One thing that I always love to share with readers is how to travel cheap or free. There’s this myth out there that you have to spend hundreds on things like flights, hotels and food. While you most certainly can travel this way, there are alternatives where you can see the world without breaking the bank.
I have many different tips on how to travel on a budget. However in this post, I’m going to talk about accommodation. Here are five different ways in which you can get cheap or free accommodation. Forget shelling out 100€ a night!
1. Stay in a hostel
If you’re a regular reader, you know that I stay in a lot of hostels. As a teacher, I simply could not have afforded to stay in a hotel every time I traveled somewhere new. So hostels have been a great alternative for me.
What is a hostel? Well it’s a space like a hotel except you share a room. This is the part that makes some people anxious because yes, it means you share a room with strangers. However I can assure you that I’ve stayed in a hostel at least 15 times over the past three years and nothing bad has ever happened. It’s also worth noting that many hostels offer a private room option as well.
Related: 5 Hostel Survival Tips for Your Next Trip
A stay in a hostel will be anything from 8-30€ per night depending on the city and time of year. If you’re going to a popular festival, expect higher prices like anything else. The last time I stayed in a hostel, I went to Malta and paid 16€/night.
You can find hostels all over the world. While the concept started in Europe, there are surprisingly a lot popping up in bigger US cities like New York and Chicago. You can find hostels on hostelworld.com. They also typically are listed on hotels.com, so you can compare their prices with hotels. Fun fact: if you book 10 nights on hotels.com, you get the 11th for free! I’ve already earned two free nights over the past three years.
Here are some hostels I’ve stayed in over the past three years that I’d recommend:
- Berlin, Germany: Circus Hostel
- Barcelona, Spain: Primavera Hostel and Sant Jordi
- Dresden, Germany: Lollis Homestay
- Lagos, Portugal: Top City Hostel
- Lisbon, Portugal: Destination Hostel and Sunset Hostel
- Liverpool, England: Hatter’s Hostel
- London, England: Astor Hostels
- Madrid, Spain: Hostel One Madrid
- Milan, Italy: Ostello Bello Grande
2. Do volunteer work
If you really want to experience a culture and meet locals, volunteering is the way to go! There are many different sites where you find work exchanges. With these, you volunteer maybe 4-5 hours a day in exchange for housing and food.
The amount of time is up to each host. I’ve actually been doing a volunteer exchange in the town I live in since last September. I’ve known people to do them for a few weeks or months as well.
There are several different sites where you can find these opportunities. I used Workaway to find the family that I live with. Helpstay and Helpx are similar sites. Wwoof is a site specifically with opportunities on organic farms.
3. House sit
This is another travel cheap or free opportunity that I’ve seen and heard about, but not yet tried. Basically, you can find people who need a house or pet sitter when they travel. You get to stay in their place for free in exchange for taking care of the house.
Trusted Housesitters seems to be the website where you can find these opportunities. Nomador is another site with house sitting opportunities. They have both a free account option for house sitters and a paid one. Mind My House is yet another site. Membership for house sitters is not free, but it’s only $20.
4. Couchsurf
This is one that I have done several times and I’ve always had a good experience. It’s also something that might not be for everyone because it means staying with people you’ve never met.
Couchsurfing started back when I was in college (over 10 years ago) with the idea that people can offer the spare couch in their house to a traveler. Couchsurfing is a community, so travelers and hosts are encouraged to connect with each other.
To find a host, you simply search hosts in the city that you wish to travel to and send them a message. No one is obligated to host you, so you want to make sure you write a nice, personal message to your potential hosts. It is free to create an account although a free account limits the amount of messages you can send each month.
Related: How I Spent $0 on Accommodation for a Week
5. Be an aupair
If you’re looking to spend several months in a different country and you like children, aupairing is a great option! Not only is this completely free (typically no membership costs), but you also get paid a weekly or monthly allowance.
You can find families looking for aupairs on websites like Aupair World and Great Aupair. Both of these sites allow potential aupairs to create a free profile. You simply search for the families that fit what you’re looking for and apply to work with them!
The specifics can vary from family to family depending on their needs. However you can expect to have free time in the evenings and on weekends. If you find an aupair opportunity say in Central Europe, you can spend your weekends exploring cities like Berlin and Amsterdam.
These are just a few opportunities to travel cheap or free. Have you tried any of these?
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