Hostels are by far the most expensive part of the trip for me, and since I'm looking for ways to save money it really sticks out as an area I can skimp in.

How much luck have y'all had with camping... whether it be in designated camp grounds, friendly locals willing to let you pitch a tent in their yard (couchsurfing.com comes to mind), sleeping on the beach, or just crashing on a park bench.


My sleeping conditions are really low on my list of worries, so I want to cut costs as much as possible. I know there are cheap hostiles, but i guarantee they aren't free ;)


And as a bonus question, I understand traveling eastern Europe is much cheaper than the more developed west. Where exactly would you draw the 'east-west' line, and what are some points of interest that you would recommend seeing?

Preaty much anything east of Germany and Austria, their all poor. Bless em.

I camped in Amsterdam, it pissed rain the whole time, I was off my tities on shrooms so it was preaty cool.

Camping is an excellent way to keep the costs down!
I camped all over Australia, from Broome to Darwin, then all the way down to central Oz, and then across to the East and up to Cape Trib.
It was in my eyes, the best time out there, plus the coldest at night time!!!
When I was in the desert, you would wake up the next morning with dingo tracks around your tent!
In Cape tribulation, you can camp in the rain forest, and the camps are fairly close to the sea. the sound of the palms swaying above you and the waves in the background really rock you to sleep!

You see so much more than when staying in hostels, and I have only ever met nice people at camp sites. Some have even offered to share their food when they have caught too many fish/crabs.

Also, camping in the UK is great too! I really do recomend it, as being tucked up in your sleeping bag with a bottle of wine and a couple of plastic cups whilst the rain hits your tent is an amazing experience!

I have a friend who camped all over Europe in snow and sun! Poland and Slovakia were some of the places. I don't know how he managed to do it in the snow...but he did and loved every minute of it!!!

camping is a great way to cut costs-however, just as a warning, if you plan on camping in western europe, stay away from high season. hostels ended up being cheaper for me and my one-man tent. orange, france charge me 18euro for a one man tent for one night. luckily they then had "free internet", so i took complete advantage of that... :cheers:

We camped around Europe. Stayed at a campground in Tarragona, Spain for almost two weeks... Right near the sea... Ah, beautiful. They're easy to find (go to an information booth or look up info before you go).

excellent :) this is a very encouraging thread! From my short time here, I hadn't seen much talk about camping, but tons about staying in hostels.

It's very good to know that staying in a Hostel isn't the only option


I plan on having a balance of camping, hostels, and sleeping on night trains... and I'm going to try and throw in a couple nights where I sleep either on the curb, or park bench. Hey, it makes for a fun story and a nice photo-op :D

Well, whilst sleeping on the curb, you could throw in some busking too!
Excellent photo opportunity!

When I was travelling in oz's red land, on times where we couldn't get to a camp before the sun set, we pitched up beside the road! Nothing around us at all beside the odd roo. But, the sound of one of their road trains rumbling past doesn't half make your tent rock!

Pitch up wherever is my moto!

have alook on the Tpunk accomm finder for the plus camping hostels around Italy. these may or may not be what you're looking for. :blink: