Hostels in Florence

Hostels (ostelli in Italian) and other cheap digs in Florence, Italy

How to book hostels in Florence:
www.hostelworld.com
www.hostelbookers.com
www.venere.com
www.booking.com

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Grabbing a bed in a traditional hostel is a bit like staying at summer camp, only without the lanyards. These days, such rooms full of bunk-beds are being replaced with teensy "dorms" of just four to eight beds each.

If you're really scrimping on every eurocent, or are particularly fond of fraternizing with primarily youthful backpackers, you might want to stay in hostels, where you can get a bunk in a shared dorm for around $15 to $35.

I'm not a fan of hostels. Never did like them, really, not even when I was a backpacking student, but that's just me.

You, though, might enjoy the camaraderie, the chance to rub elbows with other English-speakers, the evenings of contributing an ingredient to the communal spaghetti dinner someone is whipping up in the kitchen while your laundry spins in the back room, a dreadlocked dropout strums a guitar, and everyone sits around and shares travel tips and recently discovered gems not yet in the guidebooks.

Oh, and the massive savings. That's the upside to the hostelling experience.

Favorite Florence hostels
• Archi Rossi
• Instituto GouldThe downsides, though, are enough to keep me away, despite the savings. Though some private hostels have done away with most of the old rules, some (especially official HI hostels) still impose evening curfews (10pm-midnight or so), midday lockout periods, and limits on how long you can stay (often no more than three days).

Tips

Buy a sleep sack before you go or make one. Hostels will accept homemade ones out of a basic cotton top sheet (fold it in half the long way, sew across the bottom and 2/3 of the way up the side), as well as the kind I use: the silk sleep sack you can get from some travel and camping outfitters that packs teensy and is dreamily comfortable.
Private hostels are usually far superior to HI hostels—better locations, nicer decor, smaller rooms (often only 4-8 beds per room), more private baths, far fewer rules, and better perks (like free WiFi, often free breakfast).
There are lockers for your bags; use them.
Bring a sleep sack, which is basically a sheet folded in half lengthwise and sewn across the bottom and most of the way up the side—sort of like an ultra-thin sleeping bag. These are required at most hostels. Should you lack one, some hostels will sell you a sleep sack on the spot.
Hostels are a savings for singles, but since you pay a per-person rate, two or three people traveling together can usually find a hotel for the same price or even less.
Families can often find hostels with 4-bunk rooms for semi-private housing.
Meals will be cheap (if offered), but lackluster.

Finding Hostels in Florence

HostelWorld (www.hostelworld.com) - Premier independent booking site for 20,000 hostels around the world. It also helpfully includes particularly cheap hotels as well as campgrounds.

Hostelbookers.com (www.hostelbookers.com) - Some 17,000 hostels in 2,500 destinations.

Hostelling International (www.hihostels.com) - The official international hostelling body, giving its stamp of approval to one or two hotels in cities and town around the globe. This ends up totaling more than 4,000—around 100 of which are in Italy. Sign up as a member (under 18 is free; age 18-54 costs $28, over 55 costs $18—or pay $250 for a lifetime memberships) and you get a card good for about 5% to 10% discount at official hostels—many of which will sell you (or insist upon selling you) the membership/card on the spot. The website lets you search to find official HI properties around the world so you can get the info on location, rules, and prices.

Hostels.com (www.hostels.com) - One of the biggest repositories of hostelling information and reviews of some 6,000 hostels, both HI and independent.

Hostels in Europe (www.hostels.net) - Another independent guide to hostels.

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This material was last updated January 2011. All information was accurate at the time.

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Hostels in Florence

Hostels (ostelli in Italian) and other cheap digs in Florence, Italy

Tips

Finding Hostels in Florence

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