There are more than 1000 different options for your stay (I just love exaggerating) during your travels. But not everything is everyone’s cup of tea. Your stay might be the most expensive part of your travels beside the flight.
Or you can go camping. This makes a huge difference. When in Provence this year in August, I was thinking about writing an article about something like this.
What happened in Provence?
I was camping for the first time ever. It wasn’t easy for Jan to convince me. I’m totally scared of spiders and all kinds of little monsters. And I have a problem with dirty places. I actually always bring my disinfectant spray with me.
Why did it come up?
We wanted to make this road trip to Provence so bad. But we didn’t know how expensive accommodation is there in summer.
80€ per night for a shabby Airbnb room and with bad ratings was just too expensive for us. Compared to that, camping sites with a cost of 20 to 30€ per night was heaven. Not really cheap but a huge difference. This is what we meant with being well prepared for your travels.
So and now what’s my opinion about camping? We had so much fun! Toilets and showers were trying to kill me with their disgustingness. But all in all, the trip to Provence was my favourite this year. Of course, I have to mention my first camping experience was followed by excellent weather.
Another camping experience in August in Germany (Cochem Castle, Rhineland-Palatine) was like this: 1. I really don’t want to camp when it’s cold. 2. German campers are awkward as hell. Let’s call them ‘typical’ Germans: They put a fence around their camping van, a mailbox and decorate their area with garden gnomes. Of course, the satellite dish should never be missing.
We haven’t seen all of this when in France. It was funny for a one night stay, but how are people standing this regularly?! This will always be a mystery to me.
So what kind of options do you have while travelling?
Camping
Let’s continue with that. It’s maybe the cheapest possibility for your stay.
It also depends on what kind of luxury you wish. The more features the camping site has and the cleaner the sanitary facilities are, the more you’re going to pay. Our camping sites were in the middle-class segment and it was really annoying that they didn’t even offer toilet paper and soap. You had to bring everything yourself.
I know camping doesn’t mean the comfy life. But fact is, it won’t make them poor if they would offer these kinds of things and it would be a nice gesture. In Burgundy, everything was so much cleaner and provided so much more and wasn’t much more expensive. It was a dream!
So if you’re still a camping virgin like I was a short time ago, I can only recommend you to try it. It’s really a lot of fun and you’ll spend a lot of time at the fresh air. Being cut out of the internet world for one week was quite a challenge for me. The flexibility is another plus for camping!
Result: Camping in summer yes, in winter only for the brave!
Hostel, Guesthouse, Homestay
These kinds of stays are nowadays almost the same. I really cannot see a huge difference between them.
Hostels can be very cheap if you’re taking a bed in one of the dorms. Sharing a room with strangers is not everyone’s cup of tea. But for people short of money but with a huge desire for travel, it’s really an option.
Our experience: Good and bad ones. When we were young and had no money, we stayed two nights in a dorm in Florida, one in Miami, one in Key West. Both ended with the experience having shared a room with a maniac and American Nazis (which is almost the same). Not a very cool situation but if you survive it, you can at least tell stories.
Regarding the almost not existing difference: There are lots of offers for double rooms with shared bathroom and breakfast. This is a very good option as the prices for these rooms are way better than having your own bathroom.
Hotel
The more you pay the better the hotel (often but not always). Unfortunately, we cannot afford it. Well, we could, but then we had to travel less and this is not an option.
Hotels are often the comfiest option and offer a 24 hours service. You might need this, but usually, you don’t.
In general, we would say, you won’t need this at a city trip. Something like a hostel is totally enough as you’re not spending much time in there. It’s different when planning a beach holiday. As you might spend more time here, we would search for something comfier. This is a matter of taste and age. If your back hurts, it might be better having a good mattress. You’ll find them more likely in hotels than in cheap hostels.
Airbnb
We used this a few times now. And we were always happy with our stay.
It was awkward staying at a stranger’s place for the first time. But we had our own room and sometimes even our own bathroom. And all of our hosts were friendly.
It’s a cheap option: For Annecy (which is not a very cheap part of this world) and near the Swiss border in Breitenbach, it was perfect.
If you’re not convinced: the reviews are usually helpful. The more and the better they are, the more you can believe them.
Notice: Meanwhile there are a lot of commercial providers on Airbnb. Which might be good but it’s not the idea of this platform in the first place.
Couch surfing
It works like this: You are somewhere and can stay at a strangers place for no money. But you have to return the favour if the person comes to your city.
We haven’t done this yet, but I think it’s weird letting a total stranger in your apartment. This needs a lot of trust and is definitely not everyone’s favourite option.
Rental apartment
We rented one when we were in Sardinia. We had a little bungalow at Costa Rei. Advantage: You can decide on your own if you want to cook at home, order something or go out to a restaurant. Disadvantage: No service at all.
Rental apartments are perfect for families. They usually have more room for less money.
Where to book
Without making advertisement here: We made our best deals with booking.com. The menu is user-friendly and you can see all offers very quickly.
For staying in Italy, we can totally recommend venere.com. We booked three times here: for our trips to Sardinia, Sicily and Tuscany. The prices and the choices are better than on German or English websites.
Also to mention: Expedia and opodo, which offer good deals from time to time.
Kayak and Skyscanner are perfect for both flight and accommodation. You’ll also find tips on how to find cheap flights here.
We hope, this post was useful for you. If you have better recommendations, we will gladly receive those informations. Thanks!
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