Which is the best way to have a low-cost holiday? Third: the accommodation

In the two previous posts, I analyzed the ways to have a low-cost holiday choosing the cheapest destinations and the cheapest transportation.

In this post, the final one of the trilogy (!), I want to put in evidence the ways to save money for the accommodation. There are many possibilities, from the classic hotel to the camping, but I would like to focus about two main (and cheapest) options: the hostels and Couchsuring.

A classic dormitory in a hostel

The first hostel was created in Germany in 1912... Nowadays there are more than 4500 hostels all over the World. Hostels offer cheap accommodation, usually in a dormitory with a variable number of beds. People choose hostels for saving money but also for the environment. There are usually open spaces in which the guests can interact each other and hostel can become not just a place to sleep but also a place to meet people and sharing experiences.

If hostels can look too expensive, there is always the possibility to sleep somewhere else for free, thanks to Couchsurfing. This is a hospitality exchange and social networking website. People can offer a couch to sleep (for free) or, if they don't have place available, they can just offer a coffee and maybe a tour of the place they live.

Couchsurfing is present almost everywhere, with more the 3 millions of users. It is very common in Europe and Us, but we can find couchsurfers also in China, Russia, Australia and Brazil. Despite few negative episodes, the network of couchsurfers is safe and hosts reliable. It is interesting to notice the average age is 28 years, the 71% of members speaks English, the 20% are from United States. The common values are social integration, anti-discrimination, open-mindedness.

Couchsurfers in the World

Finally. which is the best way to have a low-cost holiday?

I would say that it depends from your budget and from your open-mindedness. If someone has a very little amount of money, the option couchsurfing + hitchhiking gives the opportunity to spend money just for food, not giving up to an holiday.

After all, the most important thing is that if you really want to travel, to visit places and to share experiences, you don't have to be rich, you just need to be open-minded, and maybe a little bit daredevil.

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Which is the best way to have a low-cost holiday? Second: the transportation

Even if the mid of August has passed few days ago, it is still time of holidays.

In the previous post, I have discussed about the choice of the best destinations in order to have a low cost holiday. Today I would like to write about the transport options we can have.

Once you choose a destination, there are many ways to get it (and to visit it). I am going just to mention some of them, the most known.

The cheapest way to travel is hitchhiking. This method has the big advantage that is completely free, but from the other side you never know who will give you a lift and you cannot schedule a trip because you cannot predict if and when you will get a ride. Hitchhiking is very common in some Countries like Poland and Netherlands, where there are also platforms dedicated to people waiting for a ride. In Cuba hitchhiking is mandatory by government vehicles, because of the small number of cars.

Another possibility to travel is given by car-pooling service, like Bla Bla Car. In this case, someone who has to travel from a city to another can offer a ride in exchange of the payment of a part of the costs. This solution is generally cheap, but you cannot always find the route you need.

Bus and train can be a good solution if you can find a good offer. For example Polskibus has been a huge success in Poland, because the ticket prices are very low (you can find a ticket from Krakow to Warsaw at less than 10 Euros). Interrail is also a good way to visit one or more countries: you pay a ticket for unlimited trips by train in one ore more Countries for a specific period of time.

If you have a larger budget and you don't want to spend to much time travelling, there are many offers from the low-cost Airlines as Ryanair or Wizzair. From one side, thanks to this solution you can arrive everywhere in Europe. From the other, it is not always easy to find a ticket really cheap and there are also restrictions regarding luggage.

Finally, you can always traver by your own vehicles. More than a car, it is interesting mentioning that many people are used to travel by bike. Even if it is more difficult to plan "exotic trips", travelling by bike gives more opportunities to enjoy the nature and to discover places not easily accessible via other transportations.

As you can see, there are many opportunities to travel in a cheap way. We are spoiled for choice!

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