Europe’s Best Beachside Hostels for Student Travelers

London’s Times Online was kind enough to put together this list of Europe’s fabulous seaside hostels.

Once you’ve had enough of the museums and churches and other historical sights, try one of these relaxing and affordable getaways. (See the Times for the full list.)

The Pink Palace, Corfu, Greece

CASCAIS BEACH HOSTEL, Cascais, Portugal
This hostel features a massage service, free WiFi, PlayStation, free parking, and a swimming pool all for 20 Euros a night in a dorm room.

HOTEL PARADIS, Nice, France
How about some time on the French Riviera? Two people can split a room here for 55-110 Euros a night. You’ll have Armani on one side of the hostel and Louis Vuitton on the other, which is about as close to either of those brands as I’ll ever get.

PINK PALACE, Corfu, Greece
This hostel seems to make it on every list: Most Popular Hostels, Best Party Hostels, Most Famous/Infamous Hostels, you name it. There’s really no point in traveling to Greece if you aren’t going to spend a day or two here, if only to be able to tell people you did. The 24-hour bar alone is reason to give it a try, but they also offer boat excursions, kayaking, a jacuzzi, pool table, ping pong and more.

20% Off Busabout Europe! No Foolin’.

Get on the Busabout!

Traveling around New Zealand is really easy with a hop-on, hop-off service like the Magic Bus. You can spend days, weeks or months to get around one or both islands, you have a driver who helps you figure out what sights and activities you want to do, where to stay, and where to get the best deals on drinks. (Yes, that’s an important one.)

If you like that style of travel, you can do it around Europe too. There’s no Magic Bus, but there is Busabout. With Busabout you can choose one of 15 different passes depending on where you want to go. Their routes cover 30 of Europe’s most popular destinations across 10 countries, so you have plenty of options.

Busabout doesn’t operate all year, but any pass you buy is good from May to October, which gives you all summer and then some to travel. And right now, Travel CUTS is giving you 20% off Busabout Flexitrips, Flexiroute loops and Flexitrip one-way passes if you purchase between April 1st and 30th.

If you know you’re doing Europe this summer, take a look at this deal. If bus travel isn’t for you, give them a call anyway to see what they have for you in a Eurail pass, or maybe just a couple of cheap flights to get you from Paris to Lisbon, or Rome to Munich, or wherever your adventure takes you.

Show me the American deals!

Show me the Canadian deals!

Get a 2009 Eurail Pass at the 2008 Price

If you know you’re traveling to Europe before July 2009, order your Rail Pass now, before the 2009 price hike, and use the money you save on extra postcards, tshirts, pub crawls and tours.

Order before midnight, December 30th, 2008 and you have six months from the date of purchase to start your travel. You can use your pass to go skiing over winter break, backpacking during spring break, or riding the rails for summer vacation.

As a student traveler or youth under the age of 26 you qualify for special passes and rates, so take advantage of every dollar you can save.

Be sure to tell your friends about the deals you find and talk them into coming along for the ride!

Attend a Travel Talk in Canada

If you’re a student in Canada, check out this list of free Travel Talks for a city near you. The talks take place all through Fall 2008 and are hosted by Travel CUTS. Topics include:

Europe On a Budget

Australia On A Budget

Costa Rica

The Galápagos Islands

Riding the Trans-Mongolian Railway

Southeast Asia

SWAP Talk – Student Work Abroad Program

The talks are co-sponsored by Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, so you’re sure to get the most relevant, up-to-date travel details possible. If you’re deciding where your next big trip will take you, these talks will help you explore your possibilities and see how far you can get, and for how long, on a budget that works for you.

And if you’ve decided where you want to go, but your parents still need convincing, showing them that you’ve done your travel homework can’t hurt.

How Do I Love Europe? Let Me Count The Ways.

Five.

There are five ways to love Europe. At least, in this article there are. Which view is yours? The newbie tourist, the experienced traveler, the tour bus sitter, or maybe something else entirely? Everyone’s take on a trip is different and if you did the same trip twice even your own views would come out differently depending on who you were with, the time of year, how comfortable your shoes were (shoes can shape an entire trip, for better or worse), or how often it rained.

Read these perspectives on Europe and maybe write up your own. Get a ticket, get a passport, and then get out of town and out of your normal routine. These five students did it and so can you. 

Free Flights to London from Contiki

If you’re planning to tour Europe this summer, take advantage of this offer and save a bundle on your flights. Contiki specializes in tours for adventurers age 30 and under, so you’re sure to meet other students and young people and create memories that will last a lifetime (unless you enjoy yourself a little too much, and then there will probably be photos on your friends’ cameras to remind you of the fun you had).

Simply book any one of the following Contiki European tours with Travel CUTS, and your flights to London are FREE!

European Explorer – With Mykonos or Greek Island Cruising Options – 35 Days European Adventurer – 17 Countries – 39 Days Ultimate European – 17 Countries – 47 Days 32 Day Camping Tour – 11 Countries 46 Day Camping Tour – 20 Countries

You must book your Contiki no later than April 11, 2008 and start it by May 15, 2008. so get moving!

Dine 150 Feet Above Ground

If revolving restaurants don’t quite nourish your appetite for adventure, there’s a new alternative in dining out. Or rather, dining up.

Dinner in the Sky takes a typical dinner table, straps you in, then lifts the entire thing 150 feet into the air with a crane. There are no walls or floor, you aren’t enclosed in any way, you’re just hanging out, munching your appetizers mid-air. Just the idea of it makes my head go a little woozy, but if you crave something unique with a moderate possibility for danger, this might just be your perfect meal.

The downside to this attraction is that it’s ridiculously expensive, and operates mostly in Europe right now. However, we can all have our travel and adventure dreams, and if you manage to land yourself some wealthy traveling companions, or maybe a job at a company that likes to splash out once in a while, your dream could become a reality. Until then, you can always grab a hot dog and climb a tree.

Buy Early and Save on Your Summer Eurail Pass

If you’re still trying to figure out what to do for Spring Break, then you probably aren’t one of those people who likes to plan way ahead. You might be someone who likes to save money though, so keep listening.

Summer will be here soon. You can spend it at home, working, tanning, watching everything that’s stored in your Tivo, or you can get up and go. Pinch those part-time job pennies for a few months and buy yourself an adventure. And here’s a tip: Some of the best summer adventures involve trains.

Now. You’ve decided to go somewhere. You want to do it on a budget. You want to ride a train. You’re going to need a Eurail pass. Luckily, they’re on sale right now.

Valid for sales from 1/1/2008 to 3/31/2008
Valid for travel within 6 months from purchase

Book a 6, 8 or 10 day Eurail Selectpass and travel up to six months out from the date of purchase. Not traveling alone? Check out the Eurail Early Bird Saverpass for special pricing.

	If you are considering traveling through more than 5 countries, check out the Eurailpass.
	And if you want to go to just one of these countries, be sure to see our Single Country Passes.

You get:
	Unlimited travel on the national rail networks of any 3, 4 or 5 bordering countries out of 22 European countries that are connected by train or ship.
	These are the following countries to choose from: Austria, Benelux (includes Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland), Bulgaria/Serbia/Montenegro, Croatia/Slovenia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland
	Choice of 7, 9 or 11 days of unlimited train travel within any 2-month period.
	Travel days may be used consecutively or non-consecutively.

Toot toot! Get planning!

Ride the European Rails for Less

“You don’t have to be a student to travel with Rail Europe Youth Eurostar Flexi Voucher Passes. If you’re under 26 years of age you can travel for cheap on the London, Parisian and Brussels railroads.”

So says Travel CUTS, and Travel CUTS doesn’t lie, not even to their mothers about who really ate the cookies in the cookie jar.

There are a few must-have experiences when you backpack Europe. One is staying in a famous hostel, like the Pink Palace. Another is having a whirlwind romance with someone who only speaks a few words of English. The third is riding the rails with some version of a Eurail Pass.

There are 22 European countries connected by train, so if the London-Paris-Brussles route isn’t for you, you can pick a different pass and plan your own route and itinerary. There’s even a Disney Train that will take you from London directly to the theme park in France.

Start planning your summer travel now so that you’re ready to go as soon as school’s out!

Have an Adventure Weekend at These Festivals

It’s not like there aren’t already a million things to see in Europe between the museums, monuments, historical sites, parks, canals, cafes, castles, and tasty locals. But, hey, since you’re already going that far, you may as well throw in a once-in-a-lifetime cultural experience as well. Europe hosts some of the largest, most exciting festivals in the world. Time your trip right and you can take in one of these events:

La Tomatina
Bunol, Spain
August 27, 2008
It might be the world’s largest food fight. Certainly it’s the most well-known and best organized. Feel like a kid again when you spend an hour throwing tomatos at friends and strangers and rolling around in the pulpy goo.

Notting Hill Carnival
London, England
August 24-25, 2008
Billed as “Europe’s largset streetfaire”, the Caribbean-flavored carnival includes a parade, DJs, and lots of glitter and sequins. Take a minute to get a photo of the shop with the blue door that was Hugh Grant’s book store in “Notting Hill”.

Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Edinburgh, Scotland
August 8 – 31, 2008
This is the world’s largest arts festival, featuring music, theater, opera, and dance.

Not to be confused with:

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Edinburgh, Scotland
August 2 – 25, 2008
Held at the same time, but as an open arts festival, anyone can perform, including comedians, street performers, and edgier acts than the other festival offers. In 2007, participants put on 2,050 different shows for a total of 31,000 performances in 250 venues.

Oktoberfest
Munich, Germany
September 20 – October 5
Pretzels. Shnitzel. Beer. Music. Yum.

Find more festival ideas and, as always, chat with a TravelCUTS student travel expert before you go. They can help you find student airfares, hostels and rail passes. And they’re just fun to talk to. Cute too.