Hostels...

[travelbuddies]

my friend and I have recently begun planning our trip to Europe- we haven't gotten too far yet, but we've basically chosen cities/countries to visit... and we'll be in Europe for 4-5 weeks.

In some of the cities we'll be staying 3 days, and others maybe 4-5 days.... what we were wondering was how we should go about booking hostels/other accomodations?

what we mean by this is how many days are we allowed to stay in one specific hostel? I mean, is it unlimited? (as long as you pay, you stay?)

also, would it be a waste of money if we booked a room for only the two of us? (we are trying to be somewhat frugal on the trip)...

Any other suggestions about booking accomodations?

Thanks,

travelbuddies

[herrbert]

Get yourself to Hostelworld.com of Gomio.com, and you will find plenty of accomodations. (You can book at hostelworld via this website). If there are limits, it's more likely to be 14 or 31 days.

You can get a privat room for two if you want, but they tend to be more expensive than the beds in a dorm. However it is always nice to have a little bit of privacy after a couple of nights in a dorm. (no disturbance of your sleep, when the party crowd get in at 2.30 or later). In my opinion it's not a waste of money, but do it at hostels where, the price difference between a dorm and a room is not too big.

[WillTravel]

Also, private rooms are a good idea in small towns where hostel options are nonexistent or limited.

Here's a typical equation - say that you can get two dorm beds for 20 Euros each - or 40 Euros. In many cities, it will be quite possible to get some sort of private room in either a hostel, budget hotel, or B&B for 40-60 Euros. Often the best bargains require booking in advance, because if a cheap place is also good and in a popular city, it tends to book up far in advance.

[bono]

answering the other part of your question, if you want to stay on after your booked days, it will be subject to availability. If someone has already made a bookng for your beds you may be moved to another room / doorm. If all beds were booked you will have to leave the hostel and come back whenever its available again.

[lancemaria]

GReat for you guys. That was a popular place. Lots of interesting and beautiful spots.