On one of the other postings someone talked about an International Hostel Association for adults. Would this be a good way for a solo female traveller to spend a few months in Europe with a Eurorail pass? How do I get in touch with this organization? Thanks in advance.

Nina, Here is one of my favorite websites that has lots of info on hostels, its www.eurotrip.com. I ams ure it is not just limited to youth so check it out. Hope it helps. Use their links to find outs lots of info and they also have a travel forum with lots of different subjects.

Went into eurotrip to check out what it said. You access youth hostels thru "links" and then a list of links comes up and click on youth hostels. I have the website for the American youth hostel assoc and the International association and you can joint one line. www.traeloco.com/hostels and the international one is www.iyhf.org/. Both say you are likely to find families there and the thirty something crowd there as well as students. Both say most countries have no age limits but Germany may limit you to age 26 and some give students preference if it is crowded. In England it was started as a charity.Neat! We should have that for students here too! So good luck ! Lots of info there! Tricia

I should proof these before I sent them: The American youth hostel website is www.traveloco.com/hostels. Sorry

seeking updated info on this topic

I didn't realize there was something for people too old for youth hostels and too young for elderhostels.

Some Youth Hostels have an age limit however, in my travels I have found that most do not. In 2002 I traveled with my sister who was in her 30's and we never had a problem. I also highly highly highly recommend St.Pancras youth hostel in London. There were quite a few older people (even in their 70's) staying there. Cheers

I don't think there is. There is one major hostel association, Hostelling International. That includes the old Youth Hostel Association, which doesn't operate under that name. But I don't think there isn't a separate association for adult. Elderhostel isn't a hostelling association at all, it's a travel/tour company for folks over a certain age (somewhere between 50-60) that focuses on educational stays and staying in budget accommodations (sometimes they stay in college dorm rooms in a summer, for example). There aren't accommodation buildings called elderhostels.<BR><BR>Most hostels now allow people of any age, but I've never heard of a hostel that limits itself to people between the age of 30-65, for example. Most hostels still will have mainly youths and younger adults in them, although some may be known to have more adults than others. Some are definitely notorious for their &quot;youthful&quot; atmosphere.<BR><BR>There are also independent hostels which don't belong to the association and can be more like very budget hotels, but also can be pretty bad from what I've read due to no standards. www.cheaphostel.com is an example of some independent ones in Paris.<BR><BR>I think www.hostels.com is one of the best overview sites that tells you everything you might want to know about this. I'd be sure to read some reviews of places before staying there unless you don't care at all about where you stay, the comfort or the atmosphere, and have a very strong stomach. bugeurope.com has some reviews, for example, and mentions of noise, dirt, insects and even rats are not uncommon. I think the ones that belong to the official assn. would be safer bets if you don't know anything about a place, because they do have some standards.