Hosteling as a couple

[bluepea]

So, my hubby and I are tentatively planning backpacking Europe next year. I've been doing lots of research (oh man, I have to start thinking about something else!). Anyhow, when you book a hostel as a couple, how does that work? Do you have to pay for two people? What if you have a private room - do you still have to pay for two people? What if you're planning on sharing a bed?

I'm looking online and the price doubles if you enter two people... Can you just enter one for resy's and get there and tell em you're shacking up?

We're going el-cheapo and want to cut corners as much as possible (planning on utilizing campgrounds!), so if anyone can shed any light, it'd be greatly appreciated.

[tumblezweedz]

You do pay by the bed, because they are narrow (!) singles. We (family of 6) usually buy four or five beds, double up the kids and the baby sleeps with me. If you want privacy, you'll have to pay for a private 2 bed room, which is more expensive, though usually less than a hotel. If you just book two beds, you'll likely end up in a dorm, often with up to 10 beds, which may not be conducive to romance...

Campgrounds, of course, would be a cheaper way to go, but of course you don't always end up close to the sights. Where are you planning to go? To keep costs down, remember that southern and eastern Europe are considerably cheaper than northern and western.

If you are planning to book hostels and will be travelling in the summer, it's a good idea to do your research now and book early, in the summer they fill up fast!

Good luck with your planning, keep us posted what you find out!

[llemus7]

You can ask for a private, and tell them one bed for two.

or

somethimes you will end up with two little beds combined together, so you will end up paying for two little beds.

[bluepea]

Thanks so far. Well, so far the itinerary includse Norway (campgrounds), Greece (campgrounds). I also would like to see Ireland, London (for short time, can't afford too much! ) Spain (probably Madrid for like a night, then some smaller cities), Portugal, and maybe Hungary and Romania.

I know this is kind of all over the place but, hubby and I are hopefully moving to Germany next August (me study abroad, him work), so we'd be pretty centralized. Also, I've been to Europe before and have done all the major tourist stuff and seen most of the main countries. So anything else we want to see, can be a weekend trip or when we have vaca time.

So, we'd be willing to do lots of camping. I suppose that'd probably be the best way to keep $$ down. Are the beds really that narrow? And are the people who run hostels usually pretty good about couples sharing?

[tumblezweedz]

They're pretty narrow, the ones I've seen. I guess it depends on the place, of course.

Here's a little known tip for Spain. They have a hotel voucher system that basically gets reduced rates on good hotels. It's more than you want to spend every night, but you might want to treat yourself one night, or keep it in mind for when you're living in Germany. Basically, you walk into a Spanish travel agency, ask for a hotel in City X and you buy a voucher for (currently) 50 Euros, which gets you a room at a hotel that would normally cost a lot more. We needed rooms in central Madrid during the Easter holiday (2, since we are a family of 6) and paid 100 Euro for two vouchers. We ended up staying at a four star establishment on top of Chamartin station (our request, since we needed something with metro access to the airport) in a two room suite, complete with two bathrooms, two TVs (the kids were in heaven) and more luxury than they've ever experienced in a place where they were allowed to touch the furnishings. Obviously, you wouldn't require so much space, but it's good to know that if you want to treat yourselves, it is possible, for a pretty reasonable sum.

But, you can only get the vouchers in Spain, so you can't exactly plan it out in advance.

London is death to the budget! After a year in Lithuania, we about croaked at the prices of everything.

Everything I've heard about Hungary, especially Budapest, is awesome. Think we're going in September, when the airfares drop some.

If you find out any cool places to stay there, let us know- we're always looking for intriguing hostels and guest houses in strange places.

[bluepea]

Thanks for the info! That would be great for a nice little weekend getaway. Will for sure keep that in mind.

Hopefully will be staying a member of this site for awhile, so anything cool I happen upon, will totally share. So far, I found some amazing campgrounds in Norway. totally stoked about that. I'm still researching some other places. One step at a time. It gets a little overwhelming!

My brother was stationed in Hungary for a couple months and really seemed to enjoy it.

My other brother LOVES London, so hopefully, we will be able to squeeze it into our budget Haven't been yet, but the one thing everyone brings up is "Man, it's so expensive"

Unfortunately for us, we'll be traveling the summer months. It's really the only way to work it out, since the earliest we'll be able to leave is May and school and stuff start Aug/Sept. We're thinking of doing Airhitch for flight since we only need to buy one way to start off with. But campgrounds go up a couple Euro's a night during this time of course, which will add up depending on how long we backpack. Oh well, we figure we have friends to crash with if we need to save and can do the whole "under the table" thing while traveling Also, hopefully without hitting too many big touristy spots, the crowds shouldn't be too bad

So, do you guys travel a lot for fun?

[joanofarc]

god, i'd hate to cut corners on a holiday with my lover. it's all about bomb ass beds, nice fluffy duvets and a lot of privacy - ha, i shouldn't complain really i'm kind of a voyeur.

[bluepea]

LOL. Well, I don't really view the backpack thing as a "holiday" or "vacation" more or less an adventure. We've had plenty of extravagant outings - vacations, our honeymoon, getaways, evenings at home, etc. Now, we're so ready to rough it for a couple of weeks/months. Plus, we can make do anywhere. After awhile, the fluffy beds etc get boring and 75 miles an hour down the interstate becomes a lot more exciting

Hopefully if all goes well and we end up in Germany a nice weekend in Spain (hey, a four/five star hotel for 50 E a night? That's not cutting corners baby, that's sensible!!) or Venice would be in order.

But, we'll love hosteling/going from campground to campground/crashing with friends. Something we haven't done yet!

Have a good one!

[tumblezweedz]

So, do you guys travel a lot for fun?

Yup, it's my dream come true. Live in an obscure place most of the year, and travel to other obscure places during the holidays. The kids get dragged along because we don't believe in leaving them behind with a sitter. Hopefully we aren't doing too much damage!