Not really,you’re just travelling to the country alone…i have absolutely no intention of staying alone when i arrive there.
that’s the thing…you’ll meet tourists not travellers…(cliched i know)
there would be loads of people,some would have already seen the city and would be leaving…some could have already visited a place you plan on going to see…don’t think it’s a myth at all.
at the end of the day hostels are generally run by locals…so they would have an idea,however vague
this is true…i’m actually looking to stay months on an end so perhaps i’ll mix it up with couchsurfing and air bnb. couchsurfing looks shit though…
Hotel conceirges are only good for getting tickets. You won’t get an honest opinion on most other things because they are on the take from restaurants and clubs. If you really want to know where to go, ask your maid, bartender, or bell hop.
Last time i check private rooms at hostels are really not THAT much cheaper than hotels, and they are not always an option depending on where you go. If you find them, great!
If also cleanliness is not a huge priority, then hostels may not be such a bad idea.
Though going back to the whole travellers/ tourists conversation, if you were to ask opinions of others “travellers”, why don’t you ask locals? in fact, as others have mentioned, there are bartenders, bell boys, and many staff at the hotel where you can get information from. Hostels are usually short on staff (think about the average time you ahve to wait to get your key!) i think hotel offers better customer service with the price.
I am usually 50% traveller 50% tourist, i mean, most people are “tourists” in the sense that they go to places because they want to see the things they want to see in their heads - isn’t that the reason why you choose to go to a city in the first place?
And at the end of the day, people at hostels are not always THAT friendly… so it’s not an experience you can truly count on as pleasant all the time.
I’ve taken multi-week/month trips in Europe, Asia, Central America, Caribbean and found my experience of meeting people different in each place. For example, in Europe I generally met people in hostels or on trains, whereas in parts of Asia, Central America, and Caribbean I found meeting people easier on small organized activities (i.e. diving tours, 3 day jungle treck, kitesurfing classes, etc).
I don’t consider myself to be a hugely outgoing person, but generally I’ve found it pretty easy to meet people while travelling. As long as you’re not a complete social retard you should be fine.
Can you give more details on where you are travelling so we can give more specific tips?
if it works for you then great but no,travelling to say paris and then going and standing in front of the eiffel tower doesn’t really appeal to me.
i’ll pick the places on other factors.
when i say travellers i mean people who have upped and left for at least a year,i’d rather meet people like them than someone who’se just on vacation for 2 weeks or something which is what i would most probably get in those groups etc…
The only time I ever stayed in a hostel or really even considered it was when I studied abroad in Australia and pretty cash strapped. I took fall break (I think it was fall there since it would have been like March or April) to Gold Coast (Surfer’s Paradise) and stayed in one. I only went drinking with a group of people one night (cash-strapped), but they had organized events for going out and it was pretty easy to meet people. Almost stayed in one when I visited Sydney, but a girl I was traveling with had a cousin studying there too, so I took the couch.
A bit of both, or everything, i mean, it’s like you can’t blame people for wanting to go to eiffel tower just like you can’t say that “you are such a tourist for wanting to see the pyramids”… i think most people go to places with some ideas in mind but also have room to explore new things like a traveller.
To me, if someone who is a traveller and have seen the world but have never been to places like the louvre or great wall of china because they are too “touristy” i think it would be a shame.
I’ve stayed in hostels all throughout Europe. I don’t really agree that you reach an age where you think NO MORE HOSTELS but rather the purpose of your trip changes. You’re more likely to do a multi-month backpacking trip in your early 20’s than you are in your early 30’s. I would never stay in a hostel for a short trip these days but I was pretty happy to do it for six months during my global financial crisis-inspired “gap year”.
The Nordic countries are stupidly expensive to travel in. Hotels etc are reasonably priced but eating is a killer. Also, they have really strict rules about drinking – drinks in bars are crazy expensive and certainly in Sweden and Norway, you can only buy alcohol from a government liquor store that trades restricted hours, to drink at home. Stockholm is really cool and so is Copenhagen but I’d give Oslo a miss. The Eastern European states are fantastic. Cheap, good food, good beer, and there’s a lot of cultural and historical sights that are completely underappreciated when compared to Rome, France, Germany.
It’s really easy to meet people in hostels, and often hostels will have a happy hour at the hostel bar, or arrange a bar crawl to get you started. Most of the time you will just start chatting to the people in your dorm and arrange to do something together. www.hostelworld.com is good for research before you go.
Also, “travellers” tend to be the most boring people. They tend to have a chip on their shoulder that they are ONLY TRUE TRAVELLERS EVVEERRRRRR in UNDISCOVERED LANDS. You’re in Europe. The whole continent is overrun with tourists. I’d honestly rather hang out with people who are on short trips as they will actually spend a few dollars having fun, as opposed to trying to stretch travel savings out as long as humanly possible by doing as little as humanly possible.
That’s why i don’t like the whole traveller vs tourist conversation and make it sound like travellers are always superior or something as if they REALLY have it all figured out.
I think it’s sad if you go travel and on a tight budget. it may be “fun” to do it cheaply at certain places at certain time, but not as a may way to travel i think. i’d rather go to less places and be able to have the freedom to enjoy what the city has to offer when i am there.
Many times i see peopel who have travelled to places but never been to anything because they think the admission is too expensive. or never really enjoyed their cuisines because they don’t want to spend money at restaurants. it’s not like you have to splurge everywhere you go, but even if you go to the market and buy nice local cheeses and wines and have a picnic at the park cost you money! and certain things you just can’t experience as a “backpacker” like go to paris and have a proper french dinner, that’s an incredible experience too (outside of park benches and hostels lounges).
like i said, there’s a time for everything, as a student traveller on a budget, it’s reasonable. but those who travelled on a budget backpacking across europe can’t necessary say that they experience more than “tourists” who have have gone to french wine regions, stayed in nice historic hotels, and had real french food and wine… you know what i mean?