Youth hostels, backpackers' hostels, flashpacking hostels – it doesn't matter what you call them, they're still hostels. And from Athens to Zanzibar, Adelaide to Zurich they mean just one thing: cheap accommodation.
A cheap hotel's all well and good, but when you're looking for great facilities, plenty of company and a lively environment, only a hostel will cut it. Kicking back in the evenings, swapping travel yarns over a drink… It's simply an irreplaceable part of the travel experience.
A Pan-Continental Roundup of the Biggest Travel Destinations
Traveling through Italy is like running down a roll call of the world's greatest cities. Rome, Florence, Venice… all are stuffed, practically to overflowing, with fabulous monuments and evocative neighborhoods. But as well as its sensational cities, rural Italy – notably the sparkling coast of Amalfi, the undulating Tuscan hills and the surging peaks of the Dolomites – has plenty to say for itself.
Like the grand dame of travel that it is, there are some wonderfully atmospheric old hostels in Italy to lay your hat in for a night or two. But in recent years, the country’s also seen a rash of the very newest flashpacking hostels spread across its cities.
The USA is far more than just a collection of huge household name cities like New York, Washington DC and San Francisco. From the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone National Park a vast landscape of almost otherworldly beauty stretches away in every direction… America's the country that's truly got it all.
The hostel concept is still quite new in the USA. But it’s catching on fast! And now, particularly in the big cities, you can expect your average USA hostel to amongst the best decked out backpacking digs around.
With its rolling Pampas, the famous ‘Seven Lakes of Patagonia', the Iguazu Falls and the almost incomparable Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina is a country of exquisite beauty. Sling in sultry cities like Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Mendoza and few countries anywhere in the world present the traveler with such a complete package.
A huge country, Argentina is – by necessity – the land of the traveler. And if Argentina hostels are uniformly excellent, Buenos Aires, particularly, has some of the best pound for pound budget accommodation out there.
China has more World Heritage Sites than any other country in the world. Monuments like the Great Buddha of Leshan, the Hanging Temple and Yungang Caves and, of course, snaking across its landmass, the Great Wall, stand as amongst the very brightest shining stars in the firmament of the world's wonders.
And it’s not exactly short of a great hostel or two, either! China hostels, whether in bustling Beijing or sumptuous Shanghai, are often in ancient premises making them some of the more interesting budget accommodation options anywhere in the world.
From the tumbling surf and palm-fringed beaches of its coasts and islands, to chic, cosmopolitan cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, and the starkly beautiful landscapes of the center, Australia is nothing short of a backpackers' paradise.
As you’d expect, Australia doesn’t just do hostels – it specializes in them. Whether it’s the sprawling backpackers’ resorts of the big cities, or friendly guesthouses in the dusty backs of beyond, hostels in Australia are brilliant – and brilliantly cheap! – places to stay.
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