest booking ahead for these:
Amsterdam, Rome, Barcelona, and most definitely anywhere near the running of the bulls.
I suspect Pamplona is probably already booked - so try adjacent areas if you don't succeed there. It's worth locking up now, because that's such a popular event.

[WillTravel]

You should also look at hostals (note the "a" - these are like pensions - small guesthouses) in Spain - because with five of you, this might be a more cost-effective option. Try these sites:
www.bookings.org
www.venere.com
www.hrs.de

[bgkatie]

my friend and i are going at about the same time and route as you and we booked our hostels in amsterdam, berlin, and madrid just so we'd know we'd have rooms. there were still vacancies when we booked the flying pig uptown last week....a site i found useful was backpackingeurope.com because it listed all the hostels, their sites, and whether they had free showers, bed linen, breakfast, internet, etc. I don't know if your're going to berlin or munich but you should probably go ahead and book there since the world cup is going on this summer and itll be crazy.

[modestmike]

Book early for Flying pig, we are staying there june 9th-11th and almost didn't even get a room.

Don't worry about pamplona, there is a park you can sleep in, along with hundred of other backpackers that don't have any other place to sleep.

[sallyboop]

Hi,
Might be a little too late for you but thought this might be a little help. You don't have to book your accommodation all in advance as this gives you more flexibility for how long you want to stay at certain places. You have to be careful though as in peak times if you leave it right until the last minute you might have to pay a lot more then if you book in advance. A nice mix is good!
When we did our trip we used a few sites taht allow you to book hostels in certain cities. Its good to have a couple of sites just incase the others don't have availability.
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We don't mind links to other booking sites, but this smells addy and it's your first post.
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Hope this helps! Enjoy your trip.

[dumbdiety]

You could always book hostels through GFE, thus helping support the site!
www.guideforeurope.com/bookeurohostels.html

[Kim]

Thanks, Doug!

I agree, definately book ahead. It's high season right now and all the popular hostels (Flying Pig, Kabul, Circus etc.) book up well in advance.

Just use the link that Doug gave you above and you can see what's available for your dates.