to book or not to book - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!



Go Back   TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards! > Budget Hostels, Hotels, and Accommodations > Hostel, Hotels, Budget Accomodations: Questions and tips

Hostel, Hotels, Budget Accomodations: Questions and tips Safety, services and general questions. Is there a camp ground in...

Raileurope.com: See Europe by train
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-06-2006, 02:14 AM   #1
Rexticles
Members
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Adelaide, Australia
Posts: 12
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

gday all. being a newbie i dont know much but wat i do is that im backpacking one of these days. i plan to travel in 2008 after school. i will leave that australian winter behind to meet the european winter so im aware that i will need to book a lot in advance due to the busier times. im worried that if i do plan every night in advance with the appropriate transport, that my schedule will be unflexable though. however, if i only plan the occassional night in a hostel im worried i will not hav somewhere to stay sooner or later. what should i do? and also where do i stay if absolutely everywhere is full?

any advice is appreciated, thanks all!
Rexticles is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2006, 04:18 AM   #2
tumblezweedz
TPunk Emeritus
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,112
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

Most major towns will have something available, even at the height of summer - it might be nasty, or it might be costly, but there'll be somewhere. If you're planning on visiting during a major event (Running of the Bulls, a big music festival or sporting event), you probably won't find anywhere if you leave it to the last minute, but for just random places you should be alright. There are often campgrounds outside major cities, which can be a good cheap alternative if the hostel's full, and if you even can't get in there, you might be able to share with someone who has already got a spot (in Biarritz I once shared a tent with a couple of guys I met on the train, because the hostel was full. Had to use my towel as a sleeping bag, but it was only for one night.)

A lot of places, there will be people at the station promoting rooms - either in hostels or in private homes, so you should have quite a selection even at the height of summer. But another useful option to know about are two budget hotel chains, Etap and Formule 1, which rent very basic rooms for very basic prices - Formule 1s are generally in the 20 - 30 Euro range (and feature shared loos in the hall), while Etaps are in the 30 - 50 Euro range, depending on location. We stayed in one in Paris for 43 Euro/night, while the one in Salzburg was about 35. They do have en suite bathrooms, and the rooms can accommodate up to three people (if two don't mind sharing a double bed), though sometimes there is a supplement for a third person. Generally it's only a couple of Euro, so these can be a good option if you wind up meeting a couple of other travelers with no place to stay. Split three ways, the rooms can even be cheaper than some hostels.

It's probably a good idea to book accommodations for the first few nights, so you don't have that to worry about when you first arrive. If you can plan to stay in the same place for a couple of days when you first land, that'll give you a bit of time to recover from the jet lag and acclimatize to your new surroundings before your trip starts in earnest. But you don't have to book every night - I'd suggest just the beginning, possibly the end, if you have a fixed departure date, and if there's anywhere that you particularly want to be on a particular night (for a concert, festival or other special event that you decide you absolutely cannot miss), you could book there to be sure to have a place.

One other thing to remember - even if you can't find a place to stay right in a big city, there are tons of smaller communities all around them, generally with excellent public transit links, where you might be able to stay. For instance, if you wanted to visit Cologne, but couldn't find room, Bonn is less than an hour away and less popular with tourists. Or, if Bruges was on your must-see list, you could find accommodations in Brussels (about an hour away), or Ostend (even less) and travel in for the day. A lot of times when we travel, we pick one, smallish town as our base and daytrip to all the tourist sites around, without having to move our gear every couple of days, or pay the big city prices. You could stay at a lovely little guesthouse in the village next to ours, for 25 Euro/night (including breakfast), and daytrip to Cologne, Trier, Luxembourg, Dusseldorf, Bonn, Frankfurt in about two hours, but if you stayed in a similar hotel in any of those cities, you'd be paying at least twice as much. True, the smaller towns often don't have youth hostels, but there are still plenty dotted around.

Good luck with the planning, and welcome to the boards.

tumblezweedz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2006, 12:42 PM   #3
patchouli Lover
TPunk Emeritus
 
patchouli Lover's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Templeton, California
Posts: 567
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tumblezweedz @ Aug 6 2006, 06:18 AM) [snapback]133836[/snapback]</div>
Quote:
One other thing to remember - even if you can't find a place to stay right in a big city, there are tons of smaller communities all around them, generally with excellent public transit links, where you might be able to stay. For instance, if you wanted to visit Cologne, but couldn't find room, Bonn is less than an hour away and less popular with tourists. Or, if Bruges was on your must-see list, you could find accommodations in Brussels (about an hour away), or Ostend (even less) and travel in for the day. A lot of times when we travel, we pick one, smallish town as our base and daytrip to all the tourist sites around, without having to move our gear every couple of days, or pay the big city prices. You could stay at a lovely little guesthouse in the village next to ours, for 25 Euro/night (including breakfast), and daytrip to Cologne, Trier, Luxembourg, Dusseldorf, Bonn, Frankfurt in about two hours, but if you stayed in a similar hotel in any of those cities, you'd be paying at least twice as much. True, the smaller towns often don't have youth hostels, but there are still plenty dotted around.
[/b]

That is a great idea!! I will definitly use that on my trip!
__________________
He made the world to be a grassy road before her wandering feet

"At the center of your being you have the answer; You know who you are and you know what you want. "
-Lao-tzu




patchouli Lover on myspace





patchouli Lover is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2006, 01:15 PM   #4
foofiter
T-PUNK VICE ADMIRAL
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Atlanta, GA USA
Posts: 1,313
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via AIM to foofiter Send a message via MSN to foofiter Send a message via Yahoo to foofiter Send a message via Skype™ to foofiter
Default

I agree with tumble and also say that I book as I go in Europe unless I have set dates for flights and such. So when I am in one place I book for the next and usually staying longer (or shorter) is not an issue.

Foo

__________________
"To Alcohol! The cause of--and solution to--all life's problems." -- Homer J. Simpson
"I didn't get to where I am today worrying about how I am going to feel in the morning." -- Ron White (Blue Collar Comedy Tour)
"I was born to lose and destined to fail." -- Mike Ness, Social Distortion
"Eat healthy, exercise daily, die anyway" -- My motto
"Everyone I know, goes away, in the end...I will let you down, I will make you hurt..." -- Johnny Cash (NIN Cover of "Hurt")

I am traveling around the world until I find something that makes me want to stop. I am an aspiring photographer and hope to find whatever it is I am looking for...
foofiter is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2006, 07:32 PM   #5
Rexticles
Members
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Adelaide, Australia
Posts: 12
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

thanks for the detailed and generous reply tumble!!
Rexticles is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply






Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Should I book it? Scabbybones Australia/NZ/S Pac. 3 11-13-2005 01:06 AM
TP BOOK Blakeimus General Discussions 9 02-26-2005 02:27 AM
To book or not to book Tadpole Hostel, Hotels, Budget Accomodations: Questions and tips 5 01-19-2005 01:31 PM
to book, or not to book mindwindow Hostel, Hotels, Budget Accomodations: Questions and tips 1 12-22-2004 09:43 AM


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 05:55 AM.



 

Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.2.0 (Unregistered)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121