This may probably sound ridiculous or too cheap, but I will be in Europe for about 30/45 days on my own starting on April 5th and would like to spend a few days in Paris, Budapest, Viena, Rome and Madrid.

Hotel bills can be pretty steep for such a length of time and being alone makes it less attractive to rent an appartment.

I am not too fussy about acommodations: a clean bed and a shower, even if out of the bedroom will more than suffice.

Has anyone my age had experience with hostels? Does it feel too awkward?

Thanks for any comment.

I did the UK in my 40s staying mainly in hostels and found them to be excellent. But you might have to overcome your shyness and selfconciousness.
I don't think you sound cheap as many thousands of people travel the way you are preposing. The money you save on accommodation can be very easily spent on other things to highlight your trip. And you won't be alone - trust me on that.
Hostels are a great way to meet people and you might find someone to travel with.
Try www.hihostels.com
Cheers.

What's your budget? There are inexpensive hotels and pensions, and while some hostels cater more to the the student crowd there are also many hostels where families and people of all ages can feel comfortable and welcome. I don't have personal experience with hostels but know that travelers of any age, including mid-50's and up, stay in hostels and have great trips.

I think if you post your budget, though, people can give you specific recommendations for either hostels or cheap hotels in each of the cities you mention.

Vienna has a wonderful hostel, Vienna Hostel Huteldorf, with rooms with a bunk bed that would be perfect for you. They have their own sink and shower, but you have to share a room with several toilet stalls. Breakfast is served daily, and I believe they also have dinner for a reasonable price. Check out the Hosteling International web site. The hostel was a short walk from a subway station. It's not the liveliest neighborhood in the world. My daughter and I stayed there last year. She's 11 and I'm 45. We loved it. There were lots of people around in the evenings to gab to if you wanted to.

Is the elderhostel concept available where you'll be traveling? What about convents? They are very inexpensive and clean, with food usually provided. You'd have a night-time curfew, though.
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elderhostel are usually not "hostel-based" and they are definitely not cheap.

jfcarli: As the others ask - what is your budget? In those cities you can use some hostels, some B&Bs/pensions, and maybe priceline. Some types are better in some cities than others.

On my recent trip to Mexico City (I know it's not Europe), I met several middle-aged people who were staying in a YHA hostel. The YHA hostels have a generally good reputation for being quiet, clean, well-maintained, and not party places. You can check reviews at www.hostelz.com .

However, for your cities, I'm not sure YHA is the best.

For Rome, the Beehive is most often recommended, but it may be too late to get reservations.

For Vienna, Wombats is often recommended.

For Paris, the MIJE hostels, some of which are very conveniently located, are often recommended.

For Madrid, I don't know.

However, in my experience, if you want a single room, hostels usually aren't the cheapest place to get them. If you want a dorm bed, of course, they're a good choice.

Don't be apologetic about wanting to save money. For the people I met, staying in hostels made travel, even quite long trips, possible.

Thanks everybody for your efforts in helping me.

As far as budget is concerned, I would like to squeeze as many nights as I possible could from about 1500 euros. At the absolute maximum, 2000 euros. Hence the flexible 30/45 days target. I wonder if I am not being too optmistic.

Does that include your inter-city transport? That will make things tougher.

Rome and Paris are on the expensive side (although of course worth seeing). Berlin is a cheap city you haven't listed. Madrid is pretty reasonable. I suspect Budapest is probably reasonable too, and I don't know about Vienna.

Anyway, 50 Euros per day in Berlin or probably Madrid would not be difficult if you stay in a dorm bed, but it might be a challenge in Rome or Paris.

In Italian cities, at least, I have often seen recommendations here for convents / monasteries as good budget accommodation for single travellers.

Hi Jf - I wouldn't worry about using hostels - whatever your age.

I stayed in one once where I met too English ladies - one was 76, the other was 80!

If you're happy mixing with younger people there's no reason to feel awkward. Lots of us travel on a budget ...

Steve

People of all ages stay in hostels. But not all hostels are the same. There are ones that are more about partying, ones that have 'lock out' during the day, religious ones, clean ones, dirty ones, etc. It will take just as much research finding good hostels, as it would finding hotels.

If you spent some time not in the major cities (cities are all you mention in your post), like anywhere you'll find smaller towns will be less expensive and your limited budget will go further.

45 euro per day budget is pretty tight.

I will also suggest you read and post over at The Thorn Tree on the Lonely Planet website. Lots of backpackers and budget travelers there who travel bare-bones-budget.

Convents are good, but with the original poster's 50-Euro per day budget (more or less), a convent room would basically eat up the entire budget in most cases.

yes, those convent rooms in Italy are not that cheap, about the level of a 2* hotel, I think. I don't know what the reference to elderhostel was, but that is the name of a touring group for seniors in the US (I think you are allowed in at age 50, though), and it isn't a kind of hostel in Europe. But it's for a specific tour itinerary or trip.

I think your budget is not very feasible, actually. 50 euro a day total for everything? A lot of hostels may be 20-25 euro a day and that's not for a single room. A lot of hostels don't even have single rooms. But it sounds like you have the right attitude of not being at all fussy and even a shower in the hall will suffice. I wouldn't worry about doing it in terms of feeling awkward, just whether you wanted to. I think there are certain countries which much better types of hostels than others, and where it is more of a tradition (Germany, Nordic countries, maybe eastern Europe).

You can find them most anywhere, I think, I just think they can be better in some places than others. For example, the ones in Austria are likely better value for your money than those in Paris.

Elderhostel has been recommended to me, by my aunt and cousin. I Googled it, and they do have international programs, including Europe. But they look like packaged tours, and they aren't cheap enough.
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"Elderhostel" is not a place to stay (i.e. a "hostel). It is a travel organization that sponsors group tours with an educational slant for people over 55.

Yes, and I've seen elderhostel programs in conjunction with a university, where a single traveler shares a dorm room with communal showers down the hall for as much as $55 a night. With two people sharing -- that's $110 a night for a dorm room with shower and toilet down the hall! Gasp!

Are you saying $110 USD for a private twin room with a bathroom down the hall?

That could be okay if it's an expensive city at current exchange rates - about 70 Euros per night. Or obviously also for a city like NYC.

This is an accommodation charge only?

Oh, I see what you are saying - $55 USD per night for just a dorm bed? Expensive in any country at any exchange rate.

Yes, it was $55 a night -- but for a single traveler. And single travelers were to share a dorm room -- each paying that unless they wanted to pay more than $55 for a "private" room. So since two single travelers were each paying $55, I call that $110 for the room. Yes. That was an accommodations only charge.