Hostels in Budapest, Krakow, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam

blocparty

hey

myself and 3 of my friends are going tothe above cities for about 3 days in each city so we are looking for good places to stay.

ive done some research and found marco polo in budapest and the generator hostel in berlin. anyone have any opinions on these places?

also is there anything from any of the cities mentioned that we have to see/do?

xebec

Was in Prague and Budapest in March. In Prague, check out Hostel Kaktus, we booked it on usit.ie, it's reasonably cheap, about 10 minutes walk from the city centre, at an underground station so easy access from the train stations, the people are friendly and you should be able to book a room for your group if you don't feel like staying in dorms for your whole trip.

While in Prague, make sure you check out some of the smaller bars and not just the tourist traps, especially the bars which brew their own beer - I think we had 6/7 different flavours in one night at one of these places but avoid the nettle flavoured beer!!

The only thing that I especially enjoyed about Budapest was the Hungarian Baths. The best one is a place called Széchenyi Fürdő, absolutely fantastic old building with outdoor and indoor baths. It's in one of the main parks in Budapest (I think it's called the People's Park, not sure though) and has an underground stop at it so you can't miss it!

Hey, I've just returned from inter-railing so here's what I found...


Berlin:

I stayed in the Heart of Gold Hostel (named after the ship from the Hitch hiker's guide to the Galaxy, and is themed after the book). Prices for dorms start at €14, and that's sharing with 7 other people. If you're looking for your own room it might cost you a bit more. Hostel is located very near the centre, not that it matters (see about transport below). Buffet Breakfast for €3 (€3.50 with a drink).

Things to do in Berlin: During the day have a look at the Topography of Terror, Checkpoint Charlie, the Book-Burning Square, other WWII/Cold War points of interest, Reichstag, Branderberg Gate, etc.. But wherever you are in Berlin, as long as you're near an U-Bahn, S-Bahn, Tram or Bus, you're sorted (and most places are serviced by these!).

At night: Go clubbing.

Berlin Costs: Ok, cheaper then here.


Budapest:

We had booked to stay in the 'Hostel Paradiso' but we were actually moved to another hostel (overflow, I assume). Cheap enough at €8 per night at any rate, and there was a kitchen involved too.

We didn't get to go to any of the baths, but apparently the caves underneath these are quite cool. Went to the House of Terror which was the police headquarters in Budapest in 1956. Again fascinating, but it depends what you're in to. Went over the Chain Bridge, and just wandered around. There's a Communist Statue Park out at the end of the City, unsure whether it's any good or not.

Location of the hostel is beside the international train station as well as near metro stops (though they are doing up the one metro station which services all 3 metro lines at the moment, and have buses servicing the routes - you'll probably find this out, if you're going anytime soon).

Budapest Costs: V. Cheap.


Prague:

We stayed in the 'Welcome Hostel' which is called something else as well. It was aroudn €8 a night again, and you would be staying in student residences over to the west of the city - again beside a metro stop Dejvica. If you feel like saving a bit of money, it has a kitchen.

Was raining when we were there, which was slightly annoying. Was in Prague before, and went to the Communist Museum which was quite good, if a little small. Went to Charles's Bridge, Prague Castle, Wenscleus Square, Old Town Square etc.

At night: Huge club (was the largest club in eastern europe) there.

Prague costs: Generally quite cheap, but beware being ripped off.

***

That's about all I can remember - haven't been to the other cities so sorry.

blocparty

hey thanks for the replies.

anyone else got places to recommend or things to do?

colm_mcm

We stayed in "Nathan's Villa" hostel in Krakow. it was amazing, great atmosphere, good bar, nightly barbecues, and really friendly staff.

blocparty

cool thanks for the recommendation.

is there much to do in krakow besides the concentration camp? how many days would you need there to see the city?

garthv

Amsterdam :
Flying Pig Hostel is very very good, there was 6 of us who went and it was only €14 a night, right on Dam Square too which is handy!

I suggest going to the Chinese Palace in Amsterdam. Floats on the canal, to the left as you walk out the train station. €80 for a whopping meal for two but well worth it!

casanova_kid

blocparty wrote:

cool thanks for the recommendation.

is there much to do in krakow besides the concentration camp? how many days would you need there to see the city?

Just back from interrailing and Krakow was the best city by far. There's loads to do, Auschwitz obviously, there's also a lake just outside the city that used to be a quarry, which is an excellent day out.
Stay in the ArsHostel, it's cheaper than Nathans Villas which is beside it, and you can go to the nathans villas barbecues and bar and stuff anyway. Plus the staff in the Ars are the friendliest ever, they'll bring you out for drinks and to the sites if you want.
In Budapest,i stayed in Central Backpack king, it was around 16 euro a night, but a great place.

blocparty

ya thanks for the tips on krakow. is there anything else thats a must see or do other than the lake and concentration camp?

skipn_easy

There's some salt mines outside of Krakow which are amazing and well worth seeing.

I second the recommendations of the baths in Budapest, really cool. The statue park is also pretty interesting, though its about an hour outside of the city... there's a bus that takes your straight there and straight back... pretty much exactly as it sounds though - a park full of communist statues so depends what you're in to. There's a restaurant called Fatal in the center of the shopping area of Buapest which does really good, massive platters of hungarian food. Worth trying. There's also the old city to wander round and a labyrinth tourist trap (this is really tacky and not what it seems... but a bit of a laugh).

We used hostelworld.com to find our hostels, which is an excellent site. Just browse based on ratings if you're worried about quality, or price if you don't care.

colm_mcm

Is it just me, or did anyone else notice that Krakow is wall-to-wall supermodel types?