I am a law student from New York City. I will be in Europe from 12/12/09-1/12/10. I am flying into Vienna but I would like to visit as many countries as possible. Do you know of any host families in any major city in Europe? I would like a room for about a week and I am willing to pay any reasonable costs.

Thanks for your help,

REC

You might register with one or more of the online "homestay" agencies, but I doubt you have enough time to make a connection. At this point, I think you should be looking at hostels.

If you are staying a week in each city you can probably find a "Privatzimmer" through the booking agency at the train stations.

You can ent private rooms in apartments -- but the famil are not "hosts" - it's simply a business arrangement. And they usually have fixed rates, which will be less than a hotel -- but more than a hostel - since you get your own room and often your own bath.

Exactly what do you consider "reasonable"? Hostels in major cities will typically want $40 or so per night for a bed in a shared dorm room.

Rosa-

I see you are already in Europe but you should check out www.couchsurfing.org. It is an inexpensive way to travel AND to make the desired local connection. I have only "surfed" one time in London but I have hosted dozens of people from Europe at my homes in Miami and Virginia. I even have a Belgium couple coming to stay tonight just for the night.

It is a non-profit website but they do ask for a $25 donation. If you don't pay the "donation" you can not get your identity verified so most people would be more reluctant to host you.

In any case, it is not for everyone but I love hosting, it keeps things interesting. Most people host for a few days at a time. I had a French couple stay with us 30 days once though because they were so nice we didn't care how long they stayed. LOL.

Good luck!