Practical Information

Besides hotels and B&Bs hostels are a good low budget option. Hostels provide simple, budget accomodation primarily in shared rooms. They are good places to get to know other travellers. In Germany, as in many countries, two flavors exist: international youth hostels and independent hostels.

International Youth Hostels ("Jugendherbergen") are owned and run by the association "Deutsches Jugendherbergswerk" (DJH), which is part of the Hostelling International (HI) network. Their more than 600 hostels are spread all over Germany in big and small cities as well as in the country side. Not only individual travellers are guests, but also by school classes and other youth groups. To sleep there, you have to be or become a member in a youth hostel organisation belonging the HI network (http://www.hihostels.com). Detailed information about this and each of their hostels can be found on the DJH's Website (http://www.jugendherberge.de/international/).

Privately run independent hostels are an attractive alternative for a similar price. More than 60 already exist in Germany, getting more and more every year. They are located in bigger cities, espcially in Berlin, Munich, Dresden, and Hamburg. Only few are in the country side. Sometimes run by former travellers, hostels refrain from having strict rules. Especially small ones are frequently places where you can feel at home. There is no need to be a member in some organisation to sleep there. About half of the hostels have organized themselves in a "Backpacker Network" (http://www.backpacker-network.de/), which provides a list of their members hostels. A more complete list is Marcus's hostel list (http://www.hostel-list.de/). If you are interested in other traveller's opinions about hostels try http://www.hostelz.com/.

If you are looking for more privacy and prefer to stay in a hotel, you will find a lot of cheap accomodations in Berlin. Rates are generally lower as in the other European cities provided that you're not staying during a fair trade period. Detailed information on quality hotels in Berlin can be found on nyceBerlin ( http://www.nyceberlin.com/): you can find a selection of hotels in the center of Berlin, from 2 up to 4 star, all rooms with private bathroom. Each hotel is presented with pictures and maps of the quarter, a city guide is also available so that you can find the most interesting monuments near to your hotel.