The 5 Best Hostels In Europe for Solo Travelers

Finding the best hostel is a must for the solo traveler — think epic parties, life-long friendships, romance, and adventure with interesting and like-minded people from across the world.

But hostels can often ruin a trip because of nasty rooms, obnoxious guests, and dull atmospheres.

Being primarily a solo traveler, I put a gigantic priority on finding the best hostels (Hostelworld reviews are your friend). The main things I look for are, in order of importance:

Social atmosphere (by far most important): Will the hostel be a good place to meet fellow travelers? Does it have good common spaces, a bar on-site, organized events and, most importantly, does the hostel look like it draws people who mesh with your personality and travel style?

Value and location: These two go hand in hand. When checking a hostel’s price, also factor in the cost associated with where it’s located. For instance, is the hostel located in walking distance to major sights and nightlife areas? Getting a cheap hostel can save money, but not if that cheap hostel is out of the way. Transportation costs can add up quickly and not having to worry about getting from x to z can save yourself a lot of hassle.

Food and drink policies: Many hostels with their own bars and restaurants don’t allow guests to bring in food or drinks and many don’t have kitchens for their guests to use. Not being able to cook ramen or drink cheap supermarket beer should make any budget-conscious traveler think twice, especially in expensive countries.

Facilities and cleanliness: Even for someone who is particularly forgiving of hostel upkeep, this can be a huge deal breaker for me if it falls under a certain threshold. Even the best travel experiences can be spoiled if you find yourself in a hostel with bugs, mold, no air-conditioning, or no hot water, so avoid places with consistently bad reviews for these things.


KEX Hostel

Reykjavik, Iceland

KEX Hostel is a converted biscuit factory that’s decked out in reclaimed items bought at flea markets from all over the world — and like the rest of Reykjavik, it’s super trendy.

On top of its cool style, the social areas make meeting fellow travelers a cinch. This is especially useful when you want to find other travelers to go out drinking with or to split the cost of a rental car to explore Iceland’s many otherworldly waterfalls, glaciers, and fjords.

The hostel even threw a massive block party featuring Iceland’s best up and coming musicians while I was there.

The only downside of KEX is that it’s relatively expensive for a hostel, but, this is Iceland after all — everything is expensive. Make sure to stock up on sandwich meat and cheap microwavable food at a Bonus supermarket or your budget might not last long in the Land of Fire and Ice.


Kabul

Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona might be the perfect city. It has it all — a beach, beautiful weather, laid back vibes, an incredible nightlife, and a top-notch hostel.

Every night, Kabul hosts a pub crawl that starts at their on-site rooftop bar and ends with free entry at one of Barcelona’s best megaclubs. You are guaranteed to be shitfaced with close to 20 new friends by the end of the night.

Just make sure to book ahead of time. Kabul is often booked weeks in advance during tourist high season.


Pink Palace

Corfu, Greece

The Pink Palace may be the most infamous party hostel in the world. And I can confirm, it’s madness.

Let’s just say that guests at this hedonistic hostel can expect copious amounts of ouzo, booze cruises full of debauchery, ATV-ing, cliff jumping, kayaking, and insane toga parties.

And oh yeah, Corfu island is as close to paradise as it gets.


St. Christopher’s Inns

Various, Europe

I have my issues with St. Christopher’s hostel chain: they’re massive, they’re commercial, they’re a little hotel-y, and they don’t have a kitchen. That being said, they definitely aren’t boring.

Each location has its own bar — some even a club — filled nightly with lively backpackers looking to drink the night away.

These are party places and meeting people shouldn’t be a problem.


The Yellow

Rome, Italy

It reminds me a lot of a St. Christopher’s hostel in its lack of character, many rules, and commercial feel but it also too happens to be a lot of fucking fun.

The Yellow’s bar and accompanying club underneath it are rowdy every night of the week and the party doesn’t end until late or early depending on how you look at it. The bar also draws in a decent amount of locals so you might actually meet an Italian or two.

The one downside is the hostel doesn’t allow guests to bring alcohol into the rooms so prices could add up quickly if you pay for drinks all night at the bar — so just smuggle some booze in, no one will catch you.


Avoid: Generator Hostels

Various, Europe

When I walk into the door at a hostel, I want to feel energized and ready to meet people from all over the world. Walking into two of the Generator hostels that are scattered all across Europe, I felt like I had been shot in the neck with a horse trank.

Don’t let their brilliant interiors and design fool you, these places defeat the entire purpose of staying in a hostel.

They’re boring, they’re expensive, and they’re super commercial.

If you are looking to chill and don’t want the whole hostel experience, you’re better off going the Airbnb route and having a real bed to sleep in.


Originally published at goodvibesnewtribes.com on July 25, 2017.

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